Review: Polisse

I've said it before, but there are distinct differences between foreign films and the overwhelming majority of Hollywood releases these days. One of those differences is the fact that the foreign folks will tackle subjects that are largely ignored over here in the States as far as movies go. The French film Polisse shows that to be true once again. It puts a clear and unwavering eye on cases involving child protection issues.

Polisse is a police drama based on real life cases involving things such as child molestation, rape and abuse. It follows a team of Parisian police officers within the Child Protection Unit (CPU) as they try their best to make the lives of the people around them better by protecting the children of Paris from adults whose actions against them may be illegal.

Right off the bat, some of the subject matter can be a little disturbing. I haven't really seen too many movies that included child abuse and child molestation as primary topics, so naturally, I wasn't used to it. A good portion of what is being spoken about in Polisse is verbally explained in graphic detail and is something that I had a difficult time listening to at times. I can't say that I didn't expect some of this to be illustrated here, but I didn't realize they'd be so candid and blunt with the delivery.

In saying that, I don't think there was any other way of handling it. I'm sure they took the naturalized and realistic approach, because the cases are based on real-life events. This makes things more disturbing and powerful by using this style. Creating the movie this way, allows them to emphasize the importance of what's at stake and adds the element of authenticity that's present throughout the duration of the film.

When not looking at cases that are trying to save kids from adults, the audience is given a glimpse into the personal lives of the officers who handle the cases in this particular unit. Just about each of the characters has enough time to show their wide array of personalities while we're witnessing the trials and tribulations that they're dealing with in their personal lives. During this time, the audience see them as not only human, but being very flawed themselves. The actors do a fine job in showing the personal trouble that these guys have, while still coping with the stresses of a strenuous job.

I originally thought that Polisse would be about the cases and only the cases. Then while I was watching it, I saw that they were going to use the lives of the people in the unit as a significant part of the film. I had an issue with it at first, because I thought that it would only be used as filler and it wouldn't add anything to the movie. It turns out that I was wrong and that this portion of the movie became vital to the potential success of the entire story. Adding all of this makes Polisse complete and turns it into a full-fledged drama that hits from multiple angles.

Polisse is a film that features a large amount of emotion. From joy, sadness, anxiety and anger, if you can name it, that emotion is in here somewhere. Much of that had to do with seeing kids in almost every negative situation imaginable and the attempts of the Child Protection Unit that wants to help them, but it also comes from the imperfect and dysfunctional lives of everyone else involved. Actress/director/co-writer Maïwenn handles this well and is great at managing all of it while telling the story and having the ability to blend all of the drama that's included.

Polisse is a hard-hitting movie that touches on some delicate subjects and it never tries to pull any punches while doing so. As I said earlier, that's the only way it should have been handled. It shows a level of realism that would seem to be truthful when looking at the members of the team and how their lives might be altered by the profession that they chose and the choices that they make on their own time.

When it comes to the cases that are being handled by this unit, the same can be said for the most part. However, some of this stuff is simply outrageous. If this movie was complete fiction and wasn't about real cases, I would have a hard time believing that some of this stuff ever actually happened. They say that "truth is stranger than fiction" and judging by this film, that saying might actually be right.

Score: 4/5

Rating: NR

Director: Maïwenn

Cast:
Karin Viard
JoeyStarr
Marina Foïs
Nicolas Duvauchelle
Maïwenn
Karole Rocher
Emmanuelle Bercot
Frédéric Pierrot
Arnaud Henriet
Louis Do De Lencquesaing

Film Length: 127 minutes

Release Date: May 18, 2012 (Limited)

Distributor: IFC Films

Country: France

View the original article here

Free Download Movies

FullMovies Legal Online Movie Downloading - Is It Worth It?

FullMovies Review

As an avid movie watcher myself I am always looking for the newest and best ways to get quality movies online. I admit I've gone to those illegal P2P sites and taken movies from them, but I stopped after I got several viruses that seriously messed up my computer.

