Run Lola Run (1998)

Run Lola Run (1998)

7/10

Starring

Franka Potente
Moritz Bleibtreu

Directed by Tom Tykwer

Way back in 1998, I remember watching a German program on the local TV station. It was there I saw the making of, and heard the director and film critics' comments about the film. I was also opportune to see clips of the movie Run Lola Run and a music video featuring the star.

Well, I never forgot about the movie, but I never thought I could one day find German films. Thanks to the global world becoming more unified, I did, and it was a good price to pay to finally see Run Lola Run after 14 years.

Mind you, it’s a German movie subtitled in English.

The movie stars Franka Potente, who you might remember as Jason Bourne's love interest in the Bourne film series and as Eva Heissan in the British-American show on BBC America, Copper.

Run Lola Run shows the place of determination in human life.

The thing I like most about this flick is the use of chaos theory's butterfly effect. It shows how small inputs in the initial conditions of people’s lives — like running into someone or distracting them — result in drastic changes in that individual’s life later on.

To show these butterfly effects, the movie uses flash-forward sequences of still images showing the future outcomes in the lives of those Lola comes across.

The runs in the movie had different implications for the people Lola’s path crosses. Some were devastating, others were beautiful.

The plot is straightforward and simple. Lola (Franka Potente) and her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) have a problem.

Manni lost 100,000 German Marks belonging to his crime boss by accidentally leaving it on a train. Lola was supposed to pick him up but she failed because she got sidetracked.

Now Manni has to deliver the money in the next 20 minutes. He knows if he shows up without it, he’s dead.

Telling Lola all this on the phone causes her to panic, and she promises to meet him with the money in 20 minutes.

So the “runs” begin, and Lola is seen running to her father, hoping to get the money.

The film features three runs, each different from the last, with a different outcome depending on how she reacts to things around her.

As great the acting and story was in this movie, one of the flaws is how a bit unrealistic or improbable certain things are in the timelines. Also, the timelines can feel a bit repetitive, so some viewers looking at this movie repletive improbable things, can feel a bit disengaged from it.

The movie is directed masterfully by Tom Tykwer, who would go on to work with Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in the 2012 movie Cloud Atlas.

If you like a movie that lets you pick how it ends, this is for you. Likewise, if you like an exciting movie, just join the bandwagon. Mind you again, it’s German, so make sure the one you’re watching has subtitles.

Here Comes The Boom (2012)

Here Comes The Boom (2012)

4/10

Starring

Kevin James

Salma Hayek

Henry Winkler

Directed by Frank Coraci

The movie is a good idea, bad idea mix-up for Kevin James.

Good idea: make a movie about inspiring young people to go for what they want in life no matter the course.

Bad idea: write it yourself.

I think James should allow others to do the writing when it comes to movies.

This sports comedy film is directed by Frank Coraci, who directed three of Adam Sandler’s hit movies — The Wedding Singer in 1998, The Waterboy in 1998, and Click in 2006.

Frank Coraci’s movie after Click was Zookeeper, which also starred Kevin James. Although it was a box office success, it was panned by critics, had a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and got nominated for a Razzie Award.

This new movie that the duo is involved in is better than Zookeeper, that I can assure, but it’s still far from being a hit.

The movie plot is about a former collegiate wrestler, Scott Voss (Kevin James), who now works as a biology teacher and doesn’t take his job seriously due to boredom.

The school he teaches in is failing badly, and there was a need to cut costs, so the music class and its teacher had to go.

Scott then jumps in to try and raise money to save the music teacher’s (Henry Winkler) job.

This push leads him to take another job as an instructor for a citizenship class. The job doesn’t pay enough though, but there he meets Niko (Bas Rutten), who asks for extra tutoring.

He goes to Niko’s apartment and finds out that Niko was a former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter.

He also learns that if he can make it into the UFC, he can earn $10,000 for losing — so he starts training for the role.

The movie features the 2002 song “Boom” by P.O.D, as well as tracks from the likes of Neil Diamond.

Boasting some great cinematography during the fight scenes, the cinematographer here is Phil Meheux — the same guy behind one of the best James Bond films, GoldenEye (1995).

Kevin James was a star as usual. Somehow, you just end up liking him. Everyone else just strolls by, except Henry Winkler (Fonzie, as he’s popularly known, if you’re familiar with the 1970s sitcom Happy Days). Winkler I actually enjoyed.

Salma Hayek, again, has settled for a movie that’s beneath her standard.

