The Conspirator
Synopsis
A riveting thriller, THE CONSPIRATOR tells the powerful story of a woman who would do anything to protect her family, and the man who risked everything to save her. In the wake of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice President, and Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt (Wright) owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth (Toby Kebbell) and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks. Against the ominous back-drop of post-Civil War Washington, newly-minted lawyer, Frederick Aiken (McAvoy), a 28-year-old Union war-hero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt, her own son, John (Johnny Simmons). As the nation turns against her, Surratt is forced to rely on Aiken to uncover the truth and save her life.
The movie is based on the true story of Mary Surratt, the only female conspirator charged in the Abraham Lincoln assassination and the first woman to be executed by the United States government. The movie was interesting but it was quite slow paced. The movie is about how Mary Surratt was tried by a military tribunal even though she was a US citizen and how Aiken has to fight a uphill battle.
Some of the military tribunal scenes were very good. Mary Surratt’s behavior was perplexing as if she wanted to be hanged. James McAvoy was good as Aiken. Robin Wright was good but her character was a bit irritating.
Tags: Exclusive James McAvoy Member Reviews Movies You Watched This Month Reviews Robert Redford Robin Wright
Main tera Hero – Okay movie .Positives- Some funny scenes & dialogues, Good use of songs,Beautiful heroines,Varun Dhawan .Varun was natural & confident .But quite a few jokes fall completely flat.So won’t say he has a great comic timing .But on his defense the jokes were predictable .He can surely improve and become a big star .Nargis was bad .Ileana was decent and looked absolutely stunning .
Saw yesterday, Agree on what you said. Second half lifts the movie to Hit level ..
Saw the Conspirator 2-3 years back. Liked it even though I agree it was slow.
The Act of Killing This documentary was nominated for an Oscar. While the murderers themselves trying to enact their killings is chilling and disturbing it was not engaging after a while. It became boring and also seemed like some child’s play.
Official Synopsis
Anwar Congo and his friends have been dancing their way through musical numbers, twisting arms in film noir gangster scenes, and galloping across prairies as yodelling cowboys. Their foray into filmmaking is being celebrated in the media and debated on television, even though Anwar Congo and his friends are mass murderers.
Medan, Indonesia. When the government of Indonesia was overthrown by the military in 1965, Anwar and his friends were promoted from small-time gangsters who sold movie theatre tickets on the black market to death squad leaders. They helped the army kill more than one million alleged communists, ethnic Chinese, and intellectuals in less than a year. As the executioner for the most notorious death squad in his city, Anwar himself killed hundreds of people with his own hands.
Today, Anwar is revered as a founding father of a right-wing paramilitary organization that grew out of the death squads. The organization is so powerful that its leaders include government ministers, and they are happy to boast about everything from corruption and election rigging to acts of genocide.
The Act of Killing is about killers who have won, and the sort of society they have built. Unlike ageing Nazis or Rwandan génocidaires, Anwar and his friends have not been forced by history to admit they participated in crimes against humanity. Instead, they have written their own triumphant history, becoming role models for millions of young paramilitaries. The Act of Killing is a journey into the memories and imaginations of the perpetrators, offering insight into the minds of mass killers. And The Act of Killing is a nightmarish vision of a frighteningly banal culture of impunity in which killers can joke about crimes against humanity on television chat shows, and celebrate moral disaster with the ease and grace of a soft shoe dance number.
A Love of Cinema. In their youth, Anwar and his friends spent their lives at the movies, for they were “movie theatre gangsters”: they controlled a black market in tickets, while using the cinema as a base of operations for more serious crimes. In 1965, the army recruited them to form death squads because they had a proven capacity for violence, and they hated the communists for boycotting American films – the most popular (and profitable) in the cinemas. Anwar and his friends were devoted fans of James Dean, John Wayne, and Victor Mature. They explicitly fashioned themselves and their methods of murder after their Hollywood idols. And coming out of the midnight show, they felt “just like gangsters who stepped off the screen”. In this heady mood, they strolled across the boulevard to their office and killed their nightly quota of prisoners. Borrowing his technique from a mafia movie, Anwar preferred to strangle his victims with wire.
In The Act of Killing, Anwar and his friends agree to tell us the story of the killings. But their idea of being in a movie is not to provide testimony for a documentary: they want to star in the kind of films they most love from their days scalping tickets at the cinemas. We seize this opportunity to expose how a regime that was founded on crimes against humanity, yet has never been held accountable, would project itself into history.
