Sunday, August 9, 2015

The Weekly Movie Watch Volume 55

This week I watched Run All Night, The Loft, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.

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.

Liam Neeson and Joel Kinnamon in Run All Night
Run All Night - Another twist on the Liam Neeson Taken formula.
Run All Night (2015)
Watch Run All Night
Written by: Brad Ingelsby
Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman, Vincent D'Onofrio, Boyd Holbrook, Bruce McGill, Common
Rated: R

Plot: 
Liam Neeson plays former hitman Jimmy Conlan who has to protect his son Michael, played by Joel Kinnamon, from revenge after killing the son of his former boss and best friend played by Ed Harris.

Review:
Really? Another movie that is going to start at the end and then flash back. It's such a cheap move. The movie easily could have started with the third scene that establishes Liam's character perfectly. The story is pretty good, while the fights and chase scenes are average. The introduction of an assassin acting like The Terminator is incredibly over the top. The ending should have been retrained. Despite the faults the movie is pretty good, aided by very good acting. We get a little character development and can relate to the characters. The sum is more than the parts providing an above average action/revenge movie.
It depends.


Wentworth Miller, Karl Urban, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eric Stonestreet, James Marsden in The Loft
The Loft - Hitchcock this isn't. Far, far from it.
The Loft (2014)
Watch The Loft
Written by: Robert Zemeckis & Christopher Browne, Phillipe Petit ( book "To Reach the Clouds")
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Badge Dale, Ben Kingsley
Rated: --

Plot: 
Five married men, Wentworth Miller, Karl Urban, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eric Stonestreet, and James Marsden, share a secret loft apartment. When they discover a dead body, the suspicions begin to fly.

Review:
This movie has a lot of potential that was completely wasted. It's clumsy. The credits are intercut with sex scenes. Intrigue is going to make this movie good, not sex scenes. Clumsy is the word from the directing to the writing, from beginning to end. It's a group of good actors without enough to work with. It has no suspense and a lot of unnecessary surprises. The ending goes off the rails, becoming nearly incoherent and utterly ridiculous with multiple twists one after another.
Skip it.
 

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst
The Jinx - The notorious Robert Durst is profiled in a documentary.
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015)
Watch The Jinx
Written by: Robert Zemeckis & Christopher Browne, Phillipe Petit ( book "To Reach the Clouds")
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Badge Dale, Ben Kingsley
Rated: --

Plot:
This six part documentary profiles Robert Durst, a man suspected of three murders and acquitted of one.

Review:
This crime documentary has a good hook. A man running away from his millionaire family, murder, multiple wives, and plenty of intrigue. The timeline bounces around a bit, but good interviews portray both sides with interviews from Durst himself. Durst seems to like the spotlight. Is he too cocky or completely oblivious? While the ending has a resolution, it feels staged, either by the filmmakers or Durst or craves the limelight yet again.
It depends.

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