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eastern promises

// February 13th, 2008 // movie talk

hollywood.com

It’s great to start 2008 with such a great movies, first Juno and now Eastern Promises. In fact, I like the second one better. I started to think to add Viggo Mortensen as my favorite actor. I like him on Perfect Murder and A History of Violence, and I LOVE him on this one.
This movie directed by David Cronenberg who also directed A History of Violence, it was a great movie but this one even 10 times better.
The story on this movies revolves on this four characters, Anna (Naomi Watts), a midwife who is left with a newborn baby. The mother died while giving birth to the baby that soon called Christine by Anna. It’s because she was born in Christmas time. Anna found a diary left by the mother. Anna felt that it was necessary to translate the diary so she can find the real family of the baby. When her uncle (who is Russian) refused to translate the diary, Anna decided to find other people to do that.
That lead us to the second important character, Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl). I knew Stahl from his performance as Jessica Lange’s father on The Music Box. His performance there somehow so similar in this one (it’s probably the accent of the fact he also a bad guy here? I don’t know). Anyway, not only Semyon want to translate the diary, he also wanted Anna to give the diary to him. Anna’s uncle later warn Anna not to bring the diary to other people because it could be dangerous to her own life (seemed that he finally read some of it). It was too late because Anna already gave the copy to Semyon who is actually part of the dangerous Russian mafia in England and somehow the diary hold important secret about his family.
Semyon has a son, Kirill, played by Vincent Cassel. Again, this poor Cassel has to played not so nice character just like all the movies I’ve seen with him on it. I’d say Kirril is the third important characters here. We learnt that he didn’t really have a good relationship with his father. For a while, his character reminds me to the trio from Road To Perdition. Kirril resemblances Daniel Craig’s character where his father seemed to like and trust Tom Hanks’s character more (and in this movie the father’s favorite character is played by Viggo Mortensen). This is explain why Kirril ’s character seemed so messed up, cruel but doesn’t really have self confident. I was so sure that’s it’s gonna be so alike with Road To Perdition, but I am so glad that I am proven wrong.
The last one is Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen). They introduce him as a cruel character at least the way he cut the fingers of one of the Kirril’s victim with no emotion at all. It seemed that he’s the most dangerous character of them all. His “official” job is actually a driver but we learn soon that he actually do more than that. However, he seemed nice with Anna even warned her to stay away from him or Senyon. It makes us questioning if he’s really nice or he’s trying to gain Anna’s trust for some dangerous purpose. We’ll know at the end of course but I am not gonna spoil that. One the most memorable scene with him on it is the fighting scene at the bathroom (not really a bathroom though, I just couldn’t figure it out the English word for this). Move over Mission Impossible, Casino Royale or Die Hard. This is what I actually call the REAL fight. Not because Mortensen showing every piece of him on it though.
This movie feel so short however. It’s only 100 minute but it feels like it’s even shorter. I think the main reason is because it’s just so great then it makes the time flies. It’s hard to believe that with all the conflict and the unexpecting twist fit in this such short time. The ending is just so to the point, just like in A History of Violence. I think next time Croneberg makes movie, I’ll definitely see it.

2001 Space Odisey

This is the kind of movie where you shouldn’t watch after hard day at work. The movie goes very slow so it’s not the kind of movie that easily to enjoy by everyone. Even though, I am very much like this movie a lot, I don’t think that I’ll be watching it again very soon. Maybe once every few years.
But I still think that it’s one of the best movie ever made, and everyone who loves movies must at least see it even just for once, because I think this movie is the one that start the trend of great special effect (I could be wrong though and won’t mind if someone out there can point that out).
I swear, if I’ve never checked the date of the movie or totally have zero knowledge about movies, I will assume that it was probably made recently, at 90’s at least. Until I write this I am still shock to think that it was made at 1968. Forty years ago! That’s also effect my judgment about this. If it’s probably made lately, I will probably said it’s just another movie with great special effect, but to think it was made LONG time before Peter Jackson’s Lord of The Rings Trilogy amazed me so much. How on earth they have the technology to make such an great movies with all important and amazing details. They must have only limited technology back then so they NEED to be creative in achieving which ever they trying to do. And it works! It looks great on screen even better than movies I’ve ever seen.
This movie directed by Stanley Kubrick, a name that I’ve heard many times but I’ve never really cared until now. The story is about how the future might looked like. You know with all the space traveling and stuff. However, it’s more complex about that, during the movies you’ll see that it’s actually about evolution. Again, if you consider a movie fan, science fiction fan or SCIENCE fan at all, this movie is a must!

