The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman
Director: Peter Jackson
Rating: ●●●●○ - Does not disappoint

This week's movie is a much expected one: The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey
It is worth saying that I have not read the book and so I will not comment on much faithful to the original the story is.
But I did see the Lord of the Rings trilogy of which the Hobbit is the prequel.
If we ignore this for a moment and evaluate the Hobbit as a stand alone movie, then we could say that it is a bit slow at parts (the dinner of the Dwarves at Bilbo's place for example) and that the writers did not even try to come up with a kind of conclusion for this episode.
But we know that there will be two other episodes of the Hobbit due to be released soon, that have been already filmed.
For now, we as viewers just need to follow Bilbo in his travels though fantastic landscapes, Gandalf, the Gollum, battles with Ogres, and most of all... the Ring.
The whole production team is the same as previous Oscar winning trilogy, starting from director Peter Jackson who wrote and directed the previous one.
So if you liked the Lord of the Rings and you want to see more of it, you know you cannot miss this one.

End of Watch

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña
Director: David Ayer
Rating: ●●●●○ - Involving

I liked End of Watch, I think it was a well done movie.
The story is around the friendship of two street policemen, played by Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko, Brokeback Mountain, Jarhead) and Michael Peña (who played the cop also in World Trade Center).
The movie focuses on the day to day lives of these two cops, their fears, their feelings, rather than the usual crime-punishment seen usually in this genre of films. In other words, you see more dialog between the two than adrenaline-type chasing action scenes.
Don't expect this to be a movie about zero tolerance, or the I-am-the-law kind. It is a honest portrait of two ordinary guys doing their job.
Clearly there is police action here, but like maybe never before, you see the action through the eyes of these two policemen.
The film is shot mocking a handy video recorder, in particular the one Jake Gyllenhaal always carries with him during his patrols, giving this movie a Youtube/Real TV feeling, a clever trick that makes End of Watch very realistic and involving.

Great Expectations

Starring: Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Jeremy Irvine
Director: Mike Newell
Rating: ●●○○○ - Below expectations

Maybe one of novels with the highest numbers of movie adaptations (I counted at least 7) is again out in its 2012 version directed by Mike Newell (director of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Donnie Brasco among others).
It his hard to say how much this version can add anything more to what has been already done, because I admit I have not watched all the previous versions. Let's say therefore that we are watching this movie for the first time, and let's say that we haven't even read the book first so we don't have a clue of the story.
Among the good things of this movie there is a credible 1800s setting (apart of the haircuts of the young gentlemen that seem too much 2012 hipster style), taking you back to the streets of London in the Victorian era and its city vs. countrymen differences.
The acting of Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes is really good, as you would expect from these two excellent actors.
The plot, on the other hand, is a bit confusing in the first part where you ask yourself why certain things are happening. As the movie goes on, it eventually provides all the answers, but I was left with the impression that the story was rushed.
I felt in the end like I have not been able to get into this movie, well crafted but somehow cold.

Gambit

Starring: Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, Alan Rickman
Director: Michael Hoffman
Rating: ●●○○○ - Disappointing

I am a big fan of the Coen brothers, so I could not miss Gambit, presented as the new movie by the Coen brothers.
Gambit is a remake of the movie from the 60s staring Michael Caine, in the role now played by Colin Firth.
The story , without spoiling it too much, is about trying to sell a fake Monet instead of an authentic one.
Well, selling a fake for the original works also for the movie itself in the sense that this is not really a movie from the Coen brothers, as I realised looking at the credits at the beginning of the movie.
The Coen brothers have been involved only in re-writing the original script. This explains why there is so few here that would resemble the comic surrealism of the Big Lebowski, Burn After Reading or Arizona Junior.
Gambit ends up being a vintage type of comedy with the result that would have been funny in the 60s but it looks fairly pointless now days.
But ending on a positive note, the interpretation of Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci (small part as a German art critic) is really good.

Silver Linings Playbook

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro
Director: David Owen Russell
Rating: ●●●○○

Silver lining (from Wikipedia) is a metaphor for optimism in the common English-language idiom.
So, Silver Linings Playbook promises to be a feelgood romantic Hollywood style movie. And it delivers what it says on the box.
The plot is typical and somehow predictable: a man, over 35, has to restart his life and by the end of the movie falls in love with final happy ending.


However, the movie has got elements that makes it peculiar and original.
The acting to start with. While De Niro we know all so well, Bradley Cooper is credible in playing the main character affected by bipolar syndrome, going intelligently beyond the handsome-bloke-type of role.
Worth mentioning here also Jennifer Lawrence that after Winter's Bones and Hunger Games, shows what an eclectic actress she is.
We mentioned the bipolar syndrome affecting the main character and its insane obsession for its past, that gives depth to this movie and enriches it.
Though this theme is central to the movie, the film is light and funny, because everyone is a bit insane in the end, including the people watching this movie, we realise.
An enjoyable two hours of optimism.