Ali_Mandi's Check-Ins

Fantastic!

Any of you guys seen this?

Any of you guys seen this?

WOW! Magnificent!
Best film I've seen this -so far- this year... After the Tree of Life of course!

WOW! Magnificent!
Best film I've seen -so far- this year... After the Tree of Life of course!

Brilliantly written and beautifully directed with an amazing performance from Bard Pitt.

Amazing film! Watching Spacey and Irons playing off each other is a delight!

Overwritten, too obvious, uneven, too concerned about being entertaining but it's a good movie. Why? Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. Davis is revelation!

Could have been better, the cinematography isn't nice but it's very good.

Loved it!

A little too hopeful for me, features one very moving story and other two I'm not particularly interested in. Christopher Plummer is amazing! This great actor might just get his overdue Oscar this year!

Maestro Bunuel's last film, nothing short of astonishing!

Masterful storytelling by Soderbergh.

Amazing storytelling by Soderbergh.

A delightful, imaginative and adventurous animation. Crafted wonderfully by Spielberg.

A remarkable film. It struck a nerve in me personally, several times it felt like I was holding a mirror. It clutched my heart and kept squeezing until the last scene. This one will stay with me for a long time.
Thank you, LvT.

Wonderful first hour, then it felt like someone else took the director's chair!

HUGO is a marvelous wonder, you don't just watch it; you bathe in it! It's been a long time since I sat in a film theater and the 2 hours felt like few minutes, it reaches out and hugs you, filling you with warmth. High on emotions, it captures the innocence and vulnerability of a child perfectly and in a very touching way, which is very rare. It's become sort of redundant to say it, but there's no other way to describe it, this is Martin Scorsese's love letter to cinema, it displays the magic of cinema by becoming magical itself, every single scene is breathtaking, the sub-plots are obviously inspired by silent cinema and it’s all just… enchanting!
Naturally, passionate film-lovers would be more moved by HUGO, the last hour completely drained me, how can someone capture his love of cinema this well? Well, you leave that to Scorsese. The film has amazing acting, amazing cinematography, amazing production design, beautiful writing and pretty much excels in every aspect of film-making, but this film is phenomenal because of the vision of one man, the great Martin Scorsese, in his hands even 3D becomes art, he's all over this film, his own childhood, his camera movements, his sensibility, tracking shots and of course, a strong love for cinema. His direction here is truly one of his very best and most magical work. He also displays something I haven't seen in any of his films before, I won't say it here, let those who haven't seen it discover it themselves.
HUGO is a gift to any film lover, I'll be going back to see it again and again.

Head isn't the worst film in the collection, THIS IS!

Even more brutal and complex than the first!

Nick Nolte deserves an Oscar nod for this.

Absolutely brilliant!

Tired of the movies about the white teacher saving the African-American students? Check this one out.

Thanks god that's over! What a piece of shit!

Straight up: a masterpiece!

A beautiful testament to the CRAFT of film-making with great respect to the spectator.
Gary Oldman is stunning beyond words!

Its comedy and drama don't mix well, it follows a pretty conventional structure, but it has its moments. Good movie.

Now THAT'S my kind of Romance !!!

A grand American classic!
Wyler's use of Toland's deep focus cinematography is brilliant.

This is not a great film, I actually think it's horribly written. But it's defiantly a beautiful one.
I didn't know Burt Lancaster's in it! When he appeared the screen exploded!

What a disappointment! A mess of a script!
This was supposed to be about the relationship between Jung and Freud, the birth of psychoanalysis and the film failed miserably to do either! Knightley is way over the top.
But Mortensen is amazing as Freud!

Reminded me of De Sica.
My first Dardenne brothers film, sure won't be my last!

An absolutely brilliant film. A proof that it's always about HOW you tell a story.
Michael Shannon delivers a stunning performance, might even be the best performance of 2011. It's a joke he wasn't nominated for an Oscar!

I guess I'm the only one who thinks that J. EDGAR is a great film and probably Eastwood's best since Million Dollar Baby. I'm fine with that.
Leonardo DiCaprio is phenomenal here.

I didn't like the way Ramsay directed this film. The pacing, songs selection, the feel of it, all didn't work for me.

Breathtaking!

A sad attempt at creativity. It's actually a bad imitation of Lars von Trier mixed with the American independent movies cliches.

Not great, but I'd say a must see.

Tarkovsky's last film, or should I say his last masterpiece is a stunning cinematic achievement and a beautiful homage to Bergman.

It obviously has an agenda, which gets annoying at times. But it's a very beautifully made film.

