Watch Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Online

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
iMDB Rating: 8.1

Date Released : 22 June 1966

Genre : Drama

Stars : Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis

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George and Martha are a middle aged married couple, whose charged relationship is defined by vitriolic verbal battles, which underlies what seems like an emotional dependence upon each other. This verbal abuse is fueled by an excessive consumption of alcohol. George being an associate History professor in a New Carthage university where Martha's father is the President adds an extra dimension to their relationship. Late one Saturday evening after a faculty mixer, Martha invites Nick and Honey, an ambitious young Biology professor new to the university and his mousy wife, over for a nightcap. As the evening progresses, Nick and Honey, plied with more alcohol, get caught up in George and Martha's games of needing to hurt each other and everyone around them. The ultimate abuse comes in the form of talk of George and Martha's unseen sixteen year old son, whose birthday is the following day.

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Review :

Distilled Human Viciousness

Ailing couple George (Burton) and Martha (Taylor) invite a young couple over for a late-night drink - much to quiet and repressed George's annoyance - and what starts off as a twisted game by sultry Martha to annoy her husband and get her way with young stud Nick (George Segal) ends up in a horrific duel of wits.

Adapted from the play and boasting very few locations, "Virginia Woolf" is notable for many unsuspected reasons. Designed for the stage, the film makes the story uniquely cinematic and tense, amped up by stunning photography (in Black and White, a daring choice in 1966). The younger leads are superb, but Burton and Taylor still manage to walk away with film, giving stunning renditions of the world's most demented couple. They make the surreal dialogue hurt and touch in ways never thought possible.

Though there are countless reasons to recommend this jewel of a film, there are also reasons why one would wish to avoid it. This is the kind of film that makes you feel like having a showing (or a very concentrated drink) to wash away the grit and human evil and pain absorbed. You'll feel dirty, but in a way you'll also feel enlightened: that a small character film can carry more punch than any explosion-packed blockbuster out there is a thing of beauty indeed!

Watch Jurassic Park Online

Jurassic Park (1993)
iMDB Rating: 8.0

Date Released : 11 June 1993

Genre : Adventure, Sci-Fi

Stars : Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough

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Size : 870 MB



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Huge advancements in scientific technology have enabled a mogul to create an island full of living dinosaurs. John Hammond has invited four individuals, along with his two grandchildren, to join him at Jurassic Park. But will everything go to plan? Especially when one of the parks' own workers attempts to steal the dinosaur embryos, and has to shut down critical security systems in the process. It's now a race for survival with dangerous creatures roaming all over the island.

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Review :

As said, the Definitive blockbuster movie

What can be said about this movie that hasn't already been said? Who knows. We all know that this has some of the greatest special effects, even today. Also, if there's anything that can match the awesome T-Rex, it's the movie's musical score. I swear, listen to it more than once, and you're bound to see the movie yet again, if for that sole reason. It's that powerful. Oh sure, acting isn't this movie's strong suit, but who looks for acting in a Dinosaur thriller? Who?!

Anyway, I think I've made my point. Jurassic Park: One of America's greatest classics. Steven Spielberg created magic with this movie. If you haven't seen it once, you haven't seen it at all.

Streaming The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Online

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
iMDB Rating: 8.1

Date Released : 28 May 1962

Genre : Drama, Romance, Western

Stars : James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin

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Size : 700 MB



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When Senator Ransom Stoddard returns home to Shinbone for the funeral of Tom Doniphon, he recounts to a local newspaper editor the story behind it all. He had come to town many years before, a lawyer by profession. The stage was robbed on its way in by the local ruffian, Liberty Valance, and Stoddard has nothing to his name left save a few law books. He gets a job in the kitchen at the Ericson's restaurant and there meets his future wife, Hallie. The territory is vying for Statehood and Stoddard is selected as a representative over Valance, who continues terrorizing the town. When he destroys the local newspaper office and attacks the editor, Stoddard calls him out, though the conclusion is not quite as straightforward as legend would have it.

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Review :

Ford's chamber Western

Some films are slow to give up their secrets first time round and need some time to elapse before they are revalued. An opportunity to see "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" after a gap of several years turned out to be an unexpectedly rewarding experience. It had never been one of my favourite Ford films; indeed I was always puzzled why many rate it so highly in the canon. Its rather plain black-and-white visuals smack of low production values and it has little of the grand operatic sweep of many of his other Westerns. I can now see that I was rather missing the point: "Liberty Valance" is that rare thing, a chamber Western, a quiet and elegiac reappraisal of the legends of the West made almost at the end of Ford's creative career with "Cheyenne Autumn" the only Western still to come. A U.S. senator played by James Stewart returns with his wife (Vera Miles at her most attractive) to the small Western town, where, as a young man, he tied to set up a law business, to attend the funeral of the man (John Wayne) who saved his life when he tried to rid the community of its villain, Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). Ford's Westerns had always been the stuff of legend. Now, towards the end of his career, he began to take the legend apart. The hero is not the one who goes on to become one of the town's most illustrious sons but the quiet man who fades into the background. It needs more than idealism to overcome evil, the film seems to be saying, Brute force has to be countered by brute force; moreover, true worth is not always rewarded or recognised by society. It is a bleak message that Ford is giving us. By homing in on character and plot to a far greater extent than usual, he gives us an experience that is often more akin to filmed theatre than cinema. There are unusually long sequences in studio built interiors, the diner, the bar and a theatre where an election adoption meeting is taking place. Outdoor sequences are few and far between. Instead of a large collective enemy such as marauding Indian tribes there is just the one baddy and his pair of sycophants. The pivotal action scene where Liberty Valance receives his just deserts takes place in a dark street and has none of the climactic sense of drama to be found in such shootouts as "My Darling Clementine" of Zinnemann's "High Noon". I can at last see that those very limitations that for so so long prevented me from appreciating "Liberty Valance" give it a sense of concentration and strength that the Western rarely achieves.

