Memorial Weekend came a bit early this year, but hey, a three-day weekend is ALWAYS welcome. It’s been a nice, mellow weekend for me, giving me a chance to catch up with old friends I haven’t seen in a while.
I also got a chance to finally see Mad Max: Fury Road and well, here’s my initial reaction:
Whoahh!!! Now THAT was bloody awesome! Thrilling action flick that’s actually got a lot of heart! What a ride! #MadMaxFuryRoad
— FlixChatter (@FlixChatter) May 24, 2015
So yeah I totally agree with Ted’s review and I personally would’ve given it a 4.5/5 reels. My hubby and I have decided we’ll see this again in a bigger screen with Dolby Atmos as the visuals are simply astounding!! What surprised me most was how emotionally-gratifying the film was… the visual spectacle did NOT smother the story that it became more style over substance [I’m looking at you Tomorrowland!]
Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy are simply superb here, both bringing their A-game in terms of physical and emotional performance. This film is more about Furiosa’s story than it is about Max, but that’s not to say that Max was just tagging along. I think the story of a partnership between the two lost souls is beautifully realized… nobody needed *saving* but their shared journey ended up bringing redemption to both of them. The supporting characters are wonderful as well.
I found this Tumblr post and I agree wholeheartedly with what’s being said below on the relationship between Capable (Riley Keough) & Nux (Nicholas Hoult).
I’ve been following Cannes 2015 the past week and now that it’s wrapped, so in case you haven’t been reading about it, here are some of the big winners…
The Palme d’Or winner: Dheepan by Jacques Audiard – A Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris
Grand Prize runner up: Son of Saul by László Nemes – In the horror of 1944 Auschwitz, a prisoner forced to burn the corpses of his own people finds moral survival upon trying to salvage from the flames the body of a boy he takes for his son.
Jury Prize: The Lobster by Yorgos Lanthimos – In a dystopian near future, single people are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days or are transformed into animals and released into the woods.
Best Director: Hou Hsiao-Hsien for The Assassin – Based on a short story written during Tang dynasty, “Nie Ying Niang” is a story about assassin Nie’s mission to assassinate a political rival
Best Actor: Vincent Lindon for The Measure of a Man (La loi du marché)
Best Actress (tie): Rooney Mara for Carol and Emmanuelle Bercot for Mon Roi.
I can’t wait to see all of these movies, I sure hope all of them will get a decent release here. I’m surprised Macbeth or even Mad Max: Fury Road didn’t get any award, especially the latter. The reviews I’ve glanced through so far for Macbeth have been positive so I really can’t wait for that! Of course it’s never too early to talk about Oscar and this HitFix article talks about which movies are ready for Oscar close-ups.
Of course my weekend wouldn’t be complete without some Stanley Weber viewing 😉 Friday night was Movie Nite with my girlfriends and we watched Not Another Happy Ending… I lost count how many times I’ve seen it but I still love it!
I also watched The Hollow Crown: Henry V, which is the last of the four-part BBC miniseries I’ve mentioned here. I can’t believe I still haven’t seen this given how many amazing British actors are involved. I will watch all four miniseries at some point, but I couldn’t help watching this one because Stanley has a small role as the Duke of Orléans.
He barely got any screen time in this series, which is a pity. I wish one day I’d see him be the star of his own Shakespearean production! Judging from a dozen roles I’ve seen Stanley played so far, he’s definitely a versatile and dedicated actor who’s ready for his very own closeup any day now.
Well, since I’m currently obsessed with anything Parisian, it’s easy to decide what my May Blindspot movie pick would be:
Can you believe it I’ve never seen a Godard film before? It’s also written by François Truffaut too, another French filmmaker whose work I’m not familiar with… yet. Review shall be up sometime Tuesday!
…
Well that’s my weekend roundup. How ’bout you, seen anything good?
…
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Hey Ruth! I’m glad you got to see Mad Max! It’s definitely the best movie I’ve seen in a long time; I absolutely loved it! It kept me entertained the entire time which is not something I could say for the avengers. I know Miller is continuing an old franchise but this film really had a lot of originality and it completely blew me away.
I haven’t been paying a ton of attention to Cannes but I’m definitely interested in seeing The Lobster and Carol, especially as the second one is bound to get some oscar buzz. Glad to see Rooney Mara win something for it as I’ve never seen her give anything but fantastic performances. On the other hand, The Lobster just looks so weird and intriguing that when I first heard about it I knew I had to see it!
Hi Melissa! Yeah Mad Max: Fury Road would definitely make my top 10 of the year, maybe even top 5! It was an exhilarating & fun ride but also surprisingly emotionally-engaging. Ultimately, the cool action alone won’t make me love a movie, so the story definitely appeals to me as well.
The Lobster does sound bonkers but I’m curious about it. I thought Cate Blanchett would win for Carol, I’m curious about that one too.
Went back to watch Mad Max: Fury Road once more this weekend. This time with the whole family and friend. I probably enjoyed it more a second time. The women in this group unanimously loved the film, BTW. One of my favorites of the year.
Hi Michael! We’ll go back and see it again for sure, as the cinema we were at was a bit smaller than we had hoped. Plus we want to see it in Dolby Atmos too, that’ll be spectacular. I didn’t know about the female-centric story but definitely happy about that!