Since I hate dancing, there were moments I had to endure during Pina. But there were more moments I was fascinated and sometimes even moved. Although I doubt I'll be seeing it again, Pina's beauty and Wender's achievement are undeniable.
It should've been nominated for best editing as well.

The greatest concert film? Probably!

Perfection... Movie-wise!

The Artist is a beautiful homage to silent cinema and old Hollywood. A delightful and wonderful experience.
Do I think it's the best film of 2011? No. Do I think it deserved to win Best Picture/Director over Hugo and the Tree of Life? No. But it's a great film, charming, beautifully made and one of the best films of last year.
Hopefully it makes more people wanna see silent films, if they don't... well, it's their loss!

One of the greatest achievements in the history of cinema!

Good, but it could've been much better and more compelling.

The visual directing of War Horse is beyond belief, truly masterwork, and it features what's probably Kaminski's best work. But it's script is laughably bad, Spielberg hammers every scene to death with sentiment until it loses any emotional impact it could've had.
Yes, I get what Spielberg is trying to do, this is a tribute to old, classic Hollywood film-making, but there were moments I wished I could've just turned off the sound and enjoyed the images!
There's so much to admire in War Horse and so much to despise.

My first Hong Sang-soo, I'm fascinated to say the least.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a testament to Fincher's assured craftsmanship. The way he tells the story and how the plot unfolds is brilliant.
It's not as powerful as his last 3 films, but it surpassed my expectations and it's superior to the Swedish version.
Still, it carries the weak 3rd act from the novel (I presume) and the accents, oh... totally unnecessary!

I didn't expect to love it this much. I thought it'd feel very long, but it flew by!

It doesn't quite succeed in anything it tries to do, but it's a good try of a certain style, a style that needs a more powerful film-maker.

Masterful... One of Hitch's best!

Absolutely remarkable!

Astonishing! Easily one of the best 5 films from last year.

You do not wanna miss this one!

My first Mizoguchi... seems like I've been missing something quite extraordinary!

AMAZING !!!

I thought HUNGER was the best directorial debut of the last decade, I absolutely love it, and I had to wait until the Blu-ray release to see SHAME, so my expectations were sky high!
But this stunning work of art managed to exceed them. An achievement that's nothing short of remarkable. Painful and heartbreaking to watch, yet extraordinarily beautiful. I am simply wowed! Michael Fassbinder's performance is phenomenal.
The main piece of music in the film was obviously heavily inspired by Zimmer's Journey to the Line, one of my very favorite pieces of film soundtracks and one I listen to frequently. Anyway, the way McQueen uses this piece is pure genius!

Powerful enough to make you reconsider your entire life.

A fascinating statement about film-making. Both startling and beautiful... but mostly startling!

Here's a film by one of the best directors of the last 10-15 years. Takes place in a car, shot using 2 video camera fixed on the same angle.
Tell me again about how you can't make your own film?

Another terrifying statement on humanity from Herzog! You don't know what's more striking, it's imagery or ideas!

When a director does not deserve any of what her cast and crew are giving her!
A masterful performance to say the least.

Another masterwork from Wilder!

One of those rare films you can hang any frame from on your wall! Exquisite!
It could also be the blueprint to all survival movies to come.

One of the best films I've ever seen. Instant favorite!

Breathtaking visuals and cinematography, beautiful score, great performance from Bale, and probably the best action scenes since Saving Private Ryan. But a thin and Hollywoodian screenplay makes it very uneven. Zhang's direction of some emotional scenes is way too melodramatic, and this is coming from a guy who loves Asian melodrama! But several times, aided with Bale's performance, it hits right at home.

Mark my word, you'll see a Hollywood adaptation of this soon.

This, right here, is what directing is all about!
Stunning!

Marvelous, you don't want it to end.

It's such a wonderful feeling when you go see a film by one of your favorite film-makers, with very high expectations, and have them completely met.
For me this is a fascinating work, a joy from the first frame to the last, and of course a visual feast.

Astonishing !!!

Magnificent, brilliant piece of Sci-Fi!

Absolutely brilliant work! One of the best films of 2011.
I can't wait for this guy's next film. Great, great debut!

A mini masterpiece!

Sam Mendes did to James Bond what Christopher Nolan did to Batman.
Skyfall isn't only the best Bond movie, it's a great film, period.

Defiantly beautifully directed. But very unevenly written.

One of the most original films in years, a fascinating experience. An extraordinary film, which shows that the possibilities of Cinema are not exhausted.

One of the greatest films ever made.

It's inspiring how brilliant this film is.
I painfully related to it.

Martin McDonagh reminds me of what Guy Ritchie used to be.

Very moving piece of documentary.

Saw it again today. A masterpiece.