Showing posts with label Scarlett Johansson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scarlett Johansson. Show all posts
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| Hitchcock (Hopkins) and Leigh (Johansson) share a ride and a laugh |
HITCHCOCK (2012). Director: Sacha Gervasi.
"I was filming all day with John Gavin. Plywood is more expressive!" -- Hitchcock supposedly talking about actor John Gavin
If you take it with a grain of salt, this is an interesting and entertaining look at Alfred Hitchcock during the days when he was making Psycho, detailing the skepticism with which the project was greeted by the studio and others, showing how he cast the film and got along with the people he made it with. Did Hitch really peep at Vera Miles (Jessica Biel) while she was undressing? Probably not, but Hitchcock takes certain, shall we say, dramatic liberties. Anthony Hopkins is really nothing like Hitch, but his performance is still good, and Helen Mirren is excellent as his wife and collaborator, Alma, who seems very drawn to a novelist (Danny Huston) who is working on a screenplay with her. The best scene has Alma telling off Hitchcock in blunt if loving fashion late in the movie. Scarlet Johansson makes an effective and personable Janet Leigh. James D'Arcy gets little to do as Anthony Perkins, but the private lives of the actors in Psycho generally go unexplored and some -- such as Martin Balsam and John Gavin -- barely appear at all. The relationship between Alfred and Alma is depicted primarily as a loving and professional friendship. Hitchcock barely touches on the outrage and disgust that the film engendered in many quarters when it was released. The film is good-looking and well-paced.
Verdict: If you don't take it seriously as biography, this is a nice picture all told. ***.
Summer Assemble!
It’s been years in the making, and now, it is here. We’ve been teased with an Avengers film for years as Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) found his way into the end of Iron Man, Captain America and more throughout the years. Now it’s time for the Avengers to assemble as Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is here to create chaos here on Earth.
Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is still my fave in the film with his smart-alecky wit and all around element of cool. Ruffalo rocks as he takes over the David Banner role. I just loved the characters and quite frankly I can’t wait to see them assemble again. Now that the background is out there, I can only imagine where the next film goes.
The Avengers is one half brilliant and one half so-so. Thank goodness the brilliant part is the way we end the film and what you remember on your way home. Summer assemble; The Avengers are here to kick things off with a bang.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
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| Assembling May 4, 2012 |
As the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury has brought together the best super heroes in the world. There is the cocky but confident Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) that takes the leadership role within the group. The confident and always American Steve Rogers aka Captain America (Chris Evans). They have to dig deep to find Bruce Banner aka The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) as Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) finds out. (sheesh…I’m saying AKA a lot) Don’t forget Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Clint “Hawkeye” Barton (Jeremy Renner) even though at least one of these spends most of this movie on the wrong side of the group.
The movie follows a quick look at the back story of our hereoes as they come together to fight Loki. Once they are together, it will take some additional cajoling from the likable Fury to give them the last push they need to get the job done. Now can the Avengers save us from Loki, or are we destined for failure?
This is a movie of two parts. I came into the film expecting that the back story of the characters was a little implied. Fury showing up in so many of the other individual films led me to believe that he would have done his “assembling” off screen coming between the other films and this effort. Instead, director Joss Whedon spends small periods of time with each character, showing that the “assemble” part is not as easy as you think.
This period of expository really tended to drag. I couldn’t wait for the action to start as these characters really needed to kick some butt.
Despite my reservations with the first half of the film…the second half kicked major butt (in more ways than one). Once the Avengers are assembled and they begin the assault to take back the Earth the movie is non-stop action and fun. The sequences are some of the best in the movies and the dialogue is witty and clever. Those two things alone make for an intensely fun experience at the movies.
Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark is still my fave in the film with his smart-alecky wit and all around element of cool. Ruffalo rocks as he takes over the David Banner role. I just loved the characters and quite frankly I can’t wait to see them assemble again. Now that the background is out there, I can only imagine where the next film goes.
The Avengers is one half brilliant and one half so-so. Thank goodness the brilliant part is the way we end the film and what you remember on your way home. Summer assemble; The Avengers are here to kick things off with a bang.
B+ / B
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Director: Joss Whedon
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. JacksonRating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, and a mild drug reference.
Runtime: 2 hours 22 minutes