Tag Archives: movie

Movie: The Intern

I watched the movie “The Intern” by a recommendation from a friend and did not feel sorry even for a second. The movie is a very refreshing experience, it feels very light-footed, so to say, with an interesting story told expertly by good artists in a very convincing way. The current movie landscape is almost all “bigger than life” and this movie stands out being “just right”.

Interestingly, the story has come at just the right time for me. The CEO of an Internet start-up is being pushed by venture capitalists into accepting a downgrade and hiring another CEO to actually lead the business. I had this discussion twice this week with potential business leaders. It seems all the hype nowadays is to get money from venture capitalists or investors and get going real quick. What people forget is that this way they give up the essential control of their own business. It’s not theirs anymore and they would have to accept some decisions by the real owners – the financial owners of the company. That’s a bad idea, don’t do it unless you absolutely must. Make your own company on your own terms with your own effort. What’s the hurry? And a large part of the movie’s plot is also about that – make your own company your own way.

But, of course, there is more than that. A love story, a get back into the action story, a dad going astray under the pressure of being in a woman’s role in the family, a woman going psychologically ruined under the pressure of a man’s role in the society – it’s all there, all greatly shown, without excesses, without too much hype, but very much life-like. And, yes, it’s great when you are accepted as never being too old for the job if you know how to do.

Anyway, the story is great, Robert De Niro is still wonderful, Rene Russo is splendid and it’s definitely a worthwhile movie to watch.

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She’s Funny That Way

Watched suddenly the “She’s Funny That Way” and did not feel sorry at all. The movie grips you from the beginning with its story and keeps you involved until the end. Yes, there is a couple of obvious moments where you go like “yeah, of course”, but otherwise it’s a lovely little entertainment piece.

Unfortunately, the movie lacks any sort of coherent idea, meaning that there isn’t really anything that you will learn from it, for better or worse. So it remains simply a light entertainment piece for a lazy summer evening. That absence of some higher idea or education in the movie was a bit disappointing at the end since I kept waiting for the punchline and it never came. Still, it remained a thoroughly enjoyable movie right through the end.

Overall, recommended, a good comedy with an interesting plot and a few twists.… -->

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The Grand Budapest Hotel

I watched another movie just before I watched “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” but it was really so silly that I nearly forgot to mention it. It’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, another hotel movie, so to say. Technically, the movie isn’t really all that bad, although it is shot in the theater style, more like if you are watching a show at a theater with a story being told in the background, rather than a first-hand experience typical for a movie. That particular way of filming isn’t new and it is not a problem, it is even curious and entertaining. The problem is the story itself.

Typically, you would expect a story to teach you something, to tell you something new or entertaining, expand your horizons or reinforce your moral values. A movie is just a way to tell a story. Now, this particular movie does not really have a story to tell. It tells you that being stupid can actually work, it tells you that you can count on large inheritances from old ladies if you entertain them, and it tells you how important it is to have protection from the powers above you. Huh? And all of that in that weird theatrical way.

Frankly, if this was a farce, I could understand. The problem is it seems to pretend to be a serious movie while remaining a farce. And it fails miserably at both. Even more, I think this is one of those movies that actually actively destroy the human culture. I think censorship isn’t a bad idea after all…… -->

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The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

I finally got around to watching “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and am I happy I did! This is one of the best movies I watched ever. My friends recommended me to watch it for a while but it really did not look so exciting “from the outside”. Once on the inside of the movie though, it is a wonderful story, great acting and an overall soul-touching experience.

I only wish they did skip the popular gay theme all together, it does not bring any good to the movie, only makes it worse. If those lovers were but a normal old couple separated through the wishes of the parents, the movie would have been a star. As it is, that particular part rasps against the rest and provides a dissonant note that fortunately does not quite ruin the experience.

All the rest is brilliant though. Being in India, we get the Indian love plot mixed up with several foreigners all breaking up and falling together, finding their way around and getting themselves a new meaning of life. The action is well paced and entertaining, the movie gets a couple of unexpected twists and never gets boring. Totally recommended to watch.… -->

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Are you prepared to deal with non-humanity?

