Movie Review: Primal Fear (1996)

I love crime-based movies. The fun thing about it is how wide it can actually be. Crime/drama, crime-trhiller, crime-comedy, the list goes on. I even like the thing that relates to the crime genre simply known as “Legal Dramas”. I know those are not for everyone, but I can enjoy them (If they’re good). And then I find this legal drama starring Richard Gere and my favorite actor Edward Norton. So indeed I was kind of interested… even though this was quite a while before I realized Ed Norton was my favorite actor. I think I heard about this movie in like January of 2013, and it’s been on my watchlist even since. But now I finally sat down to watch it. So what did I think about the movie? Well stay to find out!

Ladies and gentlemen… “Primal Fear”

This movie is based on the book with the same name by William Diehl and is about defense attorney Martin Vail (Richard Gere) who takes on the job to be the attorney of altar boy Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton) who has been accused of murdering archbishop Rushman (Stanley Anderson). But this movie is a bit more deep than that and doesn’t simply rely on CSI techniques and legal bullshit, oh no. There is so much more to this story than meets the eye… problem is I can’t talk about them since I don’t spoil in my reviews. But while the story in premise was pretty straight forward, the execution and general final product was pretty cool. Not saying it was without it’s flaws however. There are a few things in a sort of side-plot with Martin and one of his personal vendettas that didn’t really interest me too much, but that is not the important stuff. But the story was overall good.

I am going to be completely honest… I did not like all the characters too much. Sure the main protagonist Martin was kind of likeable but he was still a not too interesting jerk. But I was on the other hand intrigued as hell by the character of Aaron Stampler (Norton). Not only was it hightened by Norton’s great performance, but I always felt something was up with him… especially as you get deeper into the plot and further into the movie. I am not saying why if you haven’t seen, but I promise you will also be pretty intrigued. Overall the characters were good but forgettable, except for Aaron.

The music, while nothing special, was pretty good. As you may expect from this type of movie there were a few licensed tracks in it, but there was also an original score by James Newton Howard. And the original score was pretty good, if a little generic. But I did think all the music worked for the movie as a whole.

The camera work in this movie is nothing special, that is the truth. Not saying it was bad, just saying it wasn’t revolutionary or even great to be honest. And speaking of great stuff (not too clever segue, I know), I fucking loved the ending. I thought it was pretty clever how it was set up and delivered, good job movie. I am of course not gonna spoil the edning for you guys because that would be so incredibly rude. But I can at least mention that how it concluded left a small amount to interpretation in what would happen next, and I really liked that about the movie. Great job, movie!

So how was this movie when it comes to the reception? Well as far as I could find out, people enjoyed it. The main factor that people were praising was Edward Norton’s performance (I don’t blame them). On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 74% positive rating. On Metacritic it has the fairly low score of 47/100. Roger Ebert gave the movie 3,5/4 stars and had this little thing to say;

“the plot is as good as crime procedurals get, but the movie is really better than its plot because of the three-dimensional characters,”

On imdb.com this movie has a score of 7,7/10. It was also nominated for One Oscar in the category of Best Supporting Actor (Edward Norton). The nomination does not surprise me to be completely honest… just saying.

This movie has a good plot, decent characters, good music, a really cool ending and a phenomenal perforamnce by Edward Norton. So it is time for the final score. And my final score for “Primal Fear” is an 8,78/10. So I think this movie is worth buying (But it’s not mandatory).

Review for “Primal Fear” is now done.

“Well how the fuck should I know!?”

My Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2015

Hello there my friends! You see this here post? No? Oh, you’re blind? Well I’m sorry, but how could I possibly have known that? Okay, okay… jeez. Hehe, sorry guys, got a little distracted. But today we are looking at yet another countdown from me. And what is it this time exactly? Well, didn’t you read the title? Okay sorry, not going there again! But we are looking at what movies from the upcoming year I am at least curious about. So now we are diving into it… Markus’ Top 10 most anticipated movies of 2015!

Number 10: Chappie.

The new movie by director Neill Blomkamp (“District 9”, “Elysium”) is apparently about a robot who gets adopted by a family (as far as I get it). Like every other Neill Blomkamp movie it stars Sharlto Copley as the titular character (Fine, in “Elysium” he wasn’t the main dude, but you get it!). This is a relative newcomer to my mind and definitely seems very interesting. I think Neill Blomkamp is a great director and this might be a really good movie. I am curious to see where this movie goes.

Number 9: Mad Max: Fury Road.

