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Showing posts with the label Joseph Gordon-Levitt

The Trial of the Chicago 7 | Average Guy Movie Review

After the riots that took place at the 1968 Democratic Convention, a group of anti-war protestors were named as defendants in a show trial brought by the Nixon administration. They were charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intention of inciting riots, and what followed was probably one of the most controversial trials in the history of the American Justice system. With 'The Trial of the Chicago 7' Aaron Sorkin delivers an enthralling courtroom drama - and not for the first time.  Fans of the writer/director have another opportunity to enjoy the man's unique storytelling style, not to mention his awesome approach to dialogue. No one writes dialogue quite like Aaron Sorkin! Events j ump seamlessly between the '68 Democratic convention, the trial, and Abbie Hoffman's (Sacha Baron Cohen) recollections of both during an amusing stand-up routine. Sorkin - with the help of some clever editing and good use of soundtrack - expertly drives the tension up

Scraping the Barrel: What didn't make it into the Advent Calendar of Christmas Movies?

In order to put together our Advent Calendar of Christmas Movies I have watched many movies from several decades. I have made lists, debated over said lists  (that's a nice word for argued right?) , made new lists and argued...I mean debated some more. The point is, it wasn't an easy task whittling down the list to the final 25 - well 27 but who's counting? In order to do it I've had to watch some challenging movies, and by challenging I don't mean intellectually. It's a miracle I made it through some of them. Two such gems of varying quality are 'The Night Before' and 'A Merry Christmas Miracle' A.K.A. 'A Merry Friggin' Christmas'. The Night Before reunites the team that brought us 50/50. In December 2001, Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) lost his parents in a car accident. Every Christmas Eve since then his friends Isaac (Seth Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) have taken him out partying so he's not alone on Christmas. But

The Walk: Average Guy Movie Review

Think of the most insane thing you’ve ever done. Now multiply it by 1000, fire it out of a cannon, load it on to a space ship and send it to Mars. You still haven’t come close to walking a high wire between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre! Robert Zemeckis brings to life the story of Philippe Petit and his journey to become the only man to ever walk the gap between the Twin Towers, quarter of a mile up. The journey begins in France, revealing how Petit became interested in the high wire and his days as a street performer. The movie feels like a heist movie, Petit assembles his team of "accomplices" and develops his skills to pull off his "artistic coup", all to a jazz soundtrack similar to heist movies of old. Anyone who is aware of history knows Petit achieved his goal, but watching the movie, you can’t help wondering if he’ll succeed. The film was made using as many practical effects as possible. If George Lucas had taken a leaf ou