I won’t dash off to the theaters to see this movie.

Rear Window (1954)

Rear Window (1954)

6/10

Starring

James Stewart

Grace Kelly

Wendell Corey

Thelma Ritter

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Always close your windows and drains. There could be a peeping tom about.

Rear Window coins the phrase “an idle hand is the devil’s workshop” as our character "Jeff" Jeffries, played by James Stewart, spends most of his days peeping into the houses of his neighbors due to a broken leg that has him confined to a wheelchair.

Rear Window was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and is based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story It Had to Be Murder.

The movie stars James Stewart and the beautiful Princess Grace Kelly. It was nominated for four Academy Awards and has remained in the top 50 of AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies list and its 10th-anniversary edition.

This movie is my third-best James Stewart movie so far (I hope to see more) after It's A Wonderful Life (1946) and Mr Smith Goes To Washington (1939).

The movie is considered one of Hitchcock's finest. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 100%, so it's definitely one to watch.

The plot is about professional photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries, who breaks his leg while getting an action shot at an auto race.

Now he's stuck in a wheelchair with a cast on his leg and can’t leave his New York apartment. To pass the time, he peeps out his rear window, observing his neighbors, memorising their patterns and trying not to miss a thing happening in their lives.

Things start getting thrilling when he begins to suspect that a man across the courtyard may have murdered his wife.

The acting in this movie is top class, but I felt the movie was a bit predictable, and also there was a time the movie's momentum dropped, and it took its time to get back to speed.

There are movies whose themes can be said to be based on Rear Window, like Michael Davis's Eight Days a Week (1999), Robert Zemeckis's What Lies Beneath (2000), and Disturbia (2007), which kinda reminds you of Rear Window — except the protagonist (Shia LaBeouf) is under house arrest instead of in a wheelchair, and his neighbor is a serial killer instead of having committed just one murder.

Many TV shows have also used the Rear Window idea — The Simpsons, White Collar, and more. But the 1998 TV movie remake of the 1954 classic is my best. I actually saw the TV movie first before seeing the original. It starred Christopher Reeve, who himself was paralyzed as the result of a 1995 horse-riding accident, so he fitted the role perfectly.

Well, enough has been said about Rear Window. It is a classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller, and I can say, if you’re watching all of Hitchcock’s classics, then you must see this one.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park II (1997)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park II (1997)

6/10

Starring

Jeff Goldblum

Julianne Moore

Pete Postlethwaite

Vince Vaughn

Richard Schiff

Peter Stormare

Directed by Steven Spielberg

The Lost World: Jurassic Park II is a sequel to Jurassic Park, which is based on a Michael Crichton book of the same name (The Lost World: Jurassic Park II).

This sequel is not as good as the first and also not as exciting. The whole dinosaur-in-the-city (Godzilla kind), saving-your-love-from-an-expedition-that-could-be-her-last thing was kind of a bore. But like the first, the sequel doesn’t fail to fill you up with new knowledge about speculated dinosaur behaviors.

This science fiction adventure film was directed by Steven Spielberg and prompted the first time Crichton wrote a sequel to a book. The movie was made darker than the first and was also a box office success, grossing $618 million worldwide. Still, it was not a critical success, mostly because fans had to wait 4 years to see this. Though it had excellent CGI, the story wasn’t as thrilling as the first, and the cast wasn’t as engaging.

The movie plot didn’t have Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) or Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) at all. Even the park genius John Hammond and his grandchildren Lex and Tim only appeared briefly at the beginning.

The movie focuses on Jeff Goldblum, who played Dr. Ian Malcolm, the chaos theorist.

The film picks up four years after the events of Jurassic Park, and Dr. Ian has gone everywhere telling anyone who cares to listen about what he faced in the park. John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), who had lost control of InGen to his nephew Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard), invited Malcolm to his home to ask him to escort a team to a place called Site B.

John explained to Malcolm that the island of Isla Sorna, also known as "Site B", is where the dinosaurs were initially engineered and nurtured for a few months before being moved to the main park.

He further explained that after the Jurassic Park incident, a hurricane destroyed the containment facilities on Isla Sorna, and the dinosaurs have been living free in the wild ever since. They have found a way to survive.

Malcolm initially refuses, thinking back on the events and his near-death experience from four years ago, but agrees after learning that his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore), is part of the team and is already on the island.

So we’re back with the dinosaurs again, with only Malcolm having an idea of what they’re capable of.