I am going to be completely honest, I have never seen a “Mad Max” movie before. I don’t want to miss out on them, but I have never gotten the chance to see them though. But this movie seem like it might be pretty cool. There are two factors in this movie that make it seem like it could work out; 1. It stars Tom Hardy who happens to be a great actor. 2. It is directed by the guy who did all the originals, so at least that might give the fanboys some comfort. Boom!

Number 8: The Jungle Book.

I am a huge fan of the original 1967 “Jungle Book” movie by Disney. I first saw it when I was a young lad and it has never lost steam. I love that movie so much, so the news of not one but TWO remakes should worry me. But it doesn’t. I feel like both versions are in pretty good hands. Given one of them actually comes out in 2016 and the other one next year. And the one next year is directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”, “Iron Man 2”, “Chef”) who I think is a pretty good director. But if I can be completely honest I am looking forward to the other one a bit more because it is directed by Andy Serkis… ya know, Gollum, Caesar, the guy knows performance capture! But anyway, this one in 2015 might be a good movie, we’ll see.

Number 7: Mission Impossible 5.

Tom Crusie the crazy bastard! Just look at the picture! Oh shit, I should talk about my thought on the movie and not Tom Cruise and his crazy stunts! Uhm… I liked “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol” and this might be an entertaining movie. It is apparently directed by Christopher McQuarrie who directed the really good action-thriller “Jack Reacher” and also did the writing for “The Usual Suspects”. So the new “M.I.” movie might be pretty good I guess. Tom Cruise you crazy son of a bitch, what the hell are you doing!?

 

Number 6: Mortdecai.

Johnny Deep playing a weirdo again? Yes, but now it is a different type of weirdo than Captain Jack Sparrow. Apparently he is chasing nazi gold in this movie… that’s interesting. It looks like it can a fun action-comedy. It is nice to see Johnny Depp in something other than weird weirdo in a movie for once.

Number 5: Ant-Man.

One of the most under-appreciated superheroes. He can shrink to the size of an Ant and can make himself as big as a fucking building… why is he so unpopular? The guy is rocking some great powers! And this movie with Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas seem like it could be pretty cool… I hope. Everything can go to shit but can at the same time go to some awesome stuff. I don’t know, let’s just see what happens.

Number 4: Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The only reason this movie is one this list is because of that fucking awesome trailer, okay? I didn’t think the first “Avengers” was a masterpiece like everyone else, but I did enjoy it a little bit. Then the trailer for “Avengers: Age of Ultron” got released and holy crap was it awesome! It was dark, haunting and I just loved James Spader’s voice, I think it fits perfectly! So yeah, this might be one of the coolest and hopefully best movie of 2015… who knows?

Number 3: Blackhat.

It is a movie about hacking which is a fascinating subject… and it is directed by Michael Mann who made “Heat” and “Collateral”, two of my favorite movies of all time. It also stars Chris Hemsworth who has proven himself as an actor quite a bit these days. It seems like the “Thunder from Down Under” has attracted the attention of some high-end directors lately. Anyway, this movie seems like it will be really good and I am very optimistic about it.

Number 2: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

I love “Star Wars. There is no reason to deny it, and the lot of you agree with me, I know it! It will feature the original cast and is directed by none other than J.J. Abrams who did the “Star Trek” remake and “Star Trek Into Darkness”, two movies I thought were very good. At first I was a skeptic but now you could say I have… “A New Hope”… eh, eh? Okay, I’ll stop. But this will probably still be good.

Number 1: Jurassic World.

I am not going to lie, this movie (based on the newly released trailer” looks pretty fucking awesome. Not only do the effects look great, but it seems like it has some genuine thrills… and it has CHRIS PRATT AND THE RAPTOR SQUAD! If you don’t know what I am talking about then just go check out the trailer for it… because it is amazing. “Jurassic World” is my most anticipated movie of 2015 and I hope it will be great.

Those were my Ten most Anticipated Movies of 2015. What are some of yours? Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!

See ya!

Movie Review: Road to Perdition (2002)

I am a big fan of mobster related stories, whether it’s from a movie, TV-show, book or even video games. I don’t know why they fascinate me so much, I guess they just kind of do. So then I heard about a mob movie starring one of my favorite actors (Tom Hanks). So of course it got my attention pretty quickly… even though it took me a lot of time before I watched it. But now I have finally gotten the chance to watch it and it’s time to talk about it!

Ladies and gentlemen… “Road to Perdition”.

