The Girl on the Train (2016) 4/5

I really enjoyed this film, even after IMDB and RT gave it poor scores. This is one example of when you shouldn’t listen to the critics 100%. It’s a mystery and thriller with Emily Blunt, one of my favorite actors. This film is a winner in my book.

R | 1h 52min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller | 7 October 2016 (USA)
A divorcee becomes entangled in a missing persons investigation that promises to send shockwaves throughout her life.
Director: Tate Taylor
Writers: Erin Cressida Wilson (screenplay), Paula Hawkins (novel)
Stars: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson

Whodunnit? That’s what we have here. I think it’s close to impossible to guess until about 1/2 way through. At that point people are likely to have differences of opinion. Blunt’s figure is trying to find out why she is so afraid of herself. To start, we find her fear is based on listening to the bad others say about her, including her ex-husband. The stuff she hears is so awful, she drowns herself in drinking. Most people would just drink themselves to death but not her. She sets out to figure out why these people say these things. To her, they don’t “seem like her.”

It’s a thriller for sure and one of the best of 2016 in my opinion. The unfurling of the truth is a bit melodramatic, I was hoping for more, but certainly exciting. For fans of Emily and the thriller genre in general, I highly recommend this.

4/5 Shamrocks
4/5 Shamrocks

Amadeus (1984)

Why are gifted musicians crazy? It’s true, they really are. Wolfgang Amadeus was among the most loopy. He had a woman in his life who truly cared for him but basically his private life was a train wreck but didn’t he make beautiful tunes?

R | 2h 40min | Biography, Drama, History | 19 September 1984 (USA)
The incredible story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, told by his peer and secret rival Antonio Salieri – now confined to an insane asylum.
Director: Milos Forman
Writers: Peter Shaffer (original stage play), Peter Shaffer (original screenplay)
Stars: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge

Another item we see in this film is the evil mentor, the Obi Wan who seeks to take down and destroy his apprentice. You can’t blame Salieri for hating Mozart, after all he was practically composing out of the womb. He had “an ear” while others only had hard work and traditional training on their side.

In Mozart we see an annoying freak. We also so a tortured young man who was “above” us all. He heard the songs of the gods and brought them down to us. This is a highly entertaining film, despite a few lagging and questionably accurate segments. If you think it looks boring because of the classical music though, think again. I recommend this film to lovers of music, history, and passion filled biographies.

4/5 Shamrocks
4/5 Shamrocks

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

IMDB’s number one movie shouldn’t be fucked with right? Well, it has its imperfections. The reason they picked Tim Robbins will always be a mystery to me. All the other casting is good. It’s an inspired Stephen King novel and that’s why it’s good (and the only reason why), in my opinion.

Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.
Director: Frank Darabont
Writers: Stephen King (short story “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”), Frank Darabont (screenplay)
Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton

Most people who see this film have a visceral reaction. It’s not boring in any way. I like prison films and this is sort of a sing-song one. Still, it’s a great prison film and I like it a lot.

You get to see what happens on the inside from a kinder, gentler, machine gun lens. Part of that is due to Stephen King. You know, he is very tame compared to some of the other horror writers. There is a bent in a lot of his stuff against traditional religion. I can definitely relate with that bent.

There is also a lot of Murphy’s Law. I probably don’t need to recommend this since it’s done quite well for decades on its own. Still, I recommend it to fans of prison movies and Stephen King’s outlook on things. Beware of a sing-song nature. This isn’t the hard, deep stuff of life as it claims to be.

3/5 Shamrocks
3/5 Shamrocks

 

The Godfather

Everybody knows the Godfather right? Well, that isn’t necessarily true. I think people about my age take it for granted as an amazing classic. We assume all movie fans have it memorized. I know my podcast cohort isn’t fond of it. As strange as that sounds, I must accept it is true. I’ll tell you what appeals to me about it.

R | 2h 55min | Crime, Drama | 24 March 1972 (USA)
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)
Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan

There’s something powerful about Don Corleone. He’s amassed wealth and an empire entire outside of society’s machine. He has become a new machine. He does “favors,” usually entailing crimes, for the butcher, the baker, and the candle-stick maker. Then they owe their allegiance to him and his family mafia. What we see in the film is a powerful crime family made up of those people, built one by one.

There is a bunch of violence but it’s righteous. You get me, I get you back. That’s how it works in the mafia. This film changed the world and especially changed movies. The way things are done now is warped in a twisted and beautiful way little bit because of the Godfather. I recommend this film to people who can take righteous violence and who enjoy amazing period pieces with thick character development. Also, who can miss the best of Marlon Brando?

5/5 Shamrocks
5/5 Shamrocks

Network (1976)

In these days of the Hunger Games, this movie makes a pale statement. Still, it was fun watching this 1976 film make its statement against the media, specifically the news. Some of it even reminded me of the stuff trump is pulling these days (lowercase is intentional).

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The story is basically in a news station. A crazy newscaster who the world has grown used to and familiar with has a psychotic break and begins making promises that he will take his life on television. Instead of getting rid of him, the network sees the ratings go up and puts him on camera again and again.

We see the greed of the network from all angles. We also see the sheep-like nature of the audience. There is a culminating event that wraps the whole cynical point up nicely. There are some great classic actors in their 30’s like Faye Dunaway. I love films from 1976 and thereabouts. They are simply showing the buildings and attire of the day and yet it looks like the best retro modern films can offer.

I recommend this film mostly for political cynics. Besides that, it’s a tense but well made drama from 1976. I recommend to all.

Manchester by the Sea

I went into this film expecting too much I think. It’s getting unheard-of high scores on all the major rating sites. It didn’t merit that in my view.  It looked like a romance, it isn’t. It looked like a chance for actors to shine for Oscars, it wasn’t.

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The story here is fairly simple, though it’s presented in and out of sequential time. That makes it a little harder to get your head around. Casey Affleck is a handyman, a dad, and a husband. He does the unthinkable. He suffers the unimaginable. Of course it’s devastating and sad. It’s told by jumping around in time. When his brother dies, he is chosen to take care of his brother’s son. That alone could have been the theme of the movie but there is something else big, ferocious, sad, and overwhelming that almost overshadows it.

The problem with this film is that it only offers a surface image of it’s many situations. Stories are delved into and not fully developed through the characters. You’ll find tears well placed but it wasn’t enough to bring me into the movie. I saw it, heard it, and interpreted it but only to see what was happening. There was only one spot where I really felt what was happening. The scene way after the tragedy when Michelle Williams’ character meets up with Casey Affleck’s is certainly a tear-jerker moment.

I have always found Casey Affleck to be a flat character. In this film, he is once again flat. I’m very surprised this film has received so much acclaim. Specifically, I wonder why so much praise has been given to Casey. He does an ok job but I think almost any actor could walk in his shoes here. This is a decent film worth watching. I recommend it but not as high as the critics seem to be doing. But, art is relative and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My final word? It’s a decent to very-good drama, that’s it.