Hi Ruth. Just returned from seeing Mad Max. I liked there was very little CGI in the film. I liked Hardy and Theron absolutely. Loved the white chorus of beautiful girls. Loved the strong women and the crazy cars. The stunts were crazy. Complete escapism. 🙂
Hi Cindy! Yeah I like that the action felt visceral and real, the special effects retain that realism which is always great. The visuals are breathtaking but thankfully the story is engaging as well. Pure escapism that appeal to my head and heart.
It was excellent. I got a bit tired by the end of it. I’m eager to see the new Mad Max. I want to see the ladies kill, kill, kill!!!!!
I was actually surprised how I wasn’t bored at all in the 2-hours watching this. Not even for a minute. All the action, no matter how crazy, seem to fuel the story.
Glad you enjoyed Fury Road too Ruth, I can’t give it a higher rating because I think The Road Warrior is still the best in the series but maybe I’ll change my mind when I see it again. I was hoping IMAX would show it in a limited release but looks like Disney has booked all the IMAX theaters for Tomorrowland. I haven’t paid much attention to the Cannes film festival in years so I don’t know what are the films being shown there.
I was in the mood for a mindless action flick and watched Mission: Impossible 2, haven’t seen it in years. I still think it’s a great summer flick, Woo just took some of the elements too seriously and the love triangle just didn’t work. But everything else worked great, I know it’s gotten lots of hate years after it came out but it’s the biggest movie of summer 2000. I wanted to go see Fury Road again but stupid Tomorrowland is playing at the Atmos theaters.
Hi Ted! I was gonna watch Road Warrior this weekend but didn’t get to it so we’ll see it next weekend. Boy when I saw the trailer, certainly the visuals are a heck of a lot more spectacular in this new one, well obviously they have a much bigger budget. I hope Tomorrowland will drop off theaters soon so they’ll show Mad Max in more Atmos theaters
I like MI:2, even tho the villain is a bit too melancholy. I think some of the action stunts were great, those movies always have a great opening sequence too.
Yeah I hope the Icon theater will put it back in the Atmos theater some time this week or next. The next big movie they’ll put in that theater is Jurassic World and that won’t open till June 12. Currently the only showtime for Mad Max at the Atmos theater is 10:30pm. With Tomorrowland tanking, maybe they’ll put it back for early showings.
Glad you enjoyed MAX in all his glory. I’m bummed I haven’t had a chance to see it yet, but there’s no way I’m missing the film of the year on the big screen!
Hi Fernby! Oh you MUST see it on the big screen, as big a screen as possible. We’re gonna see it again and hopefully find a theater w/ Dolby Atmos too!
So glad you liked Mad Max! I loved the chemistry between Hardy and Theron, the scene where he was holding her near the end almost made me cry. It was great how many lovely, heartfelt moments between the characters there were in the film
Hi Margaret! I’m glad the movie lived up to the hype. Yes I LOVE the chemistry between the characters, they all work wonderfully well, down to the supporting characters. I actually cried a few times watching this, which I didn’t expect at all.
Hey Ruth! I though Mad Max was a huge amount of fun. I do wish it had sacrificed just a bit of the action for a little more plot/character stuff but I still had an absolute blast.
Hi there Chris! Y’know, I’d agree w/ you though I think it’s quite a feat that despite of the lack of character development, you still FEEL for Max and Furiosa and was involved in their journey. An absolute blast from start to finish!
Happy to read you enjoyed Mad Max as much as I did…it was awesome 🙂
Yeah, definitely lived up to the hype Nostra!
The Lobster sounds nuts!! Also that excerpt about Nux was lovely.
It does doesn’t it? But I like the cast so I probably will rent that one.
Glad you loved Fury Road as much as me. It deserves to be a huge success.
Also that movie The Lobster sounds crazy! I want to see it!
Hi Mikey! I’m glad it lived up to the hype. Such a total blast, I’ll definitely see it again on the big screen.
I can’t wait to see The Lobster, it sounds completely bonkers!
Pingback: MAY Viewing Recap, Top 3 MSPIFF 2015 + Movie of the Month |
I’m also looking forward to those Cannes films. Fury Road was even better on a second viewing. Thrilled that you loved it too! 🙂
Better on second viewing? Now I’m even more looking forward to seeing Fury Road again later this month, hopefully in a bigger screen w/ Dolby Atmos!
Pingback: FlixChatter [Guest] Review: Dark Places (2015) |
Pingback: A trio of casting/directing news I’m excited about |
Pingback: Everybody’s Chattin + Spotlight on ‘Macbeth’ First Official US Trailer |
Pingback: FlixChatter Review: PAN (2015) |
Pingback: Five for the Fifth: DECEMBER 2015 Edition |
Pingback: Musings on Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) |
Pingback: 2015 Recap: Top 10 Best + 5 Worst Movies of the Year |
Pingback: Trailer Spotlight: Netflix’s The Old Guard (2020) – FlixChatter Film Blog
Pingback: Double Reviews: The Tomorrow War (2021) – FlixChatter Film Blog
Pingback: The Tomorrow War (2021) – FlixChatter Film Blog – 123 Movie News