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You Were Never Really Here (2017)
You Were Never Really Here (2017)
I was a little apprehensive about seeing this movie. It appeared like it would be either really good or just really bad. I have enjoyed most of Joaquin Phoenix’s work, so I thought I would give You Were Never Really Here a shot.
The film is about a hit man who gets in over his head when he is hired to rescue a young girl from a sex slave ring, and make the people involved suffer for what they have done to her.
The movie was directed by Lynne Ramsay and the noteworthy cast includes Joaquin Phoenix, Judith Roberts, John Doman, Alex Manette, Ekaterina Samsonov, and Alessandro Nivola.
You Were Never Really Here is unflinching and unplugged. The film does not pull any punches. The subject matter is as dark as it gets. This movie is certainly not for everyone. The movie was unique. The way that it was filmed raised the level of intensity. The soundtrack and natural background noise in the movie really set the gritty tone. It was rough at times, but it was very necessary to tell the story.
Phoenix is ruthless and almost robotic. It is a cold, hard, Oscar-worthy performance. He throws everything into his character and continues to reveal to us his wide range of talent and ability as a versatile actor.
I have heard comparisons of You Were Never Really Here to Taxi Driver (1976), and I have to say that I liked You Were Never Really Here better. I can see the comparison in only the mean streets and loud, tough city. The atmosphere was reminiscent of Taxi Driver in the way that it was filmed. However, I feel like Taxi Driver tried too hard and often fell short. There was a lot more unnecessary shock value in Taxi Driver. I felt like there was more depth and purpose to You Were Never Really Here (2017).
This movie was in limited release and therefore I had to go way out of my way in order to see it. Because it was such a dark film, I can understand that it was only in limited release. Not everybody can handle this type of movie. However, I am glad that movies like this one are still able to get made.
You Were Never Really Here will leave you thinking about it long after it is over. That is often how you can tell that a movie was worth seeing, when it sticks with you. If you are a fan of Joaquin Phoenix and you like grittier films, then you will most likely enjoy You Were Never Really Here.
I rate this movie a 9 on a scale of 1-10.
If you liked this film then you might also enjoy:
Bad Samaritan (2018)
John Wick (2014)
John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
Collateral (2004)
Street Kings (2008)
Training Day (2001)
Crank (2006)
Crank: High Voltage (2009)
Gladiator (2000)
Her (2013)
Triple 9 (2016)
Running Scared (2006)
Run All Night (2015)
Harsh Times (2005)
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Dark humor in an edgy looking story jammed packed with character actors galore. Why wouldn’t I want to see this film?
The movie is about a broken woman whose daughter had been raped and murdered less than a year earlier and the crime is still unsolved. She decides to purchase advertisements on three billboards outside of Ebbing, Missouri, essentially publically calling the police out for not doing their jobs. This gets the attention of the police station and stirs things up around town.
The film was written and directed by Martin McDonagh and the noteworthy cast includes Frances Mcdormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Peter Dinklage, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbie Cornish, Lucas Hedges, Zeljko Ivanek, Christopher Berry, John Hawkes, Clarke Peters, and Darrell Brit-Gibson.
The casting is superb. The characters are excellent. Rockwell and Harrelson are likable jerks (as they often are). They play their parts well. Mcdormand steals the show with her best performance in years.
The multiple characters stories join together well in a web of darkness. The movie allows its cast to take their time to develop their characters in an overly dysfunctional drama. They really did not disappoint.
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is a blunt force. It has the right amount of dark humor carefully thrown into the mix to break up the brutal honesty of the film.
This film is a miserably twisted tale that goes to some dark places. You can really feel the pain and anguish on screen. However, it leaves those places leaving you feeling better about the whole thing afterwards.
There is more cussing in this film than I have heard in a newer film for a while. The dialogue and writing are top notch. I enjoyed how the film did not really edit itself. It may not be much for the politically correct crowd. If you cannot handle harsh language, this movie is not for you. Given some of the horrible situations in this film, I feel that the language was justified and also more realistic. It served as another tool to get the point across.
