Film 2365 - The Whole Truth

Intro: Another movie from the Netflix catalogue, another dinner at home in Lanzarote.

Film 2365: "The Whole Truth" (2016), Courtney Hunt
Watched on: On the TV of the apartment
Language: English
Watched with: Niamh
Thoughts: I love legal drams, so I had high hopes for this one. In the end, tho, "The Whole Truth" isn't as powerul as it promises it to be when watching the trailer.
The movie has a very slow pace and the performances are a bit underwelhming, mostly because the story isn't that exciting. And it's a pity, because the cast is great and this genre of movies I usually really enjoy.
Ps. The screenplay is written by Nicholas Kazan, the son of famous director and 2 times Oscar winner Elia Kazan.
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Renée Zellweger, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Gabriel Basso, Jim Belushi.
Box Office: $1.7 million
Worth a watch?: It's not terrible, but there are other legal drama pictures there are way better and more interesting to watch, like, to name just a few, "12 Angry Men" or "Juror #2".
Awards: /
Key word: Watch.
Trailer
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Bengi

Film 2341 - Juror #2

Intro: Third movie in a row on my very busy Christmas day, I went for something not a lot of people were talking about (and I heard my parents were going to see at the movies the next day).

Film 2341: "Juror #2" (2024), Clint Eastwood
Watched on: From my laptop
Language: English
Watched with: No one
Thoughts: Potentially Client Eastwood's last motion picture, there was a lot of controversy surrounding this movie because apparently - and for whatever reason - Warner Brothers, the distributor of the movie, decided not to promote it. It doesn't really make sense to me, as this is a solid movie and the cast is great, but as a result, "Juror #2" wasn't a big success at the box-office (quite the opposite actually: it cost around $35 million just to produce it) nor with award bodies, which is really shamefull.
Although I don't think this is Eastwood's greatest work, I still believe it deserved at least a chance: Nicholas Hoult's and Toni Collette's performances are great, the story is compelling and well narrated, the overall result is well done and entertaining. All of this achieved by a man in his 90s, not to mention that he is literally a movie legend. SO why was this movie snubbed and quietly released in theaters?
To be honest, I can't really tell what happened behind the scenes, but definitely something must have went wrong for the outcome to be so unexpected. "Juror #2" is a perfectly fine and well crafted movie that deserved the attention of the audience, especially the fans of Client Eastwood's body of work. I particularly enjoyed Nicholas Hoult's performance, as it doesn't happen often he is given the chance to be the leading man of a drama movie, especially one that sees him being the actor with the most star-power of all the cast. I think he should be given more opportunities like this one, as he's a capable actor and his performance here is no exeption. Needless to say that Toni Collette is flawless here, always on point (give her more roles too!).
Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J. K. Simmons, Chris Messina, Zoey Deutch, Cedric Yarbrough, Leslie Bibb, Gabriel Basso, Kiefer Sutherland.
Box Office: $24.8 million
Worth a watch?: A really good movie. The story reveals its unexpected twist pretty soon and the audience is forced to live, together with the main character, the consequences and implications of the choices he makes. This plot device is really interesting and shakes things up narration-wise. For those who still remember it, this movie heavily reminded me of another legal drama from 11 (!) years ago, "The Judge". So, if you liked that one, you'll definitely enjoy "Juror #2".
Awards: /
Key word: Deer.
Trailer
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Bengi

Film 2333 - Gone Girl

Intro: A few months ago I picked a new book to read after I finished Melanie C's authobiography back in the summer and I decided to take a break from ready for a month or two.
Once I felt going back to reading again, I finally decided to give this book a chance after I've been re-watching the movie it inspired so many times over the years. And while reading in Malta, I started to feel the urge to go back to the movie once again... And here we are again.