And so we challenge Anwar and his friends to develop fiction scenes about their experience of the killings, adapted to their favorite film genres – gangster, western, musical. They write the scripts. They play themselves. And they play their victims.
Their fiction filmmaking process provides the film’s dramatic arc, and their film sets become safe spaces to challenge them about what they did. Some of Anwar’s friends realize that the killings were wrong. Others worry about the consequence of the story on their public image. Younger members of the paramilitary movement argue that they should boast about the horror of the massacres, because their terrifying and threatening force is the basis of their power today. As opinions diverge, the atmosphere on set grows tense. The edifice of genocide as a “patriotic struggle”, with Anwar and his friends as its heroes, begins to sway and crack.
Most dramatically, the filmmaking process catalyzes an unexpected emotional journey for Anwar, from arrogance to regret as he confronts, for the first time in his life, the full implications of what he’s done. As Anwar’s fragile conscience is threatened by the pressure to remain a hero, The Act of Killing presents a gripping conflict between moral imagination and moral catastrophe.
Watched Main Tera Hero. Its a silly movie with no plot or screenplay but it is entertaining in bits. David Dhawan just dragged it like anything with whatever stupid twists he wanted. Its a remake of a South Indian movie so there is some typical South Indian comedy and they are a lot of PJs.
Some of the dialogues were funny like the ones involving references to movies/actors and Anupam Kher repeating the last word 3 times (but it is not done consistently) and Saurabh Shukla giving three examples.
Varun Dhawan was good with the whole movie revolving around him. He was like a combination of Salman and Govinda. Ileana looked good in the songs but her face looked very skinny in many scenes. Her acting was ok. Nargis Fakri looked good but her acting was bad as usual with her accent. Anupam Kher was good as Nargis dad. Saurabh Shukla was good too. Arunoday Singh’s role was good but he was completely miscast. A better actor was needed to pull off that role. Rajpal Yadav was usual.
revisited ek hasina thi. a film that once made me curious about sriram raghavan. inspired a bit from gumrah of mahesh bhatt but a far better film. very well directed except the last scene. i dont think urmila should have surrendered to the police with 11 crore rupees. acting was good overall. side actors did good job. saif was very good. he should play villian roles more often. urmila is good in the wicked scenes but very bad in emotional scenes
I have seen only bits of Gumrah but you made a very valid comparison with Gumrah. Urmila’s acting in scenes when she is scared is also like that of Sridevi. I think she has always copied Sridevi may be on RGV’s instructions because RGV is a big Sridevi fan.
“i dont think urmila should have surrendered to the police with 11 crore rupees.”
Agree that scene and her final jail scene were not necessary. The movie should have ended with the rats scene in the cave.
Here is my comment on Ek Hasina Thi from last year and by final scene I meant the rats scene in the cave.
“Revisited Ek Hasina Thi again. Had watched it back when the movie released. Movie is good as a Bollywood thriller but parts of it are too incredulous. Urmila gets arrested but does not call/inform her parents once she is arrested? Saif comes and meets her in Jail? Don’t they have uniform for women in Indian jails? Urmila was wearing different costumes every day in jail. And once she gets out she can get in gangster’s houses with no problem and scale floors and kill people. The final scene was excellent. Urmila overacted a bit in some scenes but was good especially in the 2nd half. Saif was very good.”
yes the film has those issues but its a film. what she did in the film is not practical. but its still an enjoyable film which doesnt insult the audiencs intelligence by and large. not seen johny gadar
gumrah was far more realistic than eht actually
Have you seen Johnny Gaddar?
Ek Hasina Thi (3.5/5)- Saw it for the first time. Loved the first half. But the second half was unnecessarily bloated in my view- the revenge thing was not as well brought out as the motivation for seeking revenge. The prison scenes were the best. It was a typical Urmila performance in an atypical film. Saif was good, but the role could have been done by anyone and it would not have made much difference to the film. I think it is the only time an A-lister has done such a negative character, with no redeeming characteristics.
Ishqiya (3.5/5): Saw it for the first time. Loved it till the last 20 min, which were a mess in my view. Great acting by Arshad Warsi. The characterization was very interesting. Authentic feel of the setting, backdrop, dialogues, dialects- everything was really well done. It took time for me to get used to the quirkiness, but that’s what added spark to the film. I wish Vidya’s character could have been the seductress, like how it was hinted in the first half the film.
I am seeing this tonight. My fav movie – the accused (or few good men) thanks to sputnik’s post.
Watched some new Tv shows .