The movie pushes the boundaries on what you expect. Lots of surprises keep you guessing throughout. It’s witty and charming, but in a dysfunctional, hellish way.
I rate this movie a 9 on a scale of 1-10.
If you liked this film then you might also enjoy:
Fargo (1996)
North Country (2005)
Mr. Right (2015)
Choke (2008)
Matchstick Men (2003)
Triple 9 (2016)
Hostiles (2017)
Hostiles (2017)
I’m a big fan of the Western genre if it’s done right. Christian Bale does not often disappoint. So, naturally I was pretty excited to see this movie.
The film takes place in 1892. It is about an army captain (Christian Bale) who is ordered to gather his men and transport a notorious Cheyenne Chief and his family back to their home land. Along the way, they clash with a group of Apaches.
The film was written and directed by Scott Cooper. The noteworthy cast includes Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Adam Beach, Jesse Plemons, Ben Foster, Stephen Lang, Scott Wilson, Q’orianka Kilcher, Tanaya Beatty, David Midthunder, Rory Cochrane, and Peter Mullan.
This is the second time that Cooper has directed Bale. The first time being in the film Out of the Furnace (2013). Cooper also previously directed Jesse Plemons and Rory Cochrane in Black Mass (2015). This is the second western that Christian Bale and Ben Foster have been in together. The first one was 3:10 to Yuma (2007). Ben Foster and Jesse Plemons were also in the movie The Program (2015) together.
Hostiles does an excellent job recreating the late 1800s in the “Old West.” The set and costume design are spot on.
The film swiftly grasps your focus like a gut-wrenching kick to the stomach. It knocks the wind out of you before slowing down to allow the story to unfold. Like most Westerns, Hostiles runs at a slower pace. The movie pauses to allow you to take in its surroundings. The soundtrack and scenery contribute nicely to the overall dark tone of the film. The characters are permitted to develop naturally as the actors are able to take their time to actually act. Nothing is rushed. The precision in the details makes the movie feel convincingly more real.
It’s a breath of fresh air to watch a movie, in this day and age, that doesn’t solely rely on special effects and action to tell the story while leaving acting and writing in the back seat. Occasionally, Hostiles does feel a little slow, but I think that is just because of all the fast paced action that we are used to Hollywood throwing at us. In this case, the longer the film goes on, the more you appreciate it for what it is.
Bale imposed his will upon this film with an eerie presence. The presence of a war-torn honorable man who had been dragged through hell and forced to do terrible things to survive. His acting is impeccable and he is allowed to shine in Hostiles.
Rosamund Pike gave a good performance. She was not treated like a set decoration like so many actresses are, these days.
This film is unique because the characters seem to be put in situations where they react more to their environment. The rough road that they are on can be seen in the actors’ eyes and felt on screen.
I do feel like some of the actors in this film were not used enough. However, at the pace that the film travels, it could’ve been a much longer road had they not cut their time short. I can see how this might have taken away from the story. So, I like the direction that it ultimately went.
Overall, Hostiles is a darker, worthwhile Western with substance. Christian Bale carries the film, but it’s obvious that Scott Cooper wanted it that way.
I rate this movie an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
If you enjoyed Hostiles, you might also like:
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
The Revenant (2015)
Dances with Wolves (1990)
The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
I had never even heard of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints until I rented Charlie Countryman (2013) at the Redbox. When you rent Charlie Countryman, you get A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints as a bonus movie. They give you a two-for-one, a double sided disc for the price of one movie. It’s a Shia LaBeouf double feature. They are both indie films. This was all the more intriguing to me, so I watched each movie the other night. You can guess what one of my next reviews will be.
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints was based on the book with the same title. Surprisingly enough, the man who wrote the book, Dito Montiel, also directed the movie. The movie is a film adaptation of Dito Montiel’s life growing up in Astoria, New York in the 1980s. The story is a look into a messed up childhood in a rough part of the city. It follows the struggles of inner city teenagers, Dito (Shia LaBeouf plays young Dito, and Robert Downey Jr. plays grown up Dito) and his friends as they are becoming adults. The circle of friends are pitted against drugs, violence, sex, love, hate, loss, and hardship. All the while, Dito wants to escape New York and try to make a better life for himself somewhere else.
