Posted on 12/26/2017 5:21 PM By Ronen Divon
If I had to sum-up the experience of watching this film in one word, it would be: impressive. Although, not without hiccups.
The Last Jedi counts as Episode VIII, or the second installment of the third trilogy to Lucas’s Star Wars. But don’t let that small fact confuse you… Written and directed by Rian Johnson, and staring new and old cast members, The Last Jedi strives, and, for the most part, succeeds, in finding balance between legacy and innovation; not a simple task.
Posted on 10/15/2017 12:02 PM By Ronen Divon
Life is stranger than fiction; this paraphrase of a Mark Twain’s famous quote may come in mind, when watching American Made. It is a film based on true events, albeit the large creative freedom the filmmakers took in its making. Directed by Doug Liman to a screenplay by Gary Spinelli, American Made tells the story of Barry Seal, a former TWA pilot who turned a drug smuggler for the Medellín Cartel during the 1980s. Cutting a deal with the DEA to avoid prolong jail time, Seal ends up an informant.
Posted on 1/16/2016 9:58 PM By Ronen Divon
There is nothing really wrong with The Force Awakens. It is skillfully written, perfectly directed and masterfully executed. It is entertaining and, for the most part, quite engaging. The filmmakers strove for and were successful in obtaining a balance between the familiar and the new. Yet there is also something quite tiring about this film; an element that feels a little too contrived.
Posted on 5/16/2015 5:38 PM By Ronen Divon
Despite several shortcomings, all in all Ex Machina is a film worth watching. It packs in intelligence, style and questions that we should be addressing. AI is no longer a near-future possibility; with home automation and the soon-to-arrive the Google car that drives itself, that future is already here.
Posted on 12/30/2014 8:01 PM By Ronen Divon
Unbroken is a noble attempt by Angelina Jolie, who produced and directed the film, to bring to the big screen the 2010 biography by Laura Hillenbrand ‘Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.’ Not without merit, the film, whose screenplay was written by Joel and Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese and William Nicholson, misses the mark.
Unbroken is not a bad movie. Many film critics wrote it off as "conventional," and conventional it is, which is not what one expects from such an unconventional life-story.