In The Company of Men

Another movie that I think not really made for everyone who love mainstream movie. I PROBABLY won’t ever watched it in the first place if I wasn’t feeling bored that night. After couldn’t figure out which movie I can view for free on Netflix, I went to check Roger Ebert sites and found this one as one of his best movies at the 90’s. However, I find this movie is simple but so damn interesting.
Aaron Ekhart (still unknown back then) played as Chad, who seemed hates women (although later I learn that he basically just hate everything and everyone except himself). He has a best friend, who is actually his boss, a very nervous Howard.
During their business trip to some town, Chad thought about the ideas of finding a woman, make her falling in love and then just break her heart like that with no reason. Since they’re only temporarily staying in that town seemed makes the plan sounds more perfect. Howard seemed the kind of guy who’ll say yes to whatever Chad wants so he agrees. Chad said this is gonna be a great experience for them, so one day if a woman ever hurt them they can just look back on their past that they once HURT another woman so badly that none will ever does as bad as they did before.
So, they found Christine, a woman who worked at the same place with them in that town. She’s pretty and deaf, which according to Chad will make HIS plan even more perfect than he expected. So soon they both start to date that same women pretending they don’t know each other. Christine, who feels that it’s so rare finding two men attractive to her at once seemed flattered, so she took chance dating two men without telling one or another. Chad, who is so charming soon win her heart and Christine seemed really fall for him. Chad of course still on his dirty plan but Howard seemed to start really liking Christine. So, what he will do when he found out that the woman he loves falling in love to Chad? and what Christine will do when she found out this is just a game? (especially for Chad). I won’t spoil it here, but I have just to state that this is not “How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days” kind of stuff. This is more serious, crueler and better.

Spiderman 3
Critics don’t seemed like it. Some said it has lost the magic, but I disagree. I think it still works for me, probably about more than 100 times than Transformer. The special effects still great especially for the new character Sandman. The whole movie is just so fun to watch. The story between Peter Parker and Mary Jane is still interesting to follow, although I don’t really care that much. All I want to see is Spidey hanging from building to building, entertaining story that not too complicated to follow and the new interesting villains, and I must say I got them all from this movies.
The story in this movie mostly about the relationship between Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Only this time they seemed more serious because they’re not really teenagers anymore. Of course things doesn’t always work out as they plan and so. There’s also new person of interest for Peter in this movie. She is Gwen Stacy who is played by Bryce Dallas Howard. Basically this movie is about love triangle with Peter, Mary Jane, and Gwen, then Peter, Mary Jane and Harry, and last but not least Peter, Gwen and Eddie. Sounds complicated, huh? Plus, there’s a strange black entity from another world that attached to Peter and change his behavior and such plus the story of fugitive Flint marco aka the Sandman that will somehow connected with Peter Parker and makes the story more interesting.

The Bridge

I will never seen The Golden Gate Bridge the same again after watching this documentary. So, the a groups of filmmakers packed their back and put cameras around the bridge to caught people jumping from the bridge. It seemed so unethical to think that these people seemed waiting to see people die so they can make the movie. But what I see is they basically just doing regular things that every journalist will do, report the story. Even though it’s about people who kill themselves, it doesn’t really show some gruesome. I will probably will have different opinion if they decided to show the condition of dead bodies after hitting the water. They chose not to. I think they do it in very respectful way, at least from my point of view. They just want to show to people the story behind those people who decided to jump from that bridge. The climate is every time those people climb the bridge and jump. They also put the family point of view which is so interesting and so unexpected. I thought it will show the families blaming themselves for what happen to their loved ones, in fact it show that some of them seemed relieved because they knew it’s gonna happen sooner or later. The point is this is one of the most memorable documentary I’ve seen in my life.

Hostel 2

What makes this one different than the first one is they show the story from the “bad guys” perspective. We’ll meet with first timer clients who are about to do their first killing. This time the not so lucky tourist will be women from US. Just like in the first movie, they got lured by some stranger to go to a place where they shouldn’t go in a first place. But if they don’t go then there won’t be any movie, right?
Just like any other movies in this genre it offers some gruesome violence that I honestly still can’t handle. But compare to others, this one actually offer some story with real characters. So, it isn’t just about getting killed in the most possibly graphic death you’ve ever seen, but it’s done in interesting way so even someone who isn’t fan of this kind of movie, I admit felt curious with what’s gonna happen with the characters, either the women tourist nor the first timer killer themselves, and how awfully bad it’s gonna show on screen (*)