Quick Takes: Mother of George - This Is the End - Trance

MOTHER OF GEORGE (2013)

Cast:
            Isaach de Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Bukky Ajayi, Tony Okungbowa and Gideon Okeke

Director:
                    Andrew Dosunmu

Quick Takes: Man of Steel - Premium Rush - Stoker

MAN OF STELL (2013)

Cast:
            Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Russell Crowe, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Dylan Sprayberry, Cooper Timberline, Harry Lennix, Christopher Meloni, Richard Schiff, Mackenzie Gray and Michael Kelly

Director:
                    Zack Snyder

Quick Takes: From Up on Poppy Hill - Rise of the Guardians - Talaash

From Up on Poppy Hill (2013)

Voice Cast:
                        Masami Nagasawa, Aoi Watanabe, Junichi Okada, Keiko Takeshita, Jun Fubuki, Yuriko Ishida, Takashi Naito, Shunsuke Kazama, Teruyuki Kagawa, Haruka Shiraishi, Tsubasa Kobayashi, Rumi Hiiragi, Toshimi Kanno, Aoi Teshima and Goro Miyazaki.

Director:
                    Goro Miyazaki

Quick Takes: The Bourne Legacy - The Door - The Secret World of Arrietty

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Cast:
            Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Joan Allen, David Strathairn, Albert Finney, Scott Glenn, Louis Ozawa, Oscar Isaac, Donna Murphy, Dennis Boutsikaris, Stacy Keach, Zeljko Ivanek, Paddy Considine, Corey Stoll, David Asmar, John Arcilla, Lou Veloso, Elizabeth Marvel, Shane Jacobson and Corey Johnson

Director:
                    Tony Gilroy

Quick Takes: Hello I Must Be Going, Men in Black 3 and Wreck-It Ralph

Hello I Must Be Going (2012)

Cast:
           Melanie Lynskey, Blythe Danner, John Rubinstein, Christopher Abbott and Julie White

Director:
                   Todd Louiso

Quick Takes: Killing Them Softly, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted & Snow White and the Huntsman

Killing Them Softly (2012)

Cast:
           Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Sam Shepard, Slaine, Vincent Curatola, Max Casella and Trevor Long

Director:
                   Andrew Dominik

Quick Takes: Killer Joe, Lawless and Sound of My Voice

Killer Joe (2012)

Cast:
           Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon, Thomas Haden Church, Marc Macaulay, Gregory C. Bauchard and Sean O'Hara

Director:
                   William Friedkin

Quick Takes: Hyde Park on Hudson, Mirror Mirror and Student of the Year

Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)

Cast:
           Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Samuel West, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Marvel, Olivia Williams, Elizabeth Wilson, Martin McDougall and Andrew Havill

Director:
                   Roger Michell

Quick Takes: Hemingway & Gellhorn, Hitchcock and The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012) (TV Movie)

Cast:
           Nicole Kidman, Clive Owen, David Strathairn, Molly Parker, Parker Posey, Rodrigo Santoro, Robert Duvall, Tony Shalhoub, Mark Pellegrino, Peter Coyote, Lars Ulrich, Leonard Apeltsin, Jeffrey Jones, Santiago Cabrera, Aitor Inarra, Diane Baker, Steven Wiig, Keone Young and Joan Chen

Director:
                   Philip Kaufman

Quick Takes: Arbitrage, Compliance and The Paperboy.

Arbitrage (2012)

Cast:
           Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling, Laetitia Casta, Nate Parker, Stuart Margolin, Chris Eigeman, Graydon Carter and Bruce Altman

Director:
                   Nicholas Jarecki

Quick Takes: The Oscars Nominated Animated Shorts 2013.