There were scenes in the movie where the camera angles were well positioned, but the screenplay lacked thrills.

Other than not being a great sequel, many elements from the original Jurassic Park novel that were not in the first film were used here.

Mad Max (1979)

Mad Max (1979)

6/10

Starring

Mel Gibson

Steve Bisley

Joanne Samuel

Hugh Keays-Byrn

Directed by George Miller

This is one fun, captivating movie that you’ll enjoy. Young Mel Gibson never looked so good, and the world the movie is set in was sit-glueing.

Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopic action film, and it was Mel Gibson’s breakthrough movie, directed by George Miller. Before this, Mel had only acted in three other films. One of them, Tim, won him an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. His acting here is actually not that bad, and so were that of his supporting cast members.

Mad Max was based on the traditional western genre, telling the story of a broken-down society. It became a top-grossing Australian film.

The filmmaker George Miller, a medical doctor, met amateur filmmaker Byron Kennedy in 1971 at a summer film camp. They worked together to produce Mad Max eight years later. Miller and Kennedy scrambled for the budget, and due to the film’s low cost, they could only afford to give Gibson a real leather jacket and pants.

The plot is based around love and revenge. In a dystopic Australia, after the Earth's oil supplies were nearly exhausted, the world started to break down due to energy shortages, and people began doing whatever they liked.

A motorcycle gang member named Crawford “Nightrider” Montizano escapes police custody and tries to outrun the Main Force Patrol (MFP). He successfully eludes his initial pursuers, but the call goes out to the MFP's top pursuit man, Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson), who chases him down. Nightrider crashes and dies during the high-speed chase.

His gang members return to town, led by Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and Bubba Zanetti (Geoff Parry). While looking for who was involved in Nightrider’s death, they vandalise property, steal fuel, and chase down a couple who they rape. One of their members, Johnny (Tim Burns), is too drunk to ride and gets left behind. Max and Goose (Steve Bisley) show up and arrest him, but he’s later released due to lack of evidence.

Now bent on revenge, the gang targets Goose and Max, leading to death on various levels.

The acting and cinematography of Mad Max is something Miller and Kennedy pulled off well, considering the budget. But the special effects were not so good, and the story looked very, very half-baked. The movie to me is fun because of the idea it presents. When you are viewing the idea, it can make you either cringe or appreciate. Miller later went on to make great movies like Babe, Happy Feet, and the sequels to both films.

Mad Max is fun, captivating, and worth watching, but as I warn you it is a very low budget movie, with a very half-baked story, so watch with some low expectations.

Frankenstein (1931)

Frankenstein (1931)

7/10

Starring

Colin Clive

Mae Clarke

John Boles

Boris Karloff

Directed by James Whale

Frankenstein is a 1931 horror flick that has grown to be a somewhat horror classic. The movie is based on a book adaptation of the same name, written in 1818 by Mary Shelley.

The monster was played by Boris Karloff, although at the time of release, Universal Pictures kept the name of the actor playing the monster a secret to build suspense. Many thought it would be Bela Lugosi, the Dracula star.

The fun thing about this movie’s production for me, was this one interesting trivia and pardon me for the digression – Kenneth Strickfaden, who designed the electrical effects used in creating the monster, secured the use of at least one Tesla Coil built by the then-aged Nikola Tesla himself.

Now I happened to have read the book before seeing this movie, and I like many don’t know that Frankenstein was the name of the scientist who created the monster. The monster was not named, but many started calling him Frankenstein, and that later became the monster’s adopted name.

This movie would have been scary in the time it was made. Sound only came to the silver screen in 1927, and then a movie about monsters came out four years later. That would scare some, but seeing it now, it would be a stretch if you get goosebumps.

The movie plot is about Henry Frankenstein, who wanted to create life. He finally achieved this by using science and dead body parts from different corpses.

After all the parts were bound together to make a full human-like form, Frankenstein passed the body through his equipment. Then the famous lines were delivered:

"It's alive! It's alive!"
"Now I know what it feels like to be God!"

The monster created was not as understanding of the new world he is in as Henry would have expected, and his lack of understanding of things, led to the Monster being locked up. But events led to it being free, and wandering the new world he is in, killed a young lady and looking to hurt his creator.

This movie is a classic, true and true. It holds a 100% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.