Watch Anatomy of a Murder (1959) Online

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
iMDB Rating: 8.1

Date Released : 1 September 1959

Genre : Crime, Drama, Mystery

Stars : James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell

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Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara), a lieutenant in the army, is arrested for the murder of a bartender, Barney Quill. He claims, in his defense, that the victim had raped and beaten up his wife Laura (Lee Remick). Although Laura supports her husband's story, the police surgeon can find no evidence that she has been raped. Manion is defended by Paul Biegler (James Stewart), a rather humble small-town lawyer. During the course of interviews, Biegler discovers that Manion is violently possessive and jealous, and also that his wife has a reputation for giving her favors to other men. Biegler realizes that the prosecution will try to make the court believe that Laura was the lover of the bartender and than Manion killed him and beat her up when he discovered them together. Manion pleads "not guilty" and Biegler, who knows that his case is weak, sets his assistants to try to find a witness who will save Manion.

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Review :

Gray Anatomy

Anatomy Of a Murder is probably Otto Preminger's best film. It's certainly my favorite. Adapted from a novel by Robert Traver, it tells the story of a lawyer in northern Michigan and his defense of a particularly surly and violent murderer. As is always the case with Preminger, scenes are filmed mostly with all the characters present in the frame. There is no cross-cutting to speak of, which is to say the drama plays out with the assorted characters confronting one another, or at any rate with one another, and the effect is one of surprising warmth and good feeling in the movie's cosier scenes, which for once enhance rather than detract from the drama. I would have been quite happy to have spent much more time in lawyer Biegler's house and study, with its books, old furniture and broken typewriter, but alas this is a murder case so one has to get down to businss.

The question of whether the defendant, an army officer, was temporarily insane, is in fact insane, or is merely putting on a good show, is never fully resolved. The lawyer is by no means perfect. He's a little lazy, though he gets over it. One senses he's cheap. He enjoys his shabby genteel bachelor's life and isn't always responsive to the needs of his secretary, who would like to get paid more regularly. In the end he proves far more dedicated and brilliant than we might have first imagined him to be, but the fly in the buttermilk is that the better he gets the more complicated the case becomes, and the more ambiguous everything gets the more he finds out about his client and the man he killed. In this respect the movie is a masterpiece of ambiguity. Beautifully shot on location in black and white, it is more gray than anything else. Morally gray. No one is quite what he appears to be at first. And people change; or rather we learn more about them. The bartender at the resort where his boss was killed at first comes off as a jerk; in time he comes to seem more of a jerk. Then he seems maybe not so bad after all; and then he's a jerk once more, but a jerk we understand. The lawyer's assistant, an on-again, off-again recovering alcoholic, is also a mixed bag. He is dogged but sloppy, and always (or so it appears) on the verge of breakdown. Or at least this is how Arthur O'Connell plays him. The prosecuting attorney is a dolt, but he is aided by a legal bigwig the state has brought in, but this hotshot is no match for the cunning country lawyer. The defendant's wife, who 'started the whole thing' is gorgeous, sexy and provocative. She makes a play for her husband's lawyer, but he doesn't bite. One wonders about her. And one wonders about the marriage she and her hot-tempered spouse really have, and whether it will last.

This is a very sophisticated and adult movie for 1959, or for that matter today. The location filming greatly enhances the mood, chilly and very upper midwestern. Yet indoors one feels different, and the tone is often playful. The actors are superb. James Stewart is gritty, lovable, homespun, physically slow and mentally quick; and for all the familiarity there is about his screen persona, out of character, that is, in character he manages continually to surprise and delight. He was a true actor. Ben Gazzara is very Method actorish, which suits him well in his role as the volatile military man. Lee Remick is stunning as his wife, and one can well imagine a man killing for her, many times over. She is also a good actress. George C. Scott plays the state's bulldog prosecutor well, though he's an acquired taste at best. His hamminess contrasts with Stewart's folksy naturalism in interesting ways not ungermane to the plot, but he is out-acted and outclassed by the old pro he is presumably upstaging in this film.

Streaming All Quiet on the Western Front Online

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
iMDB Rating: 8.0

Date Released : 24 August 1930

Genre : Drama, War

Stars : Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray, Arnold Lucy

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This is an English language film (made in America) adapted from a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque. The film follows a group of German schoolboys, talked into enlisting at the beginning of World War 1 by their jingoistic teacher. The story is told entirely through the experiences of the young German recruits and highlights the tragedy of war through the eyes of individuals. As the boys witness death and mutilation all around them, any preconceptions about "the enemy" and the "rights and wrongs" of the conflict disappear, leaving them angry and bewildered. This is highlighted in the scene where Paul mortally wounds a French soldier and then weeps bitterly as he fights to save his life while trapped in a shell crater with the body. The film is not about heroism but about drudgery and futility and the gulf between the concept of war and the actuality.

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Review :

Wilhelmine Perspective

Erich Maria Remarque's novel and the film made from it may possibly be the greatest anti-war statement ever created. All Quiet on the Western Front won a deserved Best Picture Academy Award in the year it came out and brought great prestige to Universal Pictures as the first Oscar in that category won by that studio.

Lew Ayres is the student leader of a bunch of German school boys in 1914 who listen to the voice of their school master and enlist in the war that's just been declared. The whole class enlists and that's not hyperbole because in Germany at the time it was the boys who got the education and the girls if they got it, got it separately from the boys.

I'm sure that viewers of All Quiet on the Western Front today probably are asking why that school master and so many of his generation were urging their youth on to such folly. Very simply that their generation had a quick victory in 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War. Every generation since wars were recorded figures their war experience will be the same for their children.