The rest of the noteworthy cast includes Channing Tatum, Chazz Palminteri, Dianne Wiest, Rosario Dawson, Melonie Diaz, Martin Compston, Scott Michael Campbell, Anthony DeSando, Adam Scarimbolo, Peter Anthony Tambakis, Laila Liliana Garro, and Eric Roberts.
I’m surprised that this movie got past me 8 years ago, because the cast is excellent. I should have been aware of this film earlier. It’s another low-budget independent film that slipped through the cracks.
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints was hard to watch, at times, but it was also hard to stop watching. The film was an excellent depiction of how rundown certain areas of the country can be and how it affects the people living there. It’s indeed unfortunate, but it’s in-your-face honesty. Some people won’t be able to handle the honesty of this movie. The trashy characters, obscene language and other vulgarity, along with the sex, nudity, and mindless violence, among other things, will be too much for some.
But, you have to take the sweet from the sour. There is indeed a silver lining in this story. The headlining actors in this film are exceptional. The movie makes you feel like you are in the slums with the characters experiencing it all. The actors portray a remarkable friendship and camaraderie that helps you come back to the reality that people often try to be good even if they are bad.
The story is rigid and rocky, but the writing and acting make it all worthwhile. Here is an unknown gem for those who are willing to give it a chance.
I rate this movie an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
If you liked A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, you might also enjoy the following movies:
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
American Hustle (2013)
American Hustle (2013)
Back in August of 2013, when I first heard about American Hustle, this was my viewpoint on it:
David O. Russell has taken 3 stars from his film Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and 2 stars from his film The Fighter (2010), and brought all 5 of them together to make a movie. If The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook had a baby, it would be named American Hustle.
Not only is this film a guaranteed Oscar contender, but it will likely be amazing.
I have been excited about seeing American Hustle ever since.
What do you get when you cross two conniving con artists, a crazy FBI agent, corrupt politicians and the mob? The answer, American Hustle. Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and his girlfriend Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) have developed an excellent partnership of swindling desperate people out of their money. Everything is going great until one day, a power hungry FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) catches the couple in his web. In order to keep from going to prison, Irving and Sydney are forced to work with the FBI to try to help bring down other criminals. One thing leads to another and they find themselves butting heads with the mafia. The beauty of it all is that you can’t tell who is conning who.
The rest of the noteworthy cast includes Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Pena, Alessandro Nivola, Louis C.K., Jack Huston, Robert De Niro, and Paul Herman.
I have to say that I loved the trailer for this movie. It tells you what the movie is about without telling you much about the movie at all. They leave a lot to the imagination. It was refreshing. You get excited to see the movie because of the cast of characters and how they are acting, but you are dying to know what the movie is really about. In this day and age, this is a risky concept because there are multiple movies out there that appear like they are about nothing because their trailer does not tell you much, and when you go to watch them they are pointless. Their secrecy sucks you in, but in reality they weren’t keeping a secret. They just really suck and you just wasted your time. American Hustle is not like that, at all. There is far more to this film than the trailer leads you to believe.
I did not expect there to be as much humor as there was. The movie was laugh-out-loud hilarious. It was very smart, well thought out dark humor.
The film oozed with elegance. Everything about the movie seemed classy. It was clean and crisp. The colors were so clear and bright. From a filmmaking aspect alone, the movie was perfection. Picture that, but then throw in some of the best actors in the business into a flawlessly put together movie.
So, now you have a diamond of a movie with a cast that is worth its weight in gold. What do you get now? Fireworks. American Hustle recreates the 70s believably and the soundtrack is there to prove it. The actors play the game like the all-stars that they are. The chemistry was electrifying between everybody. The actors kept one-upping each other.
