changeling, gran torino and rock-n-rolla

changeling
starring: angelina jolie, jeffrey donovan (touching evil - brilliant, but canceled),
the corrupt los angeles police department covers up that they can't find a woman's son. angelina plays the distraught mother going through hell to find her son. you can tell that having her children of her own affected her convincing portrayal. jeffrey donovan (sigh) is flawless as the wayward detective who cannot allow himself to be wrong. the cinematography is so well done and adds a layer to the story. the movie was more violent and dark than i had thought it would be. it could have been edited to be a little shorter, but overall very well done. i recommend 'changeling' if you haven't seen it yet.



gran torino
engaging story, but really slow. clint eastwood is dead on as a snarky old widower adjusting to the diversity of his changing neighborhood. recommend for a rainy day dvd so you can take breaks.









rocknrolla
starring: gerard butler, thamie newton,
not nearly as good as lock, stock and two smoking barrels, but you can't always replicate brilliance. rocknrolla was slow to unfold. perhaps the slower pace to introduce the players. there is after all a sequel - 'the real rocknrolla.'

action bonanza: push. eagle eye. pride and glory.

i've been busy catching up on movies... it's been so darn cold in chi-town for weeks.

push
directed by: paul mcguigan (lucky number slevin (fantastic - see previous post))
written by: david bourla
starring: chris evans, dakota fanning, djimon hounsou, camilla belle

the trailer sells this film really short. "there are some people with extraordinary gifts. we don't ask to be special... secret organization within our government called the division... the future doesn't look good... blah blah..." i thought it would be mediocre and was surprised to find that i really liked "push." the story is original, fun, funny, slightly dramatic and cool. i like the originality of the players: "movers, pushers, watchers, sniffers, shadows" and more. the music is pretty spot on too. there is good interplay between chris evans (nick) and dakota fanning (cassie). chris evans has grown a little since his sophomoric showing in fantastic four. dakota has always been good, but she is maturing as a young actress. camilla belle (kira) - pretty but not so much. dakota acts circles around camilla. the hong kong setting is perfect for this story and the action. the "pop" hk mob family is tough and campy at the same time. the ending is somewhat flat compared to the rest of the story, but this is good for one of the first action films of 2009. this is a perfect film to break up the serious oscar movies which i haven't seen yet...



pride and glory
directed by: gavin o'connor
starring: ed norton (ray tierney), colin farrell (jimmy eagan), jon voight (francis tierney, sr.), noah emmerich (francis tierney, jr.)


new york's finest have crossed the thin blue line by a mile. only no one knows (or pretends not to know) until a tragic incident. ray tierney is given the uneviable task of investigating. great drama. lots of violence (but lends to the measure of how deep the cops have gone). ed norton is on par as usual, as well as colin farrell. both give performances that draw your empathy for their characters. jon voight (chief) and noah emmerich (captain) round out the family and the web of guilt, expectation and burden of these cops' lives. perhaps it can be said that "pride and glory" is not as good as "the departed." however, they cannot really be compared apples to apples because the story lines are significantly different and "pride and glory" is a more personal take on the corruption in a family setting.



eagle eye
directed by: d.j. caruso
writers: john glenn, travis wright, hillary seitz, dan mcdermott
starring: shia laboef, michelle monaghan, rosario dawson, michael chiklis, billy bob thornton

i didn't want to see this one either, but it turned out better than expected. not as good as push, but kept my interest with intensity and the way the story unfolded. could a computer take over infrastructure? sure, but the premise went too far in some instances. shia was good as a confused kid trying to make sense of this voice controlling every move. michelle monaghan (who looks like she could be marcia gay harden's daughter) was fair as the single mom wrapped up in the nightmare. luckily they didn't spoil the movie with heavy-handed romance (not that i don't like romance, but it has to be done right). fun action flick for rainy day or subzero weather day.