Only it wasn't. On the western front the Allied and Central Powers armies were locked in a bitter stalemate that ran diagonally across France and Belgium from the English Channel to the Swiss border. This went on for a little over four years. In fact had it not been for the fact that America joined the Allied side and the French and British held out until they did, I'm sure an honest armistice would have been declared long before November 11, 1918.

You lived, fought and died in those trenches. Either you were defending or you were attacking the other guy's trenches against murderous automatic weapon fire and long distance artillery batteries. All Quiet on the Western Front was the first great war film of the American sound era and graphically shows that.

And it shows that from the enemy perspective. That's something today's audience can't appreciate, the fact that the film was from the Wilhelmine German perspective. Remember these were the enemy a dozen years before. But the experience in the trenches was universal.

Lew Ayres became a star with this film and it effected him so deeply that he became a committed pacifist which caused later problems in his career. He's the voice of reason and civilization and the voice of a lost generation of Germans who would never have listened to the demagogic appeals of the Nazis.

Louis Wolheim plays the veteran soldier who befriends Ayres and his school boy chums and teaches them how to survive in the trenches. It turned out to be his greatest role. He was a brutish looking man and played mostly those types in silent films. All Quiet on the Western Front would have been the start of a whole new career opening. But Wolheim died the following year just as he was to start filming The Front Page. Adolphe Menjou took the part of Walter Burns in that film which Wolheim was to have.

The third really stand out performance is that of John Wray who some might remember as the brutal prison guard in Each Dawn I Die. Wray plays an officious mail man who is in the German Army Reserve. He gets called up and this little nobody gets rather impressed with himself and his new found authority as a training sergeant to Ayres and his friends. Later on at the front, he gets a view of combat he wasn't quite ready for.

All Quiet on the Western Front with its eternal message of peace and life will be one eternal film, it will be shown and appreciated for many generations to come.

Streaming The Exorcist (1973) Online

The Exorcist (1973)
iMDB Rating: 8.0

Date Released : 26 December 1973

Genre : Horror

Stars : Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb

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A visiting actress in Washington, D.C., notices dramatic and dangerous changes in the behavior and physical make-up of her 12-year-old daughter. Meanwhile, a young priest at nearby Georgetown University begins to doubt his faith while dealing with his mother's terminal sickness. And, book-ending the story, a frail, elderly priest recognizes the necessity for a show-down with an old demonic enemy.

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Review :

An intense and very terrifying movie that will make you sleep with the bible a few nights in a row

The Exorcist is one of the best movies to come out of the 70's and deserves better than slowly descending down the top 250. It's one of those essential films you have to see in order to understand what a movie truly is and this is more than a horror film. Unfortunately there are so many people who are saying they got bored, I think because they expected a terrifying movie, people! This isn't a slasher movie, this isn't some scary Michael Myers that you can shoot, this is a story about normal people in a normal house and upstairs there is a little girl who happens to be possessed by "The devil himself". Faith is so strong and when it's shaken, anything in your imagination can run wild.

First off the actors: Ellen Burstyn plays Chris McNeil, an actress working in Washington, D.C. on a film. She is the mother of Regan, the little girl who is possessed. I felt such sorrow for Chris, when she begs Father Karras to help her with Regan, I almost cried for her. Her daughter is not sick, this is nothing she can give Regan a pill and she'll be better. Her speech to Father Karras later on in the film: "You show me Regan's double, same face, same voice, everything. And I'd know it wasn't Regan. I'd know in my gut. Now, I want you to tell me that you know for a fact that there's nothing wrong with my daughter, except in her mind. You tell me for a fact that an exorcism wouldn't do any good! You tell me that!" sent shivers down my spine, this woman knows what Regan needs and will do whatever she can.

We have Linda Blair who plays Regan and she was so great for a 12 year old actress. This little apple faced girl became one of the most frightening images of the 70's and still to this day. She's not scary because she's swearing, this little innocent girl has been taken over by forces that she shouldn't even know about. Jason Miller as Father Karras, for a man who had never acted professionally before, he was quite amazing as a priest who just lost his mother and his faith has been shaken up. Max Von Sydow as Father Merrin was so strong and he was like in his 20's playing a man in his 90's. He was robbed of an Oscar, he was so believable and just amazing during the exorcism scene.

The effects? People! This was the 70's and they made a bed float! They turned this little angel's face into a hideous creature! If you watch the documentary "Fear of God: The Making of the Exorcist", Ellen Burstyn gets slapped by Regan in the film and she had kind of a rope tied around her waist. When the stunt man pulled her back, Billy the director told the guy to let her have it and he YANKED her back hard causing real pain in Ellen's back and that was an actual scream in the movie. They froze the room to the point as were moisture got into the set and there was a layer of snow in the morning they were shooting. There was no CGI, this was the real deal and I believe could truly help the actors. Linda Blair was being thrashed up and down during one of the possessed scenes where the bracing came loose and caused slamming of metal to her back repeatedly and her screams were also very real and bone chilling.

William Freidkin is the director of The Exorcist, and there was no better choice. This guy took this picture seriously, so far as to shoot a gun offstage or scream obscenities to get an actor's shocked reaction on film. He slapped almost punched Reverend William O'Malley who played Father Dyer to get him to shake during his reciting the Last Rites to Father Karras. He almost would have killed to make this picture and anyone doing it.

Weither or not the set of The Exorcist was truly cursed with a total of 9 deaths linked to the film, a fire on the set with no apparent reason, and the total feeling of evil around the room, we'll never know. But The Exorcist is a true motion picture never to missed or deserve no more than the true compliments it should get! This is the film that should be shown to any aspiring film makers. It's a masterpiece of a film that's more than a mere horror flick.

