Prisoners

(spoilers!)

This line from the film is actually a good advice if you are planning on watching it.

Pacific Rim

Let me say this upfront - I don't mind silly movies. Just few days ago I had a great time watching Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in The Heat. It was dumb, but at least it wasn't boring. This is pretty much the minimum I ask of summer film - to entertain. So when I was checking my text messages during Pacific Rim, I knew that it failed for me.

The Paperboy

The Paperboy is one of the most divisive movies of the year - it got a fair share of terrible reviews and then it got a lot of positive responses from the audience that was entertained by the film. You probably know two things about the movie - that it includes a scene where Nicole Kidman is peeing on Zac Efron (in the film's defense - it's after he is stung by jelly fish and thanks to Friends we all know what needs to be done in this situation) and that this is a movie for which Kidman got the Golden Globe nomination. The fact that not many people actually got to see that trashy little gem is in its favor - The Paperboy is a fun ride filled with unpredictable twists and turns.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Remember high school? Or should I say - hellish nightmare? The Perks of Being a Wallflower follows Charlie - young teenager who is just starting high school. Charlie is shy and socially awkward - he doesn't have any real friends and he spends his time writing letters to mysterious person he calls his "friend", who likely doesn't exist. On the first day of school he is bullied and called names but he also catches the eye of his teacher - when his teacher, played by Paul Rudd, who I think is every one's dream teacher, asks who wrote the thing he just quoted no one answers. But he notices that Charlie wrote the correct answer in his notebook. He didn't raise his hand to reveal it, which is, by the way, what I've been doing all the time back in school.

Prom Night

15/100 (88 min, 2008)
Plot: Donna's senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life, though a sadistic killer from her past has different plans for her and her friends.
Director: Nelson McCormick
Writer: J.S. Cardone
Stars: Brittany Snow, Scott Porter and Jessica Stroup

Kill them all. Please.

I do love horror films. All horror films - the superb ones with great atmosphere and gorgeous cinematography, the scary ones with sadistic killers and even the bad ones with stupid teenagers getting massacred on the screen. If there is one thing I object to is making a horror movie, in this case slasher flick, into PG 13 movie. That's just ridiculous. The only reason slasher flicks with teenagers as main characters are entertaining are the creative, gross and ridiculous ways in which moron by moron, they die. Prom Night is not only a bad horror film. It also continues another trend - of doing pointless remakes to the films that absolutely don't need to be remade.

The film follows Donna who couple years back witnessed her entire family being killed by a stalker, her teacher, who became obsessed with her. Since Donna is played by Brittany Snow who is ugly as sin there goes the credibility of the plot right there.Anyways the guy as blind or drunk may be is infatuated with her - why? Who knows. So he thinks it's a good idea to murder her entire family while she hides under bed and watches him do his thing. He gets caught few days later in his apartment (!), confesses (!), the jury obviously finds him insane which the lead detective can't believe in (!) and he is sentenced for life. He escapes the prison through the ceiling, apparently (!), and the lead detective finds out about his escape 3 days later (!). Yeah, that is fine script right there.

Prometheus - symbols, theories and observations.

95/100  (124 min, 2012)
Plot: A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race. Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Jon Spaihts, Damon Lindelof
Stars: Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green and Michael Fassbender
(spoilers in the article and the images)

Paradise Lost

“This man is here because he does not want to die. 

He believes you can give him more life.” 

- David, speaking to the Engineer.

Why are we here? Who created us? Why did they create us? Why do we die? Why do we live? These are all the questions people were asking themselves for as long as there was human life. If you think Ridley Scott's Prometheus, movie set in the same universe as Alien but with the events preceding those shown in classic science fiction.horror will answer these questions you will be wrong. Nobody can answer them, can they? But Prometheus offers some theories and ideas that are very thought provoking and not necessarily completely impossible.

The film opens in 2089 when Dr Elizabeth Show and her boyfriend Charlie Holloway discover curious cave paintings. Soon they are part of the mission sponsored by powerful Weyland Industries to the distant planet - they know how to get there because Shaw and Holloway found several of such cave paintings, each containing pictograms which put together create a star map. They are going there, because as the paintings are from many centuries set apart, spread through the history of human existence they believe they are being led to the beings that created us. They call them Engineers.

