Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

Invictus

Rating:

Movie: Invictus (2009)

Studio : Malpaso Productions

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 133 min

Website : invictusmovie.warnerbros.com

Trailer :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xayoo0

Review:

In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison and by 1994, he became the first democratically-elected president of South Africa. One of his greatest achievements: making South Africa’s rugby team the best in the world?

There is some method in his madness. Just as Mandela recalls a childhood where booing the team was a sign of rebellion towards the Afrikaners, he sees that bringing a team that South Africa will cheer on as a nation will also bring a divided people together along the way.

You have to credit Clint Eastwood for originality. Not only did he choose a topic that is obscure, but also strangely relevant as well. Think about it: just a few months ago, Peter Jackson released a film centered on apartheid, and Morgan Freeman’s role plays a man whom the Afrikaners partially distrust for seeming more like a celebrity than a politician (a view quite a few Republicans hold in regard towards a certain politician of our own).

I should warn that this really is not a movie you see for the thrill of rugby. Matches have a tendency to be brushed over, and while you can see rules explained from time to time, I was left scratching my head wondering what was going on as the drama was edited into a handful of clips for most of the matches, likely for the sake of time and perhaps better edited out or shortened further.

I don’t think Eastwood knew where to go with this film overall, or what to keep or edit out, perhaps because he was balancing a sports movie with a political one. One plot branch that I thought was unnecessary, for example, involves a trip to Mandela’s prison. It’s significant, yes, but not necessary for Damon’s character at that point.

Freeman delivers the chilling accuracy of Mandela 90% of the time, (the other 10% of the time he sounds like himself). I have to also admit it’s impressive seeing Matt Damon go from his chubby role in The Informant!, into a chunky muscleman that could bench-press Jason Bourne. But acting-wise, undue credit should go to Tony Kgoroge, who plays a quiet, incisive, and eternally paranoid bodyguard for Mandela. When you see him crack a smile, even for a brief moment, it shows you all the inner depth that was implied despite his background role.

If you’re a Freeman fan, then you won’t be disappointed watching him in action. If you’re someone else? There’s always the DVD.

-Donald Lee

Documentary, Drama, In Theaters 2009, all blacks, clint eastwood, invictus, matt damon, morgan freeman, movie, nelson mandela, political, review, rugby, south africa, sports, springbokkes, springboks, springbox, Tony Kgoroge

The Road

Rating:

Movie: The Road(2009)

Studio : 2929 Productions

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 111 min

Website : The Road

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9bku7

Review:

Based on Cormac McCarthy’s acclaimed novel, The Road speaks like a Hemingway story. Our hero is a nameless father with a nameless son. In a world where the end finally happened and recovery never came after almost, if not over, a decade; what hope is there left? Almost as though it was defying 2012, which inherently believes in the goodness of everyone, The Road questions if people have any form of morality left.

The two travel to the sea, not so much because there is sanctuary down there as much as it is the final hopeful request of a wife and mother who committed suicide. The only other thing they can carry is the belief that “they are the good guys” and that they will not succumb to the animalistic urges of cannibalism to stifle the consistent hunger and cold.

Visually, the world is dreary, bleak, and lifeless: appropriate for this world. Forests are nothing more than fields of dead timber that crash with a simple tremor, fields are fallow, and the dead rest in nooses or in piles of fully-devoured feasts. Even something as simple as a pack of crayons seems to offer tones mostly in monochrome-inflected stains. In contrast, vivid memories from the father come around that are gorgeous with life.

The acting is great throughout (a special nod to Michael K. Williams for stealing one scene exceptionally well), and even the makeup team seemed to be phenomenal by making well-recognized actors like Redford and Mortenson appear alien from who they actually are. It took me several screenings to finally recognize some of them and even now I still find it difficult to see how they pulled it off.

With a story and execution that stands up as one of the best I’ve seen, this is hands-down one of my favorites for this year. Kudos to John Hillcoat, whom I will be crossing my fingers for next to Peter Docter and Lee Daniels come February.