10/10

Watch Memories of Murder (2003) Online

Memories of Murder (2003)
iMDB Rating: 8.1

Date Released : 2 May 2003

Genre : Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Stars : Kang-ho Song, Sang-kyung Kim, Roe-ha Kim, Jae-ho Song. In 1986, in the province of Gyunggi, in South Korea, a second young and beautiful woman is found dead, raped and tied and gagged with her underwear. Detective Park Doo-Man and Detective Cho Yong-koo, two brutal and stupid local detectives without any technique, investigate the murder using brutality and torturing the suspects, without any practical result. The Detective Seo Tae-Yoon from Seoul ..." />

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In 1986, in the province of Gyunggi, in South Korea, a second young and beautiful woman is found dead, raped and tied and gagged with her underwear. Detective Park Doo-Man and Detective Cho Yong-koo, two brutal and stupid local detectives without any technique, investigate the murder using brutality and torturing the suspects, without any practical result. The Detective Seo Tae-Yoon from Seoul comes to the country to help the investigations and is convinced that a serial-killer is killing the women. When a third woman is found dead in the same "modus-operandi", the detectives find leads of the assassin.

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Review :

Great serial killer drama

I'm one of those people who tend to think that South Korean movies are perhaps a bit too slow-paced for my taste. Memories of Murder isn't a fast-paced film, by any means, but this time the slow pace made this movie about an investigation of serial killings so much better than 95% of its American counterparts.

Essentially, Memories of Murder is a drama first with thriller and comedy elements (yes, in the first hour or so the movie is actually quite funny). Kang-ho Song and Sang-kyung Kim are brilliant as the two cops who have drastically different views on how to solve a crime. The character development is fascinating and believable thanks to a great script.

Highly recommended.

Streaming Rocky Online

Rocky (1976)
iMDB Rating: 8.0

Date Released : 3 December 1976

Genre : Drama, Sport

Stars : Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers

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Rocky Balboa is a struggling boxer trying to make the big time, working as a debt collector for a pittance. When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed visits Philadelphia, his managers want to set up an exhibition match between Creed and a struggling boxer, touting the fight as a chance for a "nobody" to become a "somebody". The match is supposed to be easily won by Creed, but someone forgot to tell Rocky, who sees this as his only shot at the big time.

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Review :

The Raging Bull Named Rocky...

"Rocky" is about a man. It is the story of a man who exceeds past all normal expectations and makes the most out of what he is doing. What is he doing? Boxing. Why? As Rocky says in the film, "You have to be a moron to want to box."

Rocky is played by Sylvester Stallone, whose only other film before "Rocky" was "Weekend at Kitty and Stud's," and, as you can probably guess by the title, it was an X-rated movie. But Stallone gives just about the best performance of his career here. Before he started getting into recycled action movies and unfunny comedies, the man had talent, as seen shining through in "Rocky." Somewhere along the way he lost that talent, but it's pretty evident that he had it at one time.

Stallone wrote the script, which is about a down-on-his-luck Philadelphia man named Rocky Balboa. Rocky is your average tough-guy you see walking down the street, but this film takes a closer look INTO the guy walking past you, and not AT the guy walking past you.

He lives in a beat-up, old apartment, infested with roaches, and he barely makes enough money to support himself. His job? Rocky retrieves money for loan sharks. His real job, however, is to break the loaners' thumbs if they don't pay up. He's a muscle man.

After he returns from his "job" every day, he takes time to do what he has been doing for the past six years, which is boxing. Then, after that, he takes a trip to the local pet store to see the love of his life, Adrian, who works there. He constantly tries to impress her and talk to her, but she is shy and literally does not talk much throughout the entire film.

But things change for Rocky after heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) decides that he wants to make a big performance on the 4th of July. He wants to appear nice by letting a regular Joe Schmoe fight him in the ring. All for show, of course. As he is looking through a book of local boxers, he points his finger at the letters THE Italian STALLION, a.k.a. Rocky. He says that fighting an Italian is perfect. "An Italian found America," Creed says. If he fights an Italian-American on the 4th of July, it will be symbolic and will also make Creed look good.

But Rocky doesn't realize this is all for show. When he receives word that Apollo Creed wishes to fight him in the ring, Rocky begins to train long and hard with Burgess Meredith, which results in the famous scene where Rocky runs up an entry of stairs in Philly with the music "Gonna Fly Now" playing in the background. This scene is spoofed by films world-wide, and it's one of the cornerstones in film history. You will see it all the time. It's just one of those film moments that are marked down in history.

The most entertaining thing about "Rocky" is how innocent Sylvester Stallone comes across in his role as Rocky. You feel for him when he is trying to impress Adrian and she shrugs him off. The scene where her brother invites Rocky over, and Rocky keeps saying, "Are you sure she knows I'm coming?" is a sign of how the guy has been put down. And then when she comes over to his apartment, he acts nice and talks to her. He's not trying any moves on her. He just enjoys being with her. Rocky is a bit of an idiot, as he himself admits, but he's a sweet idiot.

And the end, when Rocky fights Apollo Creed, is amazing. A nobody who actually stands a chance against the heavyweight champion of the world. Creed and Rocky are being battered by each other. Creed goes into the opposite corner as Rocky, and one of Creed's managers says, "This guy thinks this thing is for real -- knock him out!" You feel sorry for Rocky there, because he is giving the fight all he's got, when it was just a publicity stunt from the beginning, but he didn't even realize it.

Things like that are what make "Rocky" what it has become over the years. It is a great film, and it has many classic moments that you will see spoofed in films all the time. You should probably see it just for that fact.

But the truth is, if you take away all the underlying intricacies, "Rocky" is just the story of a simple guy who gets a chance to do something amazing, and he gives it all he's got. I think we've all gone through something like that before, and if so, you will be able to identify with "Rocky" all the more.

