235. La battaglia di Algeri

• Year of release: 1940
• Director: George Cukor
• Genre: Comedy, Romance
• IMDB Page

It's been some time since my last update and I've got this movie to blame. Now, don't think that this movie is bad. It isn't. But, it's a 2 hour movie about a historical revolutionary war. Despite the fact that I like history, I just couldn't bring myself to watching it. But I did and I'm glad I have.

The story, if you could call it a story, is simple and straightforward. The FLN, an Algerian rebel group wants to get Algeria out of France's colonial hands and independence for its people. Their means aren't humane nor friendly. They use bombings and terror. The French government counters with heavy policing and eventually is forced to send in the paratroopers, under the command of a kickass macho Colonel. The Colonel brings down the rebellion and is victorious, but a few years later the colony achieves independence.

"Fuck you, I'm a Colonel"

I find the movie very believable. The movie feels like a documentary and the black and white setting helps it coming to life. The main actors are also highly credible and it feels as if you're really there. The only downside I could find was that some of the background actors were not doing their job properly, there was even a dude laughing in a scene where laughing wasn't favorable. But that doesn't bring the movie down as much as a random love story would have.

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244. Brazil

• Year of release: 1985
• Director: Terry Gilliam
• Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
• IMDB Page

Upon hearing this movie's title, I expected a movie about crossdressers. Was I wrong!

The story revolves around Sam Lowry who works at the Ministry of Information, Department Records. The Ministry of Information is an essential part in the totalitarian, bureaucratic government. Sam is happy, or so he thinks, with his work until he sees a woman while on the job. This is odd because he never saw that woman before, but he somehow has these absurd dreams about her, in which he saves her from an evil bureaucratic monster as an angelic knight. He does everything he can to get in touch with the woman and eventually takes the promotion to Information Retrieval, which he never wanted, to get closer to this woman. He eventually finds her and his world is turned upside down.

I'll stop there. The ending is not something I'd want to spoil for you. I can tell you that the ending and actually the second half of the movie is awesome. Scratch that, this entire movie is awesome.

The plot is very good and doesn't bore you with things no one needs to know about. You'll also find that the story isn't very plot driven but is carried more by the characters. Sam's reaction to most scenes is funny, well-written and highly believable. I especially like the scene with the truck chase. Sam's behavior in that scene is hilariously funny and something that's in his nature to do.

As a side mark, I absolutely love Archibald Tuttle, portrayed by Robert De Niro. Just a vague description of his character makes you interested in him: a terrorist plumber. Most of his lines are also brilliant: "Why? I came into this game for the action, the excitement. Go anywhere, travel light, get in, get out, wherever there's trouble, a man alone. Now they got the whole country sectioned off, you can't make a move without a form." And that's about how he got into being a freelance plumber.

It doesn't get better than a terrorist plumber.

In fact, this entire movie contains funny quote. Read them on the IMDB page if you want to have a laugh, or chuckle, or two.

In the end, this movie does what it sets out to do and does a good job while doing it: making a satire of the bureaucratic system. You just can't help but enjoy some of the exaggerations while feeling a feeling of familiarity with the situations at hand.

In conclusion:

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248. Mou Gaan Dou

• Year of release: 2002
• Director: Wai-keung Lau & Alan Mak
  
• Genre: Crime, Drama
• Translated title: Infernal Affairs
• IMDB Page

The first non-English movie on my list proves to be a rather interesting one. Certainly a movie that deserves more credit.

The story, made simple: Two cadets aspire to be cops, but one of them gets expelled and has to leave the force. The expelled cadet, Yan, isn't really expelled. He is recruited as an undercover cop due to his brilliance and talents. Years later, Yan infiltrated the triads and passed on information about an upcoming drug deal. During this deal so many things went wrong that it became clear that there is an undercover cop in the triads, but it also became clear there was a mole in the police department. This is obviously, at least to the viewer, the other cadet, Lau. Throughout the movie Lau and Yan play a cat and mouse game until a climactic ending. I'm not going to spoil this one for you.

