This is a historical film showcasing the Warsaw Zoo that protected and hid over 500 jews during the holocaust reign of Hitler. there is excellent acting that makes an average script shine.
I love the scene where the Zookeper is bringing in a new Jew to the zoo and he is stopped and questioned by the Nazi police. They pass through but later on he shares with his wife he didnt know if he was going to be shot. its a powerful sequence and illustrates well what it must have been like.
To summarize this based on a true story plot, a small family run the Warsaw zoo. They get along with the animals incredibly well. Whenthe bombers of war attack, war is evident. the Zookeper and his famoly take in Jews and give them a place to be safe.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I loved the light cadence of this film. Chastain’s performance is nothing short of marvelous. The story drags a bit at the beginning but the final scenes makes it worthwhile.
Crime, Drama
R
Fri 14 Oct 1994 UTC
154min
IMDB Rating: 8.9
Minor plot spoilers ahead:
This film’s plot consists of 4 stories that intertwine. My favorite one features Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames. They start off under the auspices of Rhames’ character, a mob bookie, ordering Willis, whose character is a fighter, to throw a fight. When the fighter wins anyway and runs off with bet money, Rhames starts tracking him. What happens later concerns them both randomly being captured in a gun shop. Rejects in the basement attempt to rape the 2 men. It twists the situation to where they have a common enemy and it works when Willis escapes and kills the sickos. If you’ve seen this, how messed up is the “Gimp?”
The film is outrageous in so many ways. There are hitmen, drug addicts, drug pushers, and outlandish characters in every scene. The techniques of filmmaking that Tarantino showed us in his early films, like Reservoir Dogs, are all there and they work wonderfully.
FINAL THOUGHTS
For me, this stands out as his best. He had a big idea and used well crafted techniques to make this film. I think the characters are bigger than life and aren’t meant to be realistic. They are comic-book-like. There is some violence but most occurs off screen. I highly recommend this, but still I caution some may be offended and the profanity and violence. Give it a chance I say!
All style but how much substance? This is a funny show filled with British humor. It works as a hip, cool piece of film but it lacks the sort of character development I like to see in crime films. I like to laugh at films like this but I also want to care what happens to people, In this film, that didn’t happen for me.
Snatch
“Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewelers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.” -IMDB
Comedy, Crime
R
Fri 19 Jan 2001 UTC
102min
IMDB Rating: 8.3
Guy Ritchie the director is concerned with the look and style of films. I will acquiesce and admit that his films look amazing. The question for me is whether the look and style of a film is more important than developing characters you can recognize and feel like you know. Even in comedy films, this makes the movie experience better in my opinion.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I really enjoyed this film but the same gags and stylistic effects keep barraging throughout. I’m like to see a film like this but with some characterization and dialog that holds my interest. In closing I want to comment on Brad Pitt’s character. He is completely indecipherable. I’ve had Irish people tell me it isn’t a dialect. It’s something strange he and Guy Ritchie came up with I suppose. I’m sorry I can’t recommend this one but I do know a lot of people who are smarter than me would.
I fell into the Breaking Bad pool years ago and got hooked completely. Maybe it was because I’m a teacher and the main character is easy to identify with. Whatever the reason, I loved the show and watched it faithfully through all seasons. In contrast, I wasn’t very take in by Better Call Saul, the spinoff about a crooked lawyer. But that was season one, now I’m in s2 and it is really amazing.
Better Call Saul
“The trials and tribulations of criminal lawyer, Jimmy McGill, in the time leading up to establishing his strip-mall law office in Albuquerque, New Mexico.” -IMDB
Vince Gilligan is once again at the helm. He does a great job in s2 showing how Saul becomes the lawyer he is. He was like an ADHD kid who used crime as his Ritalin. His brother knows him well and shares a lot of back story that explains Saul. Like Breaking Bad, we are led hither and yon to decide if he is a good guy or not. I am still not sure myself but I like the character!
To summarize, Saul is a lawyer who just can’t fit in any law practice. He rents a space in the back of a laundromat and starts practicing law his way. He finds loopholes but they never seem to hurt anyone, except big fat rich people, the likes that pilfer funds from old folks’ homes. I guess he’s a Robin Hood figure that way. S1 was dull in my opinion but S2 is so good, I have that same feeling when I would watch Breaking Bad. Looks like Vince Gilligan has still got it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This is a great, engaging show that is worth your time. It raises issues of the legal system similar to many legal drama shows. I recently wrote the same thing about Billy Bob Thornton’s series Goliath. You won’t find Saul in court much but when you hear him offer legal reasoning it’s refreshing and “everyman” in style. I highly recommend (require) fans of Breaking Bad to see this. For those who like morality play in legal dramas, this is also for you. Because it lagged a lot in S1 and I’m not yet done, this is a preliminary rating. I could see this show getting to a 8 or 9/10. For now however:
I’ve just finished watching the season finale of Goliath, an Amazon series, starring Billy Bob Thornton. It’s a righteous legal drama with some great acting from the man as well as from a certifiable odd William Hurt.
Legal dramas can be very appealing to me. I watched every episode of Judging Amy and The Good Wife and started enjoying legal drama films with Spencer Tracy in 1960 Inherit the Wind and Gregory Peck’s uber classic To Kill a Mockingbird early in my movie watching life. Unfortunately, they can also lag, sputter, and die to become boring Fords up on blocks in the annals of the IMDB.
I wasn’t sure about Goliath at first but I’m happy to say it had suspense and smarts and all the stuff I look for in a legal drama series. There is a spot where the writing gets a little dull around episode 4 and thereabouts but these days I can’t say any show is perfect.
There is an explosion at sea that causes much controversy. Thornton is in a bar in the first episode basically feeling washed up in his law practice. He’s been successful in ripping people off and getting money the easy way and it has more or less driven him to depression and drinking. You can probably imagine him in this state if you’ve seen the Bad Santa films.
William Hurt plays the head of a corporation trying to hide what happened on that boat. The storyline is a mystery really that unfolds about what happened in that mysterious explosion. Thornton is approached by a woman who needs his skills to take on the corporation and he sees the chance to do something right with his skills, for a change. Oh, and don’t let me forget to mention it’s a chance to redeem himself with the firm that expelled him.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s great watching Thornton in this series. He is truly in his element in this series. I recommend it to fans of the genre and of Thornton.
This is before Jack Black was huge. He’s quite funny here in a supporting role. John Cusack’s character is the consummate “cool dude” managing a record store. He is also the narrator of a quirky, hosted, cult-status film that takes the viewer through museum tour of failed relationships
This is a hip movie for hipsters. In other words, the jokes are subtle and righteously understood by students of pop culture circa 2000. It has a simple setting: a record store and we watch Cusack’s character travel to the edge and back again not being able to keep a girl around to save his life.
While not a romantic comedy per se, this film could be recommended as a great date movie. It conjures up the lessons of falling in love in your teens through your twenties. Cusack definitely has his shit together in terms of having a pad and a job but he falls way short of what these women need. Caught in the middle: any guy whose gone through dating segments will likely relate, I know I did.
There is a scene when Jack Black and his friends go gangsta on “Rob” (Tim Robbins) the current dating interest of his late girlfriend. It’s quite a sight to see. The whole “bros before hoes” idea played out. But that scenes ends up different. Most of the film is a bit different, I guess that’s why it resonates so much with me.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In a similar tone to “Office Space,” this film is quirky hilarious. You hae excellent actors, a dynamite script, beautiful women, and of course JACK BLACK! I recommend to all but especially those with a quirky and dark sense of humor.
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