Red Curtain Cinema on the road!

We are leaving for two weeks far away from cinema or computer screen. Just us and the road. We will comeback soon, stay tuned!

Craig Armstrong- an amazing music composer

How many times have we seen a film thinking: "the music was much better than the movie itself." Did it never happen to you? Well if it's not the case, I want to bring your attention to this great piece signed by Craig Armstrong (Love Actually, Romeo and Juliet). 

This score, from a terrible terrible movie, is just incredible. Listen to it, trust Red Curtain Cinema!

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (3/5, Regular)

Agent Ethan Hunt is back to face new bad guys and, with no surprise, they are being more dangerous and scary! In proportion to that, Ethan Hunt undertakes crazier tasks and stunts! Very entertaining. 

Tom Cruise decided to continue with the saga that gave him success. This new Mission Impossible is much better than its predecessor (or even MI2) because it doesn't suffer from long and boring scenes. This movie goes really fast as Tom Cruise (as an actor and as a producer) knows that people don't have much time to have fun. Therefore his recipe is unbreakable: action, action, a simple and square story and...more action! Does it work? Oh yes. 

The main quality resides in the action scenes. They are very impressive and they try to be as accurate as they can. Many action films today seek refuge with CGI whereas Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation continues with the traditional real stunts. The first scene is already very impressive. Not even to mention the last one. The other advantage of this film is that it blends the different qualities from the previous Mission Impossible movies. They learned how to shoot a good action sequence and how to build a good spy story. 

Final words? This is a very good action film. Don't expect too much of it (we read a review for this film saying 'very informative' ...what?! ) otherwise you will be disappointed. Let yourself go with this new mission , apparently impossible, for Ethan Hunt ( terrible acting from Tom Cruise, as usual) and his new buddies to save the world. 

Love & Mercy (3/5, Regular)

A biopic about Beach Boys' creative soul Brian Wilson who struggled not only with the pressure of fame but also with his own ghosts and demons. 

When the film starts, the Beach Boys are at the peak of their career. Big hits such as 'I get around' and 'Surfin' in the USA' have already been tuned in the radio and a young generation of Americans were dancing to their beach-surf rock music. However Brian Wilson wanted to give a new direction to their music: that is when he wrote entirely and recorded with experienced musicians the fantastic album 'Pet Sounds'. Even if this was the beginning of profound admiration from music critics and common people to the talent of Brian Wilson, it was the beginning of dark times for him. His inner madness would posses him by the power of fame and the pressures of people who were expecting so much from him. 

The film alternates between past and present giving full spotlight to Brian Wilson. Two brilliant actors, Paul Dano (young Wilson) and John Cusack (older Wilson) depicts him with great talent and credibility. Supporting actors are stunning such as Paul Giamatti acting as his manipulative manager. They are the pillar of the film because sadly, the script is not the best thing from this film.

Indeed the script alternates between the past and present following a certain logical pattern but however this does not add further quality to it. It gets fuzzy, it gets confusing. The film's length starts to be felt to a certain point and it seems that the story doesn't know where is it heading. That is why the conclusion feels a bit 'quickly wrapped-up'. We are far from the great biopics such as Walk the Mile or Ray. Nevertheless if you enjoy the Beach Boys music and are interested into the story of a solitary and crazy man such as Wilson, then this is a good film. 

Cool tribute from one of the animators of "The Lion King"

Cecil the lion was killed by a dumbass not that long ago. An animator who worked in "The Lion King" decided to pay a tribute to that beautiful animal in this video. Cool stuff! 

A recommended film: "Shooting Dogs" (2005) #CinemaIsAction

A fantastic film about the Rwandan genocide. There are a few films (Hotel Rwanda, Shake hands with the devil) about this terrible period. It is perhaps one of the greatest failures of international organisations such as The United Nations. These films are a testimony of something that should not happen again, however they still do. These tragic stories are being lost in the air but some people (activists, film directors, independent studios) decide to pick them up and tell them to a wide audience. This film is fabulous no matter how heartbreaking it can be. Sadly, it didn't have a wide release but it is still a very valuable story. Red Curtain Cinema recommends it. 

A fantastic tribute to Michael Jackson's Thriller

Have you recognized the characters? It is from the box-office flop 'Final Fantasy: The spirits within'. These scene was not intended to be part of the film but they definitely had fun making this special 'bonus' found in the DVD. It is important to clarify that this film was a breakthrough in terms of visual effects and computer-generated characters. Pixar had only done Toy Story (1 and 2) by that time...Have fun with the video!

#CinemaIsAction: free online films about social change

This is a great website showing the commitment that can exist between cinema and social change. It is a recommended one. Have a look at this website Films for Action

                                                http://www.filmsforaction.org/walloffilms/