Perfect Sense

82/100 (92 min, 2011)
Plot: A chef and a scientist fall in love as an epidemic begins to rob people of their sensory perceptions.
Director: David Mackenzie
Writer: Kim Fupz Aakeson
Stars: Eva Green, Ewan McGregor and Connie Nielsen

"And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry

And all you touch and all you see

Is all your life will ever be"

- Pink Floyd, Breathe

Love in the time of Apocalypse

"Perfect Sense" is one of those movies that are extremely difficult to shake off. Its premise, the mysterious virus that causes everyone to loose their senses, one by one, although hiding underneath the love story which is the main focus of the movie, is horrifying. The thought of how awful the end of the world would be in this form is truly haunting. By the end of the film, although it has a beautiful ending, there is only darkness and fear left.

The story follows two people - the scientist Susan who while being friendly and liked by her co-workers is rather distant and seems not to chase love and Michael, who unlike Eva Green's character chases disposable love and comes off as cold and quite ignorant. These two will meet and - although due to the practicality of their relationship and the short time of their affair it is difficult to talk about real love - they will create a bond, that in the face of the end, will be something that matters the most to them.

The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito)

94/100 (117 min, 2011)
Plot: A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Writers: Pedro Almodóvar (screenplay), Agustín Almodóvar (collaboration), Thierry Jonquet (novel "Tarantula")
Stars: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya and Jan Cornet

The Great Redesign

Pedro Almodovar is one of the most distinctive directors working today - all of his movies touch deeply humane subject, are filled with fiery passion, warm colors and many complications between character. "The Skin I Live" is along with "Todo sobre mi madre" and "Carne Tremula" the movie of his I enjoyed the most. Based on shocking novel "Tarantula" Almodovar tells deeply moving story, filled with many twists, turns and mysteries. "The Skin I Live in" is also the best film noir of the year.

From the beginning we are thrown into a strange world occupied by older housekeeper, beautiful woman living in locked room and a driven scientist. With every minute there are more and more pieces of puzzles being revealed to us - the young woman is suicidal, the housekeeper has dangerous son who seemed to have an affair with the scientist's wife and the man himself, Robert Ledgard is determined to create strong, nearly indestructible skin and he is fascinated with the young woman in his captivity, Vera, whom he watches on huge TV screen, secretly desiring her, against his will.

Persepolis

(96 min, 2007)
Directors: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi
Writers: Marjane Satrapi (comic), Vincent Paronnaud (scenario)
Stars: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve and Gena Rowlands

Road to maturity

“You'll meet a lot of jerks in life. If they hurt you, remember it's because they're stupid. Don't react to their cruelty. There's nothing worse than bitterness and revenge. Keep your dignity and be true to yourself. “

“Persepolis” is a 2007 French animated film based on Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel of the same name. The film uses same style as the novel – black and white animation, although it has some scenes shown in color.

In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own. With Marji dangerously refusing to remain silent at this injustice, her parents send her abroad to Vienna to study for a better life.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

(116 min, 2010)
Director: Mike Newell
Writers: Boaz Yakin (screenplay), Doug Miro (screenplay)
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley

Not this time, Jerry.

Set in the mystical lands of Persia, a rogue prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) and a mysterious princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time -- a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.

Few years ago Jerry Bruckheimer found his cash cow - “Pirates of the Caribbean”. The three movies of the series brought him fame, tons of money, made Johnny Depp superstar and were the beginning of the career for Keira Knightley. This year, Bruckheimer attempted to do the same with “Prince of Persia”, hoping the first movie will give a beginning to money making series. But the movie flopped. As much as I enjoyed watching the movie, I think it's God's wrath for awful “King Arthur”, for which Jerry was also responsible.

The formula is the same as in “Pirates...” – damsel in distress - but feisty and gorgeous at the same time of course, young and brave noble man, eccentric weirdo, evil guy played by famous actor who usually appears in much serious movies, mysticism, magic, adventure, exotic landscapes, epic scenes.

And the movie is fun to watch because of all of that. But because it follows other adventure movies so closely it's hard to be surprised by anything. Would “Pirates of the Carribean” be enjoyable if Depp only had as few scenes as Molina has here? No. We would be left with wooden Bloom and bland Knightley. Here is the advantage “Prince of Persia” has over the famous series – Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton have great chemistry, the very old fashion kind of movie chemistry – nowadays the characters fall in love with each other at the very beginning, at first sight. Here it is wonderfully different – Tamina is outraged by the turn of events and even tries to kill Dastan and he, as much as appreciates her beauty is ready to sell her to save his own butt. It was great to watch them on screen and they truly carried the movie with the genuine passion and many hilarious exchanges their characters had.

