Dying young, 1991

Dying young, 1991
Director: Joel Schumacher
Cast: Julia Roberts, Campbell Scott



Dying young in short: After she discovers that her boyfriend has betrayed her, Hilary O'Neil is looking for a new start and a new job. She begins to work as a private nurse for a young man suffering from blood cancer. Slowly, they fall in love, but they always know their love cannot last because he is destined to die.



Stage: Home theatre, late Sunday night, TV selection



Preps: None in perticular. I am in for a movie. And our local TV makes a hell of a selection on late Sunday nights. Like they knew it would be better sleeping however you cannot resist :)


Reality: A truly sad story about love. And lovely at the same time. It is ironic how love caters us in the inappropriate moments. Like in this piece, you fall in impossible love, one that cannot last and you have the option of taking what's on the plate and enjoy it while it lasts. Or never go along with it because it is doomed to end because of an illness.
A lot of us go along in life perfectly. And some of us cannot seem to find the grasp of love that is portrayed like this in the piece. What to take, the happiness that won't last forever, or seek the forever lasting love? Sometimes we find out that heart doesn't choose like our mind does. Therefore you are thrown into a situation you cannot defy or deny because your heart wants it this way.
In this sense, falling in love with a guy that is sick to death (literally) is a no no, if you look at it from mind perspective. Julia Roberts has one of her cuter roles in being a nurse to this doomed man and falling in love with him. It is lovely to watch the roses grow, on the other hand the rituals they go through when the cancer shows its teeth, are disastrous.
Sacrifice is the main word for this piece. And love, indefinitely. Endlessly. Forever. No matter what. It is a movie for people that like romantic dramas and real life content. It will serve your veins like peas and carrots, that go well together. It will show you the sweetness and sorrow. It will make you laugh and cry. It is not a movie for those that have no respect in this or don't want to waste the time on romance.


My personal rate: 7,0 (a solid piece, worth seeing if you are a romantic soul, looking for something to think about. Would you take the risk of falling in love with someone that is dying? Compared to Sweet November, it is the same thing. If you liked that one, you will like this for sure).


Dying young on IMDB

The Peacemaker, 1997

The Peacemaker, 1997
Director: Mimi Leder
Cast: Nicole Kidman, George Clooney, Marcel Iures



The Peacemaker in short:Two trains crash somewhere in Russia, one carrying a nuclear payload. A nuclear explosion follows the crash and the world is on alert... However, White House nuclear expert Dr. Julia Kelly doesn't think it was an accident... Special Operations Intelligence Officer Colonel Thomas Devoe doesn't think so either... Together they must unravel a conspiracy that goes from Europe to New York, to stop a terrorist who has no demands..


Stage: Home theatre, Sunday night selection on TV


Preps: Hm, I think I saw this one at the movies and I didn't like it. But memory is a sad story, so let's see if I am right.


Reality: Hm.. I am right. Only the scenery won't do. The war in ex Yugoslavia, Russian disputes, eastern Countries disputes.. is a sad story and has been depicted in many movies. This one is an american attempt of making it more yummy than it is. In other words, it collides many stories, however only one, and that is the pain of the nation, is relevant. No other stories should take place in this one. The quarrel between the nations and the big price they were paying for years has no place for romance, some chase on the US streets. There can be no good collision of US scenes and scenes that depict Russian wars, eastern nations wars, Ex Yugoslavia war. I mean, you cannot film a movie for most of the time in muslim mosque or on streets of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or on a russian railroad and then just switch to the US land. It's not probable, it shouldn't be done.
Clooney and Kidman have the saint role in the movie, however as much as US tries, they cannot be perceived as Peacemakers. It is known that they were perceived as Smurfs, because of the helmets. There were many really sad and true pieces filmed about the wars on these regions and the casualties, victims and sadness, depression, the war created. This is definitely not one of them. We are not on this place to celebrate the fact that US sticks their nose wherever they find it interesting (I am not speaking about appropriate). It is (was) not their war as I am sure that they are doing their chores on many places in the same exact way.
Movies like these make people think that US soldiers, Peacemakers, nurses, etc, play a huge role in nation's desputes around the world. Guess what, they usually make it worse, not better. Despite the fact that this movie is trying to persuade you differently, be sure you are watching a fairy tale. With some smart inserts of Višnjevič and some russian, serbian jargon.


My personal rate: 5,0 (I wouldn't recommend it. It is better to watch movies that local people/directors made on the topic. More realistic, better equipped with real information).