So I asked myself 'how do I watch movies online but still save money?' I had gotten fed up with the expensive movie rental prices and the terrible late fees that came with them. All of the legitimate online programs however, charged an arm and a leg to rent movies, or didn't have a wide enough selection. So my search continued. That's when I found FullMovies, an online database that seemed to be the answer to my movie watching woes.

First thing I asked myself when I saw it; is FullMovies a scam? It seemed too good to be true, and as a college student who was tight on money, I was always extremely cautious when spending my cash online. After reading other reviews however, I felt that it looked pretty legitimate and I decided to give it a try despite the risks. After paying the one time entrance fee for a one-year subscription, I signed up on the site and began browsing their selection.

I was amazed. The site was so easy to navigate and incredibly user friendly. I just couldn't believe it. Just a few clicks and I was already downloading a newly released movie! While that was downloading I checked out what else it had to offer. It had every movie I could think of, plus THOUSANDS more! This site had everything and the database was constantly being added to with new releases! On top of that it was so easy to find a movie. The movies could be organized by title, actors/actresses, and release date!

As a person who reviews often, I have to say that this movie site is one of the best I've seen by far. It has everything you could want, is incredibly safe, user friendly, and has constant updates with new movies! On top of that it is so cheap compared to the amount of money you would spend actually renting all of these movies that you save hundreds! I strongly recommend FullMovies to anyone who wants to save some cash and get unlimited access to thousands of movies!

If you are interested in some good movie ideas then check out some fantasy movies that were inspired by fantasy novels here!

Here is a little about me:
My name is Sarah Carroll and I am a 20 year old university studying psychiatric nursing. I hope to be a professional writer one day and have my own book put out, that is my dream. I enjoy sports, playing with my pets(1 cat, 2 dogs) and writing!

Hi, thank you for reading my article. If you wish to read some of my other ones just go to my Ezine profile and check them out!

View the original article here

Free Download Movies

The Simpsons Movie (2007)

The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 animated comedy distributed by 20th Century Fox. It stars Dan Castellaneta as Homer, Julie Kavner as Marge, Nancy Cartwright as Bart, and Yeardley Smith as Lisa. Characters are based on The Simpsons TV show created by Matt Groening. The director is David Silverman.

The story takes place primarily in a city named Springfield (no state is given as a running gag on the show). Homer Simpson decides to adopt a pig to save it from slaughter at Krusty Burger. He begins to show more love towards the pig than his son Bart. Bart begins seeing neighbor Ned Flanders as more of a father-figure. Homer plans to dispose of the pig's feces properly but, after getting a call from a friend about free donuts, he just dumps it into the nearest lake. The EPA reacts by placing a giant glass dome over the entire city, separating it from the rest of the world.

As we know with any film based on a TV show, one should have already seen the show in order to truly appreciate the kind of humor displayed in the movie. While the regular TV characters offer their usual brand of comedy, new ones bring in a more satirical form. For instance, the president is portrayed as basically a clueless celebrity who doesn't really know what's going on. Also, the evil head of the EPA, Russ Cargill, is to resemble a rich man trying to use his money to influence the president into giving him more power.

Aside from the satire and very entertaining plot, this film features numerous subplots, the most notable of them being the relationship between Homer and Bart. As stated before, Homer adopts a pig and begins to show more affection towards it than Bart. As Homer continues to make mistakes, Bart continues to lose respect for him, eventually seeing their neighbor Ned Flanders as his father because he was giving Bart the attention and affection he wasn't getting from Homer.

To wrap, The Simpsons Movie is a great film and, I believe, well worth donating some of your valuable time to see!

Kevin T. Dillehay has written more than 100 movie reviews from all genres. He provides a unique perspective on the movies you see all the time but may not stop and think about in depth. You are invited to check out his work at http://www.moviefilmreview.com/author/kmonk10.

View the original article here

Free Download Movies

A Simple, Funny, Engaging and Touching Experience

Subtleness is less expected from Bollywood, so it was pleasantly surprising to watch the understated subordination of Sridevi's character Shashi by her own husband and daughter. Even more subtle is the family's treatment of the grandmother - in one scene, Shashi's husband Satish casually tells his mother that she wasn't going with them to America because she had no passport to travel. The subordination of Indian homemakers and more broadly, Indian women in society and within their own homes, and the neglect of aging women within families is honestly conveyed in English Vinglish, the debut film by first-time director Gauri Shinde.

