Movies and Actors | pinartarhan.com

Burning Man starring Matthew Goode: Difficult, Solid, Captivating

Posted on December 22, 2012 Written by ripitup

burning man movie poster-matthew goode — Burning Man starring Matthew Goode and Bojana Novakovic. 2011. Image via filmequals.com

Restaurant chef Tom (Matthew Goode) is not easy to work with or to be around. He seems to be the most relaxed around different women he sleeps with, and doesn’t seem to be the most suitable father figure for his son Oscar.

But scenes unfold in a very non-linear fashion and as we put the story together, we realize that Tom hasn’t always been like this. But it takes a while for us to see how happy he used to be, how he much stronger he was and how he lost who he lost.

The beauty of Burning Man lies in Matthew Goode’s acting and the writer/director’s choice of scene editing. If it was edited chronologically, we’d have liked Tom in the beginning, and we’d probably be more understanding of his extreme ways and seemingly lack of parenting skills. But the non-linear telling does a wonderful job how disoriented and messed up Tom is. We feel it. We also feel curious, angry, unsympathetic, sad, hopeful, happy…And never in order and we go through mixed feelings throughout.

It is a good movie, but it is one of those films where how you tell a story is more important than what story you’re telling. We’ve watched stories of loss before. We just haven’t experienced all the complications and frustrations and confusions like this.

Still, it is not for everyone.

Written and directed by Jonathan Teplitzky, starring Matthew Goode, Bojana Novakovic (Edge of Darkness), Essie Davis, Kerry Fox and Rachel Griffiths.

You can watch the trailer here.

Reviews for Matthew Goode Movies:

Brideshead Revisited starring Matthew Goode, Hayley Atwell, Ben Whishaw and Emma Thompson

Chasing Liberty starring Matthew Goode, Mandy Moore, Jeremy Piven & Annabella Sciorra

Leap Year starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode

Copying Beethoven starring Ed Harris, Diane Kruger and Matthew Goode

Watchmen starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley and Patrick Wilson

The Next Three Days starring Russell Crowe & Elizabeth Banks: Emotional, Captivating, Entertaining

Posted on December 16, 2012 Written by ripitup

The Next Three Days starring Russell Crowe & Elizabeth Banks Featuring Olivia Wilde and Liam Neeson.

The Next Three Days movie poster via slingomom.com.

The Plot

College teacher John (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara (Elizabeth Banks) are happily married with a young son, Luke. But life as they know it is over when Lara gets convicted of murdering her boss. All evidence points towards her, but John doesn’t doubt her innocence for a second.

But despite John’s efforts, he can’t change her 20+ years sentence. Devastated, she attempts suicide.

At that moment John realizes that it’s up to him to save his wife, and it’ll only be possible through a meticulous prison escape plan. With the fundamental tips from the former convict-turned-novelist Damon (Liam Neeson), he starts devising his plan. He has a million obstacles…and not nearly enough resources. But he sets his plan into motion, and no one can change his mind. Including his wife.

The Next Three Days: How to Kidnap Someone from Prison 101

And I’m not saying it as a bad thing. It made some great moments to see an ordinary guy trying to come up with the perfect plan. A guy who doesn’t have a criminal gene in his system is ready to deal with shady characters, rob criminals, lie his butt off and muster an enormous amount of guts so that he doesn’t lose his wife.

Most prison escapes in movies are usually conducted by experienced and/or violent criminals, maybe with the help of their criminal buddies. The 2009 movie Public Enemies (starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale) has some great jail break scenes, for instance. But again, the escapes are planned by the mastermind robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp).

And movies featuring prison escape usually focus a lot on the hunt. But the beauty and the fun of The Next Three Days is that it spends sufficient time on how it becomes the last resort, and how the crime is planned by a nice guy. Intelligent and determined, yes. Aggressive, violent, criminally experienced? No.

But with the aid of 21^st century resources and his mind, we follow him through his research and action. His failures and his success. As he gets his ass kicked and as he turns badass, all the while trying to maintain a sense of normalcy for his son.

