3DD!3

An inoffensive detective movie, nicely thought through with a star cast. But Kaufman doesn’t steer the movie as well as it deserves, everything passes by nicely, but not dazzlingly. Not even the suspense is enough to keep you pinned in your seat. Great lines and I quite like these USA/Japan culture clashes. But even so, I think that next time I’ll try the book instead.

Bloodbath. It really reminded me of The Raid, but without the martial arts. Instead we got neat shooters with all the ammo modifications imaginable (a little and big boy’s dream) and classic fisticuffs... right down somebody’s throat. Urban makes a perfect Dredd, better than Sly in reeling off great lines, commanding greater respect. Lena Headey as Ma-Ma is a decent opponent and the new girl makes for pleasant viewing. Slo-mo was in charge of the visually powerful scenes (evidently low-budget) and the 3D might have looked good if only those bastard distributors had put it on general release. If it doesn’t earn, it doesn’t earn. More bodies for recycling.

1: No shit. Great casting, I was really surprised by Martin Freeman. Cutting Brit humor, great one-liners and all that in an excellent detective story. The setting in the present is no problem, in fact it breathes fresh air into Doyle’s classic story. 2: Not as snappy as the first episode, but thanks to cyphers, codes and the exotic from China it’s still really engrossing. 3: A whirlwind of cases and the final confrontation with M are a great ending to the first three episodes. Pleased to see Golem and Czech curiosities. I’m intrigued to see what comes next.

Love resists the law... this time of gravity. The visual side is captivating, the story about the rich and the poor in an original setting. Laws don’t work the way we are used to, so who ever wants to spend almost two hours squabbling about whether or not the blood would rush to the hero’s head or that the fire is burning somewhat slowly and would go out during the first time climb into the upper world, can. Solanas sacrificed these details to allow him to tell a story which, apart from the slightly hurried finale, has no flaws. Both Kirsten Dunst and Jim Sturgess are well cast and know what is expected from them. Overall, it’s simply a well-made fairytale that takes place in an eye-pleasing world.

I should have expected this. Liam Neeson is still cool and I still enjoy his bloody solutions to problems. Maggie Grace isn’t as tiresome as in part one and the driving school episode is pretty funny. The rest is just painful, a sequel based on public demand, directed by action-bungling Olivier Megaton, and the result is as it is. Sometimes it aspires to being a Bourne, sometimes a Bond, but Bryan has his own way of doing things. We saw that in Paris. With any luck, part three will set things straight. And the remaining two sons are fine pieces of work who will make decent enemies for the aging Neeson.

Because yesterday was somehow never-ending, I thought I’d try Ferrara’s version. Honestly, it’s not bad, just a little boring. A less subtle approach, a little more oomph would have helped. This is more like an ode to the good side of people when it’s already too late. How human. William Dafoe plays his role, but his talents remain inadequately tapped. A good bit was the power outage with the Northern Lights. Nice music. And Skype rocks! Al Gore was right.

A return to Middle Earth with all the trimmings. The movie is sometimes a little slow, but not enough to get boring. In places it’s merry and playful, like the bunny-girls, elsewhere it’s dark and fateful with a sub-plot about the rise of Sauron and the principles of the ring. The dwarves keep on blending into one, but they will have their chance again. Primarily, Richard Armitage, alias Thorin, is outstanding, mainly because he’s the hardest nut ever. I was very satisfied with Bilbo. (Thanks also to Elijah Wood) Frodo was almost always a whiney maggot in Lord of the Rings, while Martin Freeman gives the elder Baggins balls. Overall he’s more charismatic, more fun and you want to be on his side. I like the supporting characters and also the alternative shots of Rivendell and Gollum and his jolly songs rock the most of all of the familiar characters. There’s still a lot more of the story waiting for us and I am looking forward like a child to Smaug the Terrible opening his eye. "This thing all things devours: birds, beasts, trees, flowers. Gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal, slays king, ruins town and beats mountain down."

A hopeless story and miserable dialogs. But in formal terms there is nothing to fault here. Flawless editing, drive, action and JGL does his bit. The ever-ready "road map" vision of the main protagonist made for the best scenes of this movie.

I enjoyed this immensely. This mosaic of stories all linked by the theme of screenwriting and... erm, murders, has all the ingredients necessary. Every psychopath has something special about them and you’ll love absolutely all of them. The stories layer up, link together and all the time you have no idea what will happen over the next ten minutes. Sam Rockwell acts his heart out, Christopher Walken is simply awesome and Colin Farrell is pleasantly passive as the possible incarnation of the director. To shake his writer’s block, Martin McDonagh has written a story about writer’s block and he was even allowed to retain the terrible title. The dream sequences (even though they usually appear in movies for faggots) are more than just well-filmed. Otherwise, I bet that nobody is able to “retell" this movie, you simply have to see it. Shake.

To start with a rather naive idyll about a love triangle, entwined in ganja roots. But Stoney couldn’t leave it at that. Visual refinement goes without saying, the bloody brutality of the unrated version (could have been a fuck or two richer) adds a good two stars. Taylor Kitsch downright found himself in his role. Del Toro plays the biggest possible asshole with obvious delight and Travolta landed another fine role. The action scenes are right up there with the best, old school quality. Another picture like that, but with a better screenplay next time, please. P.S.: The cellphone ringing tone with “Three Blind Mice" is annoying, but pleasing. Please don’t kill me, I have three young children.