After a long time, finally we can see the great Robert Downey Jr. do something different than the superhero Iron Man, or even the very intelligent but insane Sherlock Holmes. Nothing against, as the success of these two blockbusters owes much to his talent and what he gives to his characters. In The Judge we can see him doing a deeper and more serious role, never losing his ironic side and that funny that always makes us laugh whenever it is necessary. Here plays a character that can be perfectly adapted to real life and I confess that I've been missing to see him again in a different register.
The Judge is divided between the courtrooms and the family drama of a family marked by problems from the past that are still unresolved. Attorney Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) is forced to return to his hometwon in Indiana, 20 years later, for the funeral of his mother. Hank always had problems with his father (Robert Duvall), a very well respected judge in the city, and during his short stay his father is considered the main suspect of an homicide. Hank is forced to help his father to find out the truth and eventually re-connects with his brothers and even with some old acquaintances of the small town.
The film is not simply a story about courts, laws or criminal justice, but a family drama where the characters are going to rediscover themselves, learn how to forgive and respect each other. The emotional side of the story is more important than everything else, and despite the numerous clichés that the film may have, they result in a perfect way to what the film is supposed to give us and it never disappoints.
It is certainly a film of great performances! The chemistry between Downey Jr. and Duvall is really great and all their scenes together are very intense. The entire supporting cast does a very good work, but is mostly Downey Jr. and Duvall what make The Judge to be not just a drama of conflict between father and son, but a real portrait of many families, sincere and honest that has a slightly different ending than we are expecting.
After a long time, finally we can see the great Robert Downey Jr. do something different than the superhero Iron Man, or even the very intelligent but insane Sherlock Holmes. Nothing against, as the success of these two blockbusters owes much to his talent and what he gives to his characters. In The Judge we can see him doing a deeper and more serious role, never losing his ironic side and that funny that always makes us laugh whenever it is necessary. Here plays a character that can be perfectly adapted to real life and I confess that I've been missing to see him again in a different register.
The Judge is divided between the courtrooms and the family drama of a family marked by problems from the past that are still unresolved. Attorney Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) is forced to return to his hometwon in Indiana, 20 years later, for the funeral of his mother. Hank always had problems with his father (Robert Duvall), a very well respected judge in the city, and during his short stay his father is considered the main suspect of an homicide. Hank is forced to help his father to find out the truth and eventually re-connects with his brothers and even with some old acquaintances of the small town.
The film is not simply a story about courts, laws or criminal justice, but a family drama where the characters are going to rediscover themselves, learn how to forgive and respect each other. The emotional side of the story is more important than everything else, and despite the numerous clichés that the film may have, they result in a perfect way to what the film is supposed to give us and it never disappoints.
It is certainly a film of great performances! The chemistry between Downey Jr. and Duvall is really great and all their scenes together are very intense. The entire supporting cast does a very good work, but is mostly Downey Jr. and Duvall what make The Judge to be not just a drama of conflict between father and son, but a real portrait of many families, sincere and honest that has a slightly different ending than we are expecting.
SPOILERS AHEAD…. I don’t even know if I can put into words how much I fucking love this film!!! American History X is such an underrated masterpiece—literally, from start to end. This is not an easy film to watch, but damn is it worthy of every second.
A 1998 film directed by Tony Kaye presents to us the story about a neo-Nazi skinhead named Derek Vinyard—marked with a life of cruelty, violence, racism—who is sent to prison after brutally murdering two black men who attempt larceny. Once released, he desires a change and understands his mistakes. Derek sets off to change and fix the things he did wrong, specifically that his younger brother Danny doesn’t follow in his footsteps.
American History X obtains beautiful cinematography. There is an extremely distinct and intelligent representation of hatred in the movie’s photography. The past is shot in black and white to portray how Derek viewed the world as plain as black v.s. white; and the present is shot in colour to represent Derek’s change and comprehension of what social hatred has done to better his life, which is simply nothing but pain.
Sadly, 20 years later, American History X is still relevant to this day. Recently, many problematic hate groups have been exposed and often include neo-Nazis. Never had I thought I would live in a world filled with this atrocity but disappointingly, they have always been there. Deep inside, I have this raging gut to show this film to all people that commit hate crimes or simply hate. Hell, how could that ever happen, right?
Why is it that I love American History X so much? It is because the message that this film sends out is astonishing. The script is in every single way a lesson, and it all concludes perfectly at the end. This movie in no way sets out to present white people being victimized by different races and ethnicities. It simply speaks to the world about not only racism, but how hatred can affect individuals and tear loved ones apart. Technically, this entire movie should be the definition of hate. That “Hate is baggage. Life’s too short to be pissed off all the time. It’s just not worth it.”
