When you have
Skipper (Tom McGrath), Kowalski (Chris Miller), Private (Christopher Knights)
and Rico (Conrad Vernon) as the lead characters in a movie, you can be assured
that there will be no shortage of excitement.
The cute looking but aggressive Penguins from the Madagascar series
finally get an entire movie to themselves. Long awaited and well deserved
indeed.
Showing posts with label John Malkovich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Malkovich. Show all posts
Saturday, 6 December 2014
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
Red 2
I just realized a
few minutes ago that I haven’t published my review of Red. I would have thought that I had seen the
movie after I started putting down my thoughts in cyberspace but I guess it
would have been a little before that. Red
was an action movie par excellence. Standard
espionage story but great dialogues and fabulous performances.
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Burn After Reading
A CIA employee with a level 3 clearance called Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) is married to an extremely painful doctor called Katie (Tilda Swinton). All Katie does 24 x 7 is question Osbourne’s existence and demean him by the minute. Also, she is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney) who is a US Marshall / Treasury Agent. Harry is in turn married to Sandy (Elizabeth Marvel) who is a hugely successful children’s book author. Sandy and Katie cannot see eye to eye although the families are supposed to be friends. They just hate each other – and this without knowing about the affair – wonder what would happen then.
When Osbourne gets pushed to a desk job, he gets quite peeved and decides to quit the CIA much to Katie’s chagrin. But he also starts working on his memoir. A book that will expose some of the not so pleasant secrets of the CIA – or so Osbourne believes. In between all of this, a CD with the memoir finds its way into the hands of Gym Trainer Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) who starts believing that he can make a quick buck by blackmailing Osbourne. His partner in crime – Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) who wants to get some plastic surgery done which will set her back by quite a bit and is not covered by insurance.
Burn After Reading is a rip roaring hilarious comedy if you like the dark variety. It is not in your face slapstick or filled with smart one liners. It is just the entire story and situation that ensures that you cannot help but find it hilarious. Honestly, I could have avoided giving you guys a spoiler by narrating the broad outline but believe me, this was a difficult review to write. I couldn’t figure out where to start. Such is the layered nature of the movie – atypical of the Coen brothers.
The brothers seem to have kind of mastered the art of building up the tempo of a movie gradually, inch by inch, beat by beat through a 100 minutes. Very few who can do that. There are movie makers who can fluctuate between the fast and slow well and there are movie makers who can maintain a consistent pace and yet remain totally intense. And there are the brothers who have their own brand of movie making which is building the tempo from the extremely slow to the absolutely frenetic. Burn After Reading is no different and therefore thoroughly enjoyable.
That Brad Pitt is a phenomenal actor and not just eye candy is an aspect that hasn’t really been acknowledged by too many people. Unlike George Clooney. Both of them are superb here. But it is John Malkovich who takes the cake with his absolutely acidic brand of acting. And brilliant performances from Tilda Swinton & Frances McDormand is just the icing. You will like BAR only if u like Dark Comedy. Else avoid it. 7 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1155268889/
When Osbourne gets pushed to a desk job, he gets quite peeved and decides to quit the CIA much to Katie’s chagrin. But he also starts working on his memoir. A book that will expose some of the not so pleasant secrets of the CIA – or so Osbourne believes. In between all of this, a CD with the memoir finds its way into the hands of Gym Trainer Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) who starts believing that he can make a quick buck by blackmailing Osbourne. His partner in crime – Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) who wants to get some plastic surgery done which will set her back by quite a bit and is not covered by insurance.
Burn After Reading is a rip roaring hilarious comedy if you like the dark variety. It is not in your face slapstick or filled with smart one liners. It is just the entire story and situation that ensures that you cannot help but find it hilarious. Honestly, I could have avoided giving you guys a spoiler by narrating the broad outline but believe me, this was a difficult review to write. I couldn’t figure out where to start. Such is the layered nature of the movie – atypical of the Coen brothers.