Gyllenhaal was very good here, carefree and joyful. You like him from the very first scenes and you root for his character. Arterton is slowly becoming an expert in playing enlightened beauties, who reveal secrets in chilling narration and the softest of voices. I preferred how she looked in “Clash of the Titans”, but the girl is one of the very few seriously gorgeous actresses nowadays and “Prince of Persia” gives you many chances to admire her beauty. As for the rest of the cast, no one was bad, so that's something. Kingsley didn't seem all that thrilled to be a part of the show, though. Molina was funny, but very forgettable.

When I saw that movie was made by Disney I was a little worried. I can't watch animated movies anymore, usually throughout first 30 minutes I'm getting depressed feeling too old to enjoy naive scenes and cute little events on the screen which leaves me sad that I'm no longer a child. But fortunately, with “Prince of Persia” ,the movie was not purposely made to be sweet and innocent so that little kids wouldn't be scared. There are some freaky scenes here, as for the sex...well, not much of it, but as I mentioned the tension between Dastan and the princess is fantastic.

It is almost mandatory that action movie starts to get boring near the very ending. The final battle, as visually impressive, is very dull, given how predictable the movie is. But some of the effects in the movie are wonderful, so is the cinematography, beautifully portrayed sandy landscapes, the whole ambiance of the film places viewer right in the center of that heat pouring from the sun and all the action. I heard the movie is really long, it's not true – it's 110 minutes which flew quite fast. Yes, there are many needless fight scenes, but what else one can expect form adventure movie. To sum up, the film is a good choice to watch if you like either Jake or Gemma, or if you love nice, well done adventure movie with few breathtaking shots and likeable heroes, which will keep you entertained and leave you uplifted.

60/100

A Perfect murder

(107 min, 1998)
Director: Andrew Davis
Writers: Frederick Knott (play), Patrick Smith Kelly (screenplay)
Stars: Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow and Viggo Mortensen

Crime without punishment.

Millionaire industrialist Steven Taylor (Michael Douglas) is a man who has everything but what he craves most: the love and fidelity of his wife (Gwyneth Paltrow). A hugely successful player in the New York financial world, he considers her to be his most treasured acquisition. But she needs more than simply the role of dazzling accessory. Brilliant in her own right, she works at the U.N. and is involved with a struggling artist (Viggo Mortensen) who fulfills her emotional needs. When her husband discovers her indiscretion, he sets out to commit the perfect murder and inherit her considerable trust fund in the bargain.
- imdb

The movie is a remake of Hitchcock's “Dial M for murder”. I never saw the original version, so maybe the fact I like the new one a lot has something to do with it. The movie is not very original – it features the most common triangle in the history of the cinema - cheating wife, older, wealthy husband, artist with criminal past. But the characters are extremely well developed and the movie has elegant, classy ambiance and great tension which is the key to making a good thriller.

We should probably sympathize with Emily, the wife, but we just can't. I don't know whether it is because she is cheating on her husband or because she is played by Gwyneth Paltrow – who is very cold, detached and aloof in the movie (sometimes I got Mia Farrow vibe from her). Emily is clever, but in the ending of the film you'll see she's not really a victim. It's a damn shame that director didn't use the alternate ending which was a lot better and where Emily's actions are crystal clear. The theatrical version requires you to think about the title and how well it fits with the final scenes of the movie.

The viewer can't really like the artist either – even if he has the noble face of Aragorn. His actions are just too strange, and he seems to be nothing but a coward. Thankfully, Mortensen is a great actor so at least the character wasn't boring as another passionate artists who are distractions for married ladies (I'm referring to bland Olivier Martinez in “Unfaithful”). Mortensen gives his character a lot of depth, his motives aren't clear but he seems to be torn – between escaping an obvious mess and staying with the woman he loves.

So helpless viewer shifts the sympathy towards the husband. And it's not hard to root for Douglas's character, precisely because he is played by Douglas. He's an amazing actor with a very captivating on-screen persona – everyone remembers his amazing work in “Wall Street” and “Falling Down”. Here he is a lot like Gordon Gekko – brilliant, clever, calculating. Stephen is obviously immoral and ruthless, but he is also interesting and his brilliance is fascinating – the way he plans the whole thing is flawless. It's a thrill to see Douglas on screen, he crashes Paltrow's and Mortensen's performances, although the two of them is doing a good job.

