Bernie is a movie that not only exceeds expectations with it’s laughter and entertainment, it provides a great crime story with a brilliant performance from Jack Black. To top it off, it’s based on a true story.
-
-
In the small town of Carthage, Texas, we meet Bernie Tiede (Jack Black) who is an assistant funeral director and one of the town’s most loved residents. We are told the story of Bernie, how he can do no wrong and is always there to lend a hand. We also meet Marjorie Nugent, who unlike Bernie, is not pleasant at all and quite nasty. Played by Shirley MacLaine, Marjorie is someone we can relate to in real life but to the extreme. A polar opposite to accomodating Bernie. Read more
Archive for July 2012
Movie Review – Bernie (2011/12)
The Weekly Watch: Installment #22
New to Australian cinemas; Magic Mike, as well as The Back to the Future trilogy were the 4 movies I managed to see this week. Read on for thoughts.
-
-
Back to the Future (1985) – I was recently talking about Christopher Nolan’s trilogy being my favourite trilogy of all time, surpassing Star Wars, Bourne and Lord of the Rings when someone mentioned the Back to the Future series. I hadn’t yet seen them so I decided to check them out and I was in for a treat! The first of the series, Back to the Future explores time travel where Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) travels from 1985 to 1955 with Doc Brown (Chrisotpher Lloyd)’s time machine. Both actors are great, as are the other cast members and I especially loved them playing both younger and current versions of themselves. This film would have been awesome in 1985, and with it’s fun visuals and awesome concept, it’s a movie I should have seen sooner. A-
Magic Mike (2012) – One of my favourite directors Steven Soderbergh directs a film about male strippers that’s loosely based on Channing Tatum‘s life before he was an actor. Tatum himself is one of the best things about the film, which is much more deep then the trailer will lead you to believe. Read more
The Weekly Watch: Installment #21
I’ve seen some classic movies in the last week including two movies that recieved a grade of A- or better.
I caught 3 recent Best Picture nominated films, with all three leaving me with differing feelings. 2010′s Winter’s Bone, 2009′s A Serious Man and 2008′s Milk. I also finally finished the Star Wars trilogy with Episodes I to III.
Two new releases were seen this week, Australian movie The King is Dead and Christopher Nolan’s epic The Dark Knight Rises. Here are my thoughts!
-
-
A Serious Man (2009) – A movie from the Coen Brothers Ethan and Joel, I found this to be pretty boring. It didn’t make me laugh much (I can barely remember laughing at all) and I was waiting for it to end most of the time. Just not for me. C Read more
Movie Review – The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Christopher Nolan returns with the final Batman movie in his much loved trilogy and it doesn’t fail to deliver – despite the huge hype. It is both gripping and emotional, a movie that is sure to have your eyes glued to the screen for it’s 164 minute runtime, which flies by and leaves you ultimately satisfied.
-
-
Where to begin in complimenting this awesome cinematic experience? The soundtrack is incredible, as is it’s mammoth cast. Just beginning to name them would consume paragraphs but I particularly enjoyed newcomer Tom Hardy as new villain Bane, as well as Joseph Gordon Lovett. Bruce Wayne himself (Christian Bale) puts in another great acting performance, as does Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. In fact, all the performances just fit so well, it’s as if the cast were born to play them.
Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack, which I did not listen to before the movie, engrossed me the whole time. Read more
Movie Review – The King is Dead (2012)
The King is Dead shows us what could concievably be a real life horror story about nightmare neighbours. Set in South Australia, it feels very believable and relatable but lacks any real punch with it’s laughs, which is a shame as the characters and plot are great, especially in the first half of the film.
-
-
Dan Wyllie (Animal Kingdom, Romper Stomper) plays Max who along with his wife Therese (Bojana Novakovic) set out to buy a house in what seems like a nice neighbourhood. Sadly for them, there are one set of neighbours that would win the ‘Neighbours from hell’ award. The opening scene involving them is probably my favourite of the movie as we see Shrek (Luke Ford) pumping vulgar music from his speaker in both the front and back yards. Read more
Possible Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) Schedule
In August I will be attending my first ever film festival and I am very excited! Today the site’s gone live with the films and session times so I’ve put together my proposed schedule. I will be seeing 20 sessions (after purchasing two eMini passes) and while I’ve settled on 17 films I would love your help for which other 3 to see.