Utopia – Its a british conspiracy theory thriller . One of best new shows according to me. I understand why Fincher is remaking it for HBO . This show is a winner .Full of thrill,twist, great bgm,visuals . Liked it a lot . Waiting for the 2nd season . recommended for those who like this genre.
Luther season 1 – Good thriller . But could have been better.Cliched plot of genius offcer.damaged personal life but interesting cases. Good time pass stuff for those who like fast paced thrillers . And another plus point is it has new case every episode . Didn’t like Alice morgan at all .They shouldn’t have included the charcater . I think her character is irrelevant and annoying . Makers tried to do a morirarty with her but failed . To sum up I would say its far better than castle ,as good as mentalist,nowhere near sherlock .
Watched first 10 episodes of the Blacklist . Started off really well .Its intriguing but unrealistic . So its entertaining as of now but not sure how far it can go with this silly plot .
Also started House of cards . Since Breakind bad I’ve tried to watch so many shows . But none of them really hold my attention . But I guess finally found the show to replace Breaking bad. Loving it .kavin Spacey is a legend :bow: .
I have seen 3-4 episodes of House of Cards and its very entertaining, implausible but really entertaining. Those who starts in between will be tough to understand. Love those scene where Kevin Spacey talks to audience in between critical moments and his explanations, very intriguing but pace sometimes slows down.
I’m on 6th episode now . Its fantastic . Even though I don’t understand few things .I guess a basic knowledge on how american congress works would have been helpful . But I’m slowly getting it .
You’re watching Game of thrones new episodes ?
No not yet as I want to watch it non-stop all episodes of the season at one go and I will watch Walking Dead season 4 (part 2) and Homeland season 3. So let me finish House of cards now, might take a month as well.
I changed my job recently and been running like a hell. I get hardly time to watch any tv show or film.
house of cards is a good series, im finishing the second season
like fs have said, when kevin spacey speak in bracket is a funny moment in this series
walking dead season 4 was very slow, but i think it was a transition season, next one will be good
had really liked the season tree of walking dead
like fs, will watch game of thrones when all ep will be available
fs, cr , do u watch the mentalist? i will see the last season at the end of the week i think
Shezad & Cr – Completed House of Cards Season 1. Really excited to watch the season 2. Have downloaded it as well. Will start soon. Last few episodes are brilliant. Over all season 1 was good to very good.
Agree with both of you . Love those scenes of Kavin spacey .
I have watched Walking dead season 4 . It was very slow but as Shehzad said its a transition period . Also this show is getting more hardcore and brutal . Liked it . This season has 2 of the best episodes of Walking dead IMO . One is the mid season finale and another is 14th episode . Also the way it ended I’m sure next season gonna be full of excitement . Good to see Rick back as the leader.
Me too had plans to watch GOT after the season ends .But couldn’t resist . Watched both episodes . Super entertaining as usual .
@shehzad-I’ve seen first two seasons of mentalist .Liked it .how’s it now ? I loved Simon baker’s character and performance . Its damn addictive . Only problem is it has way too many episodes .
U guys seen True detective ?
Amistad Its about a 1839 mutiny aboard a slave ship that is traveling towards the northeastern coast of America. Much of the story involves a court-room drama about the free man who led the revolt.
Had watched this movie more than ten years ago and liked it back then but did not like it much this time. The slave fortress scene and the ship scenes were very brutal and graphic similar to 12 Years a Slave. The courtroom scenes and the scenes involving the slaves were good but the movie should have ended with the lower court verdict itself.
The last 30 minutes were a total drag with all the build up for Anthony Hopkins character and his long speech. It felt like Steven Spielberg was trying to make this Oscar winning epic by overemphasizing every little thing. Many scenes were corny.
The movie was nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Music Score and Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Hopkins).
Anthony Hopkins was ok as the ex-President John Quincy Adams and I don’t think he deserved a Best Supporting Actor nomination for this. Matthew McConaughey was good as the attorney who fights for the captured slaves. Djimon Hounsou was very good as the captured slave. Morgan Freeman was ok in a usual role. Nigel Hawthorne was ok as US President John Van Buren. Chiwetel Ejiofor was ok as the interpreter.
47 Ronin – Didn’t understand whether Keenu Reeves was a lead or supporting actor nor the intent of the film. It was so and so type of film which had nothing new. Hated the fights and action part of it. It was like a regular popcorn flick.
Watched 2 States. It is based on Chetan Bhagat’s 2 States which is supposedly based on his life. Have not read the novel but from what I read of the novel from wiki it looks like it is a faithful adaptation. May be others who have read the novel and watched the movie can tell what are the differences between the novel and the movie.
