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Showing posts with the label matt damon

THE MARTIAN - REVIEW

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Review available on the new website .

DOWNSIZING - REVIEW

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From director Alexander Payne comes Downsizing , a science-fiction comedy starring Matt Damon as a man who undergoes a shrinking procedure so he can live in a small-scale utopia where he would be wealthy and lead a worry-free life. The trailers for Downsizing promised a social satire full of the dry wit we've come to expect from Payne's films. This was sure to be a mostly upbeat and clever character study hinting at deeper themes through a "big" sci-fi concept with some inventive visuals and fun deadpan performances peppered throughout. After a brief and well-executed introduction showing the birth of the revolutionary "downsizing technology", we meet Paul Safranek (Damon) and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) who, many years later, start to consider moving to Leisureland, a seemingly perfect mini-world where your money is worth five times more. The only catch: you will need to shrink yourself to live in that world and the procedure is irreversible. The fi

GOOD WILL HUNTING - REVIEW

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Taking a break in between Kevin Smith movies, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting , the film which not only earned them an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay but put them on the map as actors to look out for. Of course, they would both go on to star in "Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season" (see Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back ) and one of them is now Batman but that's another story. The film sees a brainy yet volatile janitor solve a complicated equation on an MIT chalkboard before a professor notices his impressive capabilities and encourages him to become his protégé. Unfortunately, young Will Hunting (Matt Damon) has just been arrested for assault and he's showing no improvements in his personality. Therefore, Stellan Skarsgård's professor makes him see a therapist in order to stay out of jail and perhaps live up to his full potential eventually. After going through a bunch of ineffectual doctors, Hunting meets Dr. Sean Mag

THE ZERO THEOREM - REVIEW

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Terry Gilliam once again tackles the meaning of life in The Zero Theorem , a near future London-set sci-fi flick in the vein of Brazil in which a man goes head to head with "Management" and brings his work home with him only to find that the job he's being tasked with has shady ramifications. Christoph Waltz is Qohen Leth, an antisocial Uncle Fester-looking dude who is always waiting for a phone-call from an unknown caller. So far, so Waiting For Godot . After running into Matt Damon's Management clones at a party, he is given a new task which involves him playing some kind of CGI game peppered with cubes which should eventually prove that 0 = 100%. What he hasn't realised is that his bosses are essentially testing him, trying to get him to prove that existence is completely meaningless. His faith is shaken as he meets Mélanie Thierry's sexy gal Bainsley, who distracts him with a new virtual reality program and he starts to struggle with his job more and

THE MONUMENTS MEN - REVIEW

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George Clooney's latest film, The Monuments Men , sets out to tell the little-told true story of a group of ageing American soldiers (and a French dude) whose mission it was to recover as many precious art pieces as possible from the nazis who had stolen them from all over an occupied France. The film opens by giving us some background and Clooney's lieutenant is soon off to gather his team of all-stars including Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban and Hugh Boneville... together at last! After a promising Indiana Jones-esque first few minutes involving Cate Blanchett's cartoonish French (at least I think that's what she was going for) spy, the film's tone switches to something more akin to Stripes or the MASH TV series before occasionally dipping back into serious mode. Clooney clearly wanted to even out the film by putting in a sad, emotional moment for every jokey, light-hearted scene, Disney-style, but, after watching The Monu

ELYSIUM - REVIEW

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From Neill Blomkamp, the director of District 9 , comes Elysium . Expect lots of dirt, a poor-vs-rich plot and Sharlto Copley acting nuts. I wasn't expecting much from this Matt Damon-starring, generic-looking sci-fi action flick. The trailers promised nothing too new or particularly fascinating and it just seemed like District 9 all over again. The film itself was much better than I expected. Elysium really does stand up on its own and, in fact, surpasses District 9 in many ways. For one thing, its metaphor is a little more subtle than it was in that other movie and also you've got some characters to actually care about this time! Matt Damon turns out to be the perfect choice for the role of a normal guy given a death sentence who becomes desperate to make his way to Elysium, a space station packed full of high-end medical equipment for the super rich that live there worry-free. Damon makes a likeable and convincing everyman while still pulling off the action sequences

ELYSIUM - VLOG 29/08/13