The opening scene is fresh and well-thought-out. Shashi is the first to wake up and ready the breakfast for her family. She prepares coffee in the same way she does every morning. She does not know how to pronounce the name of the brand Nescafe correctly, but that is not what concerns her. Her foremost duty is to take care of her dear ones - her working husband, her teenage daughter, her young son and her sweet mother-in-law. The moment they occupy the dining room, she begins serving toast and tea, sitting down only after each member in her family gets food. The first reaction she gets is 'Oh the toast is burnt. Why am I getting burnt charcoal toast?!' and similar jests and jabs for all the effort she has taken in making their morning. Shashi is then teased by her husband and daughter for butchering the word 'jazz', beginning the core plot of the film. The next few scenes surround Shashi's everyday life, which includes preparing motichoor ladoos for neighbors, poojas and ceremonies, a hobby that supplements the household income but isn't taken seriously by her workaholic husband. Shashi's teenage daughter is very critical about her mother's English speaking skills and is uncomfortable in taking her mother to the parent-teachers' meeting while her son is too young to be finicky about her mother's English and only wants her to mimic Michael Jackson steps.

Shashi's language skills become especially worrisome when she is invited by her sister to NY for her niece's wedding. Her husband does not send the kids along with her, saying that she herself would find it hard to adjust and communicate in NY and taking the kids along would just complicate the matter. So Shashi, a common housewife (according to her family) lands in New York, getting acquainted with a magnanimous gentleman on her flight (cameo by Amitabh Bachchan). She does not face much trouble when her sister or niece is present but after a humiliating experience alone at a café, she tries contacting an English Speaking 4 week course, seeing the advertisement on the bus. Shashi starts taking the class, along with a Latina, a Pakistani, a South Indian, a Frenchman, an African and a Chinese and run by a gay teacher. She learns valuable lessons at the class, learning that she is an entrepreneur and finding comfort among people like her, not in nationality but in their inability to communicate in English. Her secret life as a student turns problematic when the Frenchman falls in love with Shashi (easily the most interesting element in the film) and when her family arrives in New York. Will she be able to learn English and more importantly change her family's perception about her?

I found many aspects of the relationship between Shashi and her family to be parallel to my own family's; my mother left her job after sixteen years of service and is now a freelancer and part-time German teacher, earning her Masters in German after leaving her job. I know my mother isn't a person who loves cooking, though she makes good food; like Shashi, she makes us bread and tea for breakfast a lot many times and we (my father and I) love to tease her cooking skills. My father, who brings much of the family income, sometimes disregards my mother's freelancing as an actual job, only regarding a 9 to 5 job as 'actual' work. This made some scenes involving Shashi and her husband very engaging for me; also, the incident at school involving Shashi and her mother reminded me of the time I felt embarrassed in going to the theatre with my grandmother once. The relationship between Shashi and her son reminds me of the unconditional love shown by my 4 year old cousin to my grandmother.

I was very pleased at how much I could connect with certain aspects in the movie and I applaud Gauri Shinde for taking care in making the interactions between Shashi and her family as realistic as possible. The characterization of Daadi is also wonderfully subtle - in my own family I have felt this relegating role of my grandmother and her sad acceptance of the same. But (I'm going to be hated for saying this) the cameo by Bachchan could've been deleted - it was that OMG Sridevi and Bachchan moment for those who've seen their previous films together, but apart from that it served very less purpose. This time could've been used instead for more personal interactions between Sridevi and her fellow students. As mentioned above, the silent chemistry between Shashi and Laurent is the most touching element in English Vinglish. The film works best in the latter half when it's less about English and more about themes like love, loyalty, responsibility, understanding, celebration, independence and realization.

Even though she wasn't exactly Marathi, Sridevi is lovely and lovable as Shashi, excelling especially in the second half and shouldering the weight of the movie. This can be said about the other characters as well, and all this happens because the writing sparkles with honesty, care and thoughtfulness. English Vinglish is a simple, funny, and engaging and touching film that succeeds with the help of Sridevi and the casts' performances and Gauri Shinde's strong understanding of the characters she created.