1/3 of Guy fighting the system, 1/3 Guy Hatching a Plan, 1/3 Actual Escape and Action

It’s a drama for the most part, but the depressing parts are balanced by hope and love. It’s also balanced by John’s sense of humor (in the beginning), his self-teaching to be a jail-breaker and the last, very exciting part.

It’s easy for an action movie to become a bit tedious after putting one action scene in front of the other. But here all the drama builds up the suspense so by the time the plan is in motion, you are sitting, fingers crossed, highly anticipating. Sure, it could blow up in his face. But you sincerely hope he doesn’t.

So it is a remake. So what?

If the plot sounded familiar, it is probably because it is a remake of the 2008 French film Pour Elle starring Vincent Lindon and Diane Kruger. I haven’t seen the original so I can’t compare similarities and quality. But will be seeing it soon.

But The Next Three Days holds its own. Russell Crowe is perfect, Elizabeth Banks is good albeit overshadowed. Olivia Wilde is the perfect red herring. I mean why throw a single woman that gorgeous in front of the dad who’s so devoted to his wife? But even with her small screen time, she is crucial to the plot. And while Liam Neeson is practically in one scene, he is one of the most important characters, and he does fit the part perfectly. We buy it when he kicks ass internationally, and we buy it when he is a jail break expert.

Much more drama than action, but worth it.

I really liked it. Currently rated at 7.3 on IMDB. Adapted and directed by Paul Haggis. And don’t roll eyes at the “romance” label on its IMDB page. John has to be one of the most romantic, dedicated and loving husband the screen has ever seen. So yeah, there is a very strong love at the center of the film too.

One of my favorite Crowe movies and performances.

Fun cast note: Olivia Wilde also worked with Elizabeth Banks in the movie People Like Us (2012) , starring Chris Pine.

Also on Russell Crowe:

State of Play starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel Mcadams and Helen Mirren

A Good Year starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

Also on Elizabeth Banks:

Man on a Ledge with Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Edward Burns & Jamie Bell

Arbitrage starring Richard Gere: Gere Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actor

Posted on December 12, 2012 Written by ripitup

Arbitrage movie poster — Image via collider.com

Robert Miller (Richard Gere) has it all: a multi-billion dollar company, a beautiful wife (Susan Sarandon), kids and grandkids that adore him.

He also has 2 big secrets: He’s been having an affair with the young artist Julie (Laetitia Casta), and he needs to sell his company in the next couple of days before it can be found out that he has cheated on the books (for about 400 million dollars!)

Things turn for the worst when the already stressed Paul has an accident while driving with Julie and she dies. If people find out, he’ll be screwed.

Panicked, he calls the son of an old friend, Jimmy (Nate Parker) and asks for a ride.

He does a lot of things right and covers most of his tracks. Unfortunately, the case is being handled by the relentless detective (Tim Roth) who despises the way how the rich can get away with everything with the help of good lawyers.

Robert finds himself in a corner. If he can’t make the sale, the cheating probably be found out and/or he’ll lose a lot of money. People working for him will lose their jobs and trust, including his own daughter/finance manager (Brit Marling). But he also needs to consider Jimmy, who he put his neck on the line for him, and the cops are pushing hard. He doesn’t deserve to go to jail because of Robert…

It’s a race against time, and Robert doesn’t know what he’ll able to save…

Arbitrage finds almost an optimum balance between dramatic and thrilling elements. I love the fact that our protagonist, who also happens to be the perpetrator, is wonderfully grey. It’s so easy going back and forth between liking him and hating him, admiring him and finding him obnoxious, wanting him to get away with it and wanting him to get caught. Gere does a good job.

You need to keep in mind, though, that this is a drama-thriller. Dialogues and characters are just as important as the action-and the action is more about building up to “what now?” moments as Robert finds himself yet at another dead-end. There are no car chases or explosions (just one that was crucial to the story). I like how conflicted Robert is, and how he doesn’t go on a killing spree to solve his problems. It’s good to watch a film where there’s a limit to the desperate measures taken by desperate people.

I love that the cop on the case is smart, persistent and at times equally grey as Paul. My favorite relationship is the one between Robert and Jimmy, not quite knowing if/when one of them will give up on the other.

