What is it?
The 2008 Israeli animated war documentary drama movie Waltz With Bashir (Vals Im Bashir).
Categories
Waltz With Bashir (Vals Im Bashir)
Tag: Drama Film
Categories
The Genius Club
What is it?
The 2006 American Christian-themed dramatic thriller movie The Genius Club.
What is it about?
This is how Rotten Tomatoes describes this movie:
An unprecedented disaster is about to unfold, and in order to ensure the safety of all humankind, a group of high-profile thinkers selected for their stratospheric IQs must come up with a solution to all of the world’s problems over the course of one grueling night in writer/director Timothy A. Chey’s tense apocalyptic thriller.
My Thoughts
I saw most of this movie once years ago on television when my mom told me that there was movie playing on a certain Christian television station, and maybe she was wondering what it was.
I possibly looked at the program guide and found out what it was, I had never heard of the movie before, and I ended up watching it expecting that it was not going to be good enough to keep watching so I expected that I would change the channel after a minute or two.
To my surprise it held my attention enough to keep watching it, and I watched the rest of the movie and I did not hate it to my surprise; and I kind of liked it considering what it was.
It was one of those what-if scenario-like movies with a high-stakes situation, my memory of it is very unclear, but it was better than I had expected compared to the usual low-budget Christian movie like this; and what I do remember is that it was better than the trailer or I hope so unless my taste in movies was that bad back then.
The end,
-John Jr
Categories
The Soloist
What is it?
The 2009 British-American drama movie The Soloist.
What is it about?
This is how Rotten Tomatoes describes this movie:
Columnist Steve Lopez is at a dead end.
The newspaper business is in an uproar, his marriage to a fellow journalist has fallen apart and he can’t entirely remember what he loved about his job in the first place.
Then, one day, while walking through Los Angeles’ Skid Row, he sees the mysterious bedraggled figure Nathaniel Ayers, pouring his soul into a two-stringed violin.
At first, Lopez approaches Ayers as just another story idea in a city of millions.
But as he begins to unearth the mystery of how this alternately brilliant and distracted street musician, once a dynamic prodigy headed for fame, wound up living in tunnels and doorways, it sparks an unexpected quest.
Imagining he can change Ayers’ life, Lopez embarks on a quixotic mission to get him off the streets and back to the world of music.
But even as he fights to save Ayers’ life, he begins to see that it is Ayers–with his unsinkable passion, his freedom-loving obstinacy and his valiant attempts at connection and love–who is profoundly changing Lopez.
My Thoughts
This movie was brought back to my attention thanks to a YouTube video by the YouTube channel Double Toasted called GREAT ACTOR TRANSFORMATIONS IN MOVIES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN – Double Toasted.
I saw this movie years ago probably not long after it was possibly a Redbox rental, and I possibly rented it from a Redbox when I was possibly staying at a hotel in the city of L back when I was trying to make a return to college.
I remember this movie having some good performances from Jaime Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr., and the movie was pretty good I think.
The end,
-John Jr
Categories
Seven Pounds
What is it?
The 2008 American drama movie Seven Pounds.
What is it about?
This is how Rotten Tomatoes describes this movie:
Ben Thomas, an IRS agent with a fateful secret, embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.
My Thoughts
Years ago I saw the trailer for this movie and it looked like Will Smith was going to be serious and do some good acting and I was not exactly sure what the movie was about, and so I wanted to see it.
Somehow I ended up never watching it until recently when my female coworker JB recommended it, and she let me borrow her DVD of it.
I finally watched this movie and I am glad that I finally got to see it, it was possibly even better than I had expected, it was serious and well acted (except for maybe some of Will Smith’s facial expressions and occasional oddities, and Octavia Spencer was wasted in her role), and it was great to see Will Smith trying to act and trying to be serious instead of mostly relying on his natural charisma and personality as much.
This was possibly one of the best performances that I have seen by Will Smith, Rosario Dawson did a great job and was a natural fit in her role, Woody Harrelson had a surprising role but it was too limited, this movie was sad but it also had some happy moments that made me smile, and this movie had a nice romance.
This movie does feel slower than it probably really is which can be / is a problem depending on your mood et cetera, but it seems that it was intentionally made that way and even the cinematography seems slower and deliberate and it was pretty good.
This movie was probably longer than it should have been though.
I liked this movie, though the feel of the pacing and the pacing itself and the movie’s length could be problem if I had to rewatch it again depending on my mood so I probably would not like it as much on a second viewing, but this was another good recommendation by my coworker JB; and I would like to thank her for letting me borrow this movie.
The end,
-John Jr
Categories
Missing In America
What is it?
The 2005 drama movie Missing In America.
Trailer
Movie
What is it about?
This is how Rotten Tomatoes describes this movie:
“A reclusive Vietnam veteran finds his quiet life thrown into chaos upon receiving an unexpected visitor in this tale of friendship and healing starring Danny Glover, Linda Hamilton, and Ron Perlman.
Though 35 years have passed since Jake (Glover) returned to American soil after fighting in the Vietnam war, the horrors of the battlefield still linger vividly in his mind.
Instead of returning to the hustle and bustle of the city, Jake has chosen to seek solitude in the serene forests of the Pacific Northwest — cutting all ties to modern society save for the occasional trip into town for supplies.
When a terminally ill army buddy appears on Jake’s doorstep pleading with his old friend to take care of his young daughter, the gruff veteran reluctantly accepts.
As the bond between Jake and his new charge strengthens, the seeds of their growing friendship sets into motion a healing process that will reach beyond Jake to affect an entire community of forgotten war veterans.”
My Thoughts
My female coworker JB told me about this movie and she recommended it and it was one of the few movies to make her cry, and so I checked it out.
I anticipated that this movie would make me cry too, this movie was older and slightly more indie / lower budget than I had expected, but in some ways it was better than I had expected.
I expected to only watch a little bit of this movie each day until I finished it, but to my surprise I finished it in one sitting without any interruptions and it held my attention enough.
I kept trying to figure out when this movie would make me cry and how but things did not go the ways that I had predicted, and so when the scene came that made me start tearing up I was not sure what to expect.
I did not cry during that scene but the next scene caught me by surprise, and that is the scene that finally made me cry one single tear that I felt fall from my right eye and roll down my face and hit my shirt; I was not expecting that to happen in this movie, I expected to cry, but I did not expect that.
So I would like to thank JB for another successful recommendation; maybe I will win the cry award this year. 😀
The end,
-John Jr
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