Day: October 4, 2014

Director: Nacho Vigalondo

Writer: Nacho Vigalondo (Screenplay)

Starring: Sasha Grey, Elijah Wood, Neil Maskell,

 

Plot: An actress named Jill refuses to have dinner with Nick, a fan who won a date with her in an Internet contest. In return, a guy named Chord, posing as Jill’s campaign manager, helps Nick to follow in the footsteps of the actress from his own computer. Nick starts a game in which he realizes that is only a puppet into the maniac plans devised by Chord, to hunt down the star.

 

Verdict: Thinking Outside the Box

 

Story: In a world where having the right technology can help hack into everything we follow a young man get tricked into helping a mad man kidnap an actress. This all gets put together using just webcams and security cams, with most of the story unfolding on our hero’s laptop within plenty of different pop-up windows.

Granted the story can come off very easy to follow it does throw out a few different twists as the story continues. The twists do take away what has been built up but it also shows how far people will go for a moment of madness. It is brave doing a film without using conventional camera and as I am always a fan of something different I will praise that. In the end the thriller shows what stalkers will do and how defenceless the celebrity can be. (7/10)

 

Actor Review

 

Sasha Grey: Jill Goddard actress who has been having second thoughts about her career after making another sequel. She gets kidnapped by the guy pulling the strings. Sasha does a good job as the celebrity who gets caught in the middle of a stalkers game. (7/10)

 

Elijah Wood: Nick Chambers young blogger who wants to have an interview with his favourite actress. He ends up getting used as a puppet in a stalkers game. He races against time to try and save her before it is too late. Good performance from Elijah who again shows he is willingly to take a chance on a role. (8/10)

Neil Maskell: Chord voice on the phone who puts Nick through a string a tasks to help him get close to his favourite actress, but he has a different agenda with the actress. Good performance as we always want to know what he will do next. (7/10)

 

Supporting Cast: The support cast is mainly another group of hackers, who help Nick believing he is an internationally renowned hacker. (7/10)

 

Director Review: Nacho Vigalondo – Brave direction using alternative camera work to turn a thriller into real time thriller on web cams. (8/10)

 

Action: most of the action is car chases, these are all shot using the multi camera system on the laptop too. (7/10)

Thriller: you do get pulled in to care about what happens to the actress and young man as they try to figure out what is going on and try to escape. (9/10)

Settings: The settings are used to create an atmosphere we are unsure off the locations of certain people but we do get left wonder when they will end up. (8/10)

Suggestion: This should be tried it might not be everyone’s cup of tea but you may enjoy this. (Try It)

 

Best Part: Brave Ideas

Worst Part: A lot of people will get turned off with Sasha Grey casting.

Believability: With the abilities people have to hack this could be a very real outcome before the extra twists. (5/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: Unlikely

Post Credits Scene: No

 

Oscar Chances: No

Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes

Trivia: This is the first movie not using conventional cameras, but web-cams from some computers, which screens open and close along the movie.

 

Overall: Interesting Look at Stalkers

Rating 

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Writer: Quentin Tarantino (Screenplay)

Starring: Brad Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, Daniel Bruhl, Til Schweiger

 

Plot: In Nazi-occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theatre she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the “Basterds”, a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl’s plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.

 

Verdict: Tarantino’s War Masterpiece

 

Story: This is what Tarantino does best, making such a simple story into one of the most engrossing films you will ever see. You get what seems like three separate stories that all end up coming together to make such a brilliant story you will be surprised that you have just spent two and half hours watching it. Sure the story is not based on anything true but the idea of how World War II could have ended is very interesting. I will be willingly to say this is by far one of the best war films in century. (10/10)

 

Actor Review

 

Brad Pitt: Lt Aldo Raine the leader of the Basterds who only recruits soldier who are Jewish and want to kill Nazis. He is honest to the people he captures and likes to make examples of the ones he lets go with his logo carving skills. Good performance from Pitt, who plays the role perfectly. (9/10)

 

Melanie Laurent: Shosanna a lone survivor of Jew hunt by Hans Landa, she has now become a French citizen running a small cinema. She gets a chance to get full revenge on everyone involved after a chase meeting with a hero solider who wants to premiere a film about him in her cinema. Good performance from Melanie who shows her good side and her revenge side depending on who she is around. (9/10)