Verdict: 6.2 out of 10

View the original article here

Free Download Movies

Review: Serpico

There are a good number of people who grew up wanting to be police officers. Most of them probably had idealistic views on what the job was about and they wanted to do the right things by helping others and saving lives. Frank Serpico became a cop and was probably one of those kids who had that same outlook when it came to the virtues of law enforcement officers and what they did while protecting their fellow civilians. That might have been what he thought, but based on the film about his life, that doesn't appear to be how it all unfolded.

When Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) joins the New York Police Department back in the 1959, he had the desire to work hard, stop crime and be an upstanding police officer. Though admirable in the eyes of many others in life, that mentality causes issues with some of the other boys in blue and they take umbrage to his style of police work and what he's trying to do. Frank decides to fight through the negativity and stand up to the corruption that surrounds him on a daily basis. By doing so, not only is he risking being alienated within the force, but he's also risking his life.

Serpico is not only about Frank's experiences with the force, in the early going it also offers insight to his personal life and how some people belonging to the crowd that he ran with took to him. Based on his occupation, some of the people that he ran into trusted him while others did not. That's a natural reaction to expect for cops in some instances, but I'd imagine that it would be even more common with the crowd that he ran with during his off duty hours.

After the viewer get acquainted with him and his friends, the film shifts more and more towards his work as a plain clothed policeman. This segment of the movie contains the meat of the story and is the most important part of the movie. It's here that we see his interactions with some of his fellow police officers who don't like the fact that he appears to be clean and refuses to change in order to accommodate them. Because of the reputation that he's developed, Serpico finds himself stuck in a dangerous game where his values are being tested and his loyalty is continuously questioned.

The director and the actors asked to portray this story on-screen handle themselves accordingly and that's especially true for Al Pacino as gives a passionate performance. However, the primary reason for the success of Serpico as a film is due to the actual story behind it all that's on display. With this being true, the film gets better as it continues to dive deeper into all that is taking place and everything becomes more dramatic and dangerous in the life of Serpico once it all begins to escalate until it ultimately reaches it climax.

If I'm going to point out any negatives in the movie, I'll look at the fact that they didn't illustrate the growth of Serpico as much as I would have liked. It's not a big deal overall, but I would have wanted them to show more about how he became the hippie type of guy that he eventually became. By my estimation, the film would have been more well-rounded and it simply would have made it better. Other than that, there isn't much to complain about.

I knew of Frank Serpico and his story before I saw this movie, so there wasn't that much that I didn't know about beforehand. Although that's true, I still wanted to see the film and it was as good as I hoped it would be. The level of stress for a cop must be tough, but I'd imagine it would be even worse when you might feel that you're on your own while you're in a corrupt system. Serpico and anyone else who stands up during trying times like that should be commended and remembered for their bravery and heart.

Score: 4/5

Rating: R

Director: Sidney Lumet

Cast:
Al Pacino
John Randolph
Jack Kehoe
Biff McGuire
Barbara Eda-Young
Cornelia Sharpe
Bernard Barrow
M. Emmet Walsh
Tony Roberts
John Medici
Charles White

Film Length: 130 minutes

Release Date: December 5, 1973

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

View the original article here

Free Download Movies

Review: End Of Watch

When I was a very young child, I had dreams of becoming a cop. I felt that way until Miami Vice went off the air and until I started going outside to play like most kids used to do back then. I won't ever get to know what it feels like to be a member of Law Enforcement, but due to the movie End of Watch, I can get somewhat of a first person look at this physically and emotionally taxing job that many kids have thought about doing at one point and time.

In this film, Officer Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Officer Zavala (Michael Peña) patrol some of Los Angeles' toughest streets as they go face to face with dangerous gangs who are heavily involved in drugs, money and guns. They're two young and charismatic guys who work well together and put their all into their profession every time out. As they face these tough streets one day at a time, they also have to balance their family lives. Of course, this is all in a day's work for your average office, but it gets more difficult for these two once they run into some trouble with a Mexican drug cartel.

