Reviews

What can one say about this movie that hasn't already been said? That it's a masterpiece? That, along with any other praise has already been given to Pixar's truly greatest achievement. WALL-E is the only Waste Allocation Load Lifter left on Earth. He, along with many other units where created by the company BnL, in an attempt to clean the mess of trash on Earth, while the humans would take a 5 year cruise on the Axiom spaceship and await the result, without having to face the consequences of their actions on their home Planet. 700 years later, Our WALL-E is the only one still functioning, and is now the only inhabitant of the planet, as there has been no news in regards to the humans. The fact that WALL-E is presented to us with such a human personality, other than building empathy for the character, works in a sense that having lived alone on the planet for so long, he started to understand it and see it with curiosity, a primary human emotion, while still serving his purpose of waste allocator. Onother great personality trait is that of EVE, who before encountering WALL-E, was but one of many Extrterrestrial Vegetation Evaluators, but after receiving a different form of attention, it started to express it's emotions in a different way. For example, when she first arrives and begins her search for biological life, she has a very robotic approach to it, but as she starts to receive a new type of attention, she begins to feel more human like when she can't find what she is looking for, getting frustrated and vocally expressing it. That which happened to EVE, also happened to all other robots on the ship, who altogether where a perfect system, but when an outsider came into the mix, the system didn't work anymore. An example of that are the "roads", that the humans aboard and robots use to move. As soon as WALL-E steps into it, he causes the probably first collision to have ever happened. The great developmental trait in regards to the Captain, and the two people WALL-E has an encounter with, is that no matter how much the human body has changed, how ignorant they are about their past, and how much they now rely on technology, all that doesn't extinguish the prime human emotion: Curiosity. It is that which brings the human protagonists to regain themselves as humans. Another non accidental detail, is the resemblance between the Autopilot and HAL-9000 of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a space odyssey. They are both fundamental pieces of the ships they are built into, and have very similar personality traits: when HAL felt threatened buy the fact that the protagonists where having a conversation of him behind his back, he reacted in a very animalistic way, by trying to eliminate the threat, and when he faced his potential demise, he had a very human like reaction to it, almost as if he was feeling pain. The Autopilot reacted very similarly when he could not close the output where WALL-E would have had to place the plant, in order to put the ship en route towards Earth. He smashed the button in anger, as if it would have helped more than just pushing it. There are really no flaws in WALL-E, it is sufficiently drammatic, comical, intense and is just the right length. The animation is a thing of beauty, as are the characters, the story and the designs of the robots. Even without considering the many other meaningful themes in the story and characters, WALL-E remains to this day, and will for a long time hold it's place as one of the Giants of Cinema.

Heart wrenching in it's performances and characters; mind blowing in it's dialogue and costumes; superb in it's direction and production. Dangerous Liaisons is an absolute masterpiece. Stephen Frears really reached the top with this film, not only for having rendered bautifully the image of late XVIII'th century France, but for having rendered the characters of the evil masterminds Valmont and Merteuil, so vicious and yet so much more virtuous than the other characters. They never result to hypochrisy, the prime attitude of the many so called "pure people" in the movie. Both characters have a chance for love, which they do not persue, for it would betray their image and the very morale they follow and cherish. Adapted by the play of Delaclos, the screenwriter, being himself the author of a new adaptation of the original script, painted a wonderful portrait depicting the characters, especially in their drama. Valmont, a man of pride and prestige, a genuine seductor, must face the reality of having fallen in love with a tipe of woman that he once despised in every way. Marteuil, a woman in a society where women are like porcelain dolls, far from any discussion of importance. An apparant disadvantage, but she saw it as an advantage to listen and form an image of herself: Impassible in the face of discomfort and deadly when attacked. Her closest moment to abandon sed image, is when she felt she was losing Valmont, to the tipe of woman she also despises and jokes about. As aforementioned, Dangerous liasons is a masterpiece. Engaging, thrilling, heart wrecking, it never misses the mark.

Over a decade before 68', Rebel without a cause forged the idea of the american rebels, viewing their opposition towards a finished era of strict political values and mentality, that they could never have been a part of. Following the adventures of Jim Stark, a high school student who has just moved to a new town and within a day, has come across new faces, an internal confrontation within his family and experienced loss. Rebel without a cause found itself a place in cinema history, not only for having launched the image of James Dean, but for having looked at the youth in a completely new manner. The setting is a small town, where the majority of the students spend their nights wandering around like punks and breaking the law, for "You have to find something to do". Not only is it a critique on the present society, it also takes a deeper look into the teenage mind, not as complicated as one thinks and often needs very little to be fulfilled. Even after all these years, Rebel without a cause does not cease to amaze us, with it's brilliant performances, moving score and a, to this day relatable, look into the relationships between parents and teenagers.