-Donald Lee

Adventure, Drama, In Theaters, Thriller the road

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Rating:

Movie: Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire(2009)

Studio : Lee Daniels Entertainment

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 110 min

Website : Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xa0omk

Review:

Precious is everything you would not expect from a typical blockbuster. It’s low budget, it features actors and actresses that are not likely to be confused with models (granted, there is Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz in it, but with minute roles), and it involves a tale that is incredibly depressing. The film is an underdog in all respects, and I can’t help but laud Daniels and the people who took part in this film for undertaking something like this when feel-good blockbusters are what most audiences seek.

Precious is the name of a young obese African American girl living in the inner city. Her welfare-dependent mother hates her and treats her like a slave, her father raped her on a regular basis and abandoned them, and she is undervalued at school despite being above average in certain studies. To escape the pain of her life, she fantasizes about what she hopes to be: a diva, with a light-skinned boyfriend, a stark contrast from a bitter reality that refuses to acknowledge her. Our story begins when she is offered the chance at an alternate education school, and we see the many things she must push just to find her recognition.

What makes Precious shine is its ugliness. Shots of lard-fried misshapen lumps of meat, underlit corridors, grotesque features of people you would likely see on the street of any major city: Precious’ world is as much our own, and she shows us its worst. Likewise, the acting polishes this film off: from Mo’Nique’s bitterness to Paula Patton’s initially standoffish but caring demeanor as Precious’ teacher. Even Mariah Carey’s role as a social worker seem remarkably believable, as her diffident but empathetic aspects emphasize she is very much real. It is all these trials steeped in reality that allow Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) to appear that much more triumphant in the end.

There are two particular flaws I found in this movie and that is that it feels incomplete, not so much in the ending, but in the way things feel edited out. While I imagine this film suffered the same problem any novel-converted-movie should encounter, it could have used those extra tidbits to let us delve further into her life. The other rests in how subjective this film can be. Granted, this is a tale told from the protagonist, but for a film that seeks to be so realistic it feels awkward to have the villain bear almost no redeeming qualities while even Gabourey’s role seems a little too exceptional at times.

Precious reminds us of what makes life so valuable, and to be grateful for what we have. As we all live trying to stave off the effects of a recession-starved world economy, it’s films like these that seem that much more appropriate for people to see than it suggests. After seeing it, it will make you put that much more to heed in this film’s headline: “We are all Precious”.

-Donald Lee

Drama Precious

Sherlock Holmes

Rating:

Movie: Sherlock Holmes(2009)

Studio : Internationale Filmproduktion Blackbird Dritte

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 128 min

Website : Sherlock Holmes

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9byrr

Review:

Sherlock Holmes is a popular novel turned into a block buster movie. The cast includes some of the hottest and popular stars like Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams and others. If you liked the novel then you would definitely enjoy the movie as well.

The movie is a thriller in which Sherlock Holmes works to solve detective cases. Serial killer Lord Blackwood and his close assistant Dr. Watson have been caught by Holmes. Sherlock Holmes thinks that he is done with the case but Blackwood returns back again and resumes his killing activity. It becomes the task of Sherlock Holmes to look for the sorcerer Lord Blackwood and hunt him down. The detective has to work hard to open up secrets of killing, cheating and black magic while contending with the head of Scotland Yard as well as the Fiancée of his partner.

The movie is a good one and all the parts seem in place, however even though the director has done a good job in maintaining the viewer’s interest the momentum does not stay the same throughout the movie. The best scenes were those where dialogues were shared between Law and Downey Jr., their interactions were quite witty and quick which seemed to be like that of a married couple.

There is minimal and clear-cut action which is worth watching in the movie. The director has done a good job in not putting too much emphasis on those scenes which are not really important to the story. Everything seems to go in harmony and flows down naturally till the end of the movie.

The make up on Rachel is a little too excessive and unnecessary; she would have looked much better looking a little more natural. The movie has got quite a lot of repetition; once you have crossed the first 30 minutes of the movie you have pretty much seen it all. There seems nothing new happening after the initial minutes, the rest of the movie is just recycling of the first few scenes.

Overall, the movie is entertaining and although it may be a little repetitive you will most certainly enjoy it.

Action, Adventure, In Theaters, Mystery, Thriller sherlock holmes