EPTI got some free time lately and since i live alone, no friend no family for the holiday season, I decided to pick up some old habits. Nothing too major, im a big guy but years of below zero physical activities really put a line onto what i could do for fun. Not to be mistaken that im fat, I have never been thinner since i was 13. Some of the jeans i wear since my last years of high school now requires belt, tight belt when i put them on. Otherwise they would fall off after i walk down the stair and I would have a really awkward moment with my imaginary roommate. Oh yes, my roommates all went away for the holidays which makes my chair a pretty good substitute but thats a story for another time. Long story short, I watch some movies and I want to talk about them.
Saving Mr. Banks comes to me as an enigma. Obviously, i know who Tom Hanks is as my uncle has a collection of DVDs of all the classic American pictures but his works recently was simply not that bell ringing compare to his best. In fact i rather find the da vinci code series to be hideous but may be thats just common for every book readers. As much as I am familiar with disney and their infinite cartoon world, I havent find much joy in their movies lately. The sugar coated fairy tales seems to get darker and darker every year with the humor becomes so meta that they even have character questioning the dancing and singing in a musical movie. Are kids getting smarter or their target audience is getting older? Have they finnally decided to cut the bullshits and went for the wallet holder instead of satisfying the children? Or is this all a part of a population control program in order to create a more sensible generation of American child as opposed to the hideous ones who grew up during the 40s 50s? Am i turning into a Nazi after living in solitude for so long or im just getting old?
Jokes aside, I actually comes to like the movie. As much as i am not familiar with Mary Poppins and all the stories related to the character, the movie done such a good job keeping me in the flow. Emma Thompson was incredible in recreating P.L. Travers: from the way she use her hand to the little habits human tend to do when they are anxious. Colin Farrell definitely did his part well though i would love to see Antonio Banderas being in that role for a more matured father figure.
A few days after i watched the movie, a come over a friend place to help with the seasonal student moving. Hours long of gathering often drys people out of common topics which one way or another leading to recent movie you watched. And I remember, clearly, that the very first thing i said about this movie was: "Its about dreaming". I liked the story. I am a dreamer and I am sure that I would have raised my future children exactly how Travers Goff raised his. "Replacing alcohol with dota and you got a perfect drama for 2020" I kid myself.
Saving Mr.Banks rating: 8/10
Pros:
Very positive movie.
Good acting.
Good scripts.
Cons:
Could be depressing.
Support roles could have done much better.
Last night I watched American Hustle. Not that because i was impressed by a sickening star line up that i saw in a trailer way back in early summer but because it was in the number 1 seeding torrent list on piratebay. Lets be real here, I am broke to the cents so please spare me on the moral code of pirating. I will have you know that i had a chance to pirate window 8 the other day and i settled with my own paid copy of win 7 home premium. God damn, it doesnt support gpmc.msc which is incredibly annoying.
And yes, i brought up pirating because this movie is about hustling. After a quick look, this aint nothing more than another version of Ocean Eleven minus the fancy well written language. I dislike the movie a lot. From the script to the acting to the way the represent the characters. The movie was shit if its not for all the top tier entertainer doing their role decently.
But to hell with the negativity. There is one thing, ONE thing that is stood out to me more than anything else. And no, Im not a fan of Jennifer Lawrence to make it the part where she begging the guy to fuck her. If anything i have been much more attracted to Amy Adams ever since Enchanted. Back to my original point, there is ONE thing that I really like out of this pile of garbage in this movie. That is when the hustlers questioning themselves whether or not the lies they are repeating on the daily basis are actually true. For Prosser, it would be about loyalty and love and where they stand. For Rosenfeld it would be about morality and family. Oh well! Too bad, the movie doesnt have enough room to explore into those lies and the mentality side of the thieves. Gota get enough screen time to justify all the payment for those stars they got on the movie.
When I look at American Hustle, I see a product with so much potentials. But potentials are nothing but illusion and reality we are left with a pile of
Acting wise, Christian Bale was incredible as usual. Batman with a comb over and no money.... nah! he definitely show cased a very different character than his previous roles. Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams was good thought im still not sure what kinda character Bradley Cooper supposed to be. It feels like im watching a mental unstable person which bring up the question of how does one get a detective badge when they are crazy? Could be just the script being horrible though im continue being a Bradley Cooper anti fan.... God damn im still salty about the time i wasted on The Hangover and Limitless. Jeremy Renner definite stand out much more than others in my opinion. His role was well written and easy to like. Though i could nit pick a bit here and there to make his character better, I think Jeremy did an outstanding job play the Mayor. The part where he got angry was definitely memorable as its showcasing stages of reactions and emotions that a pure human being would behave when they are betrayed.
American Hustle rating: 4/10
Pros:
Incredible line up of stars.
Follow up with good acting
Exploiting a new side of criminal movie: psychology.
Cons:
Bad script, not enough room for characters to grow.
The ending was quite obvious.
The ending could have been much better.
I really wished Rosalyn's boyfriend was hired by Irving to seduced his wife. Too bad thats not the case.
