The Revenant (2015)

A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.

Director:

 Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Writers:

 Mark L. Smith (screenplay), Alejandro G. Iñárritu (screenplay) | 1 more credit »

Stars:

 Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter | See full cast & crew 

Storyline

While exploring the uncharted wilderness in 1823, legendary frontiersman Hugh Glass sustains injuries from a brutal bear attack. When his hunting team leaves him for dead, Glass must utilize his survival skills to find a way back home while avoiding natives on their own hunt. Grief-stricken and fueled by vengeance, Glass treks through the wintry terrain to track down John Fitzgerald, the former confidant who betrayed and abandoned him.Written by Jwelch5742

User Reviews

Could it be that you can let one miracle pass but not dozens? Is it because of all those great actors that don't make any difference at all (lots of grunting and mumbling beards)? Or the utter predictability of the story? Maybe I just can't take the never-ending hunger for revenge anymore, a subject Hollywood just keeps revisiting - over and over.

Looks like all it takes to win prizes is some nice visuals, a few good names, professional production. Add a few scenes from American history (maybe some are actually a bit historically correct).

During the movie I could not force myself to stop thinking about the terrible cold and hypothermia and how he makes these fires being fully soaked. There are so many miracles, I cannot just shake those off and believe what happens next.

I feared it would be something like this, gave it the benefit of the doubt, no luck. Still 3 out of 10 - but not for having a good time watching it.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

 

A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.

Director:

 Sergio Leone

Writers:

 Luciano Vincenzoni (story), Sergio Leone (story) |5 more credits »

Stars:

 Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef |See full cast & crew

Storyline

Blondie (The Good) is a professional gunslinger who is out trying to earn a few dollars. Angel Eyes (The Bad) is a hit man who always commits to a task and sees it through, as long as he is paid to do so. And Tuco (The Ugly) is a wanted outlaw trying to take care of his own hide. Tuco and Blondie share a partnership together making money off Tuco's bounty, but when Blondie unties the partnership, Tuco tries to hunt down Blondie. When Blondie and Tuco come across a horse carriage loaded with dead bodies, they soon learn from the only survivor (Bill Carson) that he and a few other men have buried a stash of gold in a cemetery. Unfortunately Carson dies and Tuco only finds out the name of the cemetery, while Blondie finds out the name on the grave. Now the two must keep each other alive in order to find the gold. Angel Eyes (who had been looking for Bill Carson) discovers that Tuco and Blondie met with Carson and knows they know the location of the gold. All he needs is for the two to ...

User Reviews

After many years of barely watching any movies, I treated myself to several classics recently. And this was the best.

That I so enjoyed this movie so much came as a shock to me. I literally never before have been able to even sit through a western, which (in my admittedly limited experience) was schlock action starring John Wayne as the taciturn all-American good guy being tough and beating up the outlaws. Watching GBU, I was enthralled for the entire three hours. Twice. And if I had time, I would have watched it a third time.

The setting is typically western: a dry, dusty panorama in which men barely co-exist with each other; few wasted words; and lots of action, horses, and gunfighting in a wild west barely governed by incipient institutions of law & order – all shrouded within a morality play of good vs. bad. But what I liked so much is exactly what I hate about John Wayne westerns – the seriousness and honesty with which moral context is considered. In Hollywood, good vs. bad is as thoughtlessly superscripted as the protagonists' white and black hats. In GBU every remnant of moralizing has been ruthlessly cut.

Good, Bad, and Ugly are personified in the form of three characters: Bad ("Sentenza") is the easiest to understand. He is *very* bad, perhaps not so different from other villains, but much more sharply developed; murderous, sadistic, traitorous, and remorseless. Good ("Blondie") and Ugly ("Tuco") are more puzzling, but their labels are the key to the movie. Both Blondie and Tuco are outlaws and killers with only the barest hint of morality, but they're not evil in the same way that Sentenza is. Tuco is demonstrative, emotional, loud, wild, and unpredictable; but driven by survival rather than satanic urges. Blondie is cool, calm, rational and controlled – in many ways similar to Sentenza – but whereas Sentenza tortures, maims, kills, and lies for the hell of it, even apparently enjoys it, Blondie simply goes about his business coolly, and shows several poignant hints of empathy, decency, and a sense of justice.

