Lincoln

Starring: Daniel Day Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones
Director: Steven Spielberg
Rating: ●●●●● - A Landmark

Lincoln is a great movie.
Expectations, to be honest, were high, given that we are talking about a movie directed by Steven Spielberg, with Daniel Day Lewis, about one of the most important and influential American presidents.
The movie is not however, a biopic, in the sense that the real focus of the movie is not Lincoln but rather the debate in America around the approval of the 13th amendment of the constitution that abolished slavery, a turning point in World's history.
It is not by chance that this movie has been made now with Obama president, because it represents the latest step in the Afro-American battle for equality, a process started with the approval of 13th amendment 150 years ago.
The movie requires a bit of historic preparation, and gives for granted that you already understand the context of the secession war and the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
As said it is not a biopic, but a movie about politics, and in this period when everybody complains about bad politicians (regardless of where you live) gives us one of the greatest examples of what being a good politician means.
In conclusion I want to highlight the immense performance of Daniel Day Lewis as president Lincoln, surly worth the Oscar.
Excellent movie, excellent acting performance.

The Impossible

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Rating: ●●●○○ - Hopeful

The Impossible is a movie based on a the true story of a young family vacationing in Thailand as they struggle to survive and reunite in the aftermath of the devastating 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami.
That natural disaster was the probably the worst in history killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries.
The beginning of this movie is incredibly similar to the first part of Hereafter directed by Clint Eastwood in 2010. In both movies we as spectators are submerged by the tsunami wave and struggle to get out of the flood.
Then while Hereafter moves on and develops other themes, The Impossible focuses on the experience of that tragedy, making you live the struggle for survival and the panic of losing your loved ones, it brings you there with all the drama.
Because of this The Impossible ends up being a powerful movie thanks also to the good interpretations by Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.
The only limit that I would find to this movie is that the story is a bit straight forward, without many surprises.
Perhaps after the shock of the tsunami wave, no one wants more surprises in this movie.

Les Miserables

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen
Director: Tom Hooper
Rating: ●●●●○ - Epic

The screen transposition of this successful London west-end and Broadway musical has been done in grand style.
The stellar cast to start with (which includes a couple of Oscar winners), with a great interpretation from the prestigious wolverine Hugh Jackman and his Aussie fellow, but fierce enemy on screen, Russel Crowe, and including also great performances by Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Borat).
Then the costumes and the setting in a unsettled France of the beginning of the 1800.
Finally the poignant and intense story derived from this classic of Victor Hugo.
All these factors make this film a great movie production.
But...
I suffer from a strange allergy that makes be rattle in agony when I see a movie in which the characters speak to each other singing.
In this movie all (or at least 99%) of the dialogues are sung, so for me it has been a painful 2hs and a half.
So if you like musicals, this will probably be your favourite movie ever.
But, if you suffer from my same allergy, make no mistake, see something else.

Life of Pi

Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan
Director: Ang Lee
Rating: ●●●○○ - Over-promising

After the Christmas break, I started the year with Life of Pi, movie transposition of the successful book by Yann Martel published in 2001, directed by Oscar Winner Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain).
The main feature of this movie are the images, the visual effects and a finally proper and skillful use of the 3D feature, the best since Avatar. So in case you wonder, yes this one is worthwhile watching in 3D.
The movie has a first part based in India which deals with the theme of religions vs. rationality which I find very interesting, though you have a feeling that you are missing out something compared to the book.
Then there is a second part about the kid and the tiger. This part is the one where images and the photography come in support of an otherwise slow paced section, which is the the core of the movie, the main central part.
Finally there is the conclusion, in which again, you feel that you are a bit rushed into. In the first part you are promised a story that will show you the existence of God (nothing less), but in the end I felt I was promised more than what has been delivered.
So this is a visually excellent movie, an inspiring story, with some pace issues here and there (derived from the difficulty of transposing a spiritual book into a movie) but overall a movie worth watching.

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.