The Peacemaker on IMDB

Sleepers, 1996

Sleepers, 1996
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Brad Pitt, Robert de Niro, Kevin Bacon, Dustin Hoffmann, Minnie Driver, Jason Patric




Sleepers in short: Four boys growing up in Hell's Kitchen play a prank that leads to an old man getting hurt. Sentenced to no less than one year in the Wilkenson Center in upstate New York, the four friends are changed by the beating, humiliation and sexual abuse by the guards sworn to protect them. Thirteen years later and a chance meeting lead to a chance for revenge against the Wilkenson Center and the guards.



Preps: None in perticular. The cast is astounding. The director is one of my favourites. And I have naturally watched this earlier, as a child. Admired it at that time, I am sure I will even more now with a critical eye.



Reality: I am right. This is one of better bitter stories ever being put on screen. I believe Levinson is a genious and a coragious man to put this live. Still, the US government and all similar facilities, deny that such places exist, such actions ever could take place and that there wasn't a trial as depicted in the movie.
Well, the story will rip your bones off. It is breathtaking and it makes you shiver with fear and horror all along the way. Violence creates violence. Put normal boys into a facility of correction, juvenile home or something, abuse them and be sure they will grow up to be criminals, most of them.
The sad story revolves around four boys being taken into a facility for a homicide they commited unintentionally. And the abuse they were submitted to, it is just horrible. Their commitment never to speak about that part of their lives is broken when two former boys, now adults, have the chance to take the revenge with a guy that raped them. So they kill them and are put into trial.
The trial isn't about the killing, it's about revenge to the facility that abused them while they were taken in for a year in their childhood. And they get the revenge, with style.
The cast is magnificent. The story is breathtaking. The director did his work and it shivers me even now as I write about it. A must see for any person. It will make you fear of such institutions and make you never do wrong in a way you would get into a facility like that. It will make you hate those that abuse children, even more. And will make you think about the sacrifice you are willing to take for the ones you love. The priest treads on his values or virtues to help the kids get the revenge they want. The truth, even though not admitted by the government, is out and it should be. In a fair world, such things wouldn't go unpunished. And no kids would die on streets with 29. But that is in fairy tales. We live in a no dream world. And need to take it seriously, for it's a place for filth and abuse. You see this undoubtfully in this piece. It will tear down your heart.


My personal rate: 8,5 (splendid piece that makes you think way beyond its purpose and content. It makes you cry in your heart and feel with the characters. Not many pieces do that to you).


Sleepers on IMDB

Fatal Attraction, 1987

Fatal Attraction, 1987
Director: Adrian Lyne
Cast: Glenn Close, Michael Douglas, Anne Archer


Stage: Home theatre, late Saturday screening


Fatal Attraction in short:Happily married New York lawyer Dan Callagher has an affair with his colleague Alex, and the two enjoy a love weekend while Dan's wife and kid are away. But Alex will not let go of him, and she will stop at nothing to have him for herself. Just how far will she go to get what she wants?.


Preps: None in perticular. Seen this piece. Love its horror and energy.


Reality: Now what animal drives us to make something out of our ordinary and in some cases, jeopardise everything we have, own, want to own or have developed in ages before this perticular action?

The plot is simple; a guy takes a weekend vacation from his marriage and gets involved with a woman that seems to have everything under control. Here comes the true meaning of the title of the piece. Truly it is a fatal attraction, but not fatal in thins these two lovers develop, but in the relationship fall this guy is facing. Douglas plays a similar role to the one in the movie Disclosure. So a guy that was taken advantage of. The cards were on the table. He wanted to fuck so he did, and she wanted to fuck and they did. How about these two getting their armours equipped and turning into two most fatal enemies because of a weekend they spent together as if they were teenagers?

The tables turn as she confesses pregnancy, tries to stalk him on every step and makes him really miserable only by claiming she cannot live without him. It is the deed of desperation she is doing on every day, with the stalking, and calling to his home, to the office. She claims she needs him, his love, she wants to have his child. And all he wanted was a weekend fun.

Now how to confess to the wife (do you confess at all?).. well, the road is steep and long. He doesn't want his life to change at all but he no longer has the control. His weekend affair turns into a raging bull with the angry woman that claims she adores him.

