The Weekly Movie Watch Volume 1

This week I watched Internal Affairs, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Winter's Tale, Blood Ties.

I watch movies every week and then write down my thoughts. Read my previous reviews!
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it.

Internal Affairs - Richard Gere prepares for a friendly chat.

Internal Affairs (1990)
Watch Internal Affairs
Written by:Henry Bean
Directed by: Mike Figgis
Starring: Richard Gere, Andy Garcia
Rated: R

Plot:
Devious, manipulative detective Dennis Peck is under investigation by the Internal Affairs department.

Review:

Cops and drama, what's not to like? Andy Garcia is the rookie on the IAD squad. Richard Gere is a unscrupulous lifelong beat cop. Gere is a true villain.  Why he  didn't keep doing films like this, I don't know. He should have. The writing is solid, it builds the plot and characters in a way that forces you to think about what you've seen instead of spoon feeding you. How deplorable is the villain and how far will the protagonist fall in his pursuit? It has a very '80s feel to it, the music the style and even the pacing, but it isn't detrimental.
Watch it.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - Steve Carell coping with the end times.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
Watch Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Written by: Lorene Scafaria
Directed by: Lorene Scafaria
Starring:  Steve Carell, Keira Knightley
Rated: R

Plot:
With an asteroid approaching Earth, a man and his neighbor trek across the country to see his high school girlfriend.

Review:
Steve Carell and Keira Knightly deal with the impending apocalypse. It's a great concept, wonderfully executed. It feels a bit more realistic than the everyman trying to save the world. What happens when we deal with the impending apocalypse? Self medication in many forms occurs.
If you think Steve Carrell can't act, he will prove you wrong with this film. though The Way Way Back is a better showcase. This movie is a lot of fun, with some nice cameos. The ending was perfect, which is saying something for a movie like this. It's all too easy to ruin the end.
It depends.

Winter's Tale - Colin Farrell echoing the confusion I felt throughout the movie.

Winter's Tale (2014)
Watch Winter's Tale
Written by: Akiva Goldsman (screenplay), Mark Helprin (novel) 
Directed by: Akiva Goldsman
Starring: Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Russell Crowe
Rated: PG-13

Plot:
A burglar falls for an heiress with a terminal illness, but he can't die.

Review:

Colin Farrell plays a thief that falls in love while robbing a house. It's a simple story mired by a myriad of confusing plot points. The movie is nothing like the trailer. The trailer depicted a great movie. I kept thinking, they can still save this, until forty-five minutes in, when I realized that wasn't going to happen. I was left asking what? A series of disjointed ideas weren't as compelling as the eight minutes, when we return to present day, that make the bulk of the trailer.  I have to hope the source material, a book, is better, and that the movie suffers from trying to cram all the book ideas into two hours. The movie didn't spend enough time on the romance to make it believable, which left the crux of the plot thin. That should have been the focus, leaving the supernatural elements completely out or much more subdued. In the first few minutes the movie establishes supernatural elements that were completely vacant in the trailer. I knew then, this movie might be in trouble. This movie should have been more of Meet Joe Black. I wanted to like this movie. But I, like this movie, ended up lost.
Skip it.

Blood Ties - Serious talks when one brother is a cop and the other a convict.

Blood Ties (2013)
Watch Blood Ties
Written by: Guillaume Canet & James Gray (screenplay), Jacques Maillot and Pierre Chosson and Eric Veniard (film "Les liens du sang"), Bruno Papet and Michel Papet (novel "Deux freres, un flic, un truand")
Directed by: Guillaume Canet
Starring: Clive Owen, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, Matthias Schoenaerts, James Caan
Rated: R

Plot:
Two brothers on opposite sides of the law face off in the '70s Brooklyn.

Review:

Clive Owen and Billy Crudup are brothers on opposite sides of the law. The movie is set in the seventies, and the production values are great. The attention to detail is amazing, adding to the overall look of the film. The heist is reminiscent of Heat in style and precision. There are a number of intense sequences in the movie and the ending is perfect. The perfect acting, and inspiring direction make for a great film.
Watch it.

Blood Ties - Buckle up for a great heist scene.