Interesting how the media changes the world, the perception of the world. Just recently, until the nineties, the media (movies, really) was all about defending the Earth against an invasion by some other “thing”, be that Terminator, Aliens, or Martians Attack. Humanity all stood as one and some heroes emerged from within to fight the enemy and defend the humankind from extermination. People showed bravery and heroic abandon in this fight, demonstrating how much they value the Life over their own life.

Since the nineties, we see more and more of the other kind – the humanity is fighting against some enemy that is either external to it or grows from within. The people are weak though and cannot fight the enemy on their own. Now, there is always some external power, be it the Mutants, the Autobots or the Fantastic Four that save the day while humans scream and cower in terror. The heroes are always non-human in some way.

What does it teach us?

  1. We are weak and in the future war we cannot resist the might of the invaders,
  2. So all the humans can and should be prepared to do is cower in a remote corner and weep and that’s okay, because
  3. There is some other form of life that will save us.

Lesson: be prepared to discover the monsters in your midst compared to whom you are nothing but do not get too aggravated because some of them are actually going to protect you from harm out of purely altruistic motives. Great state of mind, eh?… -->

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James Bond’s “Spectre” movie script is stolen, just like in the movie

Talk about the irony of the situation now. The story of the next year’s James Bond movie  apparently starts with cybercriminals attacking Sony Pictures Entertainment and stealing a script to a movie. Well, the script to the movie has been stolen during the recent cyberattack to the Sony Pictures Entertainment and posted online. The movie called “Spectre” is set for release in the fall of 2015 and the filming is well underway now.

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The Huadu Chronicles – Blade of the Rose

A very strange experience indeed, this movie with the working title of “The Huadu Chronicles – Blade of the Rose” released also under the name of “The Twins Effect II”. The movie is really more of a theater play and is probably very Hong Kong.

I quite liked it once I got past the theatrical setup that is unusual for movies from other sources that we usually see. It is very touching, very entertaining and very beautiful with a stunning cast. The story is fairly simple and the plot is straightforward but that does not diminish the pleasure of watching the play. The movie is full of excellent martial arts demonstrations but, frankly, I was so involved with the romantic side of the things that I nearly forgot it was an action movie.

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The Wolf of Wall Street – I wish for censorship

Suddenly got around to watching “The Wolf of Wall Street” a couple of days ago. This junk comes highly recommended and received both good reviews and viewers’ ratings. What a disappointment! I could not make myself to finish watching it.

Is this our new hero? A drug addict, with the motto “you can do whatever you want if you have enough money”? Spare me the story of the movie, I know. Movies serve to educate and lead us to the higher ideals. What are the ideals here? That bankers and brokers are really cool? That raking in money for doing a disservice to people is the new kind of Robin Hood chivalry? The movie is not just useless, it is poisonous to the society. This is the kind of movie that makes one wish for censorship.

I think “a glass of warm spit with a hair floating” is the best fitting description for this film. I am sorry I even watched the half I did.… -->

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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

I finally got around to watching the “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty“. This is a great movie and it resonated strongly with my thoughts and feelings. I am putting it up there together with “Interstate 60” for the thought-provoking, ego-crushing, soul-searching value. The movie plot takes several interesting and unexpected turns. The life converges from a total disparity between imagination and reality to the unison of the soul and the world. Oh, and what they say about the landscapes is completely true: breathtaking. Definitely worth watching.

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Guardians of the Galaxy

Yesterday I managed to get into movies for the first time in … oh, years. We watched the “Guardians of the Galaxy” in 3D. Nothing better than an adventure filled heroic movie from Marvel for a Sunday evening. The movie was quite good, actually. I thought they cut some corners and removed a few scenes in a few places but overall it was a load of fun and is totally worth enjoying. And Rocket the raccoon totally rules.

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