The brothers seem to have kind of mastered the art of building up the tempo of a movie gradually, inch by inch, beat by beat through a 100 minutes. Very few who can do that. There are movie makers who can fluctuate between the fast and slow well and there are movie makers who can maintain a consistent pace and yet remain totally intense. And there are the brothers who have their own brand of movie making which is building the tempo from the extremely slow to the absolutely frenetic. Burn After Reading is no different and therefore thoroughly enjoyable.
That Brad Pitt is a phenomenal actor and not just eye candy is an aspect that hasn’t really been acknowledged by too many people. Unlike George Clooney. Both of them are superb here. But it is John Malkovich who takes the cake with his absolutely acidic brand of acting. And brilliant performances from Tilda Swinton & Frances McDormand is just the icing. You will like BAR only if u like Dark Comedy. Else avoid it. 7 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1155268889/
Monday, 19 December 2011
R.E.D
In most of my movie reviews to date, I have given you a link to the trailer at the end of the review. Just in case you need to glance at it once after reading the review to make up your mind completely before taking the plunge. Or maybe change your mind despite a scathing review from my side. In the case of R.E.D., I am breaking from practice and slotting this first up. Watch the trailer first before reading any more of my review. Especially the last 15-20 seconds of the trailer.
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2156856857/
Rajani Saar – I am really sorry. I did not mean to offend you. This John Malkovich fellow didn’t know about your existence. If I had known about the sequence, I would have seriously filed court case. But then, I thought, if John Malkovich needs a bullet to blow a bazooka bomb, Rajani Saar can turn the bomb around by just looking at it. No worries Thalaivar – John is about 45 years behind on the growth curve.
Directed by Robert Schwentke is a definite watch for those who love action flicks and performances put together. With the exception of a couple of sequences where they try to emulate God, the movie is a non stop riot from the first sequence. Frank Moses is a 50 something oldie who keeps calling up the number of the insurance company to speak to Sarah Ross under the pretext of a pension cheque that he claims to have never received despite them sending it over 40 times. But a sudden attack on his life by a bunch of guys who look like a SWAT team sends him and the movie and the audiences into a complete tizzy. 5 minutes into the movie and you are holding onto your seats for dear life.
After watching the trailer, if you do not want to watch the movie then I suggest you get yourself seriously looked at for a case of “I don’t like entertainment and would like to spend the rest of my life sulking” syndrome. R.E.D combines the best action sequences that you could have thought of. What do you want from an action movie? A combination of A Team, Expendables, Terminator, Predator, Commando, Die Hard? Well you asked for it and you will get all of it and more in R.E.D. And add to it exceptional performers who go by the names of Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Richard Dreyfuss & Bruce Willis. The rest of the cast just went pale in comparison. Now why would such a bunch of super stars indulge in inane action is a question I guess only they are best equipped to answer. And who are we but lowly mortals to comment on the choices made by them. Lets just recline back (or lay back on your sofas like I did) and enjoy the ride because they are truly Retired & Extremely Dangerous. No clue how or why I missed the movie earlier this year. 5 on 10 for story. 8 on 10 on entertainment. So lets make this an average of 6.5 on 10. Playing on one of the movie channels these days. Make an effort to catch up with it. Thou shall not regret.
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2156856857/
Rajani Saar – I am really sorry. I did not mean to offend you. This John Malkovich fellow didn’t know about your existence. If I had known about the sequence, I would have seriously filed court case. But then, I thought, if John Malkovich needs a bullet to blow a bazooka bomb, Rajani Saar can turn the bomb around by just looking at it. No worries Thalaivar – John is about 45 years behind on the growth curve.
Directed by Robert Schwentke is a definite watch for those who love action flicks and performances put together. With the exception of a couple of sequences where they try to emulate God, the movie is a non stop riot from the first sequence. Frank Moses is a 50 something oldie who keeps calling up the number of the insurance company to speak to Sarah Ross under the pretext of a pension cheque that he claims to have never received despite them sending it over 40 times. But a sudden attack on his life by a bunch of guys who look like a SWAT team sends him and the movie and the audiences into a complete tizzy. 5 minutes into the movie and you are holding onto your seats for dear life.
