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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Tag: Ansel Elgort

West Side Story (2021)

Title: West Side Story
Rating: PG-13
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Tony Kushner
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, Ana Isabelle, Corey Stoll, Brian d’Arcy James, Curtiss Cook, and Rita Moreno
Release Date: 12/10/2021
Running Time: 156 minutes

Official Site
IMDb

What did you think of this film?

An adaptation of the 1957 musical, West Side Story explores forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.


Are There Any Extras During The Credits? No

Are There Any Extras After The Credits? No

Dedicaton: For Dad

Special thanks to Frank and Tony for this submission


Goldfinch, The (2019)

Title: The Goldfinch
Rating: R
Directed by: John Crowley
Written by: Peter Straughan
Based on the novel by: Donna Tartt
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Nicole Kidman, Oakes Fegley, Aneurin Barnard, Finn Wolfhard, Sarah Paulson, Luke Wilson, and Jeffrey Wright
Release Date: 9/13/2019
Running Time: 149 minutes

Official Site
IMDb

What did you think of this film?
The last time 13-year-old Theo Decker saw his mother, she was gliding away from him into another gallery of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Seconds later, a terrorist bomb exploded destroying priceless pieces of art…and shattering Theo’s life forever. The tragedy changes the course of his life, sending him on a stirring odyssey of grief and guilt, reinvention and redemption, friendship and even love.

Throughout the turbulent years, as he grows into adulthood, Theo secretly clings to a single, precious object—his one tangible connection to the mother he lost on that terrible day—a priceless painting of a tiny bird chained to its perch. The Goldfinch.


Are There Any Extras During The Credits? No

Are There Any Extras After The Credits? No

Special thanks to Eric for this submission


Billionaire Boys Club (2018)

Title: Billionaire Boys Club
Rating: R
Directed by: James Cox
Written by: James Cox, and Captain Mauzner
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Taron Egerton, and Emma Roberts
Release Date: 7/17/2018
Running Time: 108 minutes

IMDb

What did you think of this film?
A group of wealthy boys in Los Angeles during the early 1980s establish a ‘get-rich-quick’ scam that turns deadly.


Are There Any Extras During The Credits? No

Are There Any Extras After The Credits? No

Special thanks to Frank for this submission


November Criminals (2017)*

Title: November Criminals
Rating: PG-13
Directed by: Sacha Gervasi
Written by: Steven Knight, and Sacha Gervasi
Based on the novel by: Sam Munson
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Catherine Keener
Release Date: 11/7/2017

IMDb

What did you think of this film?
A teenager takes on his own investigation of a murder in Washington D.C.


Are There Any Extras During The Credits? Yes

Click to see whats: during the credits

Are There Any Extras After The Credits? No

Is this stinger worth waiting around for? Vote DownVote Up (-1 rating, 1 votes)

Dedication: This film is for everyone who has lost a parent or a friend. And for Sean Gervasi.

Memoriam: We picture of David Bowie and the dates 1947 – 2016.

Special thanks to Frank for this submission


Baby Driver (2017)

Title: Baby Driver
Rating: R
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Written by: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Jon Bernthal, Eiza González, Jon Hamm, and Jamie Foxx
Release Date: 6/28/2017
Running Time: 113 minutes

Official Facebook
IMDb

What did you think of this film?
A talented, young getaway driver (Ansel Elgort) relies on the beat of his personal soundtrack to be the best in the game. When he meets the girl of his dreams (Lily James), Baby sees a chance to ditch his criminal life and make a clean getaway. But after being coerced into working for a crime boss (Kevin Spacey), he must face the music when a doomed heist threatens his life, love and freedom.


