Armored (Nimród Antal, 2009) -- Boringly predictable movie about a newbie guard for an armored truck company who is coerced by his veteran coworkers to steal a truck containing $42 million. But a wrinkle in their supposedly foolproof plan divides the group, leading to a potentially deadly resolution. The problem is that every action becomes the most obvious one 15 minutes before it happens. It also has a mixed message, which doesn't lend itself to the ambiguity of the movie: the hero is a traitor who is rewarded in the end. On the other hand, the naivetè of the five experienced men inviting our hero the day before the scheduled date of a heist sounds very unreasonable. It is equally impressive how fat Laurence Fishburne is. 4/10
Un Prophète (a.k.a.
A Prophet) (Jacques Audiard, 2009) -- A young Arab man is sent to a French prison where he will eventually become a mafia kingpin. Although the theme has been used many times, I can't think of one where the message is so clear. Right, it's a very hard and intense movie, full of raw action and insane amounts of blood, guts and death, but it's also a sensible movie, which lets you see the racial separation of French society and how foreigners tend to live completely outside the center. IN general it's hard to make this movie appeal to the average joe, but it has all the premise, the promise, the plot, the tension, the drama, the acting, the cinematography, the music of a great movie, and it delivers it so well. Despite having a very mean antihero, it's hard not to feel sympathy for him and the way he's become, while still managing to remain human. Excellent movie. 9/10
Siu nin Wong Fei Hung ji: Tit Ma Lau (a.k.a.
Iron Monkey) (Woo-ping Yuen, 1993) -- Unimpressive plot, horrible acting, probably the worst English-dubbing, and laughable characters. Also, probably one of the most amazing movies I've seen in recent years, but mainly due to the fighting scenes. Between fights I was ready to turn it off and give it a 2 (or less), but whenever they started fighting, and they did it a lot, I just want to give it a 10. I don't think I have to tell you the fighting is relies much on fantasy and that for the most part, there's little blood, goucing and bone breaking involved, though the final sequence turns out to be quite bloody... a bit inconsistent for the movie, since it starts out with normal 'safe' fights. Still, an amazing martial arts movie. 9/10
Festen (a.k.a.
The Celebration) (Thomas Vinterberg, 1998) -- First of all, this is a Dogme 95 movie... I didn't know what it meant either, but apparently it's a filming technique in which there cannot be any non diegetic (artificial) sounds added, no post-production, no bringing props onto the set, and no use of special lighting, also the camera needs to be hand-held. Needless to say, it's a very DIY approach that seems to work out for the creators, since Festen is a very powerful film. It's about a father's 60th birthday party, where some unpleasant family truths are revealed by the man's son and daughter. Stories like his father sexually abusing them when they were children and murdering his daughter after. Little more will I say on the plot other than it's a very mature subject and that should you decide to watch it, you should be prepared for some intense scenes. The Dogme 95 technique also adds a lot of uncertainty and mystery to the plot as well as making the viewer feel the same mood as is being happening in the movie, but also adds a sense of realism to the whole movie. Being the first movie of the Dogme 95, it's also a piece of cinematic history. 8/10
I agree with you 100%, story and acting could be better... but in these types of movies its about the fighting and the fight scenes in this movies are done very well... đź‘Ť Also one of my favs! I dont recommend Iron Monkey 2 though... It was done by a different director and is very bad compared to this one... fight scenes are not done well so its hard to follow the action, unlike the first one.
) is District 13. LeĂŻto is a generally decent guy who doesn't want the drugs, that are so rampant around B13, around his house and is determined to take down the local drug lord. On the other side of the law is Damien. He's a Captain and specializes in undercover work, but is given the job of finding and disarming a bomb that was stolen and is inside B13.