Streaming Black Swan Online

Black Swan (2010)
iMDB Rating: 8.0

Date Released : 17 December 2010

Genre : Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Stars : Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder. A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan." />

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Nina (Portman) is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother Erica (Hershey) who exerts a suffocating control over her. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side - a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

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Review :

Absolutely amazing.

I was lucky enough to see this at the Austin Film Festival and was absolutely blow away.

Aronofsky is, in many ways, like Nick Cave. You know going in that you are going to get something gritty, raw, and real. You know that, even if it's good, it's going to be hard to process. But when he gets a hold of something, really gets a hold of it, you won't be able to look away, no matter how hard it is to watch. He is a singular filmmaker in the regard that he can create something that is both visceral and cerebral at the same time. Others can do this, but few as well. What he does is never hollow, shallow, or empty, it is always dense, deep, and rich with everything that makes film great.

"Black Swan" is no exception. In many ways this is the most Aronofsky of his films. His style is spot on and works exquisitely with the world he is presenting. It's surprising because he normally shows the dirty, gritty, and ugly places, where as everything in this film is clean and polished. But don't let that fool you, he saved the dirt and grit for the characters. It's remarkable that the man who was able to show the sensitive, and vulnerable side of a wrestler is also able to show the brutal and hard side of a ballerina? For starters, this film looks amazing. The production design, specifically the use of black and white in contrast (don't spend time looking for this, it's everywhere and you will miss something if you do) does it's job without feeling invasive. The lighting is brilliant, as is the staging of the dance scenes. I'm still stunned that the same eye that brought the grainy subway bathroom of "Pi" to life is the same eye that brings all this rich and beautiful color so clearly to the screen.

He also does a brilliant job of creating the world that these characters inhabit. This film reminded me of all the terrible parts of my theater days. The backstabbing, the trash talking, and the two faced nature of that world is portrayed with a deft and brilliant touch. There is a constant fear that you are one mistake away from losing not only your part, but your future parts as well. You feel like you are a part of this world, that he pressure of it is part of your world.

The camera work is great, if a little typical of Aronofsky at times (we see the backs of heads quite a bit, it works, but you see it a lot), but it is very affective. The somewhat jittery, close hand-held shots are perfect and pull you deeper into this world than may be comfortable.

Then there are the name performances. Of the name actors you mostly get what you expect. Portman, Cassel, Hershey, and Rider are outstanding. The only real shock, for me anyway, is Mila Kunis. I know her as Jackie from "That 70's Show," and nothing else. She damned near steals the show. That's right, in a move where she shares screen with Natalie Portman, AND Vincent Cassel she is able to not only hold her own, but walk away with some scenes. The interplay between her wild, unrestrained Lilly, and Portman's frightened, tightly wound Nina creates a brilliant external tension to match, and at times overpower, the internal tension that lies at the very core of Nina.

I have been a fan of Aronofsky's work since I saw "Pi" on it's original theatrical run ( I think I was the only person in the theater for that midnight show), and he has yet to disappoint. He has a definite point of view and a thematic core that runs through his work. Thematically, this is in keeping with most of Aronofsky's work. It's about control and the loss of that control. What happens when a perfectionist control freak is in a position where she HAS to let go of that control? What takes over when she does let go? In typical fashion, Aronofsky shows us that sometimes in striving to get what we want, we risk losing a part of us that we may never be able to get back, and don't realize how desperately we need.

Read more from me at www.thefilmthugs.com

Streaming The Hustler (1961) Online

The Hustler (1961)
iMDB Rating: 8.1

Date Released : 25 September 1961

Genre : Drama, Sport

Stars : Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott

Movie Quality : BRrip

Format : MKV

Size : 870 MB



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"Fast" Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary "Minnesota Fats" to a high-stakes match, but he loses in a heartbreaking marathon. Now broke and without his long-time manager, Felson faces an uphill battle to regain his confidence and his game. It isn't until he hits rock bottom that he agrees to join up with ruthless and cutthroat manager Bert Gordon. Gordon agrees to take him on the road to learn the ropes. But Felson soon realizes that making it to the top could cost him his soul, and perhaps his girlfriend. Will he decide that this is too steep a price to pay in time to save himself?

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Review :

More praise heaped onto enduring classic

I've seen The Hustler repeated times, thought not as many as some of the other commentators. Recently I saw it for the first time in the theater, at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. Watching "The Hustler" in a theater is like listening to Dave Brubeck's "Time Out" album: you start to see and even hear things in black and white. You know the pool tables are green, and the balls are multi-colored, but somehow the black and white perfectly matches the colorless existence of the protagonist and his supporting players. You can smell the cigarettes, taste the booze.

Newman, Gleason, Scott, and Laurie all turn in great performances. But this movie, made after the heyday of the studio players' contract, still bears the hallmark of great movies from that era: strong supporting performances all the way down the line. Vincent Gardenia, for pete's sake, as the unlucky bartender in the first scene! Michael Constantine as Big John. Myron McCormick as Charlie, Eddie's sponsor most of the way through the movie. And Murray Hamilton as the millionaire Southern mark. This movie was made when supporting roles were an end in themselves, by actors who believed every second they were on screen should be of high quality.

The day I wrote this review -- January 18, 2004 -- The Hustler was no. 143 on the Top 250 list. No way are there 142 better movies.

