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Cinema Rat - January 2011

127 Hours

SEARCH: 127 Hours
127 Hours, James Franco, Danny Boyle, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn


Director: Danny Boyle
Writers: Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy
Stars:James Franco, Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara


Kristi: "I don't think we figured in his day at all."

More of a disguise of self-examination, a narration filled with existential ideas than a survival horror film. Boyle approaches fate's diabolical plan with Aron's digital camera and an actor who masterfully divides, with the use of a split screen, his horror, anger on the right to his endurance, humor and ambitions on the left.

127 Hours, James Franco, Danny Boyle, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn


Boyle's videoclipistic, digital filmmaking breaks on through to the other side of the canyon, frantically leading us, through the eyes of a man named Aron Ralston to a dark and lonely place where he comes to a halt. Music and rhythm halt alongside with him. For a few moments he balances between reality and a nightmare. He is actually pinned by a rock. His right hand is harrowingly immobile.


The realization of the extreme situation doesn't surprise as he comes to terms with what can be considered as a new home.

Revealed in what seemed a string of thoughts that every step on the road requires a sacrifice, the narrow ravine traps a man who's always on the move and make him face the adverse consequences when losing your physical mobility.

127 Hours, James Franco, Danny Boyle, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn


Every ingenious plan of his, every hopeful thought delves him deeper in this well of madness, every hallucinatory dream draws him closer to his natural survival insticts, the ambition and hope to be able to come near an experience once again.

Utilizing every little corner of the claustrophobic ravine, the filmmaker energizes the pace out of an almost impossible stillness of events, electrifying it through the use of his hyper editing method, flashbacks and disoriented flash-forwards. In a delirium of imagery, he sidesteps in front of the phantasm of predicament indicating euphorically to the viewer that the almost impossible is possible.

James Franco carries the weight of the entire movie, portraying a carefree man transformed to an intelligent beast, mentally fragile but eager to survive. Franco's backpack is full of passion and determination and while the plot lacks suspense ( because the outcome is already known) he makes up for it with his engrossing performance, clueing us the trauma like it is a completely new sensation.

127 Hours, James Franco, Danny Boyle, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn


The quicksand of his entrapment tensed by the urgency of the alarming situation, desperation and anger collapse over the boulder of his earthy limitations, Aron just cannot lift, move or chip away the rock that is keeping him dormant.
The eternal struggle of body and mind is one long crescendo, a rumbling of bad conscience and last confessions while he slowly drifts away, closing in to the inevitable climax.

The artistic innovation needed for the amputation scene was a trademark of one of the most unique directors of this generation of cinema, Danny Boyle. He chose life again.
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Conviction

SEARCH: Conviction
Conviction, Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Juliette Lewis, Tony Goldwyn


Director: Tony Goldwyn
Writer: Pamela Gray
Stars: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell and Melissa Leo

Betty-Anne Waters : "A contract is a promise or a set of promises that the law in some way recognizes as a duty, and when it's breached, the law provides a remedy."

Based on a true story, unusual but registering good intentions and convinces enough. "Conviction" requires a certain amount of emotional looseness in order to differentiate it from a TV court drama. Carefully, it follows the tradition of the genre, delves into melodrama and embraces hope inside the high walls of prison.

In 1980, Kenny Waters (Sam Rockwell) is accused for the brutal murder of Katharina Brow but he is humorously released by the local cops to the annoyance of the vengeful , hard-boiled, Nancy Taylor (Melissa Leo). Two years later, he is arrested again with the same accusations, trialed and sentenced on unreliable evidence. He never pleads for innocence and Betty Anne (Hilary Swank) never questions his integrity.

Conviction, Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Juliette Lewis, Tony Goldwyn


Convicting Kenny to life in prison was an act that convicted his sister, Betty Anne Waters, to a life of sacrifice. She cages herself in the solitude of her unshakeable belief. Inspirationally persistent, she gets through college, law school and bar exams in order to be able to re-open her brother's case.

The only people she lets in are her children and her new classmate, Abra Rice(Minnie Driver). Breaking the barriers of the stereotypical sidekick, Abra crusades against the odds and sets an uplifting mood.

Conviction, Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Juliette Lewis, Tony Goldwyn


Dexter's Tony Goldwyn, structures a case of dedication and the immorality of an incomplete system,shedding light on the importance of the DNA test that helped to prevent further justice travesties but his role as director seems to be leaking discomfort. He illustrates the situations based on a calculated narration, purposefully aiming to wring out tears from the star actors. While his bet pays him back big time, you can't help but wonder what could happen if someone more adept had the same screenplay in his hands.

Hilary Swank's performance exonerates the script from its melodramatic tendencies, elevating the story to a universal scope. Swank, like always, seems to understand what's at stake, tenacious and devoted to her character she puts herself in line for another Oscar.