The piece will make you think about the virtues you have and the sacrifices you are willing to make. Also to think about one deed in one night, if it's worth the effort. Would you really want to take everything to the edge and take the risk of losing it all for one day of fun? Highly doubtful for most of the population. And this is the tagline this movie is aiming towards.
Splendid cast by Glenn Close, a good one by Douglas. It is the 80 movie and as such works in this environment. To nowaday spectator it will look out of date. But the topic is as vivid as ever.


My personal rate: 7,5 (a good classic to see, live in any given moment).



Fatal Attraction on IMDB

The way back, 2010

The way back, 2010
Director: Peter Weir
Cast: Ed Harris, Colin Farrel, Jim Sturgess


Stage: desktop theatre in a nice hotel room in Sarajevo


The way back in short: In 1941, three men reach India from Tibet, having walked 4000 miles after escaping a Siberian gulag. The film tells their story and that of four others who escaped with them and a teenage girl who joins them in flight. The group's natural leader is Janusz, a Pole condemned by accusations secured by torturing his wife; he knows how to live in the wilds. They escape under cover of a snowstorm: a cynical American, a Russian thug, a comic accountant, a pastry chef who draws, a priest, and a Pole with night blindness. They face freezing nights, lack of food and water, mosquitoes, an endless desert, the Himalayas, and moral questions of when to leave someone behind.


Preps: just a good recomendation, I am not aware of the content nor the cast. Therefore a lot of expectations, I give a lot to this person's opinion.


Reality: Hm. a true story indeed. If you aren't under sheets or somewhere warm, you will get cold in the first 20 minutes. Siberian gulags are places like german lagers in the WW2. Not a place you would want to be in, nor the place you could imagine to survive. There are many thoughts in my mind while watching the beginning of the movie, especially means of surviving in those conditions as those men fought against.
Stalin made sure he had the workforce, namely people that were tagged as the enemies of the system, country, its people (pick your favourite) and put into so called gulags. Treated as animals, without food, conditions to live in, at approximately 40 degrees minus, well, a treat truly. Plus, these were working troops, they built several tunnels for the russians, catered the wood, chopped down forests, made railroads.. a free workforce, you might think of them this way. Most of them were taken because a plain thing they did (and it caused their conspiracy to the mother Russia), even though in some cases it was a plain example of a person taking a photo, or someone just looking at an institution. Before put into those starvation cabins, they were tortured (or their families) until they "admitted" they caused some crimes.
In any case, a truly sad and honest story about gulags, in the first third of the movie. To be honest, the movie isn't about gulags at all. It is about surviving. Some men jump out of their fence and escape. Their enemy, as their watchers so vividly express in the beginning, isn't the dogs or the guardians, it is the nature. Surviving in these conditions, having 1000 km of plain forest and snow in front of them, this is the challenge they are facing. And it's not a light challenge. In my opinion, the movie doesn't really show the way how they survived. I doubt I would be able to survive one single night without freezing to death. Therefore I was interested in what the director might show me. And was dissappointed, because they just skipped the part. The same thing happens at the end. Skipping the long walk through Himalayas. What did Weird think when skipping this part? It would add some content to the whole and it would add credibility. Luckily they didn't touch the long walk through Mongolia, which is as hard as the walk through Sibiria. There they made me a believer again.

The main topic in my opinion touches the frames of one's will to survive. If you want something badly enough, you will get to that point, in this sense, India and reunion with the wife you left behind. There will be casualties, but we are looking at the main character, brilliantly played, who took this long journey. I admire the cast of Mr. Smith (the American)- Ed Harris, that comes all the way to Tibet and stays there. Beautiful. Plus, the connection he makes with the woman, astounding.

There is no way many people could have survived, barefoot in the sand and snow. The power of will is magnificent. And this piece shows it directly, in the bloodstream. It will make you admire the will to live and the will to survive.


My personal rate: 8,0 (remarkable piece on how to live because you really really want to).


The way back on IMDB

Apollo 13, 1995

Apollo 13, 1995
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Tom Hanks, Gary Sinise, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon



Stage: Home TV selection, late Saturday


Apollo in short: Based on the true story of the ill-fated 13th Apollo mission bound for the moon. Astronauts Lovell, Haise and Swigert were scheduled to fly Apollo 14, but are moved up to 13. It's 1970, and America have already achieved their lunar landing goal, so there's little interest in this "routine" flight.. until that is, things go very wrong, and prospects of a safe return fade.


Preps: Hm. I believe I have seen this one already, however I did't like it in perticular.



Reality: Well, this is no brainer. The storyline is predictable, as it is based on the real events (point one) and the second point is that it's made in a way you can be a magician and predict what it is going to take, which path and where it's taking the viewer.

In any case, we cannot go beyond the true facts. A bunch of astronauts going to the moon. Something goes wrong and in the mean time they are trying to get back. We are submurged to the parade of their families, as they eagerly try to monitor the safe return and possible loss of their fathers. Very Hollywood like. I wouldn't dream that NASA or whoever rocks these planetarium visits, really gives a damn about the families. The astronauts are like climbers, or someone that goes in a war zone trying to do good. It is a risk you are signing when you are going to the school that makes you an astronaut. Obviously there is a risk you will stay on some Saturn or never get out of a mission.

However, in this movie, we make a spectacle out of this mission (I am sure that even though it's after real events, it wasn't really like this. Cannot prove it, but I am sure it wasn't). The spectacle has a respectable cast, respectable director, some good music and some good scenes from outer space (and to be honest, this is what we all are hoping for because we aren't able to see it). In this sense, some lovely scenes. But this is it. Some witty dialogues, some dramatical scenes that can make you feel with them, especially being from US. But no wonders. No miracles. Nothing really special about the movie. Predictable ending. People shaking hands in NASA afterwards. Eh.. could be much more,




My personal rate: 5,0 (bah. one in a million similar movies, about the astronaut mission, possible failure and safe Hollywood like return).


Apollo on IMDB

Vertical Limit, 2000

Vertical Limit, 2000
Director: Martin Campbell
Cast: Scott Glenn, Chris O'Donnell, Bill Paxton


Stage: Home TV selection, somewhere in between the week.



Vertical in short: A high-adrenaline tale of young climber Peter Garrett, who must launch a treacherous and extraordinary rescue effort up K2, the world's second highest peak. Confronting both his own limitations and the awesome power of nature's uncontrollable elements, Peter risks his life to save his sister, Annie, and her summit team in a race against time. The team is trapped in an icy grave at 26,000 feet - a death zone above the vertical limit of endurance where the human body cannot survive for long. Every second counts as Peter enlists the help of a crew of fellow climbers, including eccentric, reclusive mountain man Montgomery Wick, to ascend the chilling might of the world's most feared peak to save her.



Preps: Hm. Third time, I guess. NOthing spectacular I need to see. But something to relax my mind after a long day.


Reality: Somehow it's similar to Apollo 13. Someone that goes on climbing Himalaya, should know his/her strengths, weaknesses. And how far can he/she go in these thin lines between life and death.
Somehow I seem to be repeating myself. How much is one life worth or how much are three lives worth? In currency of lives and maybe in currency of media spectacles. How would it make a change if it was a relative or someone you love up in the mountain? How much money would you claim if you were the brave hero trying to rescue a mission?

One of the good missions that started with a prediction of fail, ends up in the vertical (of death), waiting for the rescue or its death. Being economic along the way (which makes it interesting, I might add). But nothing more than a good mission to make us think about our climbing, if we ever want to go. To think about the stakes and if we are willing to let them be, for the sake of dying possibly on the mountain, or being handicapped for the rest of our lives.

Not to underestimate the mountains is the main message. Taken in many copies around the movie world. This one is pretty average and makes you think about all the others. I still feel the piece with the most breathtaking message, how not to underestimate the mountains, is Alive. Also upon a true story. Maybe that's why it takes my breath away every time. Naah, that's not it. It's the good delivery.


My personal rate: 4,0 (ah.. if you don't have anything more important to do. It's a low brainer).


Vertical on IMDB

The Help, 2011

The Help, 2011
Director: Tate Taylor
Cast: Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis




The Help in short:Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter (Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends' lives -- and a Mississippi town -- upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen (Davis), Skeeter's best friend's housekeeper, is the first to open up -- to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community. Despite Skeeter's life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories -- and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unwittingly -- and unwillingly -- caught up in the changing times.


Stage: Home cinema, late Saturday

Preps: Hm, wonderful critics. I am also aware what the movie is all about. I believe the right drama to see on a good Saturday night.


Reality: It takes me away from present and moves me to the past, where you had different times and values. I have watched a similar movie lately, only happening on a different part of the world, Aleksandrinke.
This one takes you to the core of the problem black people had in the sixties. No real value and no real appreciation. White rich girls were just in a quest to get a husband, make a few babies and that was it. No plan after that. Just black help to get you all settled in.
In this sense, black housewifes and governants (for that was what they really were), were obliged to take care of everything a housewife should, from cooking to cleaning, from groceries to ironing. And taking care of white children, instead of their own, was their job. Day and night. Sometimes they would live with their families, often in their ghetto. Their husbands highly unemployeable, they had no chance but taking it in and enduring the pain caused by white ruthless mistresses.
I feel as if white women got arrowsed by this power given to them by money. Because they spent most of the day demanding something from those black women and giving them blame for something they did or didn't do. Making them take a leak somewhere else than the normal family, eating somewhere else, giving them pennies instead of a real money, and humiliating them whenever it was or wasn't convenient.
The time was right to make a rebel yell, and you are dragged into the movie, as the journalist wanna be (that used to be exactly one of the rich white dames), decides to take an extra step and make a book out of the sad stories. Obviously she doesn't have black governants standing in line to make an open call. However, some happenings, like making someone arrested for the "horrible crime" and harrasment without comparison, make the queue in front of her book longer and longer.

The piece does have some ironically funny moments. However, the complete story is sad, yet true. It will make you think about the virtues you posess and how you behave towards someone that makes such work instead of you (giving it you aren't paying a lot for it and it sounds natural to you to exploit such resources). I believe this was a hard time for most of "different" people, naming all the people that were victims of their environment. Something out of standard, something out of proportion or expectations. Or simply poor and in need of work. At that time work wasn't honored, work was underappreciated. Because no ladies were working. I wonder what it was they were doing. This movie poses one of the options.



My personal rate: 8,0 (a good drama, worth exploring and thinking about it afterwards)

The Help on IMDB

Parada, 2011

Parada, 2011
Director: Srdjan Dragojević
Cast: Nikola Kojo, Miloš Samolov, Hristina Popović, Goran Jevtić


Stage: Local colloseum, Saturday night, packed with crowd. Only a few seats left :) Luckily I am alone so I don't really care :)


Parada in short: A homophobic, middle-aged, Serbian gangster ends up sacrificing himself to protect Gay freedom in his country. RADMILO (35) and MIRKO (30) are young and successful gay couple, and they would be a happy couple anywhere else except in - Serbia. They try to live discreetly but still, every day they are abused by the homophobic majority. Plus, Mirko is a gay rights activist, and his dream is to organize the first successful PRIDE event in Belgrade. This is almost a "mission impossible"; in 2001, an attempt to hold PRIDE in Belgrade ended up in bloodshed. One decade later, the situation is not much better - nationalist and neo-Nazi organizations prepare another massacre in case of holding the gay parade, while the police refuse to provide protection for the participants. A strange couple arrives in Radmilo's and Mirko's life - LEMON (45) an ex criminal and war veteran, the owner of a small security company and his fiance - PEARL (30) a beauty parlor owner.


Preps: Well, the director is famous for some pieces that were quite notorious a while ago (Lepa sela lepo gore, Rane, Mi nismo andjeli) and I loved them for the dark irony and sadness, yet beauty they reveal as oppose to a simple Hollywood depicting the same scenes (there are some attempts of making Balcan wars and regional disputes popularized, yet it seems only balcan directors are able to do it properly for a different passion they feel towards these same historical actions).

In many ways it can see like a pact between different nations, because the final team to defend the rights of a minority, is constructed of different nations and representatives that shared terror in the war, yet remained friends. It is almost scary seeing them together, because based on the ex-yu war experience, you just expect them to get into a fight. After a while you can be assured they really remained friends and they are interested in a special deal Limun is preparing for them. Maybe for the sake of old times, maybe for the challenge it poses, because it is something none of those mostly homophobic people has done in his life service, maybe for some other reasons. It is truly nice to see them work together, although all the time I am still wondering, what the f.. :) - in a positive way. In no imagination could these five gentlemen work together 15 years ago. They couldn't stand each other at that point and would shoot on spot at each other.

In any case, the issue they need to deal with (on the outside and mostly on the inside), is their homophobic view of the world. Are gay people really people? First to accept this in order to defend their parade. Can you really defend something you don't believe in? Limun at first claims you can. You killed for money, you raped for money, now you are telling me you cannot defend gay people because they are gay? At some point he realizes that his own people really won't work for any amount at all, because they don't want to be connected with gays in any way. Terrifying feeling, watching how high the level of homophobia still is. I am sure most of the countries could practically share the same level, as gay people aren't treated as humans in most of the countries throughout the world. In Slovenia, my country, this is maybe not so violently shown (in the streets), but they aren't treated equal and maybe sometimes physical (non seen) violence can be even worse.
Serbia, in this sense, and Belgrade, is depicted as the country where mob rules the streets and even cops are bribed, so they act the way head mob people want them to. Limun as a powerful man, still finds it extremely difficult to persuade anyone to work for gay, instead of being a sheep and follow the crowd that casts stones towards this minority. The gay parade in this sense is only a metaphore, a separation between the traditional world (my son was ok before, because he was straight. I don't know what you are trying to persuade him into - the words of Radmilo's father) and the new age thinking (the woman of Limun, Biserka, clearly in favor of new age ideas, gays and people that think in a profound, cultural way, the way people that are strictly against gays, cannot). So this metaphore and the fight of 100 men towards a few individuals is more a quest of Sizif, but important one, as of that derive the following parades.

Can you change the way you see the world, if you are living in a scenery for complete lifetime? Can Limun really love gays? I believe, he can learn respect (hence, he follows them one year afterwards on the second parade). He will never be able to really love a gay as an equal. But he will treat them with respect, he learns in the complete setting of searching for defenders of parade. You aren't really born and choose what sex are you going to admire and have lust for. So you shouldn't be judged, because it's not really a mistake/weakness/choice. It's a fact and the world should realize it. Unfortunately there will always be groups like the one fighting against parade, individuals that feel their belief/sex/race/political side is better or the only one that is right. As long as those groups have access to weapons, we are in a threat of violence towards minorities. As said, seen in all the countries all around the world. Serbia is known for its heart, passion, belief in right. All other balcan countries also, but Serbia exceeds in its black/white view of most things. Either my way or highway, something like that. Even more than the other countries around it. I believe this is also the reason why Belgrade was chosen to be the centre of this movie.

A superb movie, worth every minute and so ironically funny along the way. You cannot watch it and not laugh, you cannot stand not to cry in the end, at least in your heart. Touching story and a good shake of the hands of the nations, that Srdjan Dragojević made. An applause.

My personal rate: 9,0 (I would change a few lines, or maybe expand some scenes. Apart from that, superb movie, worth seeing and even more, worth thinking about a lot)

Parada on IMDB

The Forgotten, 2004

The Forgotten, 2004
Director: Joseph Ruben
Cast: Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Christopher Kovaleski




Stage: Home TV selection on a Friday night


The Forgotten in short: A grieving mother, Telly Paretta, is struggling to cope with the loss of her 9-year-old son. She is stunned when her psychiatrist and her husband tell her that she has created eight years of memories of a son she never had. But when she meets the father of one of her son's friend who is having the same experience, Telly embarks on a mission to prove her son's existence and her sanity.



Preps: I think I have heard of this piece or started watching it on another occassion, but I am not sure. In the heading, I see Julianne Moore, and I sort of admire her drama casts, therefore I give it a shot.


Reality: Well, no special surprise. Another quest for alien actions that are supposed to be happening around us and we are staring in the sky wondering what is really happening. One of worse interpretations, I might add to this. We never learn anything about the aliens, despite the fact that they are unvulnerable. Does this mean that their civilization is expanding all the time? It could give us a laughter, but the focus of the movie isn't really on the aliens. It's on the love one feels for his child and the power or let's say energy that attaches one to another. In some sense it is supposed to be the greatest bond ever made and impossible to break.

In some sense the experiment with forgetting someone is amazing, because it shows place for many things we would really like to forget. On the other hand not forgetting allows us to grow and spread experience when we come in a similar occasion (not to repeat same mistakes, repeat actions that gave us good luck, happiness, etc). In this perticular piece the case is extraordinary, the dilluted mom which seems to be seeking for a child that never existed (at least so you think up to one third of the movie). Her story becomes solid when she meets a parent she knows and forces to remember. So they have a quest together, to bring supposeably dead children back to life. They are naturally followed and they seem to hide despite the fact that they are being observed all the time. The story would normally be filled with holes, however we need to see it like aliens are allmighty and they will get what they want.

The piece isn't very convincing in the way we are used that similar movies on this topic can be. However, it does make up with the energy the mother (Julianne Moore) shows and love she has for her child. The last scenes are in this sense very touching and can get to your soul very easily. So if you are somehow mushy or feeling sad, it will touch you. But if you are looking for alien chase action, don't expect it. This movie doesn't have it.





My personal rate: 5,0 (you won't miss much if you pass on this one. However, it makes you think about the special bondage between parents and children, and how would it be to just forget about everything you knew so far).


The Forgotten on IMDB

Amadeus, 1984

Amadeus, 1984
Director: Milos Forman
Cast: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulze, Elizabeth Berridge


Stage: Home TV selection


Amadeus in short: Antonio Salieri believes that Mozart's music is divine. He wishes he was himself as good a musician as Mozart so that he can praise the Lord through composing. But he can't understand why God favored Mozart, such a vulgar creature, to be his instrument. Salieri's envy has made him an enemy of God whose greatness was evident in Mozart. He is set to take revenge.


Preps: I have seen that when I was really a young child. Ever since I never took a step further to see it as an adult, because the perspective might be completely different.


Reality: Wow, a huge surprise again. I know Forman got an oscar for this piece and I am not surprised. If you didn't know anything about Mozart, this is a good biography. If you wanted a history lesson, here you have it. If you wanted to listen to superb music and learn how it is in the competitive musician's world, where they steal one from another, mock one another, play with everyone else around them, there you have it.

An intriguing piece, taking you directly to the core of Vienna at that time, showing major combat between a genious (yet emotionally immature) Mozart and Salieri, court musical composer, who cannot stand Mozart, yet he's one of his greatest admirors. You get to feel the inner Mozart soul and spirit, wonder how in the world can he do such magic with music and watch his downfall from the top front music classical inventor to the very grave. If you thought that he was praised at his death, think again. The lesson in this is simple - even best genious isn't always appreciated and taken as anything else than a lucky bastard everyone envies. And he never knew who admired him for the music, who understood his yearning to create and who really loved him. All the people around him seemed to kiss his ass all the time and on the other hand, when he turned his back, stab him in the best way they could.


My personal rate: 8,0 (a superb showoff of competitive advantage someone has by nature and how it can reflect in ruining someone's reputation and overall failure)


Amadeus on IMDB

The Ledge, 2011

The Ledge, 2011
Director: Matthew Chapman
Cast: Liv Tyler, Charlie Hunnam, Terrence Howard, Patrick Wilson



Stage: home theatre, a lazy after holiday afternoon



The Ledge in short: A thriller in which a battle of philosophies between a fundamentalist Christian and an atheist escalates into a lethal battle of wills. Ultimately, as a test of faith, or lack of it, the believer forces the non-believer onto the ledge of a tall building. He then has one hour to make a choice between his own life and someone else's. Without faith in an afterlife, will he be capable of such a sacrifice?


Preps: Don't have a clue whatsoever. So I take the choice of someone, whose opinion means a great deal to me.


Reality: Well, the thing about thrillers is that they are supposed to make a span in your heart and frighten you at least a bit. This piece for starters, definitely isn't a thriller. However, the genre you are looking for, people, is drama. Maybe a family drama, or a philosophical drama. The philosophy, dealing with in the piece, revolves around family virtues, honesty, things you believe in. Either the family. Jesus, materia that evolves in materia after passing.. this piece is going to make you scream for the answers, yet you won't be able to find them. It's up to us, what we want to believe in. What are the virtues we want (or are willing to ) die for. How much do we cherish the honesty, in comparison to deeds that derive from something someone wanted to give to us, even though they aren't as honest as they might be?
Do you die for the person you love or is this egoistic towards that person? What feelings do we keep for the person that loved us so much that he(she) died for us? Or on the other hand, how far are we willing to go to follow a fairy tale, something we discovered or developed for all the wrong reasons and are the person we would like to be instead of being the person we are?

With more than those few incidents, the movie deals with the higher truth, something most of us don't ever think about and don't deal with. The act is supreme, despite the fact that Tyler isn't half a woman she could be. I hate her in the movie, for being so pale and unrecognizeable. Was she like this overall? Never saw that. Maybe because of the roles she played in. But I despise her in the movie. And I deeply admire the role of her husband and the lover. Energetic, different. The way they are supposed to be.

The movie has several cut offs. And several highs. Above the average. But if it did the extra mile with the actress, it would be superb.


My personal rate: 6,5 (a good piece showing more than promised. But definitely not a thriller, more a drama and one of the better ones in terms of things that can go through your mind afterwards. Could live without Liv Tyler, though).


The Ledge on IMDB