What happens when one is in a rut and just comes upon something new? Does he block it before it can cause a disruption, or does he experiment on it? As the film opens, it has a very clear scenario: a bottom rated network news station; an old anchorman on the verge of retirement; the leader board tending towards change in structure in order to preserve the financial status. And finally, a newly employed programming manager, whose vision is to redirect the station's ideals for programming, in order to better accomodate the public's taste. All blossoms from an unlikely decision to commit suicide, into a table turned network station, now freed of all the morals withholding it from it's approach and adaptation to modern times. And right about now, from an astute depiction on the utilisation of an original idea, it evolves into so much more. At this point, the solemn duty to report the news is overlooked by the schemes of marketing, whose raging lust for wealth and power, blinds it from any sense of decency. However, when confronted by the very golden goose that has been the ticket to the highest spot, need for help turns to need for leave of abscence. Network doesn't just tackle the theme of hypochrisy, it brings about themes such as: the sequence of generations, need to hear what one want's to hear, Love vs Lust, Reality vs Illusion, the disappearance of the individual, self destruction, sources of information, the truth, the very state of the world and so much more. Accompanied by flawless performances who perfectly capture the character's madness, weakness and rationale, not to mention Lumet's hand behind the camera, give the film that which can be descriebed as genius, complimented with profetic undertones. Network is indeed a masterpiece, whose poetic and ruthless message is what's missing from the world today.

A story that keeps you locked in until the end, stellar characters and a profound social critique. All elements that combined make a really good movie. Add David Fincher's direction and a couple of great twists, you've got an exceptional movie. Gone Girl has no limits in the development of the story. It shows exactly how the public's opinion is fondamental in one's ongoing confrontation with social values. Values that can even alter one's following the principal of "Innocent until proven guilty" if they're broken. Nevertheless, the presence of a new and compelling part of the story, is just enough to turn the tables. For the public is gullible, and can be swayed if approached properly. Rosamund Pike brings to life a character and a performance that is just unheard of. Able to cry on command, ruthless and with a tongue like a serpent. Next to her stands Ben Affleck, who offers a great portrail of a well behaved, edjucated and yet frustrated man, who wishes his wife just didn't exist. Those performances however, could not have been enough without Fincher's touch behind the camera, composing such shots who define the character's emotions and thoughts, without any verbal aid. This acute picture, is a true masterclass thriller.

The reason why I say too bad, is because the movie opened with a very interesting plot, and some very nice characters, but it went way over the top in the third act. The character Robocop, and the birth of Robocop, was really well constructed, especially the part regarding his family and partner, but the dominant part of the movie, was that regarding the corruption of local security officials. Despite that, the movie felt really dragged on and on, when it got to the fight between Robocop and the 4 remaining drug dealers. Whereas the rest of the movie had a certain crime drama feel to it, when it got to the fight, it was rather, dare I say difficult to watch without cringing. The rest of the movie had really good direction, my favourite part being, the details that officer Lewis notices, as she realises that Robocop, might actually be the thought to be deceased officer Murphy. In the first part of the movie, there where good ideas who made the movie progress at a good pace, but when you get to the third act, it kind of felt like they ran out, and where trying to prolong it. Luckily, the ending scene had the same feeling of the first act, which made it all the better. Nevertheless, the movie still has a good feel to it, I'd give it a solid B+

When i saw the movie for the first time, it really spoke to me, because i was expecting a lot of action and gunfight's, but as soon as the movie moves through the first act, you understand that it focuses more on the evolution of Jesse James, Robert Ford and all the other characters, leading up to the end of their lives. I love how the director paced the movie: to a lot of people, the fact that it is 152 minutes long and has a lot more dialogue than action, may be off putting, but to me it was a great idea because it built up a lot more suspense, of course a main part of that where the actors, who all give great performances and are just perfect for their roles, who are really well written. For me, the best performance of the film is given by Brad Pitt, who portraits Jesse James Brilliantly. He is cold, suspicious and sometimes frightening in his facial expressions and movements. A noteworthy scene is when he confesses to Charley Ford that he killed Ed Miller. During the confession, he has a sad expression, but when he is finished, his eyes, face and voice rapidly light up as he turns to Charley asking if he has something to confess. When other films have a killing sequence, they build it up with music, facial expressions... To a point where you are almost expecting it. This movie has killing scenes which are so spontaneous, that you really feel the cold blood of the killer. It shows what being an outlaw really means. Of course, i give praise to Nick Cave and Warren Ellis for writing such a beautiful score, The winter ambiance is perfect, and the historical accuracy is spot on.