Yes, I have complaints. Nothing t hat prevented me from enjoying the movie-but it would have made some scenes a lot more plausible, had they been written differently:

(following will have spoilers, so you’ve been warned.)

-In the beginning, despite the mistress, Robert doesn’t seem to despise his wife. And his wife definitely doesn’t seem to despise him. She suggests taking a year off and going away together. There’s no way I’d want to do that with a man I was only pretending to love.

-After the accident, Robert lies on the bed next to his wife and asks if he loves her. She says “of course I do.” And yet at the scene before the last, you’d think they were just keeping up appearances. Why would he ask that?

Apart from these 2, and the fact that Susan Sarandon’s screen time being lower than I had hoped, I had a good time. And the beauty of the movie comes from the fact that it is all possible. A rich, older man with a mistress in a financial crisis who has an accident…? Not exactly unlikely.

It’s worth a watch. Currently rated on 6.7 on IMDB. I’d say it deserves a 7, at least. Written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki. Note that Gere has been nominated for Golden Globe (Best Performance by an Actor in Drama, 2013) for his performance.

Other Richard Gere Movies:

The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere, Terrence Howard and Jesse Eisenberg

Brooklyn’s Finest starring Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke and Don Cheadle

Other Susan Sarandon Movies:

Bernard and Doris: Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon

WHITE PALACE: SEXY ROMANCE with Susan Sarandon and James Spader

Actors & Their Niches 3: Mads Mikkelsen – The Cheater/The Cheated

Posted on December 10, 2012 Written by ripitup

Mads Mikkelsen cute — Mads Mikkelsen image via tumblr.

Actors do have niches. Just remember Robert De Niro’s roles, and look at how many times he has been a cop or a gangster or a psycho. He’s talented and diverse, but sometimes either actors find a certain type of role or those roles find them.

And just how many times has the lovely James Marsden been in a love triangle?

In this article, we’ll look into the niche of Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen. Mikkelsen is an internationally successful and critically acclaimed actor whose roles range from a bond villain (Casino Royale) to a historical figure that played a huge part in a country’s reform (A Royal Affair), from a thief in a gang of friends (Blinkende lygter-Flickering Lights) to Hannibal Lecter (starting on NBC this winter). He also got the best actor award at Cannes in 2012 for his role as the wrongly accused school teacher in Jagten (The Hunt).

Yet for all that diversity, some of his roles have the cheating factor in common. He seems to find himself as the cheater or the “other” guy. Or he just might the one being cheated on.. Let’s take a look at all the cheating going on his films:

A Royal Affair- He’s the doctor that has an affair with the king’s wife

A Royal Affair movie poster via the movie’s facebook page.

It’s all the king’s fault, really. He is obnoxious, womanizing and a tad mad. Sturensee (Mikkelsen) is assigned to be his private doctor, and he begins to affect him in a positive way. But the not-so-smart king complains that his wife is way too boring (possibly compared to the all the women he’s sleeping with!), and assigns Struensee to make her fun.

You can read my A Royal Affair review to find out more about the plot, but for the cheating, the king –as crazy as he was- he totally should have seen it coming. I mean you don’t just send your smart, sexy, wise and much nicer advisor/doctor to spend time with your queen (Alicia Vikander) who is already cursing the day she married you- and marrying you wasn’t her choice to begin with.

And guess what? Struensee doesn’t seem to find the queen boring after all. And as it turns out, the queen knows how to have fun-sexy fun at that-when it comes to the right guy. Of course the affair will get them in trouble, but hey-I have a feeling it just might be worth it. You only live once, right?

Love You Forever (Elsker dig for evigt) – Married guy sleeps with the victim’s fiancé

Open Hearts- Mads Mikkelsen and Sonja Richter — Mads Mikkelsen with Sonja Richter image via imgobject.com.

Now, while I approve of Mikkelsen’s character’s position in A Royal Affair, I’m seriously disgusted by the one here. His character is a typically nice family man with 3 kids until his wife has an accident and hits the fiancé of a young woman (Sonja Richter).