Chistian Bale, with a porky belly and the cheapest comb over imaginable stood out among the rest. His performance was not surprising, but it was every bit as good as anything he has ever done before. His performance was not surprising because he has been acting at such a high level for such a long time, that it’s hard to expect anything less out of him. His acting was power and precision. For a long time now, Johnny Depp has been my favorite actor and Bale has been my second favorite. I think Bale just surpassed Depp. Dare I say, lately he is more consistently in better movies. Bale is capable of almost any role and he proves it time and time again. I have not seen all of the movies that are up for Academy Awards, but as of right now, Bale gets my vote for Best Actor, and he should be competing against himself for Out of the Furnace (2013)(that movie was snubbed), as well.
Speaking of Academy Awards, Amy Adams. She was absolutely wonderful in American Hustle. She was stylish and sophisticated. Instead of being dressed down, like she was in The Fighter, her beauty was really able to shine through to her core. She played a woman who was always in control and it was the best performance by an actress that I have seen since perhaps, Hilary Swank in the film Million Dollar Baby (2004). It certainly was Amy’s best film that I have seen to date. It was even better than her performance in The Fighter.
Bradley Cooper had more curlers in his hair than Amy Adams. He pulled it off though and it was funny. He brought a level of insanity to his role in American Hustle that showed similarities to Silver Linings Playbook. He was allowed his moments to shine, but you could tell he was along for the ride in the back seat behind Bale. Amy Adams was riding shotgun and Jennifer Lawrence was in the back seat behind her, sitting next to Cooper.
Jennifer Lawrence seemed to pick up right where she left off in Silver Linings Playbook. She was the broken housewife with an attitude and an appetite for wreaking havoc and turmoil. I thought she played the part about as well as she did in Silver Linings Playbook.
David O. Russell has come a long way since Flirting With Disaster (1996) and I Heart Huckabees (2004). He took a page right out of Martin Scorsese’s book by having multiple narrators in American Hustle. The movie actually was very Scorsese-esque. Russell’s last three films have all been Oscar contenders and American Hustle is as deserving of an Oscar as either of the other two. My only concern is that this movie gets screwed out of the Academy Awards that it rightfully deserves for the sake of diversity.
This film was like the acting all-star game of 2013.
I rate this movie a 10 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
Note: I usually do not rate a movie a 10 after the first showing, but I could not find anything wrong with this movie. I thought that it might drag on a little bit because of the 138 minutes running time, but it didn’t. It was just an exercise in excellence. I am often reluctant to give a movie a 10 rating right away because I think that it should prove the test of time. I think this one already did.
If you liked American Hustle, then you will most likely enjoy the following films:
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Out of the Furnace (2013)
Out of the Furnace (2013)
There are certain movies that appear to be destined for greatness and Out of the Furnace looked like one of them.
Christian Bale is one of the most versatile actors of our time. I’ve been a fan of his ever since I watched Newsies (1992) for the first when I was a little kid. Bale has become such a great actor that I eagerly await all of his new movies. Out of the Furnace especially sparked my interest after I learned how many other big names are in the cast.
Russell Baze (Christian Bale) goes looking for his younger brother, Rodney, (Casey Affleck) after he goes missing. Russell will stop at nothing to get his brother back and release his own form of justice on whoever is responsible for taking him.
The film was directed by Scott Cooper and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, and Tom Bower.
As the title suggests, the movie is rough and only gets more severe. It’s out of the furnace and into the fire. The title did, in fact, suit the film quite well. The movie was injected with pain and anger. Eventually the intensity boiled over and the film sizzled. Out of the Furnace stirs up the emotions and lights them on fire. It’s easily the most powerful movie of the year.
Christian Bale does not cease to impress. Nobody could have done a better job in his role, and the only thing better than Bale’s performance was the fact that the rest of the film was filled to the brim with extraordinary talent working alongside him. The entire cast was firing on all cylinders.
This movie is not for anyone with a weak stomach. The violence is brutal and the language is harsh. The filmmakers’ gloves came off in order to make a film so sharp that the jagged edges will cut into your mind and all sorts of emotions will come leaking out. Out of the Furnace will stick with you long after it ends.
The movie deserves to be nominated for an Academy Award in just about every category available. It gets my vote for Best Picture of the Year and Bale deserves the Best Actor award, hands down.
