#4 - Seven Psychopaths

Some movies stick with you hours or days after you have seen them and I can tell you "Seven Psychopaths" is that sort of movie!

The cast is superb and the names of Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken and Woody Harrelson speak for themselves. In my opinion this is Colin Farrell's best work, even topping his performance in "In Bruges". He easily jumps from funny to dramatic and back. His facial expressions are fabulous and don't require any words (You will know what I mean, when you see the scene where Sam Rockwell's character asks him for feedback). His timing is perfect and his whole performance is just stunning. 

Sam Rockwell is simply amazing. His role was probably the most diffficult to play in the movie and he does it effortlessly. He delivers even the weirdest lines in such a natural way, that for instances you believe to be watching some strange documentary and that he is his character. Christopher Walken and Woody Harrelson render their usual strong performances. 

What all actors have in common is that you can see how much they actually enjoyed working in this movie. There wasn't a scene that wasn't perfect and straight to the point. Also nice to see was that even the smallest supporting roles were played by great actors (which only adds to the compliment of the wonderful script and writer/director Martin McDonagh). I will just say watch out for: Harry Dean Stanton and Gabouray Sidiba among others. 

They story and directing by Martin McDonagh are fantastic. The script is witty, clever and original in a way I haven't seen in ages, making this the best comedy I have seen in years. Avoiding spoilers I can say this: This script is so cleverly written that it parodies its own obvious weaknesses thus converting them into strengths. This is achieved by using the fact that Colin Farrell's character "Marty" is a script writer himself. One can also tell that McDonagh makes his cast feel comfortable so they can render fantastic performances (one could already tell that from "In Bruges"). 

One thing some people might not enjoy (while I certainly do) is that the humor is sometimes quiet dark. So if this sort of humor is not your thing, you might want to stay away from this movie. 

For me this has been the movie of the year so far, topping everything else I have seen and I hope for all people involved that this is not overlooked by the audience and critics. The chemistry between the whole team is palpable and you know this script couldn't have worked with any other cast but this. It might have, but when watching this you certainly think this is a perfect match. 

10/10 points

#3 - Total Recall

As I mentioned on a few ocasions I am not a friend of remakes, but in this case I wanted to give it a shot, as the story is fantastic and I assume with today's CGI the result would be quiet stunning. 

Let's start with the good parts as usual: Colin Farell is back and in my opinion he is better than ever. He walks the line between character development and action scenes and does so flawless. One only wished he would have gotten a little more to work in the character development department, but the script wouldn't offer more. But Colin Farell is much better as Doug Quaid than Arnold Schwarzenegger. Kate Beckinsale is convincing in the action scenes as well. 

The general looks of the movie is much darker than in the original and reminded me a lot of "Blade Runner". Considering both movies are based on stories by Philip K. Dick this is acceptable as it also fits the story. 

Unfortunately the movie has also some significant weaknesses. While Jessica Biel might be a good actress in this movie her character remains flat and simply looks bored. Also the chemistry between her and Colin Farell is almost none existent, which is not an error of the actors but of the people who cast them as lovers. 

*spoilers*

As for the story: A lot of alterations were made from the original movie and the original short story. Unfortunately most of them were not for the good. "The fall" is the most significant plot hole, which is frustrating as it wasn't in any way neccessary to the story and just added a cool location for the action scenes. 

For my taste it would have been preferable if the movies actions scenes would have been a little less promitent to make room for some addditional character scenes (or they should have just added another 20 minutes to the movie). 

While the movie's "looks" was great it was partly inconsistent with the story e.g. We learn that living space is getting tight yet we see ridiculously large hallways. 

Kate Beckinsale's character "Lori" unfortunately never receives any real character, for she is only portraited as "the villain" not being allowed any shades in her personality she reminds me more of a Terminator than a human being. 

All in all I felt well entertained watching this movie but thought is was a pity that its full potential was not explored. 

Point 6/10