It's obvious that this story needs suspense, it needs a certain atmosphere of suspicion. And it delivers. Big time. Almost from the start until the ending this movie will have you interested, hooked and rooting for the characters. Up until the ending, which is awesome. I'm not going to give away too much, but the climax is super.

"Being a cop sure is hard work"
-"You're just holding the mouse"

The actors are also very good, portraying their characters as good as possible and it's a job well done if you ask me, which you are doing.

If I had to nitpick and find a negative aspect it would have to be the love interests of both of the main characters. They're unneeded and the movie could have done without the girlfriends, but it's not an as disruptive factor as it was in Blood Diamond. Then again, it leaves open to fill in the plotholes, or to put it better oddities, left in this movie. I've seen that there are sequels, so I've yet to learn if these oddities are going to be answered or not.

In conclusion: good movie, go see it!

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250. The Day the Earth Stood Still

• Year of release: 1951
• Director: Robert Wise
• Genre: Science Fiction
• IMDB Page

Starting at the bottom the first movie I watched was #250 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'. From what I gathered from several comments and online reviews about the film, it is a timeless classic. And I cannot really deny that it truly is a classic.

The story is simple, but effective. An extraterrestrial being named Klaattu lands on earth with a message of peace. Us, humans, need to learn to live in peace with each other or face extermination. Klaattu's people are supposedly afraid that the humans upon reaching space travel would lead to some serious issues because of the human's violent nature. However, before Klaattu gets to say anything about his message he gets shot down by the US military. Upon recovery in the hospital and diplomatic issues, Klaattu escapes and rents a room in a boarding house. He acquaints a small boy and his mother who live in the boarding house and Klaattu offers to spend time with the boy in an effort to learn more about the human world. Klaattu meets the renowned professor living in the city he crashed into. He urges the professor to gather the smartest people on the world to hear him out, as the politicians failed to do. To strengthen his words Klaattu stopped all electrical apparatuses and vehicles from working for half an hour, hence the name of the movie. While being chased by the military, Klaattu gets shot again. He who thought that Klaattu wouldn't get to deliver his message is wrong as his robot can revive Klaattu, albeit for an undetermined time frame. Klaattu delivers his message to the wise men and the police. And they are left behind, amazed and flabbergasted, as Klaattu takes off in his spaceship.

"Yes. We, aliens, all wear our pants this high."

The story is in many ways still relevant today. The most obvious is the fact that the wars are still being fought today. Man has still not learned to live in peace. Another way is the diplomatic scene of suspicion. I think Copenhagen '09 showed us yet again that the leaders of the world cannot cooperate for the greater good, like in the movie the various leaders would even argue about the location where Klaattu would speak to them.

The open ending of the story is one of the many things I like about it. Klaattu doesn't await the answer of man, he just leaves after delivering his message, telling us he will see our answer soon enough. The movie leaves it to the viewer to fill in what man would do. Is man going to destroy himself or is he going to find a way to cooperate? The morality of the story is a bit too much, but that's what makes it a classic I think. It portrays man as a violent creature in such a way that you are subtly forced to think that man really is violent. Normally I would not like this kind of approach and the storytelling wouldn't get the appraisal it's getting now, but I feel that the portrayal of humans is done in such a way that it forces you to think about man's behavior towards his fellow man.

The acting is in my opinion very good. The acting of Michael Rennie, Klaattu is of a superb level and makes for a very credible alien, despite his human form. Patricia Neal is also one of the brighter lights in this movie.

The special effects in this movie aren't very good, in fact, I can't think of five special effects in the movie. But that doesn't matter, the plot and the acting are the keystones of this movie and are the reasons why you should watch it.

I'd say something about the quality of the directing and stuff, but I'd have no clue what I'd be talking about, but it's all good.

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