This movie follows the young boy Michael Sullivan Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin) as he one night watches what his father (Tom Hanks) does for a living… killing people. So after that his mother and younger brother get killed by Connor Rooney (Daniel Craig) who was working with Sullivan sr. that night. So of course our hero must run away with his son to keep him safe. He is also going around hunting down who were part of the death of his family. I know my explanation of the plot if pretty vague but it is difficult talking about this plot without giving you every detail ever. I can at least say that I loved both the premise of the plot and the execution. The movie really explores the relationship between father and son here and how they bond… in a strange way. The story not only brought up some interesting things but was also pretty powerful. So I can safely say that I thoroughly enjoyed the story in this movie.

The characters were really well-written. They didn’t only have great dialogue but also felt very realistic in what came out of their mouths. And the performances in the movie were pretty fucking great if you ask… well, anyone. Tom Hanks is always good, but I feel like this might be one of his best performances in my opinion. Paul Newman was also pretty great in this movie. It was also nice to see Daniel Craig in a great performance that wasn’t James Bond. Jude Law was also really good. Overall every actor did a great job in this movie, but there was one performance that really surprised me with how good it was and that was young Tyler Hoechlin who was only 15 at the time. He honestly gave one of the best child performances I have ever seen. Great job, Tyler!

The score by Thomas Newman is nothing short of great. It really works to create the dark, tense atmosphere of the movie. Yes there were a few more light-hearted parts in both the movie and the score that loosened the tension a little bit but I think that worked pretty damn well. There were a few tracks that I believe weren’t composed by Thomas Newman but were licensed tracks… but they worked too. Every piece of music in this movie really helped capture the time period of the 1930’s which is the time period the movie is set in. So the music was overall great.

This movie is beautifully directed. It is rare to find a movie that looks this great these days. It uses a bunch of longer takes in some scenes which I really appreciate since a lot of modern movies uses cuts every god damn second. I also appreciate how they didn’t use shaky-cam during the more action-y scenes and actually let us see the god damn things on the screen (compared to all modern movies). Here is a fun fact about the movie; It is based on a graphic novel by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner. And to answer your possible question, no I have not read the graphic novel but I kinda wish to.

This movie was fairly well-received. It has an 81% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 72/100. Roger Ebert gave this movie 3/4 stars, and no I couldn’t find a decent quote from him to sum up his thoughts on the movie, but I could at least assume he liked it since it got 3/4 stars. Anyway, on imdb.com it has a score of 7,8/10. The movie won an Oscar for Best cinematography. It was also nominated for another 5 Oscars in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Paul Newman), Best set decoration, Best sound, Best sound editing, Best original score. 

This movie features an interesting/powerful story, great performances and writing, great music, beautiful camera work/cinematography and an overall great atmosphere. So now I am going to hand out my final score for this movie. So my final score for “Road to Perdition” is a 9,71/10 which grants it the one and only “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”

“Road to Perdition” is now reviewed.

R.I.P Paul Newman.

My Sites

How’s it going guys? I’m sorry that there haven’t been that many posts in a while, I have been busy/lazy recently. I will try to get a review up as soon as possible. Anyway, I thought I should maybe update you about which websites (other than this) you can follow me. So here we go!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themarckoguy

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMarckoguy

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3TCxaL5nQLPEQNty2Meg1A/feed

Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/themarckoguy

imdb: http://www.imdb.com/user/ur40199300/?ref_=nb_usr_prof_0

Rotten Tomatoes: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/id/959250165

Go ahead and follow me on these sites if you want. I think you might find something you’ll like/enjoy at these sites.

See ya!

My Favorite scenes: 25th Hour – Monologue

Hello my friends, it’s me again! Time again to share one of my favorite scenes from a movie. And what is it this time? Well it is the monologue/rant given by Montgomery Brogan (Edward Norton) in the amazing Spike Lee directed movie “25th Hour”. In this scene out “hero” gives a rant about the entirety of New York. Not only is it incredibly well-written but this scene really let Edward Norton give a fantastic performance. This scene is so intense… and there’s not even any action. I love this scene so much and that is why I want to share it with you! Warning: This scene is full of the F-word and controversial statements… and that just makes it so damn good.

 

Movie Revisit: Fight Club (1999)

The other day I created a poll for you guys in celebration of reaching over 1000 views. Well now the deadline is due and it is time to show you the result which if you didn’t read the title is a review of the 1999 movie “Fight Club”. I have made references to my opinion on “Fight Club” in many of my other reviews but I will still review it for you guys since it was the one with the most amount of votes at the deadline.

So sit back and relax as I take you on a review of David Fincher’s 1999 movie, “Fight Club”!