Movie was ok. They took a small conflict and dragged it a lot so it was quite slow paced. The initial love story part while entertaining was similar to any movie nowadays. And it looked all fast forwarded as just after a few scenes two years are supposed to have passed.
There is a scene where Alia’s mom who is learning classical singing sings a classical song on stage. But then she starts singing a medley of songs which looked silly. And she was singing “Saathiya” from her Hindi movie Love with Salman which looked so Karan Joharish. There is another filmy scene where Alia goes and admonishes the bridegroom about dowry.
Did not like the whole Arjun Kapoor narrating the story to some psychiatrist part. The dad son relationship was straight out of Udaan and there is lot of similarity with that. Scenes between Arjun and his dad and Arjun and Alia’s dad were good.
Arjun Kapoor was understated but good. Alia Bhatt was good and looked cute. Ronit Roy was good but he pretty much replayed his Udaan role. Amrita Singh was very good as the Punjabi mother/mother-in-law. Shiv and Revathi were good as Alia’s parents.
The Past – A French family drama (characters are Persian). Highly recommended.
American Hustle – It has too many dialogues but I like such movies. Liked Jennifer Lawrence’s role. But I agree it is overrated.
Liked “The past” a lot . Beautiful movie .
2 states – Liked it . Better than most yrf-dharam’s recent romcoms . Its a faithful adaption of the book . Not much addition from the director .Humor was better in book . It didn’t come off well in the movie . But the emotional scenes are executed well . Ronit roy-amrita singh were fantastic .Both Alia and arjun did a nice job . Could have been 15 mintes shorter . 2 songs were unnecessary . Overall nice movie ,worth watching .
Saw it last night. It was alright – better than most recent rom-coms. Like you said, emotional scenes were well executed. Ronit Roy was great in spite of a half baked character. Arjun Kapoor was decent in the serious scenes and failed in the comic and romantic ones. Alia looked gorgeous and acted well. Revathi was fantastic, so was Shiv Subramaniam. Amrita Singh was good. Achint Kaur surprisingly did not come across as Punjabi! Music was good, although couple of songs could be easily done away with on screen. Direction was amateurish and they kept too many lines from the book intact. As a result, the humor did not come across that well. In spite of cutting 4-5 incidents from the book, the movie still dragged and the climax scene was too long and lost its impact. Overall, a decent movie, that stands out because of the reigning mediocrity in bollywood otherwise.
House of Cards Season 2 Episodes 1-7 – The first episode of Season 2 supersedes the best of the episodes of Season 1 and each subsequent episodes of Season 2 excels in every factor such as thrill, entertainment, suspense, politics, shock elements etc… from its preceding episodes. One can actually learn a hell lot from this series. I want to say more but let me finish the season and will write a brief note on HOC.
Ditto 🙂 One of the best shows .Loving it. Looking forward to your write-up .
Nebraska – quirky comedy drama. I liked it but won’t recommend it. Saw this and 2 States same day and like the former by a mile.
Liked Nebraska a lot. Why won’t you recommend it. I think everyone here who saw Nebraska liked it.
I think it is slow and quirky for many people’s taste.
Saw 42..Decent drama.
I’m watching Justified . damn good show . If sex quotient was little high, it could be the ultimate male fantasy show Bad-ass villain,super cool hero,epic dialogues,action,violence,underlying humor. Loving it . It is a perfect contemporary western .
Loft(3/5): A 2008 Belgian crime-thriller, that is soon going to see a Hollywood remake. The movie is very stylishly shot, and despite its mostly indoor setting, looks like a lavish production. The plot is gory and macabre- celebrates depravity and lack of scruples. Engaging, but not as good as to justify its high IMDB rating according to me. And it takes the audience for a ride in some ways, i.e. it has a trick/cheat twist. Recommended to those who like crime films. It is not my favorite genre, so might have rated it less.
@Zacked- Where are u man ? happy with 4th spot & FA cup ? 😀
Watched 3 episodes of Fargo .Show of the year IMO . Its a crime drama-black comedy based on a true story . Haven’t seen the movie so can’t compare .but the show is absolutely brilliant .Performances from Billy bob Thornton martin freeman is flawless . rest of the supporting also doing a commendable job .
Watched 2 movies –
Unknown– Typical Hollywood masala movie. Entertaining movie . Liked the twists .Liam neeson was good .Diane kruger looked very pretty in a non-glamorous role .You’ll like it if u liked taken .