Conviction, Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Juliette Lewis, Tony Goldwyn


Rockwell depicts a sentimental portrayal of a carefree man whose reality is stuck in a feckless limbo, with ease and emotional authenticity his whole body movement imprisons the viewer.

Banking on one of her most memorable acting moments, Juliette Lewis enacts a trailer dweller, deviant and off-balance, her own personal, overwhelming five minutes or so, amidst the catatonic walls of chronicling two decades, uncontrollably concealed under the tapestry of a bland sense of pace.

Conviction, Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Juliette Lewis, Tony Goldwyn


Betty Anne's contract was a promise or a set of promises that Tony Goldwyn in some way recognized as a duty, and when it was breached, the actors provided the necessary remedy.
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Welcome to The Rileys

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Welcome To The Rileys, James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, Melissa Leo, Jake Scott


Director: Jake Scott
Writer: Ken Hixon
Stars: James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart and Melissa Leo

Lois: "When you open the door all the smoke comes inside."
Doug: "Then close the door, Lois."

It sort of feels like a verbally told story about an extraordinary situation or a blog post from Ridley Scott's son, Jake. More accurately, a character study immersed in a predictable script about broken people trying to gather back some of the pieces of their shattered lives but from the dark, seedy undertones a light emerges in the form of a man, named Doug (James Gandolfini), scratching with generosity, kindness and raw determination the wounds that remind him of his fragility.

Welcome To The Rileys, James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, Melissa Leo, Jake Scott


Engulfing the viewer visually from the very first image of the film, a car in flames, Scott introduces a middle aged man who seems to live in Sam Mendes' "American Beauty", poker nights, flirting waffle waitresses and inviting his mistress to accompany him on a business trip to New Orleans.

Even more so, the semi-adventurous superficiality of his life juxtaposes with his agoraphobic wife, Lois (Melissa Leo), who seems to be stale and stuck in a horrible memory, the death of their teenage daughter, she abandons the idea of a future or present, keeping their lives on hold and preparing for the inevitable.

In a heart attack, his affair fades out and he's left alone in a smoky contemplation of everyone's fear, Doug's loneliness is a knife that cuts away the truth from his reality.

Welcome To The Rileys, James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, Melissa Leo, Jake Scott


When a trip becomes an Odyssey is something that each one of us unconsciously has already pre-planned, so New Orleans bewitches Doug, unlike the island of the Lotus-Eaters, in the form of a teenage stripper who goes by many names, perhaps Mallory (Kristen Stewart) is not just a coincidence. Paternally, he makes the necessary choice to treat her as the one he lost.

What it takes for a movie to reach a certain emotional height is a little jump, a scare, an act that determines the shock value. "Welcome to the Rileys" decides to do neither, it prefers a slow, down to earth, step by step, through an over-the-top plot it reaches a sincere approach on the figurative mold of reality. It holds you by the hand, while it undermines the urban, natural phobia of a 16 year old sex worker, leading you outside the house.

Welcome To The Rileys, James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, Melissa Leo, Jake Scott


The detailed path that Gandolfini follows in his attempt to suggest an authentic character should be studied. Calm and innovative, a heartfelt portrayal of a down to earth man dealing with the implausible. Kristen Stewart embraces the emotional turmoil of a runaway child, the animalistic urges and cynicism light up Mallory's damaged childhood. While, Melissa Leo is a profound exclamation that the script wouldn't work if not surrounded by the magnitude of these performances.

Welcome To The Rileys, James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, Melissa Leo, Jake Scott


The dreary telegraph to post-Katrina New Orleans, contains the words of hope and memory but not the mournful thought that continuing on is a void action to no avail. Mallory is the oil that feeds Doug's fire, he's on a road that has no exit, a straight line on a dirty map, trying to balance himself in the bewildered dream of replicating his emotions, just for a few moments, just for a chance to start again.
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The Tourist

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The Tourist, Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Paul Bettany, Timothy Dalton, Steven Berkoff, Rufus Sewell


Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

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The Children

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The Children, Eva Birthistle,Tom Shankland, Hannah Tointon, Stephen Campbell Moore,Raffiella Brooks, Eva Sayer, Rachel Shelley


Director: Tom Shankland

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I'm Still Here

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I'm Still Here, Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, David Letterman, Sean 'P. Diddy' , Mos Def


Director: Casey Affleck

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The rathole's doormat

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A welcome introductory post of the new "management" would be appropriate, I assume.
I guess you've noticed that a dozen new posts were uploaded .I am aiming to bring back life to the rat that resides here, this rat that dwells inside cinema theatres making his way through crowds of people, looking for a chance to chew up the big screen's blundered iconic food.

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Remember Me

SEARCH: Remember Me
Remember Me, Robert Pattinson, Emilie De Ravin, Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Lena Olin, Allen Coulter


Director: Allen Coulter

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