Joanna's Movie Reviews
Some people might say that I watch way too many movies. Oh well. Here's my honest opinion on movies that I've watched recently.
Big Eyes
3.5/5
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I’m a big fan of Amy Adams, so I was excited to see her in Tim Burton’s latest film, “Big Eyes.” “Big Eyes” is based on the true story of Margaret Keane (Amy Adams), an artist in the 1960s who specialized in painting children with large and creepy eyes. However, her husband, Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz), rises to worldwide fame and immense wealth by taking credit for his wife’s paintings, forcing Margaret to lie to the world and to her daughter while continuing to produce art to fuel Walter’s rapidly increasing fame. As Walter becomes more and more fame-obsessed, Margaret struggles to find herself under the suffocating weight of her lie. Amy Adams is lovely as Margaret Keane; she perfectly portrays Margaret’s struggle at a time where women didn’t have much of a voice in society. However, the film collapses under Christoph Waltz’s over-the-top performance as Walter Keane, who comes across as a sinister, evil scientist sort of villain rather than a selfish, controlling husband. A subtler performance would have been more effective in portraying Walter’s scheming, greedy, and selfish personality.
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Interstellar
5/5
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Christopher Nolan is known for his visually stimulating, mind blowing long movies, such as the Batman Trilogy and Inception. His latest three hour film, Interstellar, definitely lives up to his signature style. In Interstellar, Matthew McConaughey stars as Cooper, a widowed farmer living in a future world that is battered from global warming and is suffering from a food shortage. Earth is no longer suitable for human life, and NASA is attempting to discover a new planet for human colonization. In order to save the human population on Earth, Cooper must make a choice between watching his children grow up and travelling to space to find a new planet suitable for human colonization. The film takes you through a fascinating and exhilarating ride through space, black holes, and different galaxies, and leaves you feeling utterly mind blown. My meager knowledge on physics was not enough to keep up with the complicated ideas in this film. However, McConaughey gives an outstanding performance as a loving father who sacrifices his own happiness for the sake of humanity. I must admit, I cried a couple times during the film.
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Gone Girl
5/5
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I’ve been impatiently waiting for Gone Girl to come out ever since I read the gripping novel by Gillian Flynn that the movie based on. "Gone Girl" tells the haunting story of the disintegration of Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy Dunne’s (Rosamund Pike) seemingly perfect marriage. When Amy suddenly goes missing on their fifth anniversary, Nick’s life is shaken. Quickly, his odd behaviour and constant lies regarding his wife’s disappearance cause rising suspicions from his friends, the media, and the police. The film tells the story through flashbacks of Nick and Amy’s relationship juxtaposed with the present-day chaos caused by Amy’s disappearance. The director, David Fincher (Fight Club, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), follows the book closely and perfectly captures the eerie tone of the novel. The highlight of the film is Rosamund Pike’s stunning portrayal of Amy Dunne, which kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire film.
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Still Alice
4.5/5
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"Still Alice", based on the by Lisa Genova, dives into the life of 50-year-old Dr. Alice Howland (Julianne Moore), a successful cognitive psychologist at Columbia University, who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Alice begins to forget small things — like the words to an important speech and where she is in her neighborhood — which prompts her to see a neurologist. The film then follows Alice as she struggles to hold on to what has defined her for most of her adult life: her family and her job. Julianne Moore’s gripping, honest, and devastating portrayal of Alice’s decline defines the film. Her subtle yet powerful depiction of Alice captures the anguish and confusion of losing control over your actions and thoughts and, eventually, losing your identity.
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Begin Again
5/5
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In "Begin Again", Mark Ruffalo plays Dan, a struggling record producer, who meets a songwriter, Gretta (Keira Knightley), just after she was dumped by her boyfriend, a famous musician played by Adam Levine. Dan is captivated by Gretta’s songs and decides to collaborate with her to record an album at various public locations around New York City. The album is an escape for both Gretta and Dan, who are at rock bottom in their personal lives. "Begin Again" tells a sweet and heartwarming story about starting over when your personal life is in shambles. When I started the movie, I expected it to be a typical romantic comedy, but I was happily surprised. "Begin Again" is refreshing in the way that it doesn’t follow the typical rom-com formula where boy meets girl and they fall in love and live happily ever after. The film also has some pretty good music to add to your iPod.
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