Movie Night: Three Colors: Blue.

Review #601: Three Colors: Blue.

Cast
Juliette Binoche (Julie de Courcy Vignon), Benoît Régent (Olivier Benôit), Emmanuelle Riva (Madame Vignon), Florence Pernel (Sandrine), Guillaume de Tonquédec (Serge), Charlotte Very (Lucille), and Yann Trégouët (Antoine) Directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski.

Review
Krzysztof Kieślowski was a Polish filmmaker that had directed numerous films for 20 years, closing out his career with a trilogy of films, the first being Blue, the second being White, and the last being Red (with this being a film from France-Poland-Switzerland film, with the first two languages being spoken in the movie). The movies are unrelated to one another in most ways, the movies could be watched in any order, but I'll start with Blue first anyway. It is fun to review world cinema films (preferably with no dubbing because it is fun to read subtitles), and Blue is a treat. This is a powerful movie that is beautiful to watch and listen to. It's a movie that reveals its layers over time, it becomes more then just about one character's attempt at cold solitude, it becomes something new, a wonderful movie that is emotionally charged, from sadness to isolation to passion. The movie has a good deal of blue tinges, such as blue beads, the water in the pool Julie swims in constantly, and so on. This is a movie that has so much effort put into it by the actors. Binoche is simply stunning in her performance, you can see the levels of development she goes through simply by her facial expressions, and she interacts with the cast nicely. This is a great movie that is incredible in its emotion and level of passion it inflicts. Blue and White share one scene, which is a crucial scene in the beginning of the next film, which I'll cover in the next review.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Godzilla (2014).

Review #582: Godzilla.

Cast
Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Lieutenant Ford Brody), Ken Watanabe (Dr. Ishiro Serizawa), Elizabeth Olsen (Elle Brody), Juliette Binoche (Sandra Brody), Sally Hawkins (Dr. Vivienne Graham), David Strathairn (Rear Admiral William Stenz), and Bryan Cranston (Joe Brody) Directed by Gareth Edwards.

Review
It may have taken a while to get to another Godzilla film (#167 - Gojira), but I finally got around to it. And what better way to review a Godzilla movie then the latest one? Imagine being in the theater, a packed house after waiting an hour (or so) in line and then a while longer with trailers and such (The Giver film sounds like it'll be awful, Edge of Tomorrow reminds me of Groundhog Day for some reason, etc, but you get my point), the movie premieres. And the biggest cheer of the audience in the whole movie? When Godzilla uses his atomic fire breath. Heck, even I cheered for that because some things are just too awesome to say in words, so we say them in claps. The movie itself is good and certainly deserves a sequel. The cast isn't bad (though I wish there was more Bryan Cranston in it), our main character is okay even though it seems the cast gets more screen time then the monster himself, Godzilla. The movie seems to want to build tension and wait, so it cuts the first two monster fights (along with waiting an hour to show Godzilla) so we don't see much and then relents and shows the final fight, which is fantastic. Godzilla looks fantastic, looking incredibly imposing, and the roar is just great to listen to. Gareth Edwards does a great job directing as well, making me hope he returns for a sequel. The movie may take a while to getting what makes Godzilla awesome, but the payoff is excellent enough to leave you wanting more.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.