Croupier

Everything you ever wanted to know about the casino business and the people involved in it. And how it can bend and in some ways break an idealistic person like Jack Manfred who just wants to be a writer. This film has a cool feel to it with Clive Owen's portraying Jack Manfred as highly intelligent, not easily rattled, observant, but at the same time detached and emotionally cold man. Living with a girlfriend that admires him and supports him in his pursuit of becoming a writer Jack gets a job at a casino through his dad, an even more emotionally detached and cold man than himself. Having had prior experience working as a croupier in South Africa Jack quickly establishes himself as a valued member of the team. Originally looking at the job as something temporary to help support himself and appease his dad Jack finds himself having to make many ethical choices while being sucked in deeper and deeper into the shadowy world of casinos. The story is very believable and ties in nicely at the end while springing a few surprises along the way. It is one of those films that will leave you thinking about it for a little bit after putting the puzzle of events together in your head after finding out who, where, what and why. I have really enjoyed watching it and would recommend it.

Oceans 13

Ocean's 13: One Number Too Many? Ocean's Thirteen is the third installment in the blockbuster, star studded heist franchise directed by Steve Soderbergh. Starring most all of the casts from the first two films this one centers around a revenge plot against a greedy casino owner who hurts one of Ocean's crew.Acting is up to par for the series, with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Don Cheadel, Al Pacino, Elliot Gould, Bernie Mac, Scott Caan, and Ellen Barkin all putting in their usual acting efforts. Missing this time was Julia Roberts, but with such a large cast of notable names who cares if she stayed home to make babies.The film was down right simple fun ruined by complex and illogical events that stretched the believability factor just too far to compare this one on the same grounds as the previous films. Actually, I found Ocean's 11 to be an overrated showcase of movie stars and wardrobe, yet Ocean's 12 to be the same fun as this installment. Ocean's 13 is a rental that should not disappoint, but I paid theatre price for it and really I will forget the caper within a few days.

Here is one of the reasons I could not 100% enjoy Ocean's 13. They take the quirky heist situation and use methods that were too ridiculous for me to fathom them trying. For example they rent a giant tunneling machine, the same one that made the English channel or something like that. So here they are tunneling under Las Vegas to strike the bottom of a hotel and simulate an Earthquake. They do not show how they got this large tunneling machine underground without anyone noticing, they just cut right to it already being in place. Then on top of that, how did they drive such a large thing under the city of Las Vegas to the center without tearing out all of the pipes and things associated with all of the other businesses? I didn't see them hire any genius diggers or mad scientists for that matter.I had fun watching the movie, but looking back can not justify saying it is a great film by any means. If you just allow yourself to forget any logical reality and let the characters on the screen entertain you then it works, especially if you are a fan of the previous two films. However, if you are someone who cannot suspend reality too long or far when the movie is supposedly set in the "real" world, then you may have more gripes than praise for Ocean's 13.

Alpha Dog

I went into this film very weary about seeing Justin Timberlake in a film. After th film I was very impressed and would definitely see it again and again. The film basically looks at the character Jonny Truelove who is a drug dealer in California. Everything begins to unfold when a deal goes wrong and Jonny is not getting paid. With all his wits and brains working for him Jonny decides to kidnap the kid brother of the guy who owes him money. After the kidnapping occurs Truelove realizes that everything is unraveling and he is obviously losing his control. He puts the kid under the supervision of his partner/best friend Frankie(played by Justin Timberlake). Timberlake takes the kid under his wings and treats him just like he was one of the boys. The kid coming from a disgruntled home situation doesn't want to go home and really doesn't mind the fact that he has been kidnapped. He is having the time of his life with all the partyin, drugs alcohol and beautiful women he could ever want the kid is living it up. The story eventually comes to an end when Truelove decides that the kid must die and he needs his boys to do it. Everyone in Truelove's crew is accused of some form of kidnap or murder and are sentenced to jail. Truelove manages to escape and becomes the youngest man on the FBI's most wanted list he is eventually caught and is awaiting the death penalty in jail. All in all I recommend this film to everyone it is very well done and quite realistic.