The movie is very stylish – big residence, artist's loft, galleries, modern offices. Settings that are necessary for each thriller about adultery and murder. James Newton Howard's music sets up a pace for the film and brings in few eerie moments. Certain scenes, especially the key scene of the movie are extremely well done and won't fade away from your memory..And the script is very good – there are no plot holes, everything we see in the movie, every single scene is necessary, every line of dialogue has a purpose. The narration is clever – we see the actions of all three key players, we know what they know, we know what they want to do, but the movie still manages to surprise us.

With all of this “Perfect Murder” is a very decent thriller, it's not too predictable – when you are watching it you kept waiting what's gonna happen, but when the movie is over you'll not be surprised the events unfolded the way they did, because you saw it already, in dozens different movies. But the film is worth watching because it's not easy to find a good thriller anymore, so even if the film is not bringing anything new to the genre, we should still praise it for sustaining the suspense and keeping the audience interested

66/100

The Prestige

(130 min, 2006)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Jonathan Nolan (screenplay), Christopher Nolan (screenplay)
Stars: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson

Abracadabra.

“You traveled far
What have you found
That there's no time
There's no time
To analyse
To think things through
To make sense “
- Thom Yorke, “Analyse”

There are only several movies I consider to be masterpieces. But Christopher Nolan never fails, well, except for the last 15 minutes of “the Dark Knight”. On the heels of “Inception” premiere I have come to realize I haven't even reviewed “The Prestige” yet, which I suspect, until I see “Inception” (the dream theme puts that movie in the privileged position for me) remains my favorite movie by Nolan. Here is the director who never made a bad movie, who reinvented Batman films, gave us the thrilling and able to induce amazing headache “Memento” and “Insomnia” where Al Pacino finally had something to work with.

“The Prestige” follows the story of rivalry between two magicians – Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman). They used to work together, but a terrible tragedy in which Angier's wife died tore them apart. Angier blames Borden for her death. Soon after this events Borden comes up with a mind blowing trick "The Transported Man" where he disappears in one door and appears in another. Angier starts to be obsessed with finding out the method and copying the trick.

Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige".
The movie is also built like the magic trick. In The Pledge we see two men, the accident in which Angier loses his wife, the beginning of the rivalry. We see how determined both mean are – each of them has the same goal – to be the best in their business and successful as the magician and to destroy the opponent.
In “The Turn” we see the extraordinary lengths to which the men will go to. Angier believes Borden did his trick thanks to the help of Nikola Tesla, brilliant inventor. He abandons his life and goes to Colorado, spends a fortune, event sends the woman he loves, Olivia (Scarlett Johansson) to spy for him. He also goes that far to lead to the arrest of Alfred. Borden on the other hand risks his health, his family's happiness and uses dirty tricks – gets Angier's double drunk and humiliates him in front of the audience and plants a journal in order to fool Angier.

In “The Prestige” we find out two men we saw and maybe even had sympathy for did truly terrible things – two big twists are involved – we find out that Tesla constructed a special machine for Angier – machine that was able to clone him (this is the only supernatural element in the story, that's why it is so unexpected – yes, it's pure fantasy, but unlike the ridiculous sonar in “The Dark Knight” it actually serves the story and brings in some interesting moral questions). That way Angier, who never figured out Borden's method, was able to copy his trick and make it even better. We find out each night during the show he cloned himself and appeared again somewhere else in the theater. But the Angier who was standing on the stage in the moment of the trick would fell into a tank below it and drown. So every night Angier had to kill his own self, never knowing if he will be the one in the tank, or the one who sees the amazing applause from the audience. The second twist is the Borden's method. Throughout the movie Angier's helper Cutter (Michael Caine) has been saying that Borden uses the double and Angier denied it. By the end of the movie we find out that it was indeed the truth. Borden had a twin borther who pretended to be his assistant Fallon. They kept it in secret, Fallon almost never spoke, was quiet and timid. But sometimes he took off the disguise and impersonated Borden.

