Angels & Demons to me is the pinnacle of the “Dan Brown” trilogy, as it doesn’t rely so much on the conspiracy aspect I was talking about while reviewing The Da Vinci Code (my review can be found here) and it’s almost like a quest game, where you are on a timer, need to solve one puzzle, so you can move to another one, and while this is happening, one of the best music composers of all time is doing his magic and orchestrates amazing piece of score, that to this day, is criminally underrated.

I think the change of scenery really helped to distinguish this not-so-sequel (remember, even though this is a second movie of this “franchise”, the book was released prior to The Da Vinci Code) and made it more vibrant and different. And focusing the story on this mystery (Illuminati, possibly murdered pope) that’s mixed with action and scenes of Tom Hanks and Ayelet Zurer running throughout Rome… it feels really fresh and very unlike the first movie, as it doesn’t really let you rest, in a good way.

A big part of this is due to this movie’s soundtrack, and I do need to talk about Hans Zimmer for a bit. I remember when this movie came out and I’ve seen it in the cinemas for the first time, I wasn’t actually as convinced as I am now (don’t get me wrong, I liked it, just not as much as I thought I would) but what I loved instantly was the soundtrack. So much so, I had downloaded it to my phone I had back then, and while working my summer part time job, it was keeping me awake in the mornings. And that doesn’t happen often. I know plenty of people are really into music and soundtracks, and I can definitely appreciate great soundtrack, but I am not one of them. It only happened a few times, that I would download the entire soundtrack, that I would listen on a repeat for a fair number of days to come. I honestly do believe when fans discuss and rank Zimmer’s work, this movie is often omitted, as plenty of people dismiss it. Which I never understood. Sure, in his long career, he’s definitely scored better rated movies, but even though Angels & Demons is admittedly not as great as The Dark Knight (2008), Gladiator (2000) or The Lion King (1994), that doesn’t mean this score is any worse. I’d argue this must be in his TOP 3, easily.

What also really worked for me are the rest of cast around the main star – Ewan McGregor has long been one of my favourite actors, Stellan Skarsgård is always a welcome addition to any movie and Ayelet Zurer worked for me more than Audrey Tautou, as she had better (for lack of a better word) chemistry with Hanks. I am not saying Audrey was bad in The Da Vinci Code, not at all, I just thought Ayelet stood out more to me, maybe she’s had a flashier role…?

The other thing I’ve always loved about this film is that they actually shot this in Rome. There is always something about actors being on a location, rather than crammed in a green screen studio, acting opposite a wall. Even though the CGI we have now is almost unbelievable, it’s the word “almost” that spoils it for me, as there is always something about mostly CGI locations, where they either feel not great enough, or too perfect/airbrushed that my brain doesn’t fully believe in what is happening right in front of me. Plus, even though I am not a religious person by any means, I’ve always wanted to visit Rome and even Vatican to see the landmarks, churches, the artwork. Maybe one day…

Only thing that “spoils” this movie just a tiny bit for me, happens about 20 minutes before the end. It’s nothing to do with the story (even though, if you properly analyse it, I know you could find a lot of plot holes) but there is a CGI of one particular thing/event, that looks so “rubbery” it always takes me out of the movie for a bit. I don’t want to spoil anything, but once you see it, I willing to bet you will know what I am talking about.

But other than that, this is my jam. Angels & Demons isn’t a perfect movie by any means. Is it entertaining though? Hell yeah! And, I cannot stress this enough, the soundtrack uplifts this movie by at least a grade higher. I swear to… pope I guess, if it wasn’t for Hans Zimmer and for his magnificent work, I don’t think my rating would have been as high. One of the best examples of a movie, where a soundtrack takes “a pretty good film” and makes it into “a pretty great film”.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

It seems like every decade or so, there is (at least) one sci-fi movie, that breaks the “barrier” of what sci-fi film usually is (or what it *should* be) and does it in its own, usually fairly quiet, grounded way. You could argue Blade Runner (1982) was a different sci-fi than what the general public was used to at that time, the same way Gattaca (1997) also dared to be different and sneaked under the radar for plenty of people, as it was a distinctive kind of sci-fi – not as flashy as other movies in the same genre, and almost too quiet.

