Last Passenger (2013)

When on a poster of a movie called "Last Passenger" you also see written "One train. Six passengers. No chance." something doesn't really sound right. Well... I didn't see the poster before the movie. But let's not make this unnecessarily long. We have a regional train somewhere in the London area, hijacked by a mysterious guy with train driving abilities (and a diesel one, not electric). The guy stays mysterious up to the end, although we have some sort of suggestion on why he's doing what he does. What's certain is that the intention seems to be crashing the train at the end of the rail tracks. Stuff that's not really acceptable for the last passengers left in the train after the hijacking, six of them. Spoiler: not all of them die, so the "last passenger" is more of a marketing trick, although... for 20 seconds close to the end, we can somehow to consider somebody fit for this position. Obviously, all the story is focused on the attempts to stop the train. What we see is ok-ish in this context. Ok-ish = unfortunately we have some scenes that make no sense, the character building is sometimes stereotypical, there's a bit of overacting and it's clearly a movie of low budget and production value - camera work, sound, etc (which might actually excuse a bit the rest). To conclude, don't expect much, but let's say that it has its moments, not many, but there are...

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

A Star is Born (2018)

... or where can lead a failed attempt to see the latest "Halloween", for which the management of the local cinema considers allocating large projection rooms only at late hours. Call me picky, but if I move my bones up to a cinema I want a big screen. Consequently, I preferred "A Star is Born", despite my worries towards the lethal combination for my taste in film: musical + romance. But considering that while getting older I discovered liking also movies with a simpler subject and let's say more... calmness (check out last week), considering that the latest similar experience - "La La Land" - was surprisingly original, and considering also that most reviews for this one are over the top, I said... ok, fine. But it wasn't really fine.

What we have here is the third remake (this means four movies, just to make it clear) having the same title as the original released in 1937. I don't know how much the subject varied through the years, but for what I saw I imagine it can't be much. The originality is close to zero. Jack, an alcoholic soft-rock singer meets Ally, an anonymous singer in a bar, they like each other, they marry, her career goes up, his carrer goes down, and even though towards the end we catch a glimpse of balancing the odds, all goes away melodramatically with a garage, a beam, a belt, and a song for the one who passed away. Sorry for the "spoiler", but the movie is so one-sided that it gets annoying. And I don't want to start debating now what I mean by "one-sided".

The only part that was sort of good, for a musical, is that it's not extremely boring. The songs are ok-ish, but again reminded me that I can't really like a movie in this genre - it's a matter of taste. I can watch a concert, I can listen to a soundtrack - but I don't really need a shallow script to wrap it up. About the romance, I can't even say that this was depressing as usual... You want a romance, re-watch "Jerry Maguire", we have there too a guy with a career going down... or "Stardust", might be a bit cheesy, but it's not cliche + we really have a star ;). This one was just... bland.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 (barely...)

First Man (2018)

I never believed the conspiracy theories on fake Moon landing, but after "First Man" I'm almost starting to have doubts on that :) I'm mean, I know...

I'm not really into biopics, the one here being dedicated to Neil Armstrong, but I have to admit it's interesting as a documentary. Although it puts a bit too much weight on problems, and too less on solutions. That's the reason for what I was saying above. Considering the density of mishaps, with or without lucky ending, starting with the first scene, you might almost believe that what you've seen in "The Martian" might have more chances to succeed than the first Moon landing. If we add to that a consistent part of the movie that's centered on the dramas in Armstrong's private life, a lost child, colleagues frequently dying in accidents... Although, somehow, strangely enough this might explain the successful career at NASA = 1) you escape in your work, 2) karma compensates there.

I don't know how was Armstrong as a person, but Ryan Gosling offers a sort of "driver" in space here = maybe a bit too dry/bland. If I should pick somebody for the acting here, it would probably be Claire Foy as the wife. Moving to the technicalities, the camera work varies from excellent framing (pretty much everything that's about flights in outer space) to poorly shot scenes. Maybe it's a matter of taste, but I'll never understand a mix of close-ups and kinetic camera which I think it's excessive in "First Man" (steadicam was invented for a reason... ironically not far from the timeline of the movie). Leaving all these aside, "First Man" is not as boring as some reviews say, but it's neither "A Beautiful Mind", meaning that you shouldn't expect something very engaging. It's ok, the message of make the impossible possible is there but it's quiet, so I'd say the movie has actually some calming potential if your days are too stressful...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The One I Love (2014)

Usually romance movies are full of cliche, pretty boring, and besides that as time goes by I'm getting more and more depressed when watching something like this = generally, I avoid it. But sometimes I feel the need for one... although "The One I Love" is quite outside of the classic pattern. Actually, it's more close to a soft "Triangle" what we have here :) as a follow-up on the previous entry, bringing up again the idea of meeting your copy in a more "peaceful" manner, without an axe and without any clear reference to time travel. In brief: less explanation, more speculation. But it works ;)

Ethan and Sophie are a couple whose marriage doesn't work anymore, and they decide to get some counseling on that. Let's call them pair 1. The recommended therapy: a weekend in some vacation house, somewhere in a green area, with an orange garden... but quite secluded. The catch: the vacation house has some special annex... a guest house. Where Ethan meets another, but the same Sophie, and Sophie meets another, but the same Ethan: pair 2. We also have a sort of "meeting protocol" = the rules of the game = Ethan and Sophie in pair 2 take turns with their presence, depending on the other person in pair 1 who steps in; the doors block when somebody in pair 1 enters the house - so you're not allowed to meet your own copy; pair 2 apparently is not permitted to leave the premises. After a romantic night and morning with "the other one" not realizing yet what happens, when they finally do, the first reaction of pair 1: obviously, jump in the car & run away! But they don't get far... because, the meeting worked, "re-discovering" the other one worked, and curiosity for what follows is too big. Decision: turn around, and let's see how this works out...

The bad part of "The One I Love" is that the twist or twists, how many they'd be intended there towards the end of the movie, are predictable. I didn't have any surprise, not even in the last scene of the movie, but I won't say more. Leaving that aside, the idea is original, despite the logic gaps that are even deeper than in "Triangle" (since I was mentioning this) - but if you have enough time to meditate on it you probably can find some explanations (parallel universe theory or whatever else). Overall, what I watched, looked pretty much alike a "Black Mirror" episode, a decent one ;)...

Rating: 3.5 out of 5