Vantage Point

Directed by Pete Travis (this is his silver screen debut), starring William Hurt, Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker and Matthew Fox.

The President of the US visited Spain for a summit. He was accompanied by two Secret Service agents, and one of them (Quaid) once took a bullet for him and this event was his comeback job. The film was told from eight different points of view, eight different people who were there during the event.

I liked the idea, the way it used eight different perspectives and although I can't say that it's good,it certainly was entertaining. Full of suspense and sure could keep you at the edge of your seat the whole time. It's an action movie so it's understandable that the characters weren't shown deep enough.. I liked William Hurt and Dennis Quaid's performances best. Matthew Fox was rather meh. The story was very brief and the performances weren't really rich, but it could absolutely keep you glued to the screen. Good action movie, very nice pick for a night out.

7 / 10.

Letters from Iwo Jima

Directed by the great Clint Eastwood, starring Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Ryo Kase, Tsuyoshi Ihara and Shidou Nakamura.

A companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers. Told the story of the battle of Iwo Jima, during the WWII. Contrary to Flags, this one is viewed from the Japanese's side. All the cast were Japanese and the language is also Japanese.

You thought Clint's golden days were during the Dollar series, but this certainly proved, again, that's he's still very much 'alive'. I really loved Million Dollar Baby and man, how I love Iwo Jima! It had so much soul, with stellar performances by the cast which was quite a surprise for me. I never had any doubt that Japan has many great actors and Ken Watanabe is, of course, great. But I was so surprised to see Kazunari Ninomiya and Tsuyoshi Ihara. I always saw them in more comical roles and now, they aced it. Especialy Kazunari Ninomiya. The only downside was that his looks didn't really suit the age of his character. But other than that, he delivered a great performance. The story isn't 100% true, parts of it are fictional, including the lead character (Ninomiya). And I really couldn't care less about the historical facts. I mean, if it's a great film, then it's a great film. It's not a documentary anyway. I liked Shimizu's (Ryo Kase) story the best. Brief, yet it got me. The cinematography was beautiful and I just loved the story and how humane each character was. Great film. Way better than Flags.

9 / 10.

The Darjeeling Limited

Directed by Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.. and somewhat a fashion icon), starring Adrien Brody (who I love love love), Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman. With cameos by Bill Murray and Natalie Portman.

Three brothers who had lost their father had not met or talked to each other for a year reunited when the oldest brother, Francis, got them together to embark on a spiritual journey across India.

Before the main feature, there's a short film (also there on the DVD) titled Hotel Chevalier, starring only Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman and the short film acted as a prologue to the film.
Well, this is actually the first Wes Anderson film that I properly watched. I watched The Royal Tenenbaums eons ago and at that time, I didn't really enjoy arthouse films as I immensely do now. And I do love this film! It's so colorful, so witty and charming. I love both the short film and the feature film. Enjoyed all the performances and lines.. Totally loved Adrien Brody. Adrien Brody needs to star in more good films. The randomness and craziness of the film just added more charm to it.

8.5 / 10.

27 Dresses

Directed by Anne Fletcher (um.. Step Up, anyone?), starring Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Judy Greer and Edward Burns.

Jane Nichols enjoyed being a bridesmaid, always helping out and assisting the braid, making sure that she's going to have the most wonderful day of her life. Patiently waiting for her own special day to come, she was happy with her life and had been forever in love with her boss. Then her sister came to the picture and instantly stole the man of her dreams, while an unlikely journalist also came into her life.

Katherine Heigl is so pretty. So likeable. I love her! Well, it's a pretty decent romantic comedy.. not that original and some points of the story felt very common but still, an enjoyable movie. James Marsden is gorgeous but he has got to put on more weight. He's ridiculously skinny. I miss the James Marsden in The Notebook! An okay movie for a relaxed evening and quite good for the romantic comedy lovers. Judy Greer's character and jokes felt somehow.. recycled, but she steals scenes, that Judy.

7 / 10.

In the Valley of Elah

Directed by Paul Haggis (the man behind Crash, of course), starring Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron and Susan Sarandon.

Hank Deerfield went looking for his son who, along with his friends of the same troop, just came back from Iraq. In the search of truth, an unexpected police detective joined and helped.

So underrated. The film was kinda unheard of but it was actually really good! I blame it on the poster. The poster did nothing for the film. The worst poster ever. The performances were wonderful (well, the main cast) and I really really liked Tommy Lee Jones' performance. The thing is I thought he had played similar roles for the last three films of him that I saw: The Tree Burials of Melquiades Estrada, No Country for Old Men and this film. Always played the all-American guy.. quiet.. sheriff.. similar stuff. But to my surprise, I really enjoyed this one and was so thrilled when he got nominated for an Oscar (even though it is the most annoying Oscars ever. No noms for Eddie Vedder and no Brad Renfro on the "In Memoriam" montage?! WTF?!) Okay, ahem, so yeah the film was really good, political and humane at the same time.. it was touching. Really enjoyed it. However, totally hated the fact that James Franco only got a stupid cameo. For fuckssakes James, get to work. Stop working on crappy movies.

8.5 / 10.