End of Watch starts off with a high speed chase through the streets and back alleys of the infamous South Central of Los Angeles, California. All of this is shown through the same first person camera that we routinely find in those "Found Footage" horror films. Seeing as how its in a police car, showing through this style is not odd. You can say that they're only filming it from the dashboard camera in a police car, but then you'd have to look the rest of the film.

Soon after the car chase comes to a close, the audience is introduced to the two officers that are the stars of the film. This is also shown in a first person view, because Officer Taylor (Gyllenhaal) decides that he wants to film what his daily life is like. These two guys are cops of course, but they're partners on the force and also very good friends.

Through a large portion of the film, we ride around town with these two as they go on patrol doing their jobs. Around their neck of the woods, they run into a numerous amount of criminals. Some of them have earned their respect, some haven't, some don't want it and others will never get it. During this time, we not only get a chance to see their attempts to stop or prevent crimes, but we get to learn about them from a personal level. Many of their scenes are surprisingly funny as they're just clowning around in between the serious stuff that cops might actually witness in real life every once in a while.

To an extent, this film reminds me of another 2012 cop film. That film comes from France and it goes by the name of Polisse. The overall subject matter is different. One (Polisse) is about a Child Protection Unit in France (It's also based on true cases), and the other (End of Watch) is essentially about the typical police work that officers might run into. These two films are similar based on there styles. They both include the work that goes on, but they also feature a lot of scenes about the personal lives that I was just speaking of.

The way that's done in both of these movies allows them to create a better and more diverse picture of these officers and the everyday happenings that they experience. End of Watch is more on the funny side of things than Polisse, but they both benefit from this style of police film. If I had to choose, I would still probably go with Polisse as the better movie, but I believe End of Watch is pretty good in its own right.

Gyllenhaal and Peña carry End of Watch and are great on-screen together. These two appear to have legitimate chemistry and get plenty of opportunities to show off their skills. I think that both of them put on great performances that are easily engaging and entertaining. Those two alone help make End of Watch what it is, because there is no structured storyline through a decent chunk of it. They handle all of their scenes very well as they fight crime, deal with fellow police officers, mingle with family and find time for love.

If I had to criticize End of Watch for anything, I'd criticize it for it's use of that handheld "Found footage" stuff. They really didn't need it and they should have just went with the conventional camera work. You have these two cops using their own cameras to film their days, but you also have the gang members running around filming their days as well. That's flat out stupid. How many people committing illegal activities actually film their law-breaking practices? I'm sure some idiot might be out there doing it, but not when you're doing some of the stuff that these guys are doing.

Not only that, I noticed that even when no one is supposed to be holding a camera, the camera is still moving around in this "Blair Witch" style. They did this in Chronicle, but that made sense. The main character had superpowers and he could move it where ever he wanted just by using his mind. Well, they don't have superpowers in End of Watch, so I don't know how they thought this made sense. They could have at least used normal camera work in those scenes.

Outside of that, I really didn't find much to complain about. I originally thought this movie would blow, because of the way they chose to use these cameras, but I was wrong. End of Watch is actually an entertaining movie all the way around and it has very few glaring flaws to go with it. The only major flaw was the camera work at times. Other than that, it's certainly fun and it gives the audience a lot to like. I highly recommend it.

Score: 3.5/5

Rating: R

Director: David Ayer

Cast:
Jake Gyllenhaal
Michael Peña
America Ferrera
Anna Kendrick
Frank Grillo
Natalie Martinez
Cody Horn
David Harbour

Film Length: 109 minutes

Release date: September 21, 2012

Distributor: Open Road Films

View the original article here

Free Download Movies

Review: Cosmopolis

Having a combination of money, power and fame can have its privileges in this world. You can be in position to get loads of perks and you can even be a person with a certain level of authority in various areas of life. With all of that being said, there can also be a number of bad things that go with money, power and fame. If you or someone associated with you does something negative, it can make or the person look bad, embarrass you publicly or even turn you into a target. That's exactly what Robert Pattinson has to deal with now... in his movie Cosmopolis. What else would I be talking about?