The movie follows a guy who is simply credited as “The Narrator” (Edward Norton). He is just miserable. He works at an office (which is boring) he got nothing exciting in his life… and on top of that he has insomnia. So when he goes to the doctor for help he is told to go visit a support group for men with testicular cancer (the movie explains why). And at these meetings he notices that when he can cry along with them he can actually get some sleep. But it gets ruined when another faker named Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) enters since he knows she is also faking. But one day he meets this guy named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) who is basically the exact opposite of what The Narrator is. And in turn they start… a “Fight Club”. This story is very difficult talking about without getting into spoilers since there is so much to talk about. Now anyway, the concept of the story is different and pretty cool. But the execution is even cooler. I honestly did not know what to expect when I watched “Fight Club” for the very first time, it caught me completely of guard. From the moment the opening credits start to the very end I was invested in the very detailed and weird story. What I also like about the story is that it manages to get so many events and things in there without making it all feel forced and make it all relevant in one way or another. The story in both concept and execution gets a big thumbs up from me.

The characters I would say is what really makes this movie. Sure the story is different and really cool but the characters is really what brings it up a lot. The story is the bone and the characters are the meat. But back to the explanation of the characters themselves…ish. They are all fantastically written and are also incredbily well-acted. Let’s start with the Narrator. He is miserable, he is not happy with his life and Edward Norton brings it out perfectly with his performance. The next (and final one) I’m gonna talk about is Tyler Durden, who I swear is the coolest motherfucker ever! He is what I would call the embodiment of total freedom, which can be both good and bad. He is just free in every way possible. He doesn’t give a shit about anything and that is what makes him so interesting… and unpredictable. But he is also surprisingly deep for a chaotic genius played by pretty boy Brad Pitt. Overall the characters are very good in  both writing and acting.

The music by The Dust Brothers (Not to be confused with the Chemical Brothers) is fantastic. The tracks really help create the feeling of how ddark and dirty this town the movie is set in is. The music feels very dark and cold but even a little groovy. It really help build the atmosphere of the scenes the respective songs are used in perfectly and it just makes me want to buy it… like, right now. I also have to give a little praise to the creators of this movie for the fantastic use of the song “Where is my mind?” by The Pixies in the movie. Yes they only use it once, but they do it in the best way they possibly could.

The camera work and overall cinematography in this movie is in lack of better words… FUCKING AMAZING! The look of the movie is (like the music) dark and dirty which just helps build everything from atmosphere to important story points to perfection. This movie is also really funny… if you have a dark sense of humor, that is. And it isn’t the type of slapstick/under the belt humor but rather very dark and almost a little sophisticated. This movie will really test what you can laugh at. This movie is also one of the most well-written movies ever made and I am not afraid to say it. The dialogue and philosophy of this movie is fantastic and just helps make the movie even better than it originally was. I was also surprised to hear the fact that this movie is based on a book… yeah. The author’s name is Chuck Palahniuk (pronounced Pa-lah-nick apparently) and he have made more books than “Fight Club”. And no, I have not read the original book even though I wish to do it since I want to see how this movie started in book format.

This movie when it first came out wasn’t that well-received. Most critics didn’t like this movie at first. It also didn’t make too much in the U.S. domestic box office. But later on critics changed their minds and they started saying they liked it. But anyway, time for what the movie got on different sites. On Rotten Tomatoes “Fight Club” has an 80% positive rating with a “Fresh” certification. Like most times, Metacritic got the lowest (based on the major movie sites I reference) score for this movie with a score of 66/100. Then we have what Mr. Roger Ebert said about this movie… he didn’t really like it. He gave it 2 out of 4 stars. And while there isn’t really a good quote I can find to show what he thought I can at least say his review was kinda mixed in opinions. But that isn’t important. And finally we have how this movie is rated on our good ol’ friend imdb.com. On imdb it has the score of 8,9/10 and it is ranked #10 on the “Top 250” list. “Fight Club” was also nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best sound effects editing.

“Fight Club” got an interesting and different story, tremendous acting, great music, fantastic camera work, amazing atmosphere, great comedy and one of the best twists in any movie ever (Not going to spoil it). So now it is time to once again hand out my final score for “Fight Club”. My final score for “Fight Club” is a 10/10. This movie is in my opinion perfect in every way possible and couldn’t be better even if it tried. In other words it of course gets the one and only… “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”

“Fight Club” is once again reviewed here on the blog.

The existence of this review is kind of ironic considering the first and second rules of “Fight Club”.

Movie Review: Interstellar (2014)

You may not be aware of this, but I am a huge fan of Christopher Nolan. I think he is a fantastic director with a keen eye for good direction and how to make movie I wll like. Hell, his movie “Inception” is honestly in my Top 5. So when I heard he was making anotehr movie I was of course stoked. And now it has arrived…but what did I think of it? Is it worth seeing or did Nolan finally make a piece of shit? Let’s find out!