Times have changed. CGI is now available to cover up for makeup and art. So when watching this movie, be ready to see true art. This movie is ok, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it, other than the ending. The book is not a happy ending story, and I feel this movie would have been a lot better if it played to that, instead of diverting. I guess that is one thing I did not like about this movie.

Frankenstein was followed by enough sequels, and later Bela Lugosi got to play the monster when his career hit the rocks.

The movie's first sequel, Bride of Frankenstein, was released in 1935, in which Elsa Lanchester plays the monster's bride.

The Green Mile (1999)

The Green Mile (1999)
 

7/10 

Starring

Tom Hanks
David Morse
Bonnie Hunt
Michael Clarke Duncan
James Cromwell

Directed by Frank Darabont

The Green Mile is based on a 1996 Stephen King novel of the same name. Done three years after the book release, The Green Mile was nominated for four Academy Awards, which included Best Supporting Actor for Michael Clarke Duncan, Best Picture, Best Sound, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The movie was directed by Frank Darabont, who also developed the screenplay in an eight-week period. An adapted screenplay that I have to commend as one of the best I’ve seen, but it lost at the Oscars to The Cider House Rules. Frank Darabont also directed the critically acclaimed The Shawshank Redemption, which earned him a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1994.

The high point of this movie will be the whole movie itself. I happen to have read the book before seeing the film, so watching a well-adapted novel on the silver screen made me feel like I was reading the book all over again.

The movie plot and the story itself are based on a flashback Paul Edgecomb was telling an old friend about his time as a prison officer in charge of death row inmates in Cold Mountain Penitentiary in 1935.

The cell block Paul (Tom Hanks) worked in was called the "Green Mile" because the condemned prisoners walking to their execution were said to be walking "the last mile". Here, it’s a stretch of faded lime-green linoleum. The other guards who were Paul’s friends in the movie were Brutus "Brutal" Howell (David Morse), Harry Terwilliger (Jeffrey DeMunn), and Dean Stanton (Barry Pepper).

In addition to the guards was Percy (Doug Hutchison), an arrogant misfit who took pride in terrorising the inmates.

Everything in the cell block was as usual until the guards got a visit from two inmates who changed their very view of life itself.

One of the inmates was John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), a giant of a man who had some weird miraculous power, an ability to heal and feel the pain and sufferings of others. The other was "Wild Bill" Wharton (Sam Rockwell), who was a psycho, murderer, and paedophile.

Their arrival was plagued with chaos, miraculous healings, and with the addition of Percy it became a handful for the other guards. 

That said, the movie does have its downside. The plot comes off predictable and the way the things arrange themselves can be very convenient, and the main issue for me is the movie is very not even subtly emotionally manipulative.

The Green Mile is a movie I have seen over and over again, and I believe you will enjoy watching it too.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Jurassic Park (1993)

10/10

Starring

Sam Neill

Laura Dern

Jeff Goldblum

Richard Attenborough

Joseph Mazzello

Ariana Richards

Samuel L. Jackson

Directed by Steven Spielberg

One of my top thrilling movies ever, and it was made by one of the best directors known, Steven Spielberg.

This 1993 science fiction adventure film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton, who was also hired to develop the screenplay for the movie.

Jurassic Park won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects. As for the acting in the movie, it is one that I appreciate as the child actors and adults were just amazing in this movie.

The movie plot is about a billionaire, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), and a small team of genetic scientists who were working together to create an amusement park of cloned dinosaurs.

John then recruits Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), a leading palaeontologist, and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) to come endorse the park. With them was Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), a mathematician and chaos theorist.

John decided to take them all on a tour of the park. He also took along his grandchildren.

Greed can be dangerous, as one of the main programmers of the park decides to shut it down in order to escape with some samples of dinosaur DNA to sell for profit. The movie is about a tour gone wrong with hungry dinosaurs on the loose.

The thing is, Jurassic Park CGI was amazing for something done in 1993 and it was both a critical and commercial success, and it also gave birth to two sequels — The Lost World (1997, also directed by Spielberg) and Jurassic Park III (2001, directed by Joe Johnston). Both were also financial successes, but none came close to the first.

The movie title suggests that the dinosaurs featured all existed in the Jurassic period, but most of the dinosaurs you saw on screen didn’t exist until the Cretaceous period, with the exception of Brachiosaurus and Dilophosaurus.

My favourite line in the movie was by Jeff Goldblum: “God creates dinosaurs, God destroys dinosaurs, God creates man, man destroys God, man creates dinosaurs.”