GBU takes place during the Civil War and strips away the high-level political struggle of history books, leaving us with the soldier's vantage point of brutality, pointless death, and some individual decency. The politics are indecipherable from this vantage point. GBU hits this point home when our protagonists wind up in a prison camp because the oncoming gray cavalry uniforms turn out to be dust-covered blue. Later, they encounter an army fighting over a worthless bridge, suffering countless pointless deaths and casualties. Because Leone has so rigorously excised traditional off-the-shelf morality, the few instances of humanity are remarkably poignant. One such instance is when Blondie shares his coat and cigar with a dying soldier; another is when prisoners are forced – by Sentenza's orders – to play music to cover up the screams of the tortured. Sentenza apparently enjoyed the irony of beautiful sounds used for such ends; the musicians are, of course, pained by it.

That was one of many extraordinarily striking scenes. The honesty of the moral context was what I liked best about the film, but I liked everything else too. Indeed the same primal, ruthless honesty that characterizes the character development pervades the film. The music is unlike anything I'd ever heard – it's an audible version of the arid west and the tensions and lawlessness that characterize the film. Underlying the entire score is one instantly memorable theme starting off with what sounds like a screaming hyena. The story took place in New Mexico, and even though it was filmed in Spain, it really does look like New Mexico; and just as in life in the American west, the wide, breathtaking panorama tends to subordinates dialog. Indeed, it is several minutes into the film before even one word is spoken.

The plot was extremely clever – and never predictable. High level suspense is maintained for the full three hours. It was hard to imagine how it could unfold – three uncompromising outlaws in search of one buried treasure; cooperation was not in their nature, but nothing was ever done out of character. Any Western cliché that you can think of is either given a unique twist or destroyed by masterful storytelling. For example there is an utterly irreverent scene in which Tuco meets his brother, a sincere Priest, and turns platitudes upside down. The brother begins with the standard rebuke of the criminal's behavior, but Tuco punches back and says, "Where we come from there were only two ways out. You lacked the courage to do what I've done." The movie is also irreverently funny: For example, Twice Tuco gained the upper hand on Blondie and said:

"There are two kinds of spurs(?), my friend. Those that come in by the door, and (crosses himself) those that come in by the window."

"There are two kinds of people in the world, my friend. Those who have a rope around their neck and those who have the job of cutting." Later Blondie gained the advantage of Tuco and observed:

"You see in this world there's two kinds of people my friend - those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig." In addition to all these specific attributes, a unique and strikingly cool style infuses the entire film: long scenes of tense silences – never for an instant boring; and telling, startling close-ups and transitions. Most noteworthy was the film's climax. As the protagonists stand there with their fingers on their holsters, waiting for the first person to go for their gun(s), the transitions start out slowly, and speed up as the tension increases. As I write this, I wish I had my own copy of the film, just so I could see this scene again.

Not just a great western, but easily one of the best movies of *any* kind ever made.

The Godfather (1972)

The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.

Director:

 Francis Ford Coppola

Writers:

 Mario Puzo (screenplay), Francis Ford Coppola (screenplay) | 1 more credit »

Stars:

 Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan | See full cast & crew ».

Storyline

When the aging head of a famous crime family decides to transfer his position to one of his subalterns, a series of unfortunate events start happening to the family, and a war begins between all the well-known families leading to insolence, deportation, murder and revenge, and ends with the favorable successor being finally chosen. Written by J. S. Golden

User Reviews

I am not a big fan of the sequels even the second is a big step down from this one. What a cast? Like an earlier reviewer said; REWATCHABLE!! Yes, I am Italian, not a Sicilian, and I have seen it hundreds of times. What a cast: Brando, Pacino, Caan, Duvall. Even the supporting cast is excellent with the film noir legend Richard Conte as Barzini. Puzo wrote such a rich, deep script. The characters suck you in and are so lifelike. Each brother is radically different from the other. Fredo, the mama's boy, the useless one who Michael kills off in the second one. Sonny, the human volcano, with a temper that has to be seen to be believed. Michael, the quiet and deadly one most like Vito but colder more ruthless. Michael was always outside the family looking in; he was held in contempt by the rest as the soft college boy who didn't want to get his hands dirty. This is the answer to the riddle of how he could kill Fredo, his own brother, later in the second one. Notice where he sits at the wedding, as far away from the family as he can get.