The Lord of the rings– Finally decided to watch this trilogy .Loved the first part .Quite an awesome start . Too long but worth it . Its the perfect movie for fantasy lovers . Epic BGM and visuals.
lotr is one of my favorite saga if not the favorite.
watch the extend edition if u like it
the first part is a bit slow in the begining
but the part two, the two tower, waooo, and the tird part also is great
The Trials of Muhammad Ali This documentary offers an inside look at Muhammad Ali’s struggle to overturn a five-year prison sentence after refusing to fight in Vietnam.
Good documentary. It has lots of Muhammad Ali footage – his interviews and his speeches and even some of his fights. After watching this have to say that Will Smith was spot on with his impersonation of Muhammad Ali in the movie Ali. It basically shows that he was a hero not only in the boxing ring but even outside the way he stood up for his beliefs despite facing flak for joining the Nation of Islam and changing his name from Cassius Clay or for being a draft dodger.
Did not like his initial anti White views which were also the views of the Nation of Islam cult back then. And it was nice to see that he got vindicated the way his conviction was overturned and the way he has been honored by making him light the flame at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta or receiving the US Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason This sequel to the hit movie begins with the formerly single Bridget discovering that life with her new beau isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.
Did not like it at all. Its a horrible chick flick. Renée Zellweger was doing her usual overacting and her scenes seemed all exaggerated. Hugh Grant and Colin Firth were ok.
The Family The Manzonis, an infamous mob family, are relocated to Normandy, France, by the witness protection program and have some difficulty fitting in.
Its a dark comedy and its watchable. There is a lot of violence and the whole family is almost pyscho.
Robert De Niro plays a gangster once again and this is something that he excels at. Michelle Pfeiffer was good. Tommy Lee Jones was ok. Dianna Agron who played the daughter was pretty and acted well too. John D’Leo who played the son was ok.
Life is beautiful…..
great movie in the back drop of 2nd world war. first half is full of feel good comedy but scenes in second half where father is trying to protect his son in Nazi camp are very touching.
@cr7 i was searching for the May thread.. seems there was none..
Content with the 4th spot if we win the cup and take that trophy drought off our back..
Arsenal could have ended up winners if we had won against Stoke away, Villa Home and had Flamini not scored an own goal against Swansea.
BTW excited about the Cup final. Hope we win or Arsene’s position will become untenable.
Yeah I did not create a thread this month as I had been watching The 70s Show since last month.
I think this year players are not gonna mess up .Everyone knows the importance of this trophy . I think FA cup is ours .
“Arsenal could have ended up winners if we had won against Stoke away, Villa Home and had Flamini not scored an own goal against Swansea.”
Agreed . Also we lost points against united when every other team won . Walcott and ramsey got injured in vital time .It affected the team . Hope we sign some quality players . At least 1 winger, 1 RB(I’ll miss Sagna 🙁 ) , 1 striker and DM .Wenger need to enter the market before WC . After wc prices will go sky high .Specially if we aim for players like Draxler,griezman .
Kiss the Girls A forensic psychologist teams up with an escaped kidnapping victim to hunt down a serial killer who abducts and dominates strong-willed women.
Had watched this movie some years ago but did not remember anything. Its a watchable thriller but with all the cliches. Ashley Judd’s character is into kick boxing but she hardly puts up a fight even in the climax. She is whimpering like some weak woman and is scared of fighting.
Morgan Freeman was ok. Along came a Spider which is not a sequel but had Morgan play the same character was better. Ashley Judd was ok and her character was being given unnecessary importance because she is the lead.
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The Human Stain A university classics professor becomes involved in a passionate relationship with a poor cleaning woman who’s married to a jealous, violent man.
Movie was slow paced. Could not understand the movie even after watching in full. Anthony Hopkins has to resign because he is accused of making racist comments in class. And then in flashbacks he is shown to be a African American who passes himself as Jewish. Anthony Hopkins playing a African American or even of a mixed race was too much of a stretch. Did not understand the point of his affair with Nicole Kidman and this racist part. And then there was Gary Sinise character with another sub plot which was unnecessary.
” She is whimpering like some weak woman and is scared of fighting.”
just like jodie foster in silence of the lambs where she played an FBI agent
No this was different. Jodie Foster’s character was a FBI trainee and she was timid from the beginning because of psychological issues from the slaughter of the lambs during her childhood.
Ashley Judd here is shown doing kickboxing with a guy – she loses to the guy but in later scenes with the villain she displays none of the fighting skills she did in the earlier scene and she hardly puts up a fight. Read on IMDB that in the book Ashley Judd’s character kicks ass of the villain in the end but they changed it in the movie.