Streaming Roman Holiday (1953) Online

Roman Holiday (1953)
iMDB Rating: 8.0

Date Released : 2 September 1953

Genre : Comedy, Drama, Romance

Stars : Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Eddie Albert, Hartley Power

Movie Quality : HDrip

Format : MKV

Size : 870 MB



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Princess Anne embarks on a highly publicized tour of European capitals. When she and her royal entourage arrive in Rome, she begins to rebel against her restricted, regimented schedule. One night Anne sneaks out of her room, hops into the back of a delivery truck and escapes her luxurious confinement. However, a sedative she was forced to take earlier starts to take effect, and the Princess is soon fast asleep on a public bench. She is found by Joe Bradley, an American newspaper reporter stationed in Rome. He takes her back to his apartment. The next morning Joe dashes off to cover the Princess Anne press conference, unaware that she is sleeping on his couch. Once he realizes his good fortune, Joe promises his editor an exclusive interview with the Princess.

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Review :

catch the beautifully restored print of this

Audrey Hepburn's first big film role cast her as a Princess of country unknown, making a state visit to Rome. Bored of the endless run of openings, dedications and so on, she decides to see something of the city, and runs into American newsman Gregory Peck. He recognises her as the missing Princess and plans to scoop a major interview for his syndicate, with the help of pal Eddie Albert and his hidden camera.

Hepburn is an absolute joy, particularly when her hair is shorn down to the classic urchin cut and she takes a motorcycle ride. Peck, too, is served well by this kind of role, and the romance of the city of Rome helps their relationship to develop during their 24 hours of freedom. Roman Holiday is one of those rarities which are truly perfect and memorable, a real girly flick with beautiful photography and a sparkling script. Highly recommended, and especially so in the wonderful recent restoration.

Streaming Per un pugno di dollari (1964) Online

Per un pugno di dollari (1964)
iMDB Rating: 8.0

Date Released : 18 January 1967

Genre : Western

Stars : Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy

Movie Quality : HDrip

Format : MKV

Size : 870 MB



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An anonymous, but deadly man rides into a town torn by war between two factions, the Baxters and the Rojo's. Instead of fleeing or dying, as most other would do, the man schemes to play the two sides off each other, getting rich in the bargain.

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Review :

The movie that started it all

Clint Eastwood was best known to American audiences for his role as Rowdy Yates in the series Rawhide. The series had ended and he was offered this strange new and challenging role in this movie of the American West that was made in Italy! Eastwood said his wife read that script and liked it. She said it was really "wild" because it was written in Western "slang" by Italians who really didn't understand English. He did this picture almost as a lark, and then read that it had become one of the biggest hits in Europe and then when it was released in America it outgrossed even the most popular current American films and made Clint Eastwood both a star and a phenomenon. Its strange to me that the best films ever made about the American west should have been made by Sergio Leone, an Italian who couldn't even speak English. Clint Eastwood said that all he knew in Italian was "arrevadershi" and all Leone knew in English was "goodbye" and yet these two combined to make an awesome film. As the poncho clad "Man With No Name", Eastwood created a role that hit us like a punch in the face and really re-defined the definition of the true Western hero. Eastwood tore out pages and pages of the dialogue and reduced his character to the bare bones to make him more mysterious. Leone said that he clad Eastwood in that sweat stained serepe to give him a cloak of mystery and put the cheroot in his mouth as a pendant between his two cold eyes and it worked like a charm. He broke all the rules and re-defined screen violence. I read that Leone wanted to make a blood and guts Western and show to the audience "I want them to feel what the hell it is like to get shot" and he does it! The scene where Clint is beaten to a pulp is one of the most graphic that you will ever see. It would have killed most other men!

Watch The Princess Bride (1987) Online

The Princess Bride (1987)
iMDB Rating: 8.1

Date Released : 9 October 1987

Genre : Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Romance

Stars : Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon

Movie Quality : HDrip

Format : MKV

Size : 870 MB



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A kindly grandfather sits down with his ill grandson and reads him a story. The story is one that has been passed down from father to son for generations. As the grandfather reads the story, the action comes alive. The story is a classic tale of love and adventure as the beautiful Buttercup, engaged to the odious Prince Humperdinck, is kidnapped and held against her will in order to start a war, It is up to Westley (her childhood beau, now returned as the Dread Pirate Roberts) to save her. On the way he meets a thief and his hired helpers, an accomplished swordsman and a huge, super strong giant, both of whom become Westley's companions in his quest.

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Review :

A great adventure film in somewhat the same style as other great fantasy adventures like The Neverending Story, The Princess Bride takes us on a wonderful trip along with fascinating and enormously amusing c

I'm not exactly sure what exactly it is that makes The Princess Bride such a spectacular film. Or, at the very least, I just can't pinpoint a single characteristic about it that really rises above all others as the main reason that no one should miss it. Indeed, it has a title that should prove to be remarkably uninteresting to the typical action adventure fan (okay, MALE action adventure fan), but even the most die-hard Die Hard fan would love this film. It is extremely important not to judge this film just because it has such a flowery and dangerously (at the risk of sounding shallow) girly name, because it is full of wonderful adventure and even some good killing and violence. Does this belong in this kind of romantic comedy? Absolutely! The cover box of the film looks like that of a cheesy romance novel, but the film is truly great from start to finish. And, indeed, the film is very aware of the superficial impression that it leaves, and it even presents it directly through Fred Savage's initial response to his grandfather reading him the story. But as the film goes on, we begin to have the same reaction that Fred has. We can't get enough.

Cary Elwes delivers by far the most outstanding performance of his career as Westley, the love-struck servant to Buttercup, a beautiful blonde woman living in a misty romantic fantasy world. Sadly, Elwes' later career has been punctuated by roles that do not serve him well, especially after such a stunning performance in this role. Liar Liar and Twister come immediately to mind. Robin Wright also gives one of the best performances of her career in her film debut here as Princess Buttercup, but the real quality of the performances that makes the movie so great is the fact that they were able to pack the film full of comic relief (it was nearly nonstop from start to finish) without taking anything away from the tension or the overall respectability of the film. It is interesting to consider the polar opposite effect of the comic relief on the vast majority of the James Bond films. Wallace Shawn is absolutely hilarious as Vizzini, the bonehead villain who is completely convinced that he has the whole world figured out, Andre the Giant delivers a lumbering but highly impressive performance as Vizzini's enormous, idiot sidekick, and by far my favorite of all, Mandy Patinkin creates one of the most entertaining and likeable characters created in a film in the entire decade of the 1980s (`My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!').