After watching the trailer, if you do not want to watch the movie then I suggest you get yourself seriously looked at for a case of “I don’t like entertainment and would like to spend the rest of my life sulking” syndrome. R.E.D combines the best action sequences that you could have thought of. What do you want from an action movie? A combination of A Team, Expendables, Terminator, Predator, Commando, Die Hard? Well you asked for it and you will get all of it and more in R.E.D. And add to it exceptional performers who go by the names of Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Richard Dreyfuss & Bruce Willis. The rest of the cast just went pale in comparison. Now why would such a bunch of super stars indulge in inane action is a question I guess only they are best equipped to answer. And who are we but lowly mortals to comment on the choices made by them. Lets just recline back (or lay back on your sofas like I did) and enjoy the ride because they are truly Retired & Extremely Dangerous. No clue how or why I missed the movie earlier this year. 5 on 10 for story. 8 on 10 on entertainment. So lets make this an average of 6.5 on 10. Playing on one of the movie channels these days. Make an effort to catch up with it. Thou shall not regret.
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Secretariat
The year is 1969. Penny Chenery Tweedy (Diane Lane) is a happy woman. She is married to Jack Tweedy (Dylan Walsh) and is blessed with 4 wonderful children Sarah (Carissa Capobianco), Kate (Amanda Michalka), Chris (Sean Michael Cunningham) and John (Jacob Rhodes). They live in Denver. As a child, Penny was extremely into horses. Her father Chris (Scot Glen) owns a stud farm and is extremely well known in the business. It is a difficult business to be in but he has seen it through its several ups and downs. But of late, he has been suffering from dementia and has made some decisions which have almost cost them the farm. However, thanks to Penny’s mother, they have managed to stay afloat so far. As a child, Penny grew up on the farm with a special liking for the equine. Under her father’s tutelage she learnt pretty much everything there was to know about the business. But with marriage and starting a family, she was forced to put her familial responsibilities before her and let her first love take a back seat.
However, a strange and sad twist of events gets her back to what she completely loves doing. Penny loses her mother and has no choice but to go back home for the funeral. After the last rites are completed, she quickly realizes that her father is not quite capable of running the business on his own. Her brother Hollis (Dylan Baker) is of the opinion is that they should start looking at selling of a few of the horses and maybe even the farm in the long run. But something tells Penny that this is the opportunity she was waiting for. At the funeral, she meets Bull Hancock (Fred Dalton Thompson), her father’s close friend and financial associate who offers to help her out with anything that she needs.
Now Penny is no mug with respect to horses. And she quickly starts sending the message out that she is here and she means business. She starts with firing her trainer who has been making utmost use of her father’s illness to short change the Chenerys of a few million dollars on the sale of some of their best horses. Then will the support of her father’s secretary, Ms. Ham (Margon Martindale) and Bull, she tries to put things back together. Firstly there is a small matter of the Toss. Chris Chenery Sr. may seem to be not business minded but has taken some really good decisions in his life. Where everyone was investing in studs, he also understood the importance of mares and has invested in a few solid ones during his life time. Two of his mares are due now thanks to the efforts of a leading stud owned by the then richest man in America, Ogden Phipps (James Cromwell). However, since Ogden owns the stud, he gets to choose which foal to pick up. As luck would have it, Penny loses the toss but gets to keep the foal that she wanted in the first place. That is the story of the birth of “Secretariat”.
Secretariat is Randal Wallace’s 3rd attempt @ direction. He is best known for directing the Man in the Iron Mask and writing cult movies such as Brave Heart and Pearl Harbour. With Secretariat, he also proves that his direction capabilities are not just a flash in the pan. It is most difficult to direct movies when you are working with animals. The unpredictability makes it even more exciting. And Wallace comes out of this effort not just much richer in experience but also has not done any damage to his credibility. I may be downplaying the quality of movie making but Wallace did miss a thing or two. Firstly, the movie is extremely slow. It meanders along its way and slowly builds up pace. But doesn’t really reach an extreme peak till the last few minutes. The change of gears, if any, goes unnoticed. As if one has moved from 1st to 6th gear and then comes to a stand still. Therefore the movie doesn’t qualify as the most compactly made one to date. However, the editing and cinematography is very good to say the least. Lovely use of camera angles to get the right measure of the situation that is being shown.