In Cosmopolis, Pattinson plays a 28 year-old financial power broker named Eric Parker. He's known by everyone and is disliked by many of them in the turbulent financial times where he reigns supreme. He travels in a limousine that's heavily protected at all times against potential threats from frustrated protesters and other rivals who may pose possible danger. Throughout the day, Parker usually handles his business dealings in his limo, but today is different. Not only is he doing business and trying to remain protected there, but he's also looking over his marriage and his life to determine what he wants and where he's headed.

When Cosmopolis first opens up, the audience is tossed immediately into the film with no explanation of what's about to happen and really no build up. We meet Eric Parker (Pattinson) and his bodyguard Torval (Kevin Durand) standing on the sidewalk while engaging in a small but important conversation. After this brief scene, Eric moves to his limousine to start a day that will see him journey through Manhattan in search of a haircut at a specific barbershop.

Once we get into the limo, we almost never get out of it. This is just an estimation, but I'd say about that about 75 to 80% of the movie actually takes place inside the limousine. This is where most of his conversations take place and where most of the film's plot is laid out. This closed off setting allows almost nothing to happen on-screen and it's where the movie can shine or fall apart depending on how you feel about this approach.

Due to how Cosmopolis is structured, it relies on two things more than anything else and it's not even close. Those two things are the actors and the dialog that they share with one another. The actors here are asked to carry this film completely and nearly everything they do is verbal. There are no "bells and whistles" or rarely is there anything dynamic happening visually or physically. It's all suppressed and slow moving, so the film's reliance on the actors is paramount. That couldn't be anymore true in the case of Robert Pattinson.

Not only is Pattinson important, because he's in the lead role, he's important because he's in every scene. His character and his immediate surroundings set the tone for the style of the film and just about everything we see and hear about. We learn about who he is as a person and what his life is like on this very significant day. Parker is a very blunt and straight to the point guy who's also a bit on the pompous side.

It's a weird time for him and many of the people that we get a glimpse of throughout the duration of the film. That's because his world is falling apart around him and that can have an impact on countless people. He doesn't care as much as you might think though. He cares more about getting to the barber and getting some "lady love" before the day is out.

As I said earlier, dialog is also relied on in this movie. Saying that this film is dialog heavy would be a major understatement. Almost everything in this film is directly tied to the dialog and there's virtually no time for the film to stop and catch its breath before they go right back to talking. They even manage to use a hefty amount of dialog during one of the sex scenes. I don't mean dirty talk now, I'm talking about actual conversation. So much of Cosmopolis is talking and explaining every detail through conversation that you can close your eyes while you're watching it and get almost everything you need out of the film just on the words alone.

This is a flick that I would consider to be potentially more of a critic's movie than a fan's movie. As a critic, you may see the art and skill behind this Cronenberg film more than a fan who might just want to be entertained. I'm sure there are fans who might enjoy it and see it the same way, but I'd imagine that there will be a healthy amount of fans that would stand on the opposite side of the fence and see it as boring and uneventful. Cosmopolis is one of those films that's legitimately divisive and I can understand and see how people would view it from either side.

I found it to be decent at best and that's mainly because of its artistic style. The dialog, the way the characters behaved and even the dry and hollow feel that it all has makes it artistic from my point of view. It's certainly an awkward film that will make some people say "what the (insert the word of your choice hear)?" by the time it's over, but I appreciate what it is and how it's made. In describing it, I'd say that Cosmopolis is art without artistry, it's stylish without having any style, it's smart while being a little dumb and it's deep while purposely being extremely shallow. As a viewer, the entertainment value that you get will depend on what you look for in a movie. Whether you like it or not depends strictly on your taste, and I don't think there's a wrong answer either way.

Score: 3/5

Rating: R

Director: David Cronenberg

Cast:
Robert Pattinson
Samantha Morton
Juliette Binoche
Sarah Gadon
Paul Giamatti
Kevin Durand
K'Naan
Matheiu Amalric
Jay Baruchel

Film Length: 108 minutes

Release Date: August 17, 2012

Distributor: Entertainment One

View the original article here

Free Download Movies