As much as I celebrate this movie, the thing I feel could have been done better would be the slow start, the movie starts slow and picks up much later.

I feel Jurassic Park is one of my all-time thrills, and I advise that you go get a dose of it again.

Citizen Kane (1941)

Citizen Kane (1941) 

7/10

Starring

Orson Welles
Joseph Cotten
Dorothy Comingore
Everett Sloane
Ray Collins

Directed by Orson Wells

Whether this movie is overrated or not, Citizen Kane tops the list of many reviewers. I feel the movie is overrated, and there were certain elements that dragged longer than they should.

This 1941 drama film was directed, written, and starred Orson Welles, who at the time was making his directorial debut. Citizen Kane is a movie I may not boldly say “go watch,” but if you like the art of filmmaking, then this is one classic you should see.

The high points in the movie have to be the storytelling, based primarily on flashbacks. The movie is about a man named Charles Foster Kane, a newspaper magnate played by Orson Welles, whose story is loosely based on the lives of four men: American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick, and some aspects of Welles's own life.

Narrated principally through flashbacks, the story of Charles Foster Kane is revealed through the research of a newsreel reporter seeking to uncover the mystery of Kane's dying word: “Rosebud.” The movie depicts a man who had everything but lacked empathy. This makes you, the audience, either judge his actions or commend them as brave. The plot navigates through his life, marriage, wealth, and how he managed everything from a view that sometimes feels too dark to relate to as a viewer.

The thrill in this movie is how it moves from flashback to real time with such powerful continuity that it makes you respect the art. If you compare this movie to something like Inception and co, you may view it as an overrated classic, but the cinematography is one for the books.

Viewing the film with an objective eye, you remember it was made in 1941, in black and white, with no CGI at all. Yet makeup artists did their absolute best to carry you along in the growth of Kane himself.

Then comes the question in your heart. The portrayal of the character. Orson did so well at various stages in the life of Kane that he convinces you he’s actually playing his own life story.

The directing style of Orson is also something to talk about, focusing entirely on the life of Kane and making the newspaper reporter kind of anonymous.

The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards but took home one, for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Herman Mankiewicz and Welles. It has topped many reviewers’ “greatest film ever made” lists, such as Sight & Sound's decennial poll, the AFI’s 100 Years...100 Movies list, and its 10th Anniversary Update.

This movie is a classic, true and true.

Mr Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

Mr Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

9/10

Starring

Jean Arthur
James Stewart
Harry Carey
Claude Rains

Directed by Frank Capra

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a movie that teaches you the power of being resilient.

Frank Capra and James Stewart, who also worked together in the 1946 movie It’s a Wonderful Life, pulled off a perfect combination of acting and directing that will make you, the viewer, want to be like Mr. Smith.

In a world where politics is a dirty game of “if you can’t beat them, join them,” Mr. Smith (James Stewart) was faced with the task of being the odd one out, as he wanted to stand for what he believed in.

Frank Capra and his crew had their work cut out for them to ensure authenticity. An elaborate set was created, consisting of the Senate committee rooms and cloakrooms. The thing that really stands out is the reproduction of the Senate Chamber on the Columbia lot.

The movie plot is about a naive and idealistic gentleman, Jefferson Smith (James Stewart). Smith is the leader of the Boy Rangers and, due to a gap in the Senate, he was appointed by the governor of his state.

In the Senate, he met a friend of his father whom he looked up to — Senator Joseph Paine.

In Washington, Smith discovers the many tricks and shortcomings of politics. His goal to build a national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss, Jim Taylor, and his childhood hero, Senator Paine.

After the powers that be tried to recruit Smith, he turned them down. In response, Jim Taylor concocted a scandal that ruined Smith’s name.

The whole movie is then based on how he tries to defend his name.

The movie stands high on drama, with a few comic relief moments here and there. We’re used to movies that depict the good guy winning at the end, but this movie exposes a bit of reality — to triumph in any battle, you must be ready to go the extra mile and do what has not been done before.

The movie showcases wonderful acting by the cast, but the ending of the movie is annoying and unrealistic. It was like they ran out of ideas and was like, let us just end it.

In 1977, Frank Capra Jr. remade the film under another name, Billy Jack Goes to Washington, starring Tom Laughlin. In 1992, Eddie Murphy starred in a movie loosely based on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, called The Distinguished Gentleman.

The film also influenced many other movies, including Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde and Evan Almighty.

This classic is very readily available nowadays, and I ask you to go see it.