This is great stuff. Told as a story read from a book, just like The Neverending Story, The Princess Bride provides a magical mix of romance and fantasy and action and comedy to provide an enormously entertaining film for moviegoers of all ages. The Princess Bride is an absolutely wonderful film that is truly not to be missed.

Watch The Wild Bunch Online

The Wild Bunch (1969)
iMDB Rating: 8.0

Date Released : 18 June 1969

Genre : Western

Stars : William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien. An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them." />

Movie Quality : HDrip

Format : MKV

Size : 700 MB



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In the Wild Bunch the movie opens with a group of aging outlaw's final score, a bank robbery. The event concludes with a violent and overtly bloody shootout that would generally mark the finale of a movie. This is correct in that it marks the finale of an era, for the characters and the world they live in. They simply can no longer keep up, the times are changing, technology advancing, and they're style of life is getting left behind in the dust that they spent so long galloping through. They abandon their careers for the simpler life of retirement. They enjoy this time, they live their fantasies. During this time the law is always on their tracks, bounty hunters. The further into their fantasy they get, the closer their demise seems to get. When one of their own is captured they are faced with the choice of escape or what is certainly a suicide mission to attempt and free their fallen behind comrade. For them it is not a choice. They all die in what can only be described as a ...

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Review :

"Dutch, there are just some people who can't stand to admit they're wrong"

This is simply one of the best westerns, maybe overall best films ever made. Peckinpah's best by far. It is one of those films that grabs you by the thoat and doesn't let you go until it is over. Brilliant casting. I would be hard pressed to find someone who could have played Pike's part better than William Holden. But the rest of the cast for the main characters: Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Warren Oates Ben Johnson, Jaimie Sanchez and Edmund O'Brien are equally effective in their respective roles. Even the secondary actors, namely Strother Martin and LQ Jones are also great as the "gutter trash" bounty hunters Robert Ryan has to lead in chasing down Pike and his band.

This movie deals with aging gunfighters who had outlived their era, and see their "code of conduct" now passe' in the early 20th Century on the eve of World War I. Technology

in the way of cars, planes, and machine guns has rendered living and dying more impersonal than in Pike's et. al day. In some ways, with the end of the millennium at hand and all the vast technological changes, and changes in values, habits, and lifestyles that have taken place, even in the last couple of decades, many of us viewing the picture can sense just a bit of empathy with the main characters... Although this movie is an action film, there is a sort of foreboding throughout the film that the end is near for them. Yet when it occurs it will happen on their terms. One of my favorite scenes is when Pike and Dutch are sitting in their bedrolls by the fire at Angel's village. Pike talks about the railroad man Harrigan and how "some people just can't stand to admit they're wrong... or learn by it!" And then Dutch asks Pike if he believes they had learned anything today, referring to the bloodbath in the opening scene in Starbuck, to which Pike replies "I sure hope to God we did." The movie when released in 1969 received a lot of criticism for the violence, which was indeed unparralelled at that time. But it is relatively tame by today's standards. Moreover, the violence is not gratuitious as we see in so many films today. You see consquences to the violence hence the "death ballet." the two children holding each other during the shootout in the opening scene, and Robert Ryan's agonizing chagrin at carnage in the street and noticing the young children emulating the gunfighters in the street, the dead bodies not yet removed.. A suprising number of people who have seen this film have not seen the Director's Cut which was re-released in 1994. It puts back in many key scenes, which develops Pike and Deke Thorton's past, which is crucial to tying the movie together and making it a brilliant film. Without these scenes, then it makes little or no sense.. Unfortunately, many television stations when showing this film show the "butchered" version........

A 30th Anniversary addition has recently come out that includes a half-hour documentary "The Wild Bunch: A Portait in Montage, " which, made in 1996 received much acclaim, including an Oscar Nomination.. It makes the viewer even more appreciate Peckinpah's brilliant improvisational skill as well as the technical feats, such as the unforgettable Rio Grade river bridge scene.

Watch Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Online

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
iMDB Rating: 8.0

Date Released : 9 July 2003

Genre : Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Stars : Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley. Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate "Captain" Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor's daughter, from Jack's former pirate allies, who are now undead." />

Movie Quality : BRrip

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Size : 700 MB



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This swash-buckling tale follows the quest of Captain Jack Sparrow, a savvy pirate, and Will Turner, a resourceful blacksmith, as they search for Elizabeth Swann. Elizabeth, the daughter of the governor and the love of Will's life, has been kidnapped by the feared Captain Barbossa. Little do they know, but the fierce and clever Barbossa has been cursed. He, along with his large crew, are under an ancient curse, doomed for eternity to neither live, nor die. That is, unless a blood sacrifice is made.

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Review :

Proof that Disney can still create good movies

Disney seemed to be going down the tubes lately, with Atlantis and Home on the Range, but this movie is a masterpiece. If it wasn't for this movie, Johnny Depp wouldn't be as famous as he is today. Every scene with him or Geoffery Rush is brilliant. The movie is very crisp and the shots of the islands are breathtaking. Definitely a movie worth picking up at Blockbuster or even better, buying ( I don't buy DVDs often but this was one of them). The characters are thought out very well and plot is excellent. The script is one of the main stars of the film itself, every line that seems to come out of Sparrow or Barbossa's mouth or any of the other cast is original. If you like action films you'll love this, if you like comedy you'll love this, actually, this movie is great for everyone (except small kids, who may get frightened by the skeleton scenes). 10/10

Watch Persona (1966) Online

Persona (1966)
iMDB Rating: 8.1

Date Released : 16 March 1967

Genre : Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Stars : Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook, Gunnar Björnstrand

Movie Quality : BRrip

Format : MKV

Size : 870 MB



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A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer. Alma eventually confesses her secrets to a seemingly sympathetic Elisabeth and finds that her own personality is being submerged into Elisabeth's persona.