Here’s my 17 ‘locked in’ movies:
I would love your help (see below) of which other 3 to see (schedule permitting) and whether to go to the closing night film: Mental.
Read more
The Weekly Watch: Installment #20
Have been rather busy lately and managed to watch 8 movies in the last 1-2 weeks. These included 5 new releases in Brave, Ted, The Three Stooges, The Amazing Spider-Man and french film: Polisse which was the best of the lot.
I caught Leon: The Professional and The Game, both awesome films from the 90′s. Finally I saw Carey Mulligan’s brilliant performance in An Education. Read on for my thoughts!
-
-
Brave (2012) – The latest effort from Pixar, Brave is an animated film about Princess Merida, a red headed young girl who is also a skilled archer. Opinion on this film has been quite polarizing but I thought the animation was great and the values it tries to show were decent. The first third was a bit of a bore to me but I enjoyed the final two thirds. Worth taking the kids to. B
Leon: The Professional (1994) – I am rarely as impressed by acting performances as I was by Natalie Portman’s, made even more amazing by the fact she was 14 in the film. Léon (Jean Reno), a professional assassin, rescues a teenage girl (Portman) who’s parents were killed in a police raid. It also stars a much younger looking Gary Oldman, and all 3 give superb performances. One of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time! A
Read more
Ranking Nolan and Fincher’s Movies – Part 2
Continuing from Part 1 of my Nolan/Fincher movie love, today I’ll be sharing my favourite 8 movies from these two great directors. I think the top 2 will be very surprising to most.
-
#8: Se7en (Fincher)
Se7en is so gripping and widely regarded as one of Fincher’s best ever (it’s #27 in IMDB’s Top 250). I almost gave this another watch before putting it 8th as it’s a movie I don’t fully remember. Still, the epic build up to the end is amazing and ultimately satisfying. The heartache Pitt goes through is so immense. I loved the idea of the seventh sin being what it was.
-
#7: Batman Begins (Nolan)
The first of what will most likely be my favourite trilogy of all time, Nolan really burst out of the blocks with this one. The first Batman may live in the shadows of the Dark Knight but I thought it was almost as good. There’s really not that much to say, I enjoyed it immensely. Read more
Ranking Nolan and Fincher’s Movies – Part 1
I only began watching movies passionately about a year ago, and until recently if you asked me who my favourite director was, I wouldn’t have had a clue. But since then it has become very clear who my top 2 are: Christopher Nolan and David Fincher.
Nolan is a filmmaker whom every movie he makes I seem to love. His films are so well made, always have a point to them and they are executed brilliantly. All 7 of his films have gripped me, I was pretty certain he was going to be my #1 Director. But then I took a look, and noticed that Fincher’s films also rate very highly in my eyes. He’s been around longer, and with 9 feature films also seems to be an advocate of quality not quantity.
So with The Dark Knight Rises around the corner, I decided to rank the combined 16 films in order of preference. I love both director’s work and thought I would showcase how good they are! I am sure some of my rankings will surprise, and I would love to hear your thoughts and rankings too.
Here’s #16 to #9!
#16: Panic Room (Fincher)
The battle for 16th was a tough one but ultimately Panic Room had to get it. I enjoyed it, and considering 90% of the movie is set in the same location, Fincher did a really good job to make it work. Stewart’s performance as a child actress is great, as is Jodie Foster’s.
-
#15: Zodiac (Fincher)
Especially considering it’s 157 minute runtime, I was gripped by this movie the whole way. The acting is great, the suspense build ups are fantastic too. Ultimately I was let down by the ending. As far as I can tell, it’s a very likeable movie, but not so much a lovable one.
Read more
