Something peculiar and featuring very promising cinematography is coming, and it’s called High-Rise.
Starring Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons and Luke Evans, High-Rise is a film about life veering out of control for the residents of a tower block/high rise building.
The cinematography, editing and mysterious happenings in this trailer have me curious. I’m hoping that all my guesses about what it could all possibly mean are proven incorrect upon viewing.
Burnt stars Bradley Cooper. It’s a film about a talented chef’s journey to get his life back on track following one huge misstep. After watching the Burnt trailer a few months ago, I found myself unsure about how good I may end up finding the finished product.
The expectation was that I would fall in love with the food in the movie whilst enjoying learning about Cooper’s Adam Jones. Instead, I found that I didn’t fall in love with the food nor did I connect very much with Cooper’s character.
The lack of connection with the protagonist may have something to do with Adam Jones not being particularly likeable. It could also be the film’s seemingly odd structure and the feeling that the musical score didn’t fit especially comfortably.
In short, Burnt isn’t in the top ten of my favourite Bradley Cooper movies. However, there are things I liked. For example, Uma Thurman’s performance stood out, and I liked how the story brought to mind teamwork, friendship and redemption. I especially enjoyed the interesting information about the Michelin Guide.
If you’re after a good movie for food lovers, the kind that will make you wish you could reach into the screen to grab a piece of what the characters are eating, I recommend Chef (2014) and Julie & Julia (2009). Burnt is probably more for rather serious Bradley Cooper fans and those curious about the experience of a successful Chef.
American Sniper (2014)remains my favourite of Cooper’s performances. I’m not sure that 2015 was his year. However, I loved Cooper’s work in director David O. Russell’s Joy (2015).
Starring Bradley Cooper, Omar Sy, Emma Thompson, Sienna Miller and Lilly James, to name just a few, the story centres around Adam Jones (Cooper) who moves to London to start afresh after some bad decisions.
The trailer looks good and dramatic. Peculiarly, IMDb has categorised the film as a comedy. I guess the laughs have been saved for the film.
Familial discontent, jealousy and the challenges/blessings that come with sibling relationships are some of the themes explored in director Bennet Miller’s award-winning Foxcatcher.
Based on the true story of Olympic wrestling, gold medalist siblings, David and Mark Schultz , Foxcatcher follows the journey of how the brother’s lives are altered with the arrival of a wealthy and socially maladjusted wrestling enthusiast, Jon Du Pont (Steve Carell).
Carell’s Du Pont embodies an uncomfortable presence which acts as the catalyst for much of the dramatic tension in Foxcatcher and subsequently guarantees that the viewer is never allowed to relax. Further discomfort comes from Miller’s close focus on the stressful and painful realities of his characters’ experiences, making for a documentary feel.
Assuming that all the mentions of discomfort haven’t dissuaded you from making time for this notable film, let Carell’s stellar transformation into the certainly unbalanced Du Pont, and Tatum’s troubled Mark Schultz, be enough to convince you. At the very least, both actors’ performances will go some way to silencing any possible doubters of their talents.
Foxcatcher (2014), Channing Tatum
Watch Foxcatcher and see Carell and Tatum do their best work.
There are obvious moral issues that come up as a result of the subject matter of Eastwood’s American Sniper, but that isn’t really what the film is about. Instead, it’s a story that touches on the impact of war on the psyche of someone whose job – simply put, is to kill anyone that poses an immediate danger to the Soldiers he’s hired to protect in Iraq, post 9/11.
Bradley Cooper does a brilliant job of portraying Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history – and he does in part with well-placed silences rather than words.
If you know the Chris Kyle story, you already know how this movie ends, and towards the end, you’ll be glad about how Eastwood dealt with the last few scenes; especially what you don’t see just before the real-life footage begins.
Considering Eastwood’s body of work, American Sniper is good, but it’s certainly no Million Dollar Baby (2004) or Gran Torino (2008). Some have stated that American Sniper feels more like a dictation of the subject’s life rather than an actual movie, and I don’t completely disagree. I think it’s worth watching because Bradley Cooper is great in the role. I recommend watching for his Oscar nomination worthy performance.