The police don’t find the wife at fault, but her conscience wants to make sure the woman is OK, so she asks her husband to help her out, since he is a doctor at the hospital the fiancé is staying at. I suspect that by now you see all the problems with this request: she just gave permission to her husband to be around a young, pretty woman to comfort her. Of course the poor woman doesn’t know that it’s in her husband to stray (he never has before), and is certainly not aware of the fact that the fiancé is treating the girl horribly-completely shutting her out. She also doesn’t know that her husband is practically her only friend.

But still, it does make us think that if you feel guilty, you go making amends yourself and not send somebody else. It also makes us hope for a loyal guy who will stay loyal no matter what, especially if you haven’t done wrong by him. It’s natural and understandable that people fall in and out of love, but you wish they would have the guts to admit to it before cheating on you.

Mads Mikkelsen in Nu. Image via manpaper.com

This is a short drama in black and white with no dialogue (if there was some I was too crept out by one character and the atmosphere to remember). Some decades ago a guy marries a woman, only to realize that he doesn’t desire her-or any woman for that matter. Then he meets a man he is attracted to, but it is hard to have a relationship with a boyfriend if your wife is nuts (like Glen Close Fatal Attraction nuts) and is ready to do anything to get what she wants.

He does kiss the man and probably does other things, but the ending…Let’s just say that there’ve been many scary movies that crept me out a lot less.

Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky- Cheats on sick wife while under the same roof with her and the mistress

Coco_Chanel_&_Igor_Stravinsky — Image via wikipedia.

Creative blocks, needs to seek refuge, poverty, sickness…definitely too much for any man to handle. It is also very difficult to resist a free-spirited designer who doesn’t care about anything other than herself. But it is one thing to accept her helping hand and move the whole family to her house at her request, it is completely another to have sex with her, repeatedly, while the wife is in the house. It doesn’t make it any less disgusting that the house is a mansion. Yuck.

Worse than Love You Forever in terms of the cheating? Absolutely. At least the other guy had the decency to cheat without his wife present.

After the Wedding (Efter brylluppet) (*minor spoilers!!)

after the wedding poster via amazon. — After The Wedding poster via amazon.

After The Wedding will remain as one of the most impactful movies I’ve seen. The story is powerful, the acting flawless, the dialogue well-written and delivered. Not to mention, it makes the best of its grey characters. And the cheating has happened before the timeline of the movie as we see it, but without it, the story wouldn’t have happened.

So here it is:

Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen) runs an orphanage, helping and educating as many kids he can. But he doesn’t have the money, nor does the administrator, to keep it afloat. So despite how much Jacob hates Denmark (his own country) and the Danish (his nationality), he goes to meet the interested investor, who turns out to be the husband of his ex-girlfriend, who happens to be the love of his life. But the real complications arise when he is at the wedding reception of the couple’s daughter where he finds out that their daughter, is actually his biological daughter-one that he didn’t know existed.

Of course the ex has some excuses: one, he cheated on her-with her best friend. So she fled, not knowing she was pregnant. He didn’t come after her, and she met her husband- fell in love and got married. Why go after the cheating ex with whom she had a tumultuous relationship with when she has a happy marriage – and goes on to have 2 more children? (her logic, not mine)

Jacob is furious, but he can’t leave. He wants to meet his daughter and she wants to meet him. And the husband seems to put more and more roadblocks before he gives the money.

OK, a lot of people cheat and that’s wrong and everything…but this is by far one of the most interesting movies that feature cheating that I have seen.

Last but not least: Prague

Now, to give him credit, he gets cheated on here. But he doesn’t want to quit the marriage just like that, and yet he can’t just go and forgive his wife (and whether she wants to be forgiven is another story), he does go on to hook up with another woman. I wouldn’t consider it cheating when he was cheated on first- but he does attempt an extramarital activity, and he was cheated on. Talk about a theme.

Which of Mads’ niche movies have you seen? Which ones do you like best? And if you had to compare between the niches of De Niro, Marsden and Mikkselsen, whose niche do you find to be the most intriguing/fun?