I rate this movie a 9 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
If you liked Out of the Furnace, then you will probably enjoy the following films:
Prisoners (2013)
Prisoners (2013)
Before seeing Prisoners, I guaranteed to people that it would be good. Sometimes it is as if I just know. I did not have any doubts about this movie at all. I am not narcissistic. I just sort of have a sixth sense. I am like Haley Joel Osment’s character in The Sixth Sense (1999). However, instead of seeing dead people, I see good movies.
Can’t you just hear me whispering softly? “I see good movies.”
Bruce Willis responds, “In your dreams?”
I shake my head no.
“While you’re awake?”
I nod.
“Good movies like, in graves? In coffins?”
“Walking around like regular movies. They don’t see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don’t know they’re good.”
Bruce Willis asks, “How often do you see them?”
I whisper, “All the time. They’re everywhere.”
Prisoners is about two little girls who go missing. Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is the father of one of the girls. He will stop at nothing to find out who took his daughter and will do whatever is necessary to get her back.
The movie was directed by Denis Villeneuve and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrance Howard, Maria Bello, Melissa Leo, Viola Davis, Paul Dano, Wayne Duvall, Len Cariou, David Dastmalchian, and Dylan Minnette.
Prisoners was gripping. It did not take long to pull me in to the disturbingly chilling story. It’s the next day and I’m still thinking about the film.
It should go without saying that it’s not exactly a feel good movie. Two little girls disappear. There is nothing good about that. Because of the subject matter, some aspects of the film are hard to like. However, the film was so well-made that it doesn’t pull any punches, and rightfully so. You have to see the bad in order to appreciate the good.
The movie is brutally violent and gory. There is plenty of language and blood. It captures the eeriness of the twisted plot perfectly.
Jackman plays a broken man who does not hesitate to do whatever is necessary to get his daughter back. His performance was excellent. It might be his best and more realistic role yet. It is Hugh Jackman unplugged like you haven’t seen him before.
Gyllenhaal plays the detective on the case. He is obsessed with his job and has solved every case that he has been assigned to. He is not about to fail now. This movie is equally Gyllenhaal’s movie as much as it is Jackman’s.
The rest of the supporting cast all play their parts well and Leo stands out among them.
The film is just over two and a half hours long, but I was so in to it that I did not notice. Time flies when you’re have fun, or watching a good movie. Prisoners never gets boring. It absorbs you and keeps you guessing until the end.
Jackman, Gyllenhaal, and Leo all gave Oscar worthy performances and the film itself is the best movie that I have seen so far this year.
I rate this movie a 9 on a scale on 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
If you liked Prisoners, then you will probably enjoy:
Mystic River (2003)
The Most Anticipated Movies Coming to Theatres in December 2013
The Most Anticipated Movies Coming to Theatres in December 2013
Click on each title below for a brief synopsis, trailer, movie poster and release date of each film.
Out of the Furnace (2013) (Click on this link for my full review.)
Anchorman: The Legend Continues (2013)
Lone Survivor (2013) (Click on this link for my full review.)
If you would like to read my reviews on 24 films that are currently out in theatres, simply click on the link below:
Trailer for Out of the Furnace (2013)
Out of the Furnace (2013) (Click on the title for my full review.)
A Man (Christian Bale) goes looking for his younger brother (Casey Affleck) after he goes missing. He will stop at nothing to get his brother back and release his own form of justice on whoever is responsible for taking him.
The film is directed by Scott Cooper. Who is Scott Cooper? I had to look him up too. The only other movie that Cooper directed is Crazy Heart (2009). Jeff Bridges won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Crazy Heart. Cooper has received a lot of critical acclaim for that film. It appears like Cooper just might have another Oscar contender on his hands with this new film Out of the Furnace.
The rest of the noteworthy cast includes Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker, Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, Dendrie Taylor, and Tom Bower.
If you get a group of actors like that together to make a movie, it’s hard to expect anything less than excellence.
The film is set to release on 12/06/13.
I’ll be in the theatre in December to let you know if this film meets my expectations.
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