I agree, he’s had a pretty big film career for his age. Just this year he was in like what, 4 movies? A lot of variety for this year for him.
I watched Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? earlier this week. It was brilliant, I love psychological thrills and this one was great. I really liked it since Davis and Crawford were both Golden Hollywood movie actresses like the characters they were portraying
But I think that was intentional and a part of the style they were making homage to.
I was aware JGL had been in other movies before, but I believe he really came into his own last year (2012). But yeah, maybe “newcomer” ain’t the right word.
I’m real excited to see the fifth instalment of one of my favourite franchises: A Good Day To Die Hard. It opens next week, I’ll be seeing it with a work colleague. If they ever end the series, it should be back in a single-skyscraper scenario in a homage to the first film. And it should be called Die Hardest, for old times’ sake. 
Cabin in the Woods: I just adored this. I don’t remember the last time a horror film rolled with me like this did. The first hour is is a sort of Truman show-ization with the horror genre and is plenty entertaining. The third act is just very delirious. Brilliantly written by Goddard and Whedon. A-
Drive: I didn’t like this one as much as others did, but it’s still a great film. Ryan Gosling gives a fantastic performance that should of netted him an Oscar nomination. Albert Brooks is highly memorable playing against type as a loathsome gangster. Nicolas Winding Refn directs with such style and flair that it always feels that the film has a voice in its own. And as a plus, the elevator scene has to be one of my favorite scenes in any movie released within the last few years. A-
Oh man, that was a pretty gruesome scene! 
It looked like it came straight from Gears Of War with the [spoil]face-stomping.[/spoil]
I was fortunate enough to catch Drive in theatres. Very good noir film, I loved the opening where he lays down his “five-minute rule” and [spoil]he evades the chopper by hiding under the bridge. Ron Perlman’s death was a little pathetic, but his character was pretty cool.[/spoil]
If you’re a fan of Gosling, do check him out in Gangster Squad. He plays a detective with an almost effeminite voice, but don’t be fooled, he’s as hardboiled as they come, and his character even woos the girlfriend of Sean Penn’s mobster (played by the lovely Emma Stone).
Don’t worry, taking off my shirt makes me bulletproof.
The last movie I watched in theatres was the Wachowskis’ Cloud Atlas. It’s a shame it was snubbed by most of the awards shows this season and shunned by cinemagoers - I thought it was a magnificent piece of film-making.
My favourite story was the one of “An Orison of Sonmi~451”. It reminded me of Wall-E, with its automaton-protagonist breaking her directive and being rescued by a stranger, culminating in the two leading a rebellion. The world of Neo Seoul is also a marvel to look at, although the plot in the film deviates from the book’s somewhat. Apparently it also has similarities to Harrison Ford’s sci-fi epic Blade Runner, which I’ve been meaning to watch for some time.
“The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish” is also a great story, with Jim Broadbent playing an elderly man staging a daring “prison break” from a retirement home ruled by Hugo Weaving’s giant nurse. Tom Hanks and Hally Berry’s “Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After” is also good, with Weaving playing an inner demon who haunts Hanks’ reluctant hero.
Unfortunately, Jim Sturgess’ (who voiced an owl in Legend Of The Guardians and played the BFF of Anne Hathaway’s character in One Day) “Letters from Zedelghem” was the weakest story in my opinion. His character was very difficult to side with when [spoil]he beds his mentor’s wife, shoots his mentor when the latter steals his work, then commits suicide leaving his lover heartbroken at the end[/spoil].
Overall, a feast for the senses and it really leaves you thinking about karma and one’s place in the world for days afterwards.
Yes, the Somni segment feels like a blend of Blade Runner (you haven’t watched it yet? Go! ) with Soylent Green, which is purposely mentioned in the Cavendish segment.
You’re confusing Jim Sturgess with Ben Whishaw. Whishaw was the lead character in the Zedelghem segment you mention (though it’s only set in Zedelghem in the novel, NOT in the film).
Sturgess, on the other hand, was the lead in the Pacific segment (he played the[spoil]man who was being poisoned[/spoil]). Also played by Sturgess is the Korean hero you have in the image you posted.
Mea culpa. Those makeups can really confuse me sometimes (that or I’m really bad at paying attention!). I didn’t recognise him in the Pacific segment, but I was aware he was Sonmi’s savior.
I loved the Soylent Green reference in Cavendish’s segment, then it took on a whole new meaning during the big revelation of Sonmi’s story! I haven’t seen that film, though I know its twist ending.
What was your most and least favourite segment, SoA? And you read the novel? I didn’t finish mine before I had to return it to the library, I read some bits of the first half and several pages from Sonmi’s segment. It was great to see some of the quotes and scenes being replicated faithfully, like the [spoil]“I know, I know” guy’s speech in the pub.[/spoil]
Probably my favourite segment is the Cavendish one, but each has it’s charm.
In the film, I favoured those set in the past (or present, in the case of the Cavendish one) over the two (rather three) set in the future. Incidentally, those were the segments directed by the Wachowskis, which means I prefer Tom Tykwer’s style.
Ah. And which was your least favourite segment? Also did you read the book?
I don’t have neither a favourite nor a less favourite, as I said in the last post. I simply like the future ones less than the others. And yes, I did, but it was much nearer to the publishing date than the release of the film. I want to do it again since I think it works much better in that form than as a film.
There are a few bits in Drive that are a bit extreme, like that part that you mentioned, but it’s executed extremely well. The [spoil]elevator scene[/spoil] is one of those rare cases where the acting, cinematography, writing, and score is firing on all cylinders.
I saw Hotel Transylvania today, after many recommendations! I liked the cast and thought it was pretty funny. But it wasn’t amazing, but it was fun.
Watched Frankenweenie tonight.
The screenplay needed some work done (the second act is basically characters waiting around for the final monster mash, which itself is a different tone then the rest of the movie). This aforementioned issueI had with this movie is easily forgotten because of how sincere and lovingly crafted the film’s script is. Frankenweenie was brilliantly animated and scored, and easily Burton’s most heartfelt movie in a while. He’s a “one for them, one for me” director at this point in time. Highly recommended. A-
Glad you liked it! I agree. I want to get the DVD, along with ParaNorman and Brave.
I still need to see Frankenweenie! I’ll try to do it before the Oscars. My sister enjoyed it, which is surprising, she’s not big into animation.
I watched Brother Bear today. I love this film. It’s not brilliant by any means, but I think it gets less love than it deserves.
Also watched The Last Picture Show earlier this week for my Film class. I really enjoyed it!
Watched the 1994 flick Speed with Keeanu Reeves last night. Really entertaining action flick with a terrifying concept (keeping a bus above 50mph to prevent it from exploding). Definitely recommend it to action-movie flicks. I heard the sequel (set on a cruise ship) is terrible though…
Yes. The sequel is just a bad clone.
Last night I saw Gnomeo and Juliet. I’ll go into detail on its respective thread. But let’s just say I was pleasantly surprised. 3/5 stars.
I loved Cabin in the Woods. I just hated how the trailer gave away the big secret.
Drive was my favorite movie from 2011, until I saw The Artist. I agree with you about Albert Brooks and about the movie having style and flair. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack a lot over the past couple of days.
I watched Beasts of the Southern Wild yesterday in Film class, it was my second viewing. I definitely recommend it!