‘Match Point’ Download and Reviews
“Match Point” Movie Details
Match Point tagline: Passion Temptation Obsession
 Match Point DVD Cover |
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John the Chauffeur |
“Match Point” Movie Review
“Match Point” Plot Summary
At a turning point in his life, a former tennis pro falls for a femme-fatal type who happens to be dating his friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law. add synopsis
The Talented Mr. Allen: Woody’s best film since ‘Crimes & Misdemeanors’
MATCH POINT (2005) ***1/2 Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode, Brian Cox, Penelope Wilton, Margaret Tyzack, Ewen Bremner, James Nesbitt. The Talented Mr. Allen: Woody’s best film since ‘Crimes & Misdemeanors’Woody Allen has been a respected filmmaker for over thirty years and in recent memory has been in something of a slump with his trademark New York neurotic comedies of late and it has been well over a decade since he attempted anything resembling a drama (his last was a combination of comedy/ drama for his masterpiece ‘Crimes & Misdemeanors’ in 1989) and in his latest stab at it comes through remarkably with his best film in sometime
Jettisoning his usual choice of his beloved Manhattan The Woodman jaunts across The Big Pond and sets his story in London (not the first European adventure mind you – he did go to Paris for ‘Everyone Says I Love You’) with the plot focusing on a borderline callow young tennis player cum pro, Chris Wilton (Rhys-Meyers giving Jude Law a run for the money as sexiest Brit on screen) whose philosophy for life is being lucky rather than being good or great at something. This proves to be his one flaw as he obtains a job as an instructor for a supremely private resort club where he befriends one of his charges, Tom Hewett (Goode), whose shared love for opera has him inviting the unassuming Chris to a performance where his family has a box seat reserved. Here he meets the rest of Tom’s family: respected businessman Alec (the ubiquitous Cox), tipsy mum Eleanor (Wilton) and engaging sister Chloe (the wonderfully sublime Mortimer) who falls deeply head over heels in love with Chris almost immediately. Chris too finds himself in love with Chloe and before you know it is taken in by the wealthy clan as one of the family
As the story progresses Chris finds this sudden shift in his life moving along nicely and to his agreement accruing a position in one of Alec’s many business ventures as an apprentice seller and weekends at the sprawling estate of the Hewetts. It is there he also meets Tom’s gorgeous American fiancee, Nola Rice (Johansson giving one of her better performances to date), a fledgling actress who beguiles Chris immediately and he is smitten by her, intoxicated by her very presence that the two wind up in a countryside embrace leading to a moment of unbridled passion. While Nola makes light of giving in to their primal desires as a lack of clarity on her behalf, Chris cannot get enough of her; Nola explains this desire is temporary and that she is getting married to Tom; end of story
Chris tries to do what’s right and eventually marries the unsuspecting Chloe and absorbs himself in work until one day while playing a set with Tom he is informed that Tom has dumped Nola and is in love with another unknown woman. The fire is re-ignited in Chris’ soul and the determination heightened as he becomes infatuated in finding Nola again to seduce her once and for all. Allen allows his talented class plenty of room to act up a storm but not overact the seemingly straight-forward melodrama at hand but what makes it rise above the norm is the way his leads make their seemingly unsympathetic characters empathetic. Rhys-Meyers remains cool as a cucumber until the predictable complication ensures his affair with Johansson will lead to an unlikely scenario that borders ridiculous mystery theater affair however maintains a balance of dread in when the couple will come to a head. Johansson mixes the smoky cadence of her Kathleen Turner-like vocals into a come-hither-insouciance not before experienced and has the tricky task of making her Nola’s head case come to fruition with believability; she succeeds succinctly
Allen’s screenplay is literate, clever and crafty and at once familiar with a few of his trademark quips tossed in with elan that his upper crust characters make the most of what they can with a dry bright witticism here and there. The storyline flows evenly amidst its choppy third act that feels a tad rushed yet when the darkness comes it echoes ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ which it has a lot in common with but never trespasses entirely. This is Allen’s most adult film in sometime and not to besmirch it perhaps his most challenging one to date. Thank God Woody is back in fine form, not unlike an old tennis pro on the senior’s tour with a wicked backhand.
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‘Red Sonja’ Download and Reviews
“Red Sonja” Movie Details
Red Sonja tagline: A woman and a warrior that became a legend.
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| Directors: Richard Fleischer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IMDB Rating: 4.3/10 out of 11,006 votes |
“Red Sonja” Movie Review
“Red Sonja” Plot Summary
The tyrant Gedren seeks the total power in a world of barbarism. She raids the city Hablac and kills… add synopsis
OK I admit I enjoyed it!!