Events suck Michael into their world but he never is really in the family. We see his cruelty by the end of the movie as he slaughters the heads of the five families and his own sister's husband Carlo who fingered Sonny. The key scene for understanding Michael is the baby's baptism; watch the juxtaposition of the images with the words the priest is saying. As he renounces Satan he performs the very actions he is renouncing. Coppola was so good at using images to contradict words; it is really his signature. Pacino becomes the very image of Satan as he murders all those people while standing reciting the holy words of baptism renouncing the very deeds as he is performing them. What a work of art!! Only Francis Coppola could do this.

The film, to be fair to its critics, does gloss over the mafia a bit. We do not see old store owners shaken down with blow torches waved in front of their faces. I do think Puzo and Coppola do show the awful cost of the evil. Even here, Michael slowly transforms from a diffident outcast at the back of the family to a ruthless Don. It appears here that he is like Vito but that illusion is dispelled by his ruthlessness far exceeding Vito's. Michael because he was an outcast simply does not feel the bonds of family as Vito did. There is a coldness about him; he is like an iceberg. The movie is three hours long but it moves very quickly. The only parts that drag are the scenes of michael's exile in Sicily. It really is the story of the brothers and how radically different their fates are; Fredo is sent to Vegas where he becomes a weakling fop beaten up by Moe Greene, Sonny's temper ends up killing him like you always knew it would. Michael gets sucked in; there is always great resentment in Michael for the destiny he never wanted.

The second film shows Michael's estrangement from the family deepening. It culminates in him killing Fredo for putting him at risk. I always think it is important to see Michael as Puzo and Coppola paint him: a loner who protects himself ruthlessly. He really could care less about the family; he is all about power and control. Vito, for all his evil, cared and loved his family very deeply. Look, Fredo almost got him killed when Sollozo's men attacked, he fumbled and dropped his gun. Vito did not kill him; Michael was not so forgiving. It is a true masterpiece. I LOVE IT

The story of Chesley Sullenberger, who became a hero after gliding his plane along the water in the Hudson River, saving all of the airplane flights 155 crew and passengers.

Director:

 Clint Eastwood

Writers:

 Todd Komarnicki (screenplay), Chesley Sullenberger (based on the book "Highest Duty" by) (as Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger)

Stars:

 Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney | See full cast & crew

Storyline

On Thursday, January 15th, 2009, the world witnessed the "Miracle on the Hudson" when Captain Chesley Sullenberger, nicknamed "Sully" & is portrayed by Tom Hanks glided his disabled plane onto the frigid waters of the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 aboard. However, even as Sully was being heralded by the public and the media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, an investigation was unfolding that threatened to destroy his reputation and his career. Written by Warner Bros.

User Reviews

The problem with the movie "Sully" is that it's about 208 seconds of action, and we all know in advance that he successfully landed the plane with no loss of life. The movie starts off by telling the audience that. So the only 'tension' in the movie is whether Capt. Sully is going to go from hero to villain if it's decided by the accident investigators that his decision to go for the Hudson rather than one of the nearby airports was the safer decision or not.

Unfortunately, because the movie is based on Sully's own version of events, it looks at the everything from his point of view alone. If there was some background provided for some of the passengers, the audience might be a little more invested in the survival of everyone onboard.

The movie's just over 90 minutes long, basically because there wasn't enough to pad it out any further. It's well acted, but that's the only thing going for it. The real event was much more thrilling.

Don't Breathe (2016)

Hoping to walk away with a massive fortune, a trio of thieves break into the house of a blind man who isn't as helpless as he seems.