Reign Over Me

Reign Over Me is by far Sandler’s best work to date from an acting standpoint. Like Jim Carrey, these dramas struggle to find an audience and in terms of box office receipts are complete failures compared to the blockbuster success the comedies are. If anything give Sandler and Reign Over Me a chance and do not just write it off like other 9/11 movies as this one is more about the effects it has had instead of the actual event.

“Reign Over Me” delivers a heartbreaking story of personal development and the pain of loss with humor, respect and dignity. The performances are subtle yet striking , leaving you with both feelings of comfort and sorrow as you are torn between feeling sorry for a man living with intense pain and wishing he would give in to society’s demands for his well-being. Sandler’s acting is Oscar-worthy to say the least, which could come as a surprise to fans of his wacky comedic roles. Overall, the film weaves an intense tapestry of emotional highs and lows, and will force you to open up your eyes to the world around you and make you realize just how precious life can be.

The supporting cast does an amazing job helping keep up appearances for the two leads. Jada Pinkett Smith has never been an actress that impressed me and throughout the film played the tough as nails wife nicely, but it is her final scene on the phone with Cheadle that really showed me something different and true. Liv Tyler is a bit out of her element as a psychiatrist, but the movie calls her on this fact and makes the miscasting, perfect casting. The many small cameos are also effective, even writer/director Mike Binder's role as Sandler's old best friend and accountant. Last but not least is the beautiful Saffron Burrows. She is a great actress and plays the love-crushed divorcée trying to put her life back together wonderfully. A role that seems comic relief at first, but ends up being an integral aspect for what is to come.

After watching this movie, you would have to say that it would be worthy of Oscar Nominations for Sandler as Best Actor, and Cheadle for Best Supporting Actor.

LOL

I wouldn't tell people "LOL" is a comedy because it's also kind of a drama about young guys who screw up their relationships in the Internet Age. There were a lot of really funny parts that were like "Curb Your Enthusiasm" in that squirmy uncomfortable way and that stuff is pretty hilarious like when Joe Swanberg gets caught by his girlfriend on the phone late at night or his friend asking his girlfriend to send sexier camera-phone pictures of herself.

This movie is so true of our society today with falsified internet relationships. So many people try to use the internet as a buffer to who they really are, they want to hide, not showing their true colors. Most never realized they are chasing after a lost cause! The musical score goes perfectly with the footage. Brilliant yet subtle.

Owning Mahowny

This is the true story of the biggest Canadian bank fraud case in Toronto's history. The story is about a compulsive gambler of the worst kind named Dan Mahowny (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Mahowny has just become promoted to being a bank manager and he is very good at his job. Unfortunately, he has access to a million dollar account and dummies up paperwork to get his hands on money to keep gambling. His fiance Belinda (Minnie Driver) knows he goes to the track and bets a little but is unaware of the extent of his problem. He goes to a casino in Atlantic City to bet and the owner Victor Foss (John Hurt) quickly notices him and keeps his eye on him. Lots of questions are being asked as to who this Mahowny really is and they think he's a real high roller. They tempt him with free shows but he says no, he just wants to gamble. They try and give him free drinks and he still says no. Then Foss sends up a prostitute to his free suite and he sends her back. Foss is fascinated by Mahowny and calls him "The Ice Man". But the police have been tapping the line of Mahowny's bookie and they also are trying to figure out where he gets the money. What can you say about Hoffmans performance? In my book Phillip Seymour Hoffman should have been a candidate for an Oscar nomination. Hoffman plays Mahowny exactly the way an obsessive person would. Hoffman rarely even looks at whoever he is communicating with. He seems to be annoyed that he has to stop gambling and talk to people. His whole existence is to gamble. Hoffman throws himself into the role and their is no compassion aimed at his character. Your not suppose to root for him but Hoffman is so compelling to watch that your fascinated by the attention that he has accumulated at the casinos. Hoffman is at the top of his form and even when you see Mahowny at work its just an excuse to try and get more money for his real existence. To gamble. Driver is a terrific actress but aside from some scenes when she confronts her fiance about his problem she seems to be in a role that screamed to be rewritten. Two scenes stick out with Driver, the first is a very symbolic shot of her in Las Vegas looking for Mahowny. She is coming down the escalator to find her fiance. But on the other side of her the escalator has a newly wedded couple on their way up! I thought this symbolized her fate if she continues to have a relationship with him. The other scene is when she finds Mahowny at the poker table and a security guard is about to drag her away for annoying the players. Mahowny barely notices her and its here that Belinda realizes the extent of his problem. Hurt is also good as the fascinated Victor Foss. His character has seen a lot of gamblers with problems before but Mahowny seems to be the king of all of them and its something that he's never seen before, at least not on such an extreme level. While the film is structured adequately, its the performance by Hoffman that really raises this film up a few levels. It's a definite must see.