@Zacked- You watching Fargo ??
Sense and Sensibility Facing poverty after their father’s death, three sisters are obliged to rely on the generosity of others in this adaptation of the Jane Austen novel.
I think I may have read it when I was in 11th or so but did not remember much. Its on similar lines as Pride and Prejudice (which Jane Austen wrote after this) with it being set in the 18th century, young women whose only purpose in life is to get married to a man, the elder sister being the more suffering type and the passionate younger woman having her heart broken and then falling in love with the guy whom she initially hates. The movie was entertaining and watchable but not as good as Pride and Prejudice.
Emma Thompson was excellent as the elder & more sensible sister and she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. She also wrote the screenplay of the movie and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. In a couple of scenes it felt like something was left from the novel. Kate Winslet was excellent as the passionate younger sister and she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Agree with @fearlesssoul’s comment (link) that Hugh Grant should have had a little meatier role. It seemed like he had a special appearance. Alan Rickman was good as the Colonel. The movie was nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Picture.
@cr7 Nope.. haven’t watch a series in a long time.. been a bit busy. Have seen the movie.
BTW what a win Yesterday. Feel so happy for Wenger 😀
Are you on Twitter?
A Dark Truth To expose a bloody corporate cover-up, an ex-CIA agent must rescue a desperate activist and his wife who have escaped with proof of the crime.
It was quite slow paced initially and took time to get started but it was a watchable thriller. The movie is about water being privatized by a corporation in Ecuador and the people over there not being allowed to even use rain water and a massacre by the govt. Turns out that it is based on the true story of Bechtel Corporation privatizing water in Bolivia.
Andy Garcia was good but felt somewhat of a misfit for the role of a CIA agent. Forest Whitaker was good as the activist. Deborah Kara Unger looked horrible. Eva Longoria was ok in a small role.
The Juror A single mother selected as a juror for a high-profile trial is forced to make an agonizing decision when a mob enforcer threatens to kill her son.
Its a legal thriller which began well but it dragged a lot. There were a lot of things in the movie which seemed implausible. Found out that on IMDB that this movie is very similar to another movie Trial by Jury which released two years earlier than this.
Demi Moore was ok as the threatened Juror. Alec Baldwin was excellent in a negative role. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the son. Anne Heche was ok. She looked good in one scene 🙂 James Gandolfini was good as Eddie a goodhearted mob guy.
Casino Jack No stranger to wealth and power, slick lobbyist Jack Abramoff lands deep in a political corruption scandal after bilking millions from Indian tribes.
The movie is based on the true story of the lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his arrest. The movie could have been named The Wolf of K Street. K Street is a street in Washington D.C famous for lobbyists. It was like watching a sedate version of The Wolf of Wall Street without the sex scenes and nudity.
It was a little slow paced at first and it took some effort to understand what’s going on but the final hour or so was good. There are some scenes where Kevin and Barry do movie impressions and there is a very good one in the climax. If you know those movies you will like those scenes. The real Jack Abramoff supposedly mimicked Marlon Brando from Godfather.
Kevin Spacey was good as Jack Abramoff. Even Leonardo’s acting in TWOWS seemed similar. Barry Pepper was ok as his friend. Kelly Preston was good as the wife. Jon Lovitz was usual. Rachelle Lefevre looked pretty. Spencer Garrett was good as Senator Tom Delay. The actor playing George Bush was good too.
St. Elmo’s Fire Six recent college graduates wrestle with the new found responsibilities of life in the real world — between visits to their favorite bar, St. Elmo’s.
Its a watchable coming of age movie. Its a movie from the 80s so it has bad hairstyles, bad costumes and most of it is shot on sets like a sitcom. Three of the actors (Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy) are from The Breakfast Club.
Emilio Estevez has an almost creepy character where he is stalking Andie MacDowell’s character throughout the movie and weirdly she seems to like it. Rob Lowe’s character is that of someone who was a favorite frat boy who can’t come to terms with life. He is married but can’t hold a job and is drunk and womanizing.
Demi Moore’s character was that of someone who is doing drugs and living on credit. Judd Nelson is supposed to be the ideal character who is working for a politician and who comes to the rescue of Demi Moore’s character every time. He moves in with Ally Sheedy’s character but is also cheating on her with other girls. Ally Sheedy and Mare Winningham were ok. Andrew McCarthy was good as Kevin who is secretly in love with Ally Sheedy’s character. Jenny Wright looked pretty but she did not have much of a role.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Two wealthy Californians consider themselves progressive until their daughter brings home a black fiancé in this look at race relations in the 1960s.
