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Now You See Me (2013)
Now You See Me (2013)
Now You See Me is a film about a group of 4 magicians brought together by an unknown person. They are convinced to become a team and eventually they land their own show in Las Vegas. When one of their tricks involves stealing a large amount of money, they become part of a cat and mouse chase with the FBI.
The film was directed by Louis Leterrier. The cast includes Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Michael Kelly, Common, and David Warshofsky.
Now You See Me hypnotized me with its excitement. It was certain to amaze. The cast of characters were all clever and quite entertaining. For a while I was caught up in the illusion of the promise of something great. Eventually I was let down. The ride was a thrill. The destination however, was a disappointment.
I enjoyed seeing Eisenberg and Harrelson teamed up together again for the first time since Zombieland (2009).
This is the 4th time that Freeman and Caine have been in the same film. The previous 3 films were The Dark Knight Trilogy.
Now You See Me could be Dave Franco’s best performance to date.
It was nice to see Laurent in another American made movie. This is the first film that I have seen her in anything since Inglourious Basterds (2009).
The story was unfinished and sort of lacked a point. The movie became dependent on sleight of hand in order to entertain. You can only one-up a magic trick so many times before it starts to get a little worn out.
The ending of the film acted like it was a big grand conclusion when in reality it just fizzled. Don’t get me wrong, the movie was fun and amusing. It was worth seeing, just not in the theatre. The film is like any magic trick, once you know the secret behind it, it is no longer exciting.
I rate this movie a 7 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Inglourious Basterds is a World War II film of epic proportions. I think the title of the movie is enough to turn some people off from wanting to see it. That is unfortunate because those people don’t know what they are missing. The film is absolutely incredible. At the time that I saw it, I did not think that Quentin Tarantino was capable of making such a perfect movie. He writes, directs, and has an uncredited part in the film.
“Once upon a time in Nazi-occupied France…”
A group of Jewish American soldiers known as The Basterds, along with a famous German actress and, a Jewish girl seeking revenge, all find themselves in a plot to try to kill high ranking Nazi leaders.
Inglourious Basterds is one of my favorite films of all time. It is definitely in my top 5 and maybe even in my top 3. I wish I had seen it in the theatre. I was a little bit skeptical of the movie when it first came out, and therefore I ended up waiting to watch it on DVD. Big mistake! If they brought it back to the theatre tomorrow, I would see it in a heartbeat.
The film has everything. Love, hate, blood, guts, war, beautiful landscapes, spies, traitors, loss, tragedy, revenge, hope, tension, an excellent story, a huge cast of amazing characters, a great director, a perfect script, and just enough humor to bring everything together.
Inglourious Basterds is probably Brad Pitt’s best movie. It is definitely his best character, but it is a toss-up between this movie and Fight Club (1999), although in recent years he has chosen his roles very wisely.
Quentin Tarantino managed to not only get a perfect cast, but somehow he got the best possible performances out of most of them. It is amazing how incredibly awesome everyone in the movie is. This is Tarantino’s best movie. He may come close, but I don’t think that he will ever top this film.
Christoph Waltz broke into American movies with his part in this film. Up until Inglourious Basterds, he was basically just a well-known foreign actor, mostly in Germany. His performance in the movie was nothing less than perfect and nobody could have done a better job. He did receive the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor which he wholeheartedly deserved. As I mentioned in my Django Unchained (2012) review, he received the same award in back-to-back Tarantino directed films. Those are both 2 characters that have really stuck in my mind. He got the role of a lifetime twice.
Like Waltz, Melanie Laurent came out of nowhere and was just astonishing. I can’t think of an actress off the top of my head that in recent years has done a better job than she did in this film. The only actress that could maybe come close is Diane Kruger also for her role in this film.
Eli Roth gave the best performance of his acting career.
The not very well-known Daniel Bruhl made his mark in this film and let his presence be known.
Til Schweiger has been acting for a while, but his breakout performance was definitely in this film. Any reference to him will be a reference to this movie.
This was Mike Myers best movie since Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002).
Michael Fassbender was an up-and-comer before he made this movie and now he is a household name.
Samuel L. Jackson plays the part of the narrator and you also hear the voice of Harvey Keitel.
The movie also includes Gedeon Burkhard, B.J. Novak, Omar Doom, August Diehl, Denis Menochet, Sylvester Groth, Martin Wuttke, Julie Dreyfus, Richard Sammel, Alexander Fehling, Rod Taylor, Samm Levine, Christian Berkel, and Lea Seydoux.
If you have not seen Inglourious Basterds then after you finish reading this review, stop what you are doing, drop everything and go out and buy it immediately. It is that good. I am not kidding. Go now!
I rate this movie a 10 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? BUY!
Trailer for Now You See Me (2013)
Now You See Me (2013) (click on the title for my full review)
The movie is about a group of famous magicians turned bank robbers. It appears that the sleight of hand in the film will mess with your mind and keep you entertained just like real magicians are supposed to do.
The casting is a reunion of sorts. Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson are together again for the first time since they were teamed up in Zombieland (2009). Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are reunited for the first times since the Dark Knight Trilogy. The film also has Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, Melanie Laurent, Michael Kelly, Elias Koteas, rapper/actor: Common, and James Franco’s little brother Dave Franco (proved himself in 21 Jump Street (2012).
It looks like a cross between Ocean’s Eleven (2001) and The Prestige (2006). Looks like it could be missing something, but maybe we will be pleasantly surprised.
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