1. Adam and Dog

Directed By:
                          Minkyu Lee

Review:
                 As you might have guessed from the title of this animated short, it tells the story of Adam and Eve (yes from the first three chapters of Genesis) but its main focus is the dog whose point of view is shown here. The movie begins in the garden of Eden and the dog is shown exploring the beauty of the environment and he encounters many different animals on its way. He once meets Adam who is exploring the garden himself. He gives the dog something to eat and pets him, thus an unlikely friendship is formed between a man and an animal which is something that will go on forever. This short is beautifully done, the hand-drawn animation is just amazing to watch with lots of colors and textures that gives a vivid beauty to a land that is sort of a fantasy to us. There are many landscapes that you will see and in them the correct use of light and dark as well as shades so perfectly done that it indeed looks like the garden of Eden. Adam and Dog is also the longest short of all the nominated ones but that is not the reason why i was underwhelmed by this movie. While i get what its trying to show but the familiar elements followed by a bit too stagnant plot where the story never actually breaks through, those 15 minutes tries to feel like an hour. Its fascinating the tale of why dogs to this day is a man's best friend considering the affection that Adam showed to him and he being the only creature that would do so with a dog. There are some little moments that comes across as nice, when you see both of them playing around the beautiful land or in a scene where Adam speaks in all the different animals voices. We also see Eve after a while, who interrupts this lovely union and friendship that the dog was having with Adam because he is distracted now and wants to be with Eve, this wonderful looking red-haired creature. Adam and Dog isn't a bad short at all but its highly unlikely that you will feel anything for it except for the visuals that will leave you dazzled for sure.

Quick Takes: Hope Springs - Wuthering Heights - Farewell, My Queen.

Hope Springs (2012)

Cast:
          Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, Elisabeth Shue, Jean Smart, Ben Rappaport, Marin Ireland, Mimi Rogers and Becky Ann Baker.

Director:
                   David Frankel.

Quick Takes: Snowtown - Elena - Bernie.

Snowtown (2012)

Cast:
          Daniel Henshall, Lucas Pittaway, Aaron Viergever, David Walker, Louise Harris, Keiran Schwerdt, Bob Adriaens, Frank Cwiertniak, Matthew Howard, Marcus Howard, Anthony Groves and Richard Green.

Director:
                  Justin Kurzel.

Quick Takes: Haywire - The Kid with a Bike - The Deep Blue Sea.

Haywire (2012)

Cast:
          Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Bill Paxton, Channing Tatum, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Michael Angarano, Mathieu Kassovitz, Eddie J. Fernandez, Anthony Brandon Wong, Tim Connolly, Maximino Arciniega, Aaron Cohen, Natascha Berg and Fergal O'Halloran.

Director:
                   Steven Soderbergh.

Quick Takes: The Raid: Redemption - Kahaani - Damsels in Distress.

The Raid: Redemption (2012)


Cast:
          Iko Uwais, Donny Alamsyah, Ray Sahetapy, Yayan Ruhian, Pierre Gruno, Joe Taslim, Tegar Satrya, Eka "Piranha" Rahmadia, Verdi Solaiman and Ananda George.

Director:
                   Gareth Evans.

Quick Takes: The Miracle Worker - 21 Jump Street - Coriolanus.

The Miracle Worker (1962)

Cast:
         Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke, Victor Jory, Inga Swenson, Andrew Prine and Kathleen Comegys.

Director:
                  Arthur Penn.

Quick Takes: Studio Ghibli Marathon (Only Yesterday - Ocean Waves)

Only Yesterday (1991)

Voice Cast:
                        Miki Imai, Toshiro Yanagiba, Yoko Honna, Michie Terada, Masahiro Ito, Chie Kitagawa, Yuki Minowa and Yorie Yamashita.

Director:
                    Isao Takahata.

Quick Takes: The Housemaid - Le Havre - Tomboy

The Housemaid (2010)

Cast:
         Jeon Do-yeon, Lee Jung-jae, Seo Woo, Yoon Yeo-jeong, Ahn Seo-hyeon and Park Ji-young.

Director:
                  Im Sang-soo.

Review:
                The Housemaid is a South Korean melodramatic thriller that i watched earlier this year. I wasn't actually planning to watch this movie so it was a last minute thing for me. I had no idea of director Im Sang-soo nor the original movie it is based on so i really did not expect anything. The Housemaid is a movie about a maid Eun-yi, played by Jeon Do-yeon and how slowly she falls into the destructive relation with the upper-class family she is working for. Hoon played by Lee Jung-jae who is the Owner of the house gets in a physical relation with the maid while his wife Hae Ra played by Seo Woo is pregnant. They already have a daughter too. This movie starts with a scene which is not connected with the actual plot of the movie, we see a girl killing herself by jumping off the roof. This movie acts like a seductive, melodramatic soap opera thriller with some satire on the upper class life of Korea. That's not to say that it happens all the time but this is just one of the stories, fictional or taken from an incident, it happens.