XX/XY

This film is a breath of fresh air. It is about actual people having believable conversations and making plausible choices. Instead of a glossed over view of love, this movie actually goes into detail and shows both the causes and effects of entering a relationship. It portrays love as something that has an unclear beginning and end, even as something that never really ends at all. This is so refreshing after so many movies where, after love is confessed, the credits roll and happily ever after is the only available option. These characters are often happy in love, but also confused, frightened, desperate, and unsure.

Mark Ruffalo as a guy with, let's call it, "emotional problems." The story focuses on Ruffalo and a three-way relationship he had with two women in his college days. Eventually, his relationship with the two ladies becomes complicated with "feelings" and "emotions" and stuff and falls all apart. Years later, he runs into the one of his old sex-buddies--the one he was closer to--and eventually the three of them becomes friends again. Sort of. Everyone is in separate relationships by this time, so the idea of jump-starting old feelings and relationships becomes complicated. Well, then, of course, all kinds of craziness ensues--and I'll leave that up to you to see for yourself.

Angelo

Irreversible

Film can be a powerful medium and here it uses these extremes to take us to a part of our world and our nature that not everyone wants to see. I had a long think after watching this film and tried to imagine what the outcome would have been like if it had not been told in the unconventional style that it was. I thought "would it not have made the rape scene more powerful and affecting if we had been allowed to know the character and maybe not just see her as some stranger. the conclusion i eventually reached was no mostly because i imagine this as being done in the style of a newspaper article, maybe you hear something of a woman being raped on the news and then you pick up a newspaper and read about her life or how many children she has who have been affected. Presenting it this way at the start you wonder why he wants revenge and then you have all the evidence for it laid out in front of you. This rape scene was hard to stomach purely because of the fixed camera and no cuts, it feel more like the rapist was filming his crime for his own gratification, I felt a huge stir of sadness and sympathy for this woman even though i knew nothing of her, I also felt anger at the man who appears in the distance and just walks away. when the camera did move it was a dizzying unnatural movement that moves in for a close up and should make any decent moral soul turn away in disgust. all too often rape like murder is presented in a stylised shortened way with angles and editing but this is a raw honest portrayal of what I imagine a woman goes through and makes you feel the way it does due to its brutality and length.


This film will leave you disorientated, shaken and maybe a little bit sick. It is most certainly not entertainment, but an experience and like all experiences we can learn from it.

The Legend of 1900

The Legend of 1900 is an epic story of a man who lives his entire life within a ship, but also a story about music, hope, friendship, passion, and despair, and about the fear of facing the unknown.

The story takes place mostly on board of The Virginian, a luxurious ocean-steamer used to take Italian immigrants to New York, and is told through the memories of a trumpet player who is the main character's best friend.

On the first day of 1900, while carefully searching the first class after anything of value, Danny (Bill Nunn), an employee of the ship, finds a newborn baby in a box on the piano. He keeps the boy secretly hidden, and calls him `Danny Boodman TD Lemon Nineteen Hundred', 1900 for short. Eight years later, after Danny's, death, the boy finds the piano and plays incredibly well, much to everyone's amazement, becoming the pianist of the ship.