The movie accomplishes to teach us how individuals are never born hating. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, then they can be taught to love. There are numerous amounts of scenarios where this is shown through the film’s very memorable moments. From the curb stomp scene, which presents HATE, sending Derek to prison (presenting: hate does not mean better), where he soon experiences BETRAYAL from a group of neo-Nazis when they rape him, to unexpectedly befriending a black man, displaying LOVE.
Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D’Angelo, and Jennifer Lien did amazing jobs portraying their characters—each and every single one of them with so much pain. The most difficult scene to watch was the brutal dinner table scene where Norton gives a fucking powerful performance. He really demonstrated how deep the character’s hatred can go once he sends endless insults to the Jewish man whom during that scene was in a relationship with his mother. Not to mention the part where he begins to suffocate his own sister!!
The ending of the film was the most unexpected and completely heartbreaking. Although this is a film that revolves around white supremacy, I cannot be the only one who was hoping for a happy ending. Watching a family go through such horrendous events and then watching this former neo-Nazi noticing his mistakes and profoundly attempting to fix them, only to see them end on the murder of his young brother is truly fucking tragic.
In a way, during that last scene American History X presents the cycle of social hatred. One loses, and the other wins, continuing to pass on the hate. That kid was probably put up to a test, and as soon as Danny’s blood splatters over his face, the kid’s eyes open wide, and we know he regrets it.
I have read the original script of American History X and I seriously wish this film could’ve been longer. I really believe it still would’ve been successful if they included a few scenes from the original screenplay. AMAZING MOVIE!
Ok, so first thing. If you didn't like Man of Steel you WILL NOT like this movie.
This movie will also attract a lot of hate, but if you are a person that likes movies they like without listening to others, read on for my impressions.
I enjoyed it for the most part and went in completely blind (avoided all trailers/reviews/articles), there were a lot of great scenes and visuals but also a lot of terrible/boring scenes and visuals in a less but still substantial volume. Now some of the really great shots may have been spammed in the trailers so won't have the "wow" factor for people that watched all the trailers 50 times, but for me they were great.
A bit of overuse of CGI at points and some was bad, while other scenes had great effects. Some of the characters were fantastic like Ben's Batman, Jesse's Lex and Laurence's Perry White, while others should really move along... Lois looking at you.
I did find myself getting a bit excited for some of the fight scenes and "Justice League" setup. I will mention the lack of real "flow" for the first two acts of the films and I honestly think (hope at least) that if they release a "directors cut" it would solve the broken flow of the first two acts.
It may get called "Bad", but it's no where close to being Fantasic Four bad.
This film is great! The film is about two hitmen hiding out in Bruges, awaiting orders from their employer. Things happen that I'm not going to explain because it would spoil the movie, but I will say that the movie's very entertaining and it has a good sense of dark humor. There are some action-thriller elements to it, but it's mostly a comedy. And how refreshing it is to see a comedy that doesn't completely do away with the idea of consequence. The two main characters have an entertaining contrast and they work very well together comedically. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson do very well to play their characters and both can provide a variety of dimensions to the characters in specific scenes. I had no idea who was actually in this movie, so when I saw that ONE actor suddenly appear I was extremely delighted and impressed. An extremely well-written film with plot twists and turns that you will not see coming with plenty of intelligent humour and some dumb humour along the way to make this a very entertaining ride. Like I said, I don't want to spoil too much, so I'm just going to leave it at that and say you should check it out!
"In 1956, renowed mathematician Kurt Godel wrote a letter to John von Neumann postulating the existence of a single proof that could unlock the fundamental laws that bind our universe.
Fantastical at the time, technological innovations and conceptual advancements over the last half-century have brought us closer to discovering the proof's frightening potential.
Today it is considered the most important unsolved problem in computer science.
It is simply known as P vs NP."
The opening titles of Travelling Salesman serve almost as an elimination process. If any of that makes you think "Huh? Who? What?" this film may not be for you. That is not meant as condescension, it is just that this film gives no quarter. You either understand what it is talking about or you don't. Names and events are casually dropped with history serving as exposition. The low rating is indicative of that. Again, that is not meant as condescending and I don't believe the film to be either. Twenty minutes in and I had a great respect for writer/director Timothy Lanzone for having a vision and never swaying from it.
Travelling Salesman is an ultra low budget feature with an intelligent and dense script, excellent cinematography and editing, and solid natural performances.
Taking place almost entirely in a single room the film chronicles the conclusive meeting of 4 mathematicians, truly the smartest men in any room they are in, as they turn over the findings of their 4 year top secret project to their Department of Defence handler. Their discussions centre around an 11th hour addendum to their findings, a betrayal of their agreement, that document morally questionable applications of their earth shattering work. Struggling with the ramifications they try and talk themselves into acceptance and sign off on each of their $10 million dollar pay checks.
Travelling Salesman left me thinking long after the credits rolled, in fact I watched it again the next day to let it rattle around some more. Shot in just 10 days on a reported budget of $10,000 I found this film to be a remarkable achievement.
Totally Ninja²