In this moment, the viewers' sympathy turns into pity at best – here are two mean who did the unthinkable. At one point of the movie Olivia still believes Angier's obsession with Borden is caused by the death of his wife. But he shouts out “I don't care about my , I only care about his secret!”. He was so far away in his madness he couldn't get back. He plotted entire scheme where Borden (in reality Fallon, who was in love with Olivia) ended up in jail and was hang for something he never did. Angier killed innocent men, hundreds of times. And it is all because of his pride – Angier decided to use the double at the one point of the film, but since he was the one under the stage, he didn't get to see the applause. And he wanted that. That kept him going farther and farther.

Borden was only slightly better – he deceived his wife who shared her married life and bed with not one person, as she was led to believe, but two. Neither Borden nor his brother could have normal life, they only got little parts of it.
All of that in case of both man was because of the mad love for what they did – magic. Angier almost confesses before he dies it was all worth it because of the look on the audience's faces. For one short moment they wondered, because what they knew was denied by what they were seeing. Borden and his brother went to self mutilation, they denied themselves almost everything because they wanted to be the best. Borden's life is parallel in old Chinese magician, Angier and Borden see in the beginning of the movie. That man pretended to be sick and feeble all the time, when in reality he was insanely strong. The show was not just in theater – the show lasted through every second of his life.

I felt sympathy for Borden's and I can't really explain why – maybe it was because in reality it was Fallon who tied the wrong knot and caused death of Angier's wife. Maybe it was because of the fact Borden had a little daughter whom he loved very much. But in the end he had his brother – someone to confide in, someone who understood him. Angier was all alone.

It's also interesting how, despite the similarities between both man Angier is presented as fantastic showman, classy and wealthy man who has resources to spend, fortune to buy the things he need and Borden, who is lousy at presentation but very imaginative, poor and hardly able to provide for his family. It is also reflected in both men stage names – Angier's “ “The Great Danton” and Borden's “The Professor”

Another thing I noticed was that the women Borden and Angier loved died like they did - Angier's wife drowned in the tank and Sarah hang herself. Granted, Fallon who died by hanging really loved Olivia, but he shared moments with Sarah too.

Both man pay the price for their deeds but it's Borden who ultimately wins. Angier loses his life, everyone around him, even Cutter. Borden loses his brother but in the end because of the Cutter, in powerful scene which reminds us the rules of the great trick, he is reunited with his daughter.

Cutter is the stage engineer who worked with both men in the beginning but later his sympathy shifted to Angier. But when he saw what machine did and that Angier put Borden in prison and plans to take his daughter away from him, he decides to help Borden.

Tesla, played by David Bowie was an actual inventor, once regarded as mad scientist. Here he is in the process of working on electrical current and competes with Thomas Edison, which also parallels Angiers and Borden's fight.

Olivia, who first works with Robert and then has affair with Fallon is played by Scarlett Johansson, who really is perfectly cast. Pretty assistant, but also clever girl, who knows when enough is enough and when to run away. Borden's wife Sarah is played by Rebecca Hall who does, as usual very good job. Both women as used to show how far the men will go in their obsessions – Sarah loses his life because of the terrible secret she discovers and Olivia is passed around like a toy between the rivals. I liked how Nolan planted the idea of something supernatural and perhaps even devilish in audience's minds when Sarah screamed to Borden “I know what you are!” the line was not in the script, but Nolan used it anyways. Very good move, when I was watching the movie for the first time I was sure that Bale's character will turn out to have some unthinkable secret.

The visual side of the movie is very gloomy and grim and reflects the darkness of two men. There is notching glamorous about the tricks, because we see how they are done and we get to witness entire process, very complex and dangerous, of preparing magic tricks. There are so stunning images in the movie, though, for example the field of light bulbs. The music composed by David Julyan is quite monotonous, but it's also ominous and brings a very serious feeling to the movie – it's also very memorable and has a clear theme. The ending song is Thom Yorke's “Analyse” and I thought using that piece was brilliant move.

In my opinion the film is much better than “Memento” because movie going experience is supposed to be at least a little entertaining. “Memento” was brilliant, but too heavy. “The Prestige” is also complicated, but even if you know the story and all the twists you can still re-watch it many times, because of fantastic acting and all the little details you missed the first time. This is a movie about tricks and it manages to trick the audience too, never insulting their intelligence. The meticulous screenplay and fantastic acting from both Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman keeps you watching on the edge of your seat.

96/100