Joy

“When you’re hiding you’re safe, because people can’t see you. But funny thing about hiding: you’re even hidden from yourself.”

In case you were wondering, 2015’s ‘Joy’ starring Academy Award Winning Actress Jennifer Lawrence is a biographical film. It is in fact based on the life of ‘Joy Mangano’, an American inventor who became known for many inventions including the self-wringing ’Miracle Mop’ and is the president of ‘Ingenious Designs LLC and she appears frequently on the US television channel HSN (Home Shopping Network).

Written and directed by David O. Russell, it was nominated for 1 Oscar that year and received 18 other nominations and 4 wins. Two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro as well as Four-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper also co-starred in this film. Listed under genres of Comedy and Drama, I found very little to laugh about in this film. Perhaps there were dark humorous moments, but I found it mostly dramatic and really very sad. The story showed moment after moment of adversity, failure, and falls and even though there was some retribution, the tone of the film was mostly morose.

With an estimated budget of $60 million USD it was beautifully shot and executed, however they barely scraped even at the box-office, grossing only $56 million USD back. Certainly worth the watch, as many ‘under-dogs’ will be able to relate to it; hopefully inspiring our audience to keep dusting themselves off and keep pushing forward towards their goals in life.

American Hustle

Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Pena, Robert DeNiro and Writer/Director David O. Russell you may remember from award winning films like ‘Silver Linings Playbook’, ‘Three Kings’ and ‘The Fighter’ what is there not to love with this impressive line-up!?

This 2013 Crime/Drama was based on true events that took place in New Jersey during that time period, and the characters and story developed by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell was magnificent and brilliant in that our characters were well developed, seductive, and magnetic but also because the story was equally clever and thought-provoking.

Rated R for some sexual content, brief violence and foul language, this $40 million USD budget raked in a remarkable $146 million USD at the box-office. With a run-time of 138 minutes viewers were absorbed and had their fancies tickled with entertainment the whole way. Jennifer Lawrence and Cooper deliver some of the best jokes and although the film is mostly Drama, it plays light and un-complexed compared to what actors Adams, Bale and Renner usually play. 

No heavy message to be had except ‘Do the Right Thing’; your reputation depends on it! 

House at the End of the Street

I have to say, not at all what I expected; I honestly had doubts on this one, but thought I'd at least give it a whirl seeing it starred talented angel-faced Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence and all. I have three words to describe this film. Intense, intense, intense! I love a good horror film and this one delivers to my liking; one of the better horror films out there. Non-predictable, action-packed and riveting, the audience is teased into the mysterious and slow turn of events.

Written by David Loucka and Jonathon Mostow and directed by Mark Tonderai, and with a budget of $6 million USD this 101 minute 2012 thrilling film exposes dismay, eerie secrets and phycological commotion. Starring Elissa played by Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot who plays Ryan and Sarah played by Elisabeth Shue this film had a decent performance at the panic that slowly expanded. Introducing new-comer Eva Link who gave a delightfully harrowing execution, I think the only thing that rang a bell from another story would be the name of the character she played, "Carrie-Anne".

The film was beautifully shot in Ottawa Canada with unique camera angels throughout but also shot in 2-pert Techniscope format which provided the look of older horror films and gave the appearance of grainy images. Although there was not much buzz about this film when it was released, it more than quadrupled it's initial budget in just 3 months that same year. Backed by Relativity Media, FilmNation Entertainment and a Bigger Boat Production just to name a few and by scores of others internationally this story was compelling enough to receive 1 win and 2 other nominations.

Certainly what the doctor would order for a terrifying night of fun! :)

The Hunger Games

This 2012 Action/Adventure/Sci-fi film was reminiscent of ‘Harry Potter’ and had elements of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and glimpses of the brilliant novel ‘Brave New World’ by Aldous Huxley. ‘The Hunger Games’ written by Suzanne Collins and screenplay adaption by Suzanne Collins, Billy Ray and by director of the film Gary Ross had all the key elements for making of a booming and thrilling teenaged movie. Backed by Lionsgate films and with a cool budget of $78 million dollars; it’s easy to see how it made back $672 million worldwide. Teenagers in love and teenagers fighting to the death is very ‘becoming’ right now! J

The intensely beautiful and talented Jennifer Lawrence stars in this film and plays the character Katniss Everdeen with wonderful grace; she is calm, focused and triumphantly believable. She plays alongside others like: Wes Bentley, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, ‘too-sexy-for-his-own-good’ Lenny Kravitz, a barely recognizable Woody Harrelson and new-comer and uber-talented Amandla Stenberg who plays one of the youngest at battle ‘Rue’ from District 11.

With such support, talented cast and a vigorous budget it’s easy to see how well put-together this film was. Grand camera angles, fantastic lighting, splendid soundtrack, magnificent special effects, CGI and without a doubt, a seamless team-work in place, as continuity, story, dialogue and dramatic moments were all on point. Certainly recommended for pre-teens and teenagers; maybe not as stimulating for adults as the action happened mostly and was focused on that specific age-group from 12 to 18 years old. But I must say, it still makes for a cool night of fun! J