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Review :

An intriguing, beguiling and fascinating look into the state of individual existence, psychosis and shared experiences

persona n 1: an actor's portrayal of someone in a play; 2: Jungian psychology A personal facade one presents to the world, a public image is "as fragile as Humpty Dumpty"

personas pl: The role that one assumes or displays in public or society; one's public image or personality as distinguished from the inner self.

The above definitions help, at least a little, to understand or define the experience of Ingmar Bergmann's 1966 film "Persona".

"Persona" is an experience. And "Persona" IS experience. Indescribable not because it wants to be, but indescribable because it is. Who are we? Who do we want to be? Who are we comfortable being? Who do we need to be? And why? Some of the overlapping questions in this reviewer's mind during and after this engrossing and occasionally haunting work include, just how does this event and that event happen? Is it live, or is it memorex?? Most notably, Bergmann's skillful black-and-white film, which stars Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann, raises complex and interesting questions through the simplest images and minimum movement of camera and actor. The visual psychology is remarkable, powerful. Sven Nykvist's textured cinematography vividly brings the power (and subtlety) alive. Close-ups of the two lead actors' faces, and their symmetry, blend to make strong suggestions about what is transpiring between the two characters.

The two characters, Alma the Nurse (Andersson) and Elisabet Vogel (Ullmann), a stage actress, share very little. Alternately, they might share quite a lot. Much more perhaps than they want to. Elisabet gives new meaning to the expression "silence is golden", and that expression serves the film perfectly. "Persona" is "Fight Club" before "Fight Club" -- without the noise, dizzying effects and backgrounds of David Fincher's 1999 film. In "Persona", everything, from the very beginning to the very end, happen for a reason. The minimalist aspects, the editing, the continuous metaphor laden within dialogue, movement, time and space; the fact that the film is in Swedish language with English white-text subtitles, and with surrealism engulfing the viewer, makes Bergmann's "Persona" a pleasure personified (excuse the pun). Indeed, "Persona" is explicit in feel, mood, tone, dialogue, revelation and imagery.

Together, Bergmann and Nykvist produce beautiful artistry. There are moments of deconstruction within the film to distance its audience, and this is an artistic statement designed to formulate questions in the viewer's mind, rather than to baffle the viewer. The moments of deconstruction of narrative/medium at the beginning, middle and end of "Persona" are what one might call psychological, not "special", effects, as audiences today are accustomed to. The black-and-white film stock of "Persona" symbolizes the gray areas residing around, within and between Alma and Elisabet. Seeing this film in a theater is a treat, and although it has been available on video for many years, it is amazing to experience on a big screen. With the artistry and visuals working to perfection to ingeniously challenge the audience, one is inclined to almost forget the great performances of Anderson and Ullmann.

Cinema, when articulated through films like "Persona", is never better.

Streaming Before Midnight Online

Before Midnight (2013)
iMDB Rating: 8.2

Date Released : 14 June 2013

Genre : Drama, Romance

Stars : Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Ariane Labed

Movie Quality : HDrip

Format : MKV

Size : 700 MB



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It has been nine years since we last met Jesse and Celine, the French-American couple who once met on a train in Vienna. They now live in Paris with twin daughters, but have spent a summer in Greece on the invitation of an author colleague of Jesse's. When the vacation is over and Jesse must send his teenage son off to the States, he begins to question his life decisions, and his relationship with Celine is at risk.

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Review :

'Midnight' beats 'Sunset' and 'Sunrise' on its relevance - truly a masterpiece in acting, story and script.

I was lucky enough to get tickets for the one of the Before Midnight- screenings at the Berlin Film Festival this year.

Being a big fan of both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, I was truly thrilled to see this new (last?) chapter of Jesse and Celine's relationship.

To sum up the story shortly without spoiling too much, we meet Jesse and Celine 9 years after the events of Sunset. They are now a couple with a pair of twin daughters, and Jesse is struggling to adapt to the role of being a separated father for his son, Hank, having him fly several times back and forth between the United States and France, where Jesse lives with Celine and the daughters. On the last day of their vacation in Greece, Jesse and Celine are trying to find the spark in their relationship again - we are dealing with a couple, like so many others, who in their 'middleage crisis' start asking themselves "where am I in my life, why do I live it this way, and does my husband/wife still love me?".

For me, the relevance of the film, is its force, along with of course the acting and the script, which Hawke and Delpy again have written together with Linklater. Hawke and Delpy are so much into their characters and you feel how deep their relationship is established - it feels very natural and just like watching a couple in the 21st century. We live in a world where couple's separate, find a new partner, get children, separates again, find a new partner, get new children again (maybe this is a bit extreme, but something like that). Both the husband and wife have jobs and their relationships are affected when suddenly, the only things they are dealing with his who gets the groceries, who picks up the children from the kindergarten etc., and the love and romance between one another slowly fades away. That's the relevance to the age we live in now, that is so strong in Midnight.

I can highly recommend fans of the two first movies to see it, and if you are not familiar with the movies, you are certainly in for a treat! In my eyes, Midnight works very well for as an end to a trilogy, but the door is of course a little open for another sequel 9 years in the future (2022...?)

Again, the acting is superb (the entire hotel scene is magnificent!), and dialog is so grounded, natural and strong and the film has relevance and could inspire a lot of couples struggling with their relationship to their partner.

10/10