Ex Machina falls into that category too. I remember hearing a lot of really great things about this movie when it came out, and my very first time, my expectations might have been way too high, so even though I really liked it, (I’ve rated it 8/10 at the time) I didn’t quite *love* it as others. And I couldn’t understand why, as it seemed like my kind of movie – quiet, really down to earth movie, with one not so sci-fi idea (as said in the movie, “the question of artificial intelligence is not IF, rather than WHEN) executed perfectly with phenomenal performances by three stellar actors. And it even has a fairly unexpected ending…

But maybe it was that uniqueness I wasn’t prepared for – maybe I had expected a different kind of sci-fi and what I’ve gotten was so different, I didn’t know how to “approach” it. Well, that’s why I’ve decided to re-watch this movie, to see where I stand now, a few years since my first watch. And, no surprise here, the movie played even better than the first time around. Ex Machina is almost a miracle, as this could’ve gone wrong so many different times. While re-watching it, I’ve noticed how any lesser filmmaker would have been so tempted to make this more dramatic, or add a twist or two to make it “more interesting”, but this movie is so confident with itself, it never does that. It’s like hanging out with somebody, who knows they are cool, but because of them knowing, they never have to tell you “You know, I’m pretty cool.” I think this might be the best way of describing this movie – confident within itself, slick, cool “little” film, that managed to not only be entertaining, but also has managed something, that nobody seen coming – winning the “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” the same year The Martian, Mad Max: Fury Road and fucking Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens were up for the same award.

I am still shocked by that, to be honest, as I have never thought I would see a sci-fi movie with a budget of “measly” $15.000.000 beating the multi-million dollar machine such as Star Wars in THAT category. To be fair, Ex Machina is a stunning movie to look at, and for a movie where Alicia Vikander (she was snubbed at the Oscars for that year, in my humble opinion) spends most of it as a “see-through” AI, the movie does feel realistic, that you don’t even question it after a while and just except the fact that yes, that’s how Alicia exists and she’s probably an AI in her real life.

Even though I am much more “sold” on this movie, there is still something, that tiny, final piece of a puzzle, that still needs to fit someplace, that separates me from giving this movie the ultimate rating and I still don’t know what it is exactly. All I know is this – Ex Machina for me, is a near perfect movie, that I liked the first time I’ve seen it, and really liked the second time I’ve re-watched it. Who knows? Maybe, when I watch it again, couple of years down the line, I will finally appreciate it fully…? It’s more than likely. But I can recommend this film to anybody, who enjoys sci-fi movies, especially those, that don’t need big budget or flashy effects to entertain you for almost two hours. Because sometimes, all you need is three brilliant actors, one gorgeous, but slightly claustrophobic house and beautiful piece of nature to contrast with the technology, to make something you won’t forget any time soon.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Before getting into this review properly, I need to start with a bit of a story from my life, that should shed some light on why this movie (despite all its flaws) is one of my favourite action movies of the late 2000’s.

When I was in high school, I was pretty decent student, but math wasn’t my favourite subject in the world, to put it mildly. And there was a real chance that I’d fail my math class in my first half of the school year (in the Czech Republic, high school works in a way that you’d get 2 result cards, one at the end of January and one at the end of June, and if you fail one subject both times, you need to repeat the entire year) so you can imagine it was fairly stressful time for me. So I’ve stayed up and studied for this really important test, and the night before, couldn’t even sleep for the most of the night, that’s how nervous/terrified I was. After the test was done, we’ve had a decently “off” day, as Xmas was approaching, so we didn’t really do much rest of the day, as the other subjects were already finished for that half a year, so we’d watch movies in school. And somebody brought this one.

I remember thinking, even though I have loved movies even back then, then I’ll just try to take a nap, as after the test, the nervousness finally disappeared and the restless night caught up with me. But the moment this movie started, it pulled me in and pumped my veins full of adrenaline, that lasted to the very end of it. I’ve felt like I’ve just had 6 coffees poured straight into my veins and the rest of the day I’ve actually felt amazing. Because that’s what this movie is.