Several years later Max (Pruitt Taylor Vince) joins the ship's orchestra. On his first night there is a storm and he becomes terribly seasick. 1900 (Tim Roth in a great performance) approaches him and invites him to sit by his side at the piano while he plays. As the waves rock the ship and the piano slides around the ball room, 1900 doesn't even seem to notice and continues to play. They end up crashing into a glass wall and into the Captain's cabin. This is on of the best scenes of the movie, and the beginning of a strong friendship.

Once, while playing the Tarantella for the Italian immigrants, someone spots the Statue of Liberty and they all run to see, leaving 1900 alone. More than once does Max try to convince him to get out of the ship and feel the new experience, but 1900 seems to fear the unknown, and stays inside.

Nineteen Hundred shows an amazing skill in the piano, being able to play any kind of music. His music truly comes from his heart, considering that he has never learnt how to play. While playing in a ball, 1900 suddenly changes the rhythm of the music, according to his impressions on each passenger. He appears to understand everyone's soul.

His fame quickly spreads, and even the father of Jazz, a proud man called Jelly Roll Morton (Clarence Williams III), goes on board to challenge him on the piano. 1900 does not take the challenge seriously at first, but after a while he finally plays with passion, so brilliantly that everyone listens in absolute silence, almost paralyzed, and even the Jazz whiz becomes astonished. It is Max's best scene, as he (who has bet a whole year's salary on his friend 1900) goes from despair to ecstasy.

Because of 1900's refusal in leaving the ship, a recording is planned to take place there. As he plays, he notices a young woman observing him. Inspired by her youth and beauty, he composes the sweetest song ever made, but when told of the success and fame he will surely achieve, 1900 fears the possibility of leaving the ship and decides to keep the record from the world.

Finding himself in love, 1900 becomes determined to offer the record to the girl who inspired it, but fails as she disembarks, leaving him behind. After a long period of loneliness, 1900 announces his decision of leaving the ship, surprising the whole crew, but changes his mind and returns before even touching the ground.

Years pass by. Max leaves the ship and they lose contact. Several years later Max goes into a second hand music store to sell his old trumpet and runs into 1900's record. He becomes aware of the ship's fate: it is ready to be blown up. Max narrates 1900's story as an attempt to save him, for he has no doubt of him still being on the ship. He is finally allowed to search inside The Virginian, and finds his lonely friend there, but is unable to convince him to leave the condemned ship.

The last dialogue is very touching. 1900 tells Max the reason why he never set forth to leave the ship. Opposing the piano, which is a concrete element with a definite size, the land is never-ending. 1900 is afraid of the abstract, of whatever he cannot control. While on the ship there are few options, on the streets there are infinite possibilities, and 1900 finds this insane. Land is a ship too big for him to control. He finally states that, as he doesn't exist to the world, the world will not exist for him. Deeply sad, Max leaves the ship without his friend.

1900 is portrayed by Tim Roth, who fits so well in the character that it is impossible to imagine someone else in his place. 1900 is an enigmatic pianist whose world is the ship where he has always lived. He has a natural and extraordinary talent for music, but is refrained from leaving the ship by an unconscious fear of exploring new horizons. We learn about 1900's legend from his best friend Max, a chubby trumpet player who refuses to accept his reluctance to step in dry land. He constantly brings up the subject, but does not succeed in changing 1900's mind.

The sets and costumes reveal a meticulous reproduction of the beginning of the twentieth century. The music is delightful, and without a doubt the highlight of the movie. The sound effects are perfect, particularly the wind and the waves, sounding like a real ship. The direction also contributed for the great quality of the film: the scenes are harmoniously presented, and it is almost possible to imagine ourselves as one of the immigrants as they see the Statue of Liberty for the first time. In fact, the first scene is a masterpiece, setting the mood for the rest of the movie.

The Legend of 1900 has certainly surpassed my expectations, turning to be an interesting and captivating movie, for what I truly recommend it.