Let’s just settle this before I start – this is a bad bad movie! You will be hard pressed to find such awful acting anywhere as Miss Nielsen, ‘veteran’ director Richard Fleischer stumbles blindly through a non-existant plot, and you will feel absolutely no sympathy for either the good guys or the bad – in other words you just won’t care!I would love to have hated this film – as a self-proclaimed ‘movie-buff’ this is the kind of film I should not even go near. But I’m loathed to admit…I enjoyed it! The two stars, amongst their awful acting, are actually quite engaging in a comedic way (intentional or not!). I began to relish the dialogue scenes just to see if a line could have been delivered with any more wood! The intentional comedy comes from a young prince (Ernie Reyes Jr) and his bodyguard (Paul Smith). Although I wished the prince to find the end of a sword as quickly as possible from his first scene, the interplay between these two characters was amusing, with some one-liners that could not have been more out of place in this film! The villainous queen (played by Sandahl Bergman) is unfortunately bland and forgettable. But one real treat for me was another completely out-of-place commodity – a great rousing score from maestro Ennio Morricone!This was Schwarzenegger’s return to his CONAN genre after hitting it big with THE TERMINATOR. It isn’t too surprising that this was the last ’swords and sorcery’ movie he did – but I promise you won’t hate it! You’ll want to!….but you won’t!
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‘Valkyrie’ Download and Reviews
“Valkyrie” Movie Details
Valkyrie tagline: Many saw evil. They dared to stop it.
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| Directors: Bryan Singer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IMDB Rating: 7.3/10 out of 47,188 votes |
“Valkyrie” Movie Review
“Valkyrie” Plot Summary
Based on actual events, a plot to assassinate Hitler is unfurled during the height of WWII.
Great Movie – Kids Loved It Too
There’s been a lot of comments about the movie itself, and I agree with all the good ones. Tom Cruise has grown up; he did a masterful job conveying von Stauffenberg. The supporting cast was superb, plot taut and captures the heart of the resistance without getting bogged down in details, etc. If any of you are thinking about taking kids, but are wondering about possible violence, or if the story line is too convoluted for them, I thought you might be interested in my experience. Small children are better left at home, but older children (9-up. You are the best judge of your child) will do fine, with a little help. This is a movie that is Better if you know what the story is, so explain the background (who these people are, difference between the SS and regular Army, Nazis and Germans, etc.) because the beginning of the movie can be confusing if you don’t know the story. You might want to do some research, too. And expect to do more explaining after you see it. My kids – 10 & 12 – were captivated all the way through, without any sign of boredom, or not understanding what was going on. The violence is no more than kids see on t.v. No blood or gore, except for a mild scene at the beginning which is just standard war movie stuff. My kids had no trouble with any of it. So, I say, take the kids if they like war movies or adventure stories. Give them some History before you go, and Enjoy.
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‘L.A. Confidential’ Download and Reviews
“L.A. Confidential” Movie Details
L.A. Confidential tagline: Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush…
 L.A. Confidential DVD Cover |
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Mickey Cohen’s Mambo Partner |
“L.A. Confidential” Movie Review
“L.A. Confidential” Plot Summary
A shooting at an all night diner is investigated by three LA policemen in their own unique ways. add synopsis
This is how a proper crime story should be told!
LA Confidential is a sprawling epic tale of crime, corruption and justice in Hollywood and the LAPD, with a cast to match. A truly gripping crime saga exposing the seedy underbelly of the City of Angels, where cops never let the truth get in the way of justice, and everyone knows everyone else’s dirty secrets
Criminally overlooked at both the box office and the Academy thanks to the all-conquering and over-achieving Titanic, LA Confidential will far more likely stand the test of time to be thought of as one of the best films of the 90s, and possibly the best cop film ever
After cops give a number of inmates a beating in retaliation for two of their own being put in hospital, the career-minded Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) agrees to testify to what he saw, turning in his fellow officers. When one of the cops forced out turns up dead as a result of a shooting, Exley, hothead detective Bud White (Russell Crowe) and fame-obsessed Sergeant Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) all work to find the answers. However, as they uncover the truth, it leads to more questions, of corruption, blackmail, bribery and conspiracy
The film superbly portrays the dual nature of Hollywood; glamorous parties and beautiful people, and the seemingly ever-present crime and corruption, even in the police. Danny Devito’s opening monologue perfectly sums it up – ‘There’s trouble in paradise’. This is not the city at the end of the rainbow, the city where dreams come true
A series of stellar performances from an all-star cast makes it impossible to pick the star, although Kim Basinger richly deserved her Best Supporting Actress. Kevin Spacey is terrific as ever, while Russell Crowe shows that Gladiator wasn’t his first muscles-with-a-heart role. But the real standout is probably Guy Pearce in a career-making performance as the one officer determined to what is right and just, regardless of the potentially disastrous consequences for him. However, LA Confidential is a true ensemble piece, and everybody holds their own among the starry cast. Few will have made many better films, before or since
Curtis Hanson directs in a career-defining role, the sweeping direction echoing the sprawling nature of both the story and the city. The story is a slow-burner, gradually unraveling all the twists, but instead of clearing up the mystery, the waters become muddier as the trio of officers are forced to work together. Hanson masterfully commands the James Ellroy’s source material, weaving it into a gripping multi-layered tale. The characters are extremely well developed, all three-dimensional, with no clear-cut heroes and villains. White (Crowe) in particular is the classic film noir anti-hero, the violent cop with a heart-breaking story, thinking with his muscles rather than his brain. LA Confidential is a classic 50s noir film told for the 90s, and keeps you guessing right up to the final scene as to how high the corruption goes. The two-hour running time is never felt
A superb thriller and the perfect antidote to the rash of mindless action-comedies that frequently come out of Hollywood today, LA Confidential harks back to how film-making used to be all about telling a story. And what a story it is. One of, if not the best film of the 90s.
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