Death Race should be judged by what it is trying to be – an adrenaline ride, that doesn’t take itself seriously at all, with some pretty great actions sequences, where the destruction of a particular large vehicle is just breathtaking, especially the first time I’ve watched it. That was my very first experience with this movie and even though it might sound weird, in relation to this movie, this is why I love movies. They have the power to take you and transport you some place else, give you the spark you might need. I don’t think I had a similar situation happen to me prior, or since that time, definitely not to that extent.

Couple of days ago, I’ve decided to re-watch this, as I haven’t seen it in about 10 years, and I still had a blast. It wasn’t anywhere near as “meaningful” of an experience as it was to me that one December day, but I still had fun with this movie, as I really respect when film don’t pretend to be something they are not. Death Race knows this movie is not an Oscar winning drama, or some sort of high art. It knows this movie is just a pure, simple “dumb” (in the best possible sense of that word) fun, that if you let it, it will entertain you too. Plus, where else you’ll see 3-times Oscar nominee Joan Allen go up against Jason Statham? Exactly, that’s what I thought 😉

Realistically, I could see this movie is not that great, but honestly…? I can’t judge this film harshly, if only because of that one day, it helped me get through something that wasn’t easy and sometimes that’s all it takes.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Hercules – when I was growing up, he was my hero. I’d watch Hercules: The Legendary Journeys all the time, I’d read all the stories and myths about him, as I wanted to be him, the hero who’s strong and always does good things, helping other people. But surprisingly, I’ve not seen this movie until now! I don’t even know why.

Hercules is a great animated movie, that’s way too often forgotten about, or pushed aside as “not worthy” Disney movie. Sure, it doesn’t reach the same level as The Lion King (1994), but I don’t think that necessarily makes it “B rated” movie, as Hercules is lovely, uplifting, colourful film about a hero, who overcomes everything, proves himself and finds out that you don’t need to be a God to be a hero. Plus from Disney’s late 90’s canon, this movie stands out as the lighthearted movie we didn’t know we needed.

Personally, I prefer the 90’s style of animation over the “CG” animation of today, because when everything looks so perfect, there is no “soul”. Even though story wise, the animated movies of today are brilliant, sometimes I do wonder why do 95% of them must look the same, where at some point, your mind starts to blend movies together, as almost nothing stands out anymore.

The other thing I need to mention is the voice-over work, as it’s brilliant. Before James Woods became more known for being a Twitter troll (90’s were just different, but in a way, simpler times) he was nailing a thing or two here and there, and this was one of them. His performance as Hades shouldn’t be overlooked and alongside another great performance by Danny DeVito as Phil, they both should be celebrated more for this movie, as both of them not only nailed their characters, but created something where the movie works on another level because of them. I would be even willing to discuss putting them both on the same level as Robin Williams‘s performance in Aladdin (1992), that much I’ve enjoyed both of them.

The movie overall is a really fun, simple thing to watch, where it doesn’t take itself too seriously, everything is lighthearted, so you can properly switch off, and just relax watching a proper Disney movie with your entire family and have a good time, while jamming along to a really good soundtrack.

By the way, what happened to those? What happened to animated movies having fantastic songs in them, where they wouldn’t just really on one “main” song…? I feel like that’s one of the reasons plenty of people still prefer this area of Disney movies, not just because they grew up watching them, but because each song feels different, yet fits the movie well.

I would say this movie is definitely worth seeing, especially if you haven’t seen it in a while, give it a re-watch and you might discover this movie sneaks up on you, where by the end, you just feel great and realise, it should be talked about more often when comes to Disney animated films and where do each of them rank.

That’s all for this one? Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

“They don’t shoot movies like that anymore” is what you can hear plenty of times from some movie fans, regarding these old fashion thrillers and it kind of became almost hipstery (that’s 100% a word, I know words, I have the best words) thing to say, as there advantages to where are we now (film making wise) and there are disadvantages to it too. But, when comes to this movie, one thing will be on your mind for its entirety – they sure don’t shoot films like this anymore.

Three Days of the Condor is a film that gives you exposition/new information only when it’s absolutely necessary. You are dropped into this world, where for the first 30/40 minutes or so, you’re not quite sure what is happening and you need to take a journey with Robert Redford‘s character, as we learn everything through him. That’s something I truly appreciated – in modern movies, there would have been a text on a screen that would inform us “Headquarters of CIA!”, so even the ones that only half watch this movie are still in on what’s happening, or Redford’s character would’ve said to his colleagues at work “Just another day working for CIA, am I right?” or something to that extent, that awkward kind of exposition, that only serves one purpose – to make sure everybody understands everything.