Excellent movie. Its a very bold movie for its time (1967) and it was shot when interracial marriage was still illegal in 17 States in the US. It has some dialogues using the word Negro which do not sound right now. The movie was nominated for 10 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director and won two Oscars which included Best Original Screenplay. Its directed by Stanley Kramer the same director who directed Judgement at Nuremberg.
There is a dialogue in the movie where Sidney’s character says that Joanna “feels that all of our children will be president of the United States and they’ll all have colorful administrations.” and he says may be that’s too much and they can be Secretary of State. Spookily a child of an interracial couple who met in Hawaii is now the President of US.
Spencer Tracy was excellent as the father who has issues with his daughter marrying a Black man. He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. He died two weeks after completing the movie. Katharine Hepburn was good as the mother but I don’t think she deserved the Oscar for Best Actress.
Sidney Poitier was very good as the Black man who is in love with their daughter. The movie has Sidney’s character almost perfect in that he is Doctor who is doing good work in Africa. The only thing somewhat bad with his character is that he is 37 years old and had a wife and kid who died earlier. Katharine Houghton’s character was almost like that of a dumb bimbo. Cecil Kellaway was very good as the Catholic friend. Beah Richards was very good as Sidney’s mother and she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Isabel Sanford was good as the Black maid. Roy Glenn was good as Sidney’s father.
Black Swann: Very disturbing psychological thriller about a ballet dancer whose world is taken over by the lead role she plays in a leading ballet production. The mood of the film is very dark, and there is seldom any respite. Natalie deservedly won an Oscar for her performance- it is certainly a role which would have required her to submit to the film completely- physically and emotionally. Gut-wrenching climax which ties up the movie wonderfully well. A unique experience certainly.
Agree with you on Natalie and yes its a very good movie. Liked it a lot.
Here are some comments on it.
https://tanqeed.com/movies-you-watched-this-month-october-2013/comment-page-1/#comment-129939
Interesting discussion- the blog post on the ‘hidden’ angle in the mother-daughter relations was a good read too.
Frozen Ground In this fact-based thriller, an Alaska state trooper pursuing a serial killer teams with a 17-year-old-prostitute who escaped the predator’s clutches.
Its based on the real-life 1980s Alaskan hunt for serial killer Robert Hansen who murdered at least 17 young women. There is no suspense and they show the killer from the beginning. Its about whether the cops can be sure if its him and recover enough evidence to pin him. It seemed somewhat implausible that they cannot get a warrant even with a victim who escaped. The movie is decent.
Nicolas Cage was good as the cop. Vanessa Hudgens was good as the 17 year old Cindy. John Cusack was good once again in a negative role after The Paperboy. Radha Mitchell was ok in a small role as Cage’s wife. 50 Cent has a small role of a pimp.
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Muriel’s Wedding A misfit escapes life by listening to ABBA ditties and dreaming about marriage, but when she leaves her hometown, her fantasy starts to come to life.
Its a very weird movie. I thought it would be a movie of a misfit whom everyone mocks but who is a good person and good things happen to her. But there was nothing redeeming about Muriel. She is fat, ugly, dumb and on top of that she steals and has a very irritating personality. She keeps laughing with her tongue out. Liked her mother’s character who keeps forgetting stuff.
Even though her character was irritating Toni Collette acted well in that role. Rachel Griffiths was good and for a while I thought it was Juliette Lewis coz she resembles her a lot. Jeanie Drynan was very good as the forgetful mother. Bill Hunter was good as the father.
XMEN 2014 – this film had more more story line and character building than any of the prequels I believe. The climax could have been better but in the end it’s all the same. Hugh jackman had nothing much to do or show off in this film but still he was charming. Liked it and recommended.
Non-Stop- Disappointment . Had high hopes from this movie . Turned out to be a below avergage movie .Liam Neeson was doing usual stuff . Didn’t like juliana Moore .
A Life Less Ordinary Determined to live “a life less ordinary,” Robert, a down-and-out janitor, kidnaps narcissistic heiress Celine in hopes of pulling in a big ransom.
Its a very weird movie which is all over the place with robots replacing workers, angels and even a miracle at the end. But it is still entertaining. Some scenes are hilarious. Its directed by Danny Boyle.
Ewan McGregor was very good as the laid off worker and bumbling kidnapper. Cameron Diaz looked hot and she totally owned the movie. Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo were ok as the angels.
