Tag Archives: Christoph Waltz

Drama, No Spoiler Reviews, Romance

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (2019): The Things I Liked…

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Water For Elephants (2019), Reece Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson

Directed by Francis Lawrence; starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz, Water for Elephants is a drama/romance about a young man who takes a job in a travelling circus and ends up falling in love with the ringmaster’s wife.

My reasons for watching this one are that I’m a fan of Witherspoon, elephants are majestic and just a few days ago, I happened to be in the mood for a film that wouldn’t prove too emotionally taxing. I’ve also recently watched and loved The Greatest Showman (2017). I therefore needed to find out whether I could appreciate another circus movie nearly as much.  

I’ll waste no time in confirming that The Greatest Showman (2017) remains my favourite circus movie. Reason being, even though Water for Elephants proved a not especially taxing viewing experience, by the end of the film, I couldn’t say I loved it. It was just OK. The acting wasn’t bad, but I may have enjoyed the film that little bit more had the central love story been stronger and more enthralling. It may also be that I’ve just seen this old-fashioned style of storytelling several times before, and this particular version simply wasn’t the best.

I’ll likely remember Water for Elephants for the visuals of Witherspoon’s character, with the beautiful white horse, and also for bringing to mind the value of the kindness of strangers. Especially because none of us can really survive without it. 

Watch Water For Elephants if you’re curious enough, and or when the right mood strikes. 

Happy Film Loving,

G

Comedy, Drama, No Spoiler Reviews, Sci-Fi

DOWNSIZING (2017): The Things I Liked…

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Downsizing (2017), Matt Damon
Downsizing (2017), Matt Damon

Within a few minutes of starting to watch director/co-writer Alexander Payne’s comedy/drama, Downsizing, the thought ‘Oh, no… this  isn’t going to be ridiculous, is it?’ crossed my mind.

Starring Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau and Jason Sudeikis, Downsizing is a social satire about a man who decides he’d have a much better life if he were to shrink himself.

I’m happy to say that I had fun watching Downsizing, even though the film didn’t really get properly exciting for me until it began to deliver on its ‘part-comedy’ categorisation, something that finally happens approximately thirty-nine minutes in. Everything before that point is ‘kind of engaging,’ but too slow for my tastes.

I laughed a pleasing amount in the film and many of the wonderfully funny scenes featured Damon’s clueless Paul Safranek character. I found Paul particularly amusing because he seems to suffer from a kind of ‘blindness’ that I haven’t seen played/written quite as well as it is in this movie for a while. I laughed mostly at him and his apparent cluelessness in several situations.

Besides the memorable comedy performances, I enjoyed the sci-fi aspect of the story and how, knowing the challenges of modern life as well as I think I do, I can accept that a person might actually decide that shrinkage was a good idea.

As a non-action movie, I admit that there were moments nearer the beginning where I couldn’t help but half expect Damon’s character to suddenly burst into action-movie-star mode and start running and punching. That didn’t happen, of course, but I’m certainly not disappointed either. especially as Waltz and Chau were also responsible for some of the funny moments.

I say, give Downsizing a chance. You may find it as laughter-inducing (in parts) as I did.

Happy Film Loving,

G

Comedy, Drama, No Spoiler Reviews

CARNAGE (2011): The Things I Liked…

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Carnage (2011), John C. Reilly, Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz, Kate Winslet
Carnage (2011), John C. Reilly, Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz, Kate Winslet

After seeing the trailer for Roman Polanski’s Carnage, I immediately had high hopes because of the exceptional cast. Namely, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly and Jodie Foster. These seasoned performers play two sets of parents who decide to meet at one of their homes after their sons are involved in a fight. Before too long, as you can imagine, things get pretty dramatic and amusing.

Based on the play by Yasmina Reza, understandably, 98% of this film is set in one room. This is far from a bad thing because at no point did I yearn for different scenery; everything that happened was just that engaging.

The dialogue in Carnage is beautifully written and delivered. The lines spoken by Waltz’s character made me laugh the most, thanks in part to his character’s highly committed relationship with his phone. One might even argue that, though uncredited, that phone is very much a key member of the cast. 

There’s also the highlight that’s the seriously uptight and judgemental mother played by Foster. I confess that I saw a little bit of myself in all the four main people in this story. However, I shan’t divulge which one person in particular.

I really enjoyed this movie. In some ways, more so because I’ve never seen the play. I therefore don’t have anything to compare it to. And, besides amusing me, Carnage highlighted the fact that the cause of most, if not all, personal conflict is judgment. Particularly judgment of the blatant and unapologetic variety. 

Watch it because it’s good and fun.

Happy Film loving,

G

Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi

DOWNSIZING (2017): New Trailer From Kristen Wiig, Matt Damon, Christoph Walltz, Brigette Lundy-Paine…

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Downsizing (2017), Matt Damon, Jason Sudeikis
Downsizing (2017), Matt Damon, Jason Sudeikis

Read my spoiler-free movie review of Downsizing (2017).

Directed and co-written by Alexander Payne, Downsizing is a movie/social satire about a man who realises that he’d have a better life if he were to shrink himself.

Kristen Wiig, Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz and Brigette Lundy-Paine star.

The cast is great, and the above synopsis seems perfectly ridiculous, and a great predicament for potential humour.

Niecy Nash, Jason Sudeikis, Laura Dern, Neil Patrick Harris and  James Van Der Beek also star.

Downsizing Release Dates: December 22nd, 2017 (US)…

Happy Film Loving,

G

Action, Adventure, No Spoiler Reviews

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN (2016): The Thing I Liked…

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The Legend Of Tarzan (2016), Alexander Skarsgård
The Legend Of Tarzan (2016), Alexander Skarsgård

Within the first twenty minutes of The Legend Of Tarzan, my thought’s could be summarised with the phrase ‘chop, chop.’ That’s British for ‘hurry up’, ‘move along’, ‘come on!’ etc. The pace was slow and I was eager for the fun jungle action to begin.

Things did eventually start to happen, though certainly not soon enough. The scene when Tarzan faces off with the massive gorilla is my favourite, thanks to the action, camera work and Alexander Skarsgård’s convincing physicality. Overall, though, the movie proved quite dull and with very little that delighted.

The general structure of the story felt odd and I found myself wanting to see more of the young Tarzan’s experiences – because surely, it was more interesting than what I was watching.

Some might say that maybe I should have opted for The Jungle Book (2015) if the story of a boy growing up in the Jungle sans parents is what I was really after – and to that I say, ‘touché’. Still, that doesn’t mean that what we have with director David Yate’s The Legend Of Tarzan is close to all that it could have been.

The film’s stars Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie and Christoph Waltz didn’t deliver terrible performances; it’s the execution of the story and final product that just wasn’t great.

For those who may be undecided about whether to bother with The Legend Of Tarzan, I say give it a chance to appreciate Skarsgård’s physical achievements (maybe), for some nice footage of Africa (perhaps) or for the human/gorilla fight action (the best part). You’ll still probably have to go elsewhere for a truly satisfying retelling of writer Edgar Rice Burroughs’s classic story. Especially since the experience of this movie left me and, I’m sure, many others wanting.

Happy Film Loving,

G