Not here, as you kind of figure out he’s not doing an ordinary job, but you will learn what kind of job is that later. The same goes for everything in this movie – Sydney Pollack wants you to “work” for everything he tells/shows you, so he always gives you just enough, so you are not totally confused and plays the long game, where eventually, he relies on the audience to be involved, in the “pay attention and it will be worth your time” kind of way.

There is something really intriguing about this, as it makes you focus and think about what’s happening, why are things happening, involving you more with the story and also, to an extent, allows you to make your story/prediction when comes to what’s happening on the screen. I kind of understand why this isn’t as common anymore (movies are commodities, where you need to appeal to the largest audience possible) but that’s why I really appreciate directors, who can still do something similar (the “main” one, who comes to mind, is Christopher Nolan) as there is something about this way of shooting a movie, especially about spies, secret agencies and everything mysterious. It works well for this kind of genre.

What I really liked in this movie was the sense of paranoia in every single scene, where we are Redford – slightly clueless, not trained for this and most importantly, not sure who to trust. Each step he takes, he’s not sure whether that’s the correct thing to do, but because of his intellect (he reads every single day, after all) he always finds his way out of any situation.

I also want to applaud this film for the end, where it seems “the good guy(s) won”, just for a movie to deliver its final dose of paranoia, where the last shot of Redford symbolises everything – the insecurity, the feeling of helplessness, the feeling you get, once you realise you might be forced looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life.

Three Days of the Condor is definitely a movie worth seeing, as it defines what a paranoia/spy thriller should be about and to this day, filmmakers are “borrowing” from this movie a lot (one of the most known examples would be Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)), also a Redford movie… what a coincidence! (It’s not really ;-))

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

This movie totally came out of nowhere for me – and I presume and I am not alone, as on IMDb, the movie was rated by only 431 people, and so far has fairly low score of 5.4/10, which is totally underrated. I’m not saying it will change your life, but I am saying it’s definitely worth seeing and should be way higher.

Porcupine Lake is a very tender story about a young girl, whose parents are in a tough place. Her dad takes her and his wife to a small town, away from everybody, to try to salvage what’s left of their marriage, while trying to run a small diner. This is where our main protagonist Bea meets Kate, who’s about to challenge everything she grew up knowing. She’s the cool, care-free girl, the total opposite of anxious Bea, who finds herself fascinated with Kate to a point, where Bea starts to realise, she’s developing more than friendly feelings towards her.

This movie really nailed the atmosphere of a small town, that’s almost a village, in the middle of nowhere, and I should know, as I grew up in one (true, it wasn’t in Canada or USA, but still) so somehow, this movie took me back to those times where everything was simpler, just for life to start getting complicated. In a way, this movie reminded me a lot of Stand by Me (1986), not because of the story, but mainly the feel of the movie, where the kids are not really kids anymore, but they aren’t adults yet.

That kind of awkward stage, where everything seems to be just so damn confusing, was displayed here really well, plus I can’t imagine how it must feel being a girl and starting to realise you might be attracted to another girl.

This is something the movie deals with very well, I need to say. Because it’s not every day you get a movie about people this young starting to discover they might be gay, so I was slightly afraid of how this might be displayed. Rest assured, it was displayed/handled beautifully.

Porcupine Lake is a movie that perfectly captures those summer days, where you meet somebody new, somebody so unique, so special, you just wish for those days, that are spent exclusively with them, to never end. And is all more crushing once they do, and you need to say a goodbye. You tell yourself, it’s not goodbye forever, right? But deep down, you know, that it probably is.

I honestly wish for this movie to be seen by more people, as you don’t get these anymore – movies that can capture a certain atmosphere, certain time/year period so well, it brings you back, no matter whether you can relate to a girl, whose parents are having a hard time and who’s realising she’s gay. That’s so great about this movie – I honestly believe, to a some extent, it’s something we can all relate to. We all had a Porcupine Lake in our lives, whether we realise it or not. And maybe this movie will remind you of yours.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? If so, congrats! What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke