"Skyfall" Movie Review

"Skyfall" movie poster.

"Bond's (Daniel Craig) mission is to keep a computer drive that has a list of British agents from being used against them. He chases the man who has it and they have a brawl on top of a train. Eve (Naomie Harris), an agent sent to assist Bond has them in her cross hairs but hesitates to take the shot because she might hit Bond but M (Judi Dench) orders her to take it. She does, and hits Bond who falls into the river and is believed to be dead. A few months later, the British government is upset with MI6 for losing the list; specifically with M. She is told that she'll be allowed to retire but she refuses to leave till the matter is resolved. So she returns to HQ to work on it but as she arrives, there's an explosion. In the meantime, Bond, who is not dead, has been laying low. When he learns of what happened, he returns. And M tasks him with finding the one who has the information. He eventually learns that the man who has it (Javier Bardem), is someone from M's past and who has it in for her." Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com (Link below.)

Directed by Sam Mendes ("Revolutionary Road", "Road to Perdition", "American Beauty") with a screenplay by Neal Purvis ("Quantum of Solace", "Casino Royale"), Robert Wade ("Return to Sender", "Die Another Day"), and John Logan ("The Last Samurai", "The Aviator", "Rango", "Coriolanus") with characters created by Ian Fleming. The screenplay is apparently available here.

Again, I thank SourceFed for its review:

Naomie Harris as "Eve".

That flashlight thing was a problem for me as well.

There is an amazing cast in this film; not only do we have the leads but also: Ben Whishaw as Q, also in "Cloud Atlas", Berenice Marlohe as Severine, Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory, Rory Kinnear as Tanner, M's personal assistant, and Albert Finney as Kincade, who I last saw as a part of "Big Fish".

Javier Bardem as "Silva".

To paraphrase Philip DeFranco: "A man so evil, he turned Javier Bardem's hair blonde."Bardem was an excellent bad guy, even if his reasoning for doing bad guy things wasn't all there. When he was getting frisky with Bond, I kept wanting to laugh; I was thinking, "I can't blame him - have you seen Daniel Craig!" Though many people I know thought the scene was awkward.

The intro was pretty cool with an awesome song that features the crooning voice of Adele and made me feel like I was going through a weird acid trip. I understand that this is the way most, if not all of the Bond films begin. This is the first time I have actually sat through one of these movies. So bare with me.

Berenice Marlohe as "Severine".

I also liked the nods to past Bond films; I understood what and when those moments were happening, but just couldn't place which exact film it was. Oh, Bond movies, how you have shaped cinema forever.

Ben Whishaw as "Q".

I couldn't help but feel a bit chagrined towards critics throughout many of scenes featuring dialogue, because they complained that "The Avengers" was full of quips, yet many are raving that this may be one of the best Bond films to date and all the dialogue was was quips. I don't understand you critic people.

I enjoyed this film and particularly loved the ending and explosions and am actually considering watching more Bond movies. 

I give this movie 4 out of 5 typewriters.

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1074638/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF8KcpeOPKc.

"Cloud Atlas" Movie Review

"Cloud Atlas" movie poster.

"Everything is connected: an 1849 diary of an ocean voyage across the Pacific; letters from a composer to his friend; a thriller about a murder at a nuclear power plant; a farce about a publisher in a nursing home; a rebellious clone in futuristic Korea; and the tale of a tribe living in post-apocalyptic Hawaii, far in the future." Written by Anonymous (Sources below.)

Tom Hanks (L) and Halle Barry.

Based upon the novel by David Mitchell, and written for the screen as well as directed by Tom Tykwer ("Run Lola Run", "Perfume: The Story of A Murderer"), Lana Wachowski ("Speed Racer", "V for Vendetta", "The Matrix Trilogy"), and Andy Wachowski ("Bound", "Assassins"), this movie is a visual feast for the eyes. Also starring some of my favorite actors, Tom Hanks, Halle Barry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Keith David, James D'Arcy, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, David Gyasi, Ben Whishaw, and Xun Zhou. The producers were real slick for this movie: they convinced ten actors to play all of the parts in this film. "Oh, yes, this will make you look great and the budget for this movie won't be too much, but mostly it'll make you look great, Ms. Barry." 

I wasn't sure about this movie at first, but this review from SourceFed helped inspire me to see the film:

Jim Sturgess (L - playing the most badass
boyfriend EVER!) and Doona Bae.

I'm still not sure if I completely understood all that was going on in the movie, but I have the book and a review will be forthcoming. 

I feel bad for the film having to go against the Superstorm Sandy when it came out. I think most people in the Northeast of the states couldn't make it out to the theatre, what with worrying about drowning and the electricity going out. 

If this movie doesn't garner some kind of makeup or special effects awards, or possibly costume design awards, that proves the Oscars are rigged. Now that's a big statement and there are other awards out there, too, but Oscars are big and they make some stupid decisions sometimes. And this was probably one of the more visually enticing films out this year. And possibly one of the best story-wise as well.

Hugo Weaving.

I found it really funny that some of the men played a few of the women and I didn't even realize it. Except for Hugo Weaving, who makes one of the ugliest and tallest women I've ever seen, but he certainly rocked it. I could always tell when it was Tom Hanks, his nose really gives him away. But otherwise the actors were really hidden in their roles, so makeup was amazing.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was beautiful and tragic and awesome. Also, very graphic, I wouldn't recommend this film for anyone under the age of fifteen. "Our lives are not our own."

I give this movie 5 typewriters.

Screenplay is available here: http://www.downloadprovider.me/search/cloud-atlas-screenplay-pdf.html?aff.id=1627.

An example of what the makeup was like in "Cloud Atlas",
featuring Halle Barry in the top row and Tom Hanks in the bottom row.
Found picture here.

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1371111/plotsummary and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1371111/.