The acting, however was just about adequate. But for a superb performance from John Malkovich as the trainer Lucien Laurin, there is nothing really worth writing home about. Malkovich, however comes trumps in his role of the eccentric but honest trainer who helps turn around the fortunes of the Chenery family business. He is effortless and takes away the screen presence factor from everyone in the movie. Diane Lane is also very good with the role of Penny but not at her best. Secretariat is based on the true story of the horse which goes onto become America’s most successful one to date. It has its moments of thrills but is also significantly about one woman’s fight to make her mark in what is otherwise considered to be a man’s world. Overall a good solid effort. To put it in a sentence – If you loved Sea Biscuit, you will like Secretariat. To me Sea Biscuit is an 8 on 10 – a movie worthy of its Oscar nomination. Secretariat doesn’t come close but is reasonably entertaining. 6 on 10.
However, a strange and sad twist of events gets her back to what she completely loves doing. Penny loses her mother and has no choice but to go back home for the funeral. After the last rites are completed, she quickly realizes that her father is not quite capable of running the business on his own. Her brother Hollis (Dylan Baker) is of the opinion is that they should start looking at selling of a few of the horses and maybe even the farm in the long run. But something tells Penny that this is the opportunity she was waiting for. At the funeral, she meets Bull Hancock (Fred Dalton Thompson), her father’s close friend and financial associate who offers to help her out with anything that she needs.
Now Penny is no mug with respect to horses. And she quickly starts sending the message out that she is here and she means business. She starts with firing her trainer who has been making utmost use of her father’s illness to short change the Chenerys of a few million dollars on the sale of some of their best horses. Then will the support of her father’s secretary, Ms. Ham (Margon Martindale) and Bull, she tries to put things back together. Firstly there is a small matter of the Toss. Chris Chenery Sr. may seem to be not business minded but has taken some really good decisions in his life. Where everyone was investing in studs, he also understood the importance of mares and has invested in a few solid ones during his life time. Two of his mares are due now thanks to the efforts of a leading stud owned by the then richest man in America, Ogden Phipps (James Cromwell). However, since Ogden owns the stud, he gets to choose which foal to pick up. As luck would have it, Penny loses the toss but gets to keep the foal that she wanted in the first place. That is the story of the birth of “Secretariat”.
Secretariat is Randal Wallace’s 3rd attempt @ direction. He is best known for directing the Man in the Iron Mask and writing cult movies such as Brave Heart and Pearl Harbour. With Secretariat, he also proves that his direction capabilities are not just a flash in the pan. It is most difficult to direct movies when you are working with animals. The unpredictability makes it even more exciting. And Wallace comes out of this effort not just much richer in experience but also has not done any damage to his credibility. I may be downplaying the quality of movie making but Wallace did miss a thing or two. Firstly, the movie is extremely slow. It meanders along its way and slowly builds up pace. But doesn’t really reach an extreme peak till the last few minutes. The change of gears, if any, goes unnoticed. As if one has moved from 1st to 6th gear and then comes to a stand still. Therefore the movie doesn’t qualify as the most compactly made one to date. However, the editing and cinematography is very good to say the least. Lovely use of camera angles to get the right measure of the situation that is being shown.
The acting, however was just about adequate. But for a superb performance from John Malkovich as the trainer Lucien Laurin, there is nothing really worth writing home about. Malkovich, however comes trumps in his role of the eccentric but honest trainer who helps turn around the fortunes of the Chenery family business. He is effortless and takes away the screen presence factor from everyone in the movie. Diane Lane is also very good with the role of Penny but not at her best. Secretariat is based on the true story of the horse which goes onto become America’s most successful one to date. It has its moments of thrills but is also significantly about one woman’s fight to make her mark in what is otherwise considered to be a man’s world. Overall a good solid effort. To put it in a sentence – If you loved Sea Biscuit, you will like Secretariat. To me Sea Biscuit is an 8 on 10 – a movie worthy of its Oscar nomination. Secretariat doesn’t come close but is reasonably entertaining. 6 on 10.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)