Film 2333: "Gone Girl" (2014), David Fincher
Watched on: My computer
Language: English
Watched with: No one
Briefly: I think it's fair to say that I really, really like this movie. I think it's great cinema and that Rosamund Pike gave the performance of a lifetime (that should have gotten rewarded a bit more).
I'm not reading the book yet, tho i felt the urge to go back to what for me was the source material: David Fincher's (crazingly underrrated) adaptation of Gillian Flynn's book.
Now that I have better insight on the story and, especially, on the character of Amy Elliott Dunne (Pike), I have to admit that my feelings towards her have schifted a bit: yes, she's crazy, manipulative, disturbing, yet there was always something there that fascinated me (still there, tbf). Some sort of respect for the guts she has, let's say
This time, tho, it was different. Knowing what she was doing willingly to her husband Nick (Affleck), reading the words coming straight from the character's mind... it was different. I felt disgusted by her and, to a certain degree (case yeah, she's a fictional character at the end of the day and this is just a well told story after all) I hated her.
And I think this says even more how great Rosamund Pike is in this movie. It's like she was born to play this part: she's unsetteling and mysterious, cold and manipulative and... it's impossible not to love her!
And I'll add this: I think Ben Affleck does a realy good job in portraying his character, readying the book gave me a better understanding of Nick and how he behaves and faces certain stressful situation adn I think Affleck should have gotten more praise for his performance.
Anyway, overall great movie, always compelling, beautifully shot and great sound track.
Film 853 - L'amore bugiardo - Gone Girl
Film 1020 - L'amore bugiardo - Gone Girl
Film 1544 - L'amore bugiardo - Gone Girl
Film 1739 - Gone Girl
Film 2156 - Gone Girl
Film 2331 - Gone Girl
Cast: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, Missi Pyle, Emily Ratajkowski, Sela Ward.
Box Office: $370.9 milion
Worth a watch? Not Fincher's best movie, but definitely a great one. It's a gripping thriller wonderfully written adn acted marvellously. If you hadn't watched it yet... what are you waiting for?
Awards: 1 Oscars nomination for Best Actress (Pike). 4 Golden Globes nomination for Best director, Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama (Pike), Best Screenplay and Best Score. At BAFTA, the movie was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Pike) and Best Adapted Screenplay. 1 Grammy Awards nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. 4 nominations at the MTV Movie + TV Awards: Movie of the Year, Breakthrough Performance (Pike), Best Scared-As-S**t Performance (Pike), Best Villain (Pike)
Key word: Diary.
Trailer
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Bengi

Film 1992 - The Mauritanian

Intro: Jodie Foster vince il suo terzo Golden Globe per un film di cui non avevo ancora sentito parlare, il che mi ha convinto a recuperare la pellicola per la sua performance.

Film 1992: "The Mauritanian" (2021) di Kevin Macdonald
Visto: dal computer portatile
Lingua: inglese
Compagnia: nessuno
In sintesi: "Mohamedou Ould Slahi, in seguito all'attentato dell'11 settembre, viene arrestato dal governo degli Stati Uniti e viene trasferito presso il campo di prigionia di Guantánamo, dove viene trattenuto senza un'accusa o un processo. Slahi trova degli alleati nell'avvocato difensore Nancy Hollander e nella sua associata Teri Duncan." (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia riassume e spiega cento volte meglio di me l'idea al centro di questo film, un prodotto potente e ben fatto che Kevin Macdonald dirige sulla base della storia vera di Mohamedou Ould Slahi e del suo libro "Guantanamo Diary" che racconta dei 14 - QUATTORDICI - anni di prigionia che l'uomo ha passato dal 2002 al 2016 presso la prigione di Guantánamo senza una formale accusa di qualche crimine commesso. Non fosse che si tratta di una storia vera, penserei ad un film dell'orrore.
Il pensiero che si possa essere trattenuti in custodia sulla base di congetture/speculazioni/prove fittizie - buttando alle ortiche anni della propria vita, relazioni umane, reputazione - è qualcosa di terrificante e dimostra ancora una volta, ce ne fosse stato bisogno, che non è tutto oro quello che luccica e che, a volte, credere fermamente in qualcosa (o avere semplicemente più mezzi per portare avanti il proprio credo) non significhi necessariamente avere ragione.
"The Mauritanian" è un bel film e Tahar Rahim è un grandissimo protagonista che regge il film sulle proprie spalle dall'inizio alla fine; Jodie Foster forse non sarà la miglior attrice non protagonista dell'anno, ma sicuramente fa un egregio lavoro come sempre ed è un piacere vederla sullo schermo insieme a Shailene Woodley (la cui carriera vedo ultimamente un po' affaticata); chiude un Benedict Cumberbatch che mi è parso un po' spento e dall'appeal vagamente appiattito, ma è probabilmente un effetto di personaggio interpretato e makeup.
In generale, comunque, questo film funziona e regala uno scossone emotivo bello potente. Non fa male provare a mettersi nei panni di Mohamedou Ould Slahi (o Patrick Zaki, se vogliamo essere più contemporanei) e pensare a come reagiremmo noi dovendo affrontare le stesse ingiustizie, gli stessi sopprusi, le stesse violenze fisiche e psicologiche. No, "The Mauritanian" non è un film facile né un film perfetto, ma è sicuramente un titolo a cui vale la pena dare una chance.
Cast: Tahar Rahim, Jodie Foster, Shailene Woodley, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zachary Levi, Denis Ménochet.
Box Office: $3.3 milioni
Vale o non vale: Probabilmente non il film da pandemia che tutti stavano aspettando, ma un titolo che vale la pena di vedere. Ottime interpretazioni, storia vera che ha dell'incredibile e numerosi spunti di riflessione su razzismo, pregiudizio, vendetta, potere e l'idea che ritenere di essere nel giusto si traduca nell'aver necessariamente ragione.
Premi: Vincitore del Golden Globe per la Miglior attrice non protagonista (Foster) e candidato a quello per il Miglior attore protagonista (Rahim); 5 nomination ai BAFTA per Miglior film, attore protagonista (Rahim), sceneggiatura non originale, fotografia e Miglior film britannico.
Parola chiave: Confessione.
Trailer
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Bengi