Ladies and gentlemen… “Interstellar”.

This is the story about farmer simply called Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) who lives a semi-quiet life with his daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy), his son Tom (Timothée Chalament) and his father in law Donald (John Lithgow). But one day that changes when he has to go into space to find a new habitable planet since the resources on earth are dying. But he doesn’t go alone, oh no. He got the help of an elite team made up of the people Amelia (Anne Hathaway), Doyle (Wes Bentley) and Romilly (David Gyasi). And out there they will use a wormhole to find a new planet to save humanity…ish. Sounds like pretty standard sci-fi stuff right? Well there is more to it since you know, it is a Christopher Nolan film. Yes the premise is simple enough but the final product is a lot more complex… and I really really liked it. I thought Nolan managed to direct the story with enough twists and turns to keep it interesting while at the same time keeping pretty straight forward…ish. To some people the story will probably get too complex and therefore they will not enjoy it as much as I did. However it is not perfect since there are a few moments (Not gonna spoil ’em) that made me call out a little convenience bullshit on them. But overall the story was good.

The characters are mostly good but not all get full backgrounds and motivations. But they are at least all consistent with one thing… they are all very well-acted! The actors in this movie all do a tremendous job in their roles and that hightens the movie quite a bit. The most interesting character in this movie is of course Matthew McConaughey. Not only does he give and Oscar worthy performance but he is also well-written and got a good motivation to why he does this job… to help his family. The character I found the least interesting (which is weird) was Anne Hathaway. Don’t worry, her performance was good but her character was simply not that interesting to me. But overall here when it comes to characters and acting in this movie I was pleased.

I don’t have to tell you that the music is great because you already knew that since it’s done by Hans Zimmer. But I guess I have to motivate a little why I liked it. The music not only felt big and epic in lack of better words but it was also very dark and eerie and really gave a sense of isolation and detachment. The music was fantastic and I loved it. I will probably try to buy the soundtrack when it comes out.

Another thing I probably don’t have to tell you about is the fact that the visual effects in this movie are fucking spectacular. I really got the feeling like I was part of the movie in those scenes (Even though I didn’t see the movie in 3D). And this is something I have to admit everytime it happens… I cried about two times during this movie. No not from the beautiful effects, no not from the surprising comedic moments in the movie but from things that made me simply cry. Ya know, things that were kinda sad. Of course I will not spoil them here but I still felt like telling you. Also, don’t look up anything about it since you might get a few spoilers about plot and certain characters.

I know this movie just came out but I can still tell you how it’s reception is (At the time of this review). On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 72% positive rating with a “Fresh” certification. On Metacritic it has a score of 73/100. And finally on imdb.com it has a 9,2/10 and is ranked #22 on the “Top 250” list.

This movie got a good story (With a few conveniences), good characters with great acting, a fantastic score by Hans Zimmer, fantastic visual effects, surprisingly good humor and a good sense of how to keep me interested… keep it complex and dramatic. And yes, making me cry is an achievment of it’s own. So now I am ready to hand out my final score. Sooooo, my final score for “Interstellar” is a 9,78/10. This movie is terrific and therefore deserves the “SEAL OF APPROVAL!”

My most anticipated movie of the year, “Interstellar” is now reviewed.

Matthew McConaughSpace to the rescue!

Vote…I suppose.

Hello there guys! Today I wanted to give you a little something extra as a thank you for helping me reach over 1000 views on the blog. So I created a poll where you can and will be able to vote for a movie I have reviewed…that you want me to revisit. The poll ends this saturday. Just plac e your vote in it and everything will be fine!
Again, thank you all for the views and the follows and everything…you guys rock!

We did it!

We did it, you guys! We got the blog to over 1000 views! I know that to some of you people it might be something you see every day, but to me it is huge because I am just a guy from a small town in Sweden. Thank you so much for the help and I hope that we will reach a lot further together!

We did it!

My Favorite Scenes: Fight Club – Hit me

It’s been a while, but now it’s back… “My Favorite Scenes”. And today we will be talking about a scene from my favorite movie “Fight Club”. Sure the movie is full of fantastic scenes, but I feel like this one stands out more than most of them. This is the scene where The Narrator (Edward Norton) and Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) have their first fight in the parking lot of a bar. Now this scene is great because this is where the “Fight Club” part of “Fight Club” starts kicking in… and I love the dark comedy that is implemented in the scene… and the entire movie. So, I hope you will enjoy this little scene from this 1999 masterpiece!

Fight Club – Hit me