Netflix Reviews #2

Second edition of Netflix Reviews... I'm calling this one "The (Mostly) Jeff Bridges Edition".

Elephant White

If you have never seen Ong Bak, The Protector, or Chocolate and you are an action/martial arts movie fan, you are doing yourself a great disservice. Prachya Pinkaew is one of the best action/martial arts directors working right now. His love for the Thai boxing style that is not only intense but also works well on film plus his fantastic eye for talent like Tony Jaa and JeeJa Yanin make him a top director in this style of film. I was interested in his latest movie when I saw that it was his first English film, that is... until I saw the actors. I should have known then and there that this was going to be pretty bad. Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator, Blood Diamond) is terribly miscast here as the main character with one of the worst names I have ever seen in any movie... Curtie Church. He just seemed wrong all the way around. His acting was stiff and not very believable or it might have been the terrible script. Also, his partner in crime is none other than Kevin Bacon.

Six degrees of suckitude.

He has one of the worst British accents I have ever heard. It's almost as bad as Tom Cruise's German accent in Valkyrie. It's a story of child traficking and child prostitution but it feels like the filmmakers decided to tack that in just to have morality in the film. They never really take advantage of what is a sensitive and under used theme. It's too bad that the mistake basically sucked the life out of the film. The action scenes which was something I was looking forward to were just ok and there's not enough of it which is a disappointment. The plot with the character Mae was painfully obvious and newcomer Jirantanin Pitakporntrakul was pretty dreadful. Avoid this at all costs.

2 out of 10

Sanctum

It's hard to make a movie like this one both entertaining and challenging. In order for movies like this to work, you have to work hard to make the cave system into a character. Build it up so much that you feel like it is an integral part of the story. Neil Marshall's The Descent was able to make this happen and also add the 'monster' idea to spice things up. It made the movie incredibly scary and claustrophobic. This movie sort of fails to make it as tense. The cast is pretty weak, which probably helps to not make this such a great movie. Richard Ruxburgh plays Frank McGuire who is apparently the best cave diver in the world. He is rough around the edges but soft inside. His son Josh is played by Rhys Wakefield. Rounding up the team (at least the important ones) are Ioan Gruffudd as the multi millionare thrill seeker Carl that is funding the expedition and his girlfriend Victoria played by Alice Parkinson. The twists and turns are pretty obvious and not very surprising (if they tell you to put on the suit, you put it on, darn it!). The cave they are exploring is flooded by a cyclone... which is surprising that after all that money spent on the best equipment, they have no idea when the storm is going to strike. But alas, they basically seek a way to escape through the ocean. It's just generic all around. Not even the "Produced by James Cameron" could help this movie be more than just average.

4 out of 10

True Grit

Finally! Something good. This movie is a remake of the 1969 version that won John Wayne his only Academy Award for Best Actor. This time though, two of my favorite directors tackle on this movie. The Coen Brothers (Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men) have directed a bunch of fantastic and critically acclaimed movies and for good reason. They always have fantastic writing, great characters and simply beautiful shots that make the movies something to behold. If there is one thing that their movies have is that they are gritty, so its fitting that they are the directors for this remake. They team up with Jeff Bridges once more as he plays the old and tough U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn. Bridges was the perfect choice for this role. He has recently become the guy to go to for roles like this one and there is a reason for it. He is great. At the behest of 14 year old Mattie Ross, Cogburn teams up with Texas Ranger LaBeouf in search of the Tim Chaney who killed Mattie's father and escaped with criminal "Lucky" Ned Pepper. The most important role in this movie though is Mattie Ross. Hailee Steinfeld is a newcomer to the big screen but she takes this role and breathes life and defiance into it. There is something to be said about her determination. Most of the times when a young actor is placed in a role like this, they barely get through it, but Steinfeld did so well that it was believable. Matt Damon as Labeouf wasn't as interesting but Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney was. When we see him it is obvious by the look on his face throughout that he is battling within himself. We are never told why, but you can see it on his face, like he knows he screwed up in some way. The fact is that this is a really good movie. The ending was perfect for me. It would have probably sucked if the ending was just run-of-the-mill. Highly recommended for the performances, the music, the acting, the directing and just everything in between. Also... fear the bear man!

We need a bear man movie... NOW!

9 out of 10

Crazy Heart

Jeff Bridges is the shit. He had become a top actor today and he finally won the Oscar for Best Actor that he definitely deserved. He won it with his performance in this movie as Bad Blake. Bad is a run down old country singer that has been doing small bars and bowling alleys to get by. A mostly functional alcoholic, it is not until he meets Jean Craddock and her son Buddy that he starts to live the life he always wanted and raising the son that he never cared for back in the day. It takes a startling event for him to really wake up and realize the danger that he has put himself into with the alcohol. The story is not complex, then again, it doesn't need to be. The characters are complex enough that they don't need an overtly complex story. You really get a sense of who Bad at the beginning of the movie when he drinks himself to sleep but ends up going to the show anyways and saying how he has never missed a show in his life. That takes incredible character on his part and a deep desire not to disappoint his fans. The way he treats Jean's son is fantastic to see most of the time. He is a caring but lost soul for most of the film. The soundtrack is really amazing. I'm not a big fan of country as a genre, but the music here is really good. Even more knowing that Jeff Bridges and a couple of the other actors (Colin Farrell especially) sing their songs as well. To think that this is Scott Coopers directorial debut is also a real wonder as it seemed to me that this was a veteran behind the lens. I really look forward to what he has to offer next.

8.5 out of 10



So, in conclusion. If the movie has Jeff Bridges, check it out!