Are There Any Extras During The Credits? No

Are There Any Extras After The Credits? No

Special thanks to Kate for this submission


Divergent Series: Allegiant – Part 1, The (2016)

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Title: The Divergent Series: Allegiant – Part 1 (aka. The Divergent Series: Allegiant: The IMAX Experience)
Rating: PG-13
Directed by: Robert Schwentke
Written by: Noah Oppenheim, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage
Based on the book by: Veronica Roth
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Jeff Daniels, Zoë Kravitz, Ansel Elgort and Miles Teller
Release Date: 3/18/2016
Running Time: 121 minutes

Official Site
IMDb

After the earth-shattering revelations of INSURGENT, Tris must escape with Four and go beyond the wall enclosing Chicago. For the first time ever, they will leave the only city and family they have ever known. Once outside, old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless with the revelation of shocking new truths. Tris and Four must quickly decide who they can trust as a ruthless battle ignites beyond the walls of Chicago which threatens all of humanity. In order to survive, Tris will be forced to make impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice and love.


What did you think of this film?

During Credits? No

After Credits? No

[wpolling_archive id=”75″ vote=”true” type=”open”]


Divergent Series: Insurgent, The (2015)*

TheDivergentSeriesInsurgentPoster

Title: The Divergent Series: Insurgent (aka. The Divergent Series: Insurgent 3D and The Divergent Series: Insurgent: An IMAX 3D Experience)
Rating: PG-13
Director: Robert Schwentke
Writer: Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman and Mark Bomback
Based on the novels by: Veronica Roth
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney and Mekhi Phifer
Release Date: 3/20/2015
Running Time: 119 minutes

Official Site
IMDb

Beatrice Prior must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart with the help from others on her side.


What did you think of this film?

During Credits? Yes

Click to see whats: during the credits

 

After Credits? No

Is this stinger worth waiting around for? Vote DownVote Up (-11 rating, 91 votes)

[wpolling_archive id=”36″ vote=”true” type=”open”]



Men, Women & Children (2014)

MenWomenAndChildrenPoster

TITLE: Men, Women & Children

RELEASE DATE: 10/17/2014

RATING: R

A group of high school teenagers and their parents attempt to navigate the many ways the Internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image, and their love lives.

What did you think of this film?


Official Site

Amazon

IMDb


During Credits? No

After Credits? No

Special thanks to Frank S. for this submission

Fault in Our Stars, The (2014)

TheFaultInOurStarsPoster

TITLE: The Fault in Our Stars

RELEASE DATE: 6/6/2014

RATING: PG-13

Hazel and Gus are two teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional, and a love that sweeps them on a journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous given that Hazel’s other constant companion is an oxygen tank, Gus jokes about his prosthetic leg, and they met and fell in love at a cancer support group.

What did you think of this film?


Official Site

Amazon

IMDb


During Credits? No

After Credits? No

The Fault in our Stars Review – 3 1/2 out of 5 Stars

TheFaultInOurStarsPoster

I had little clues as to what to expect from the film adaptation of John Green’s young adult novel The Fault in Our Stars. I have not read the book but I know that the novel has grown a fairly huge fan base. This wasn’t one that I was really that interested in seeing at the Seattle International Film Festival but the film is getting a wide scale release and its debut was at this year’s SIFF. It wasn’t that I was openly expecting to hate it, I wouldn’t have been surprised if the film turned out to be as good as The Spectacular Now but I also wouldn’t have been that surprised if the film turned out to be as bad as Safe Haven. However, the film did turn out to be a surprisingly enjoyable film for many different reasons.

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Hazel Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) is terminally ill with cancer. In her life, she has always felt as though there is no purpose as she will die at a younger age. That is until she meets Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), he used to have cancer but after an amputation, it has all cleared up. There interactions with each other create a passionate romance and changes Hazel’s entire outlook on existence.

First off I think all of the performances are great. Laura Dern adds dimension to her portrayal of Hazel’s mom. The character was very sympathetic as they showed her as trying desperately to keep light on all situations even as the thing she loved the most was on the edge of life and death. Another standout in the supporting cast was Willem Dafoe as Peter van Houten, the crazed author of Hazel’s favorite novel. The character is a sort of eccentric loner who can be bitter and at times kind. Willem Dafoe plays this part perfectly and he steals all of the