Christoph Waltz: Col Hans Landa nicknamed the Jew Hunter by the people for his expert skills in locating them when in hiding, he is a brilliant detective who will come off calm when first speaking before snapping into action when the time comes. Stunning performance from Waltz, with his brilliant timing on his story telling to uncover the truth. (10/10)

 

Eli Roth: Sgt. Donny Donowitz nicknamed the Bear Jew, he is the man who will go that extra mile to make sure the Nazis pay for everything they have done. He has one of the most brutal introductions in the film during an interrogation scene where he ends up beating a man to death with a baseball bat. Good performance from Roth in the top supporting role. (9/10)

 

Michael Fassbender: Lt Archie Hicox the British officer who before the war was a film critic studying German cinema. He gets assigned to the Basterds to meet a liaison for the plan, he gets caught up in a fire fight before being able to become part of the plan. Good performance from Michael showing he had the potential to move between accents at ease. (9/10)

 

Diane Kruger: Bridget a well-known actress turned double agent who is the brains behind the Basterds cinema attack. She is well spoken and can handle any situation she is put in but when things went sour she has to trust the unlikely uncover operatives. Good supporting performance. (8/10)

 

Daniel Bruhl: Fredrick Zoller the German war hero who is about to have a film about his action released and after talking the higher up military into using Shosanna’s cinema, he believe is could be a start of a romance. Good performance from a rising star. (9/10)

Director Review: Quentin Tarantino – I really question how Tarantino does what he does, he can make the most boring sounding scene into the most engrossing scene in the whole film, this time he pull you in and you simply won’t want to look away. (10/10)

 

Drama: Every scene pulls you in with the perfectly acted drama. (10/10)

War: This doesn’t go for realism of war, it doesn’t even focus on any battles it focuses on stopping it. (9/10)

Settings: Each setting looks authentic to the time and each setting makes ever scene that extra tense. (10/10)
Special Effects: Good special effects used during some of the more violent moments. (9/10)

Suggestion: This simply put is an absolute must watch for everyone, it is a master class in film making. (Watch)

 

Best Part: The simple talking scenes that pull you in that are tension fuelled.

Worst Part: People think it all violence when it has very little violence in the film.

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: No

Post Credits Scene: No

 

Oscar Chances: Won 1 Oscar and nominated for a further 7

Box Office: $321 Million

Budget: $70 Million

Runtime: 2 Hours 32 Minutes

Tagline: A basterd’s work is never done.

Trivia: Roughly only 30% of the film is in spoken English, the language which dominates the film is either French or German, with a little Italian. Chapter Three of the film ‘German Night in Paris’ is completely devoid of any English. This is highly unusual for a Hollywood production.

 

Overall: Brilliant Tarantino’s Masterpiece

Rating 

Dakota Johnson

Age: 25

Number of Roles: 19

Biggest Films: Need for Speed

Family: Dakota is daughter of Hollywood couple Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith and granddaughter of Tippi Hedren.

Debut Role: Crazy in Alabama (1999)

Early Career: Even though she got her debut in 1999 it would be eleven years before she got her next acting role. It was in Oscar winning ‘The Social Network’ before following up with teen romance film ‘Beastly’. Joining on for two films that did the festival rounds ‘For Ellen’ and ‘Goats’, before returning to small parts in bigger films ’21 Jump Street’ and ‘The Five-Year Engagement’. Entering into television was the next choice she made and sitcom ‘Ben and Kate’ gave her a lead role, but it only lasted one season. In 2014 we got a range of films, first up we had comedy ‘Date and Switch’, followed by video game adaptation ‘Need for Speed’ and action crime thriller ‘Cymbeline’.

It would be fair to say she is ready to break out and just maybe 2015 could be her year especially with ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ film coming out. She is the future star, remember the name, but come on let’s see her do horror.

Television Roles:

• Ben and Kate (2013) 16 Episodes
• The Office (2013)

Break Out Role: Fifty Shades of Grey

Next Big Role: Fifty Shades of Grey

My Favourite Role: Anita – Need for Speed

My Least Favourite Role: I have only actually seen two of her films and enjoyed both films.

Films I Want to See That I Haven’t Seen:

• For Ellen
• 21 Jump Street
• Cymbeline