Director:

 Fede Alvarez

Writers:

 Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues

Stars:

 Stephen Lang, Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette | See full cast & crew 

Storyline

Rocky, a young woman wanting to start a better life for her and her sister, agrees to take part in the robbery of a house owned by a wealthy blind man with her boyfriend Money and their friend Alex. But when the blind man turns out to be a more than he seems, the group must find a way to escape his home before they become his newest victims.

User Reviews

Three teenagers learn of a blind old man, in a nearly abandoned slum in Detroit, who has just recently been awarded $300.000 in a wrongful death of his daughter. He is said to keep this money in a safe in his house, which the trio see as an easy target. They stakeout the house, the creepiest house I"ve seen since The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and break into it that night.

Brilliantly effective music score accompanies the terrifying Antebellum-looking house, mimicking the pounding heartbeat in one's ears during a frightening situation as that, and the situation quickly goes from bad to terrifying, as the blind old man fights back, quite viciously, even more ferociously than his guard dog.

Every character, even the aforementioned dog, has moments of sympathy and compassion, as well as moments of contempt and disdain. We alternately feel empathy and scorn, as the lines between hero and villain, antihero and anti-villain become progressively blurred. Not an easy feat to achieve.

Several times, we, the audience, and the characters themselves, hope to have found a way out, a potential escape, only to find we are now in an even worse situation than the previous scene.

Interesting, exceptional cinematography, with some long, wide angle shot, and some interesting uses of focus, the film never sinks to using shaky cam, or high contrast/ colour saturation.

The film does begin to go off the rails in the final scenes, and ultimately goes on one scene too long (film should have ended as Rocky is running from the house, and the police are finally arriving) but this is still a first class, top tier horror/ thriller, and it, along with this year's earlier Green Room, gives me renewed hope for the horror genre. I am genuinely thrilled by new horror films using an actual, physical villain, rather than more ghost stories and demonic possessions, which I am thoroughly, incredibly bored with.

This is the 48th new release film I've seen in a cinema in 2016, and it is the first 10/ 10 I've given thus far in 2016.

Anbe Sivam (2003)

Nalla Sivam and Anbarasu meet under different circumstances and their lives are changed as they take the journey of their life.

Director:

 Sundar C.

Writers:

  Kamal Haasan (screenplay), Madan (dialogue) (as Madhan)

Stars:

      Kamal Haasan, Madhavan, Kiran Rathod |See full cast                      & crew

Storyline

Nallasivam (Kamal Haasan) and Anbarasu (Madhavan) are drawn together by the strings of fate after they come into contact at the Bhuvaneshwar airport. Anbarasu is an advertisement director, while Nallasivam is a trade unionist. Fate entwines their travel plans, and they end up travelling to Chennai together. In the course of their journey, Anbarasu, born with a golden spoon, is touched by the realities of the sufferings of a normal human being when he witnesses the dead and the injured during a train accident, and he volunteers to donate his blood, which is of a very rare group, despite his fear of blood. The flashback of Nallasivam is recounted during one of their journeys. Nallasivam is a communist trade unionist, who fights for higher wages for his comrades. By chance, he falls in love with the daughter Bala (Kiran) of a rich industrialist, Bala's father, Padaiyacchi (Nasser). Due to the opposition, they plan to elope and get married, but unfortunately, Nallasivam meets with an ...Written by Niranjan Venkatraman <v.niranjan@ieee.org>

User Reviews

I consider "Anbe Sivam" as the best movie of all time. Fabulous story, exceptional screenplay and apt comedy make this movie a treat to watch. It's doubtful if anyone else will be able to make a movie again in the same caliber. Unfortunate that it was not sent for the Oscar's. It's music is riveting and apt for the situation. The characters are brilliant. The way the change of heart occurs for Anbu is perfectly done through the screenplay.Kamal at his best throughout the movie and well supported by Madhavan, Naser and others. It is one of the few movies to have a title that was apt for it's screenplay. It speaks about communism, love, friendship and what not. 10 out of 10