Ethan Hawke has been very busy. A fact that makes me, an eternal fan of great acting talent, a very happy so and so. With more than 5 releases out this year, including the already very well received Boyhood, who can blame me?
A sci-fi thriller from sibling Directors, Michael and Peter Spierig, the premise of Predestination is time travel for the purpose of preventing crimes from taking place. I say the trailer is quite promising. See for yourself:
Did Tom Cruise’s Minority Report (2002) come to mind as this preview played?
Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of Maleficent has been criticised for not being evil enough. I think people of this opinion have missed the point of the film entirely.
Not to say that the film is perfect, because the pace did leave me wanting. But it’s clear to me that, for audiences to buy into the story, Angelina definitely couldn’t look for inspiration for her character from the likes of pre-existing Queens of pure evil. A perfect example being ‘Queen Revenna’ of SnowWhite And The Huntsman (2012) – wonderfully played by Charlize Theron.
No, no, no. Angelina would have to study characters far more complex. I imagine she did because Maleficent is absolutely unlike the traditional evil queen, and that doesn’t make for a lesser film, just a different one.
Besides my issues with the pace of the film, there is one aspect of the story that I found particularly hard to accept…
…now, I may be overthinking things since I’m not the film’s key demographic. But nevertheless… with Maleficent being not just a fairy with powers, but ’the strongest of the fairies’, I expected that she would have the means to regenerate her wings. And if she couldn’t do this, I imagined she would at least use her magic to locate the wings – once she’d used the same special powers to learn that her wings had not been completely destroyed. Am I alone in this?
I certainly have no regrets at all about watching the film. The difference was refreshing. Plus, I LOVE Angelina Jolie! She could almost lead me anywhere. Probably.
For quite some time now, my youngest brother, (knowing how much I love movies) recommended that I should watch director Pierre Morel and co-writers Luc Besson plus Robert Mark Kamen’s Taken (2008).
Unfortunately, for a while, I kept disappointing him each time he checked to see whether I’d finally seen it.
I could never give him a definite viewing date because I have to be in the right mood to watch a specific movie. Also, one thing he did insist on was that all I needed to know before watching the film is the name of its star, Liam Neeson and that it’s a good movie. I accepted this restriction and I’m so glad I did, because Taken is a great action movie. The kind that will have you so very engrossed as the story unfolds, and at a pace that leaves nothing more to be desired.
I honestly could not recommend this movie more. If you’ve already seen it, then you know precisely what I’m talking about. But in the event that you’re yet to experience it, I suggest choosing to know as little as possible prior to pressing the play button. Trust me when I say that doing this will only enhance your experience of the film.
Additional key cast includes Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen.
The Movie My Life 