Rabbit-Proof Fence During Australia’s aboriginal integration program, three girls who were torn from their families and placed in an abusive orphanage vow to get home.
Had watched the movie many years back and liked it a lot back then. So wanted to revisit the movie.
Its an excellent movie based on the true story of three Aboriginal girls who ran away from the Moore River Native Settlement to return to their Aboriginal families after having been placed there in 1931. The Aboriginal girls walked for nine weeks along 1,500 miles (2,400 km) of the Australian rabbit-proof fence to return to their community at Jigalong.
The movie shows the horrible manner in which the Australian govt used to take away Half-castes (children who had one white and one Aboriginal parent) from their mothers and place them in camps so that they can marry white people so that the Aboriginal “blood” will diminish.
The movie ends with the footage of the real girls Molly and Daisy who are old now. Molly says that she married and had two daughters and they were taken to Moore River again and that she managed to escape with one daughter Annabelle and once again she walked the length of the fence back home. However when Annabelle was 3 years old, she was taken away once more and Molly never saw her again.
Everlyn Sampi was excellent as the eldest girl Molly. Tianna Sansbury looked cute as the youngest girl Daisy. Laura Monaghan was good as Gracie. David Gulpilil was good as the tracker. Kenneth Branagh was very good as the the “protector” of Western Australian Aborigines Neville.
Highly Recommended
The Thomas Crown Affair This remake of the 1968 classic showcases Pierce Brosnan as the titular billionaire who, for kicks, would rather steal works of art than buy them.
Had watched it many years back. Had found it boring back then but thought it was ok this time. Its a slow paced heist movie and its about the cat-and-mouse games between the male and female leads. The scene where he steals the painting and the final scene where he comes back to return the painting were very good. The painting being perfectly fine when he folds it in a briefcase was unbelievable.
Pierce Brosnan was very good and quite cool as the the billionaire thief. Rene Russo was good as the insurance investigator but she looked old. Denis Leary seemed miscast for the role of a NYPD Detective.
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The Advocate (The Hour of the Pig) An educated lawyer leaves the city to find peace in the countryside but soon discovers acts of murder that are holding a superstitious hamlet in fear.
Its a very weird movie supposedly based on true things that happened in the 1400s. Animals are tried in courts just like humans and women are tried for being witches. Was able to guess what the secret about the killings would be. The movie was like a B Grade soft core movie with a lot of nudity and bad nudity at that.
Colin Firth was good as the advocate. Ian Holm was funny as the priest. Did not like Amina Annabi. She was neither pretty nor had any subtantial role to play. Nicol Williamson was good as Seigneur Jehan d’Auferre.
A Royal Affair – The movie is little slow paced, boring at times and superfast at times. The queen was really beautiful and charming, looked million bucks in the movie. the king’s physician was handsome enough to tempt the queen. The political coup and the way it was carried looked childish but not implausible as the king himself was mentally sick. Overall watchable and good.
Its based on a true story. My comment on the movie.
“Watched A Royal Affair A young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician – and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.
Its based on the true story of King Christian VII of Denmark, his wife Caroline Matilda and the royal physician Struensee. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language film this year.
The movie took a bit of time to get started – the initial 20 odd minutes were a bit slow but it gradually got interesting. Movie was good – its part love story and part political thriller.
Mikkel Boe Følsgaard was excellent as the partially insane King who’s taken for a ride by everyone. Though he initially comes off as obnoxious one ends up feeling sorry for him in the end. Alicia Vikander was good as the Queen. Mads Mikkelsen was very good as the Physician who wants to bring a change and who becomes the actual ruler for a while.”
Link
Sneakers Shadowy government agents blackmail a reformed hacker and his team of security experts into stealing a code-breaking box from a Soviet-funded genius.
Its a espionage thriller from 1992. Its watchable but it has lots of stuff which seemed implausible/silly. It felt like watching a much older spy movie from the 50s/60s. Some of it seemed dated now with the Computer Date and all but some of it is felt topical with the NSA and data being everything. There is some Republican party bashing too with the money being stolen from them and donated to liberal causes.
Robert Redford was good as the ex-hacker running a security business. Sidney Poitier was good as the ex CIA agent. Ben Kingsley was ok in a negative role. Dan Aykroyd was funny as the conspiracy theorist. Mary McDonnell looked pretty. River Phoenix was ok. David Strathairn was good as the blind guy.
May we have a new thread for June ?
You can make one if you have seen any movies or else I will make one tomorrow.
let me make a new one later today as i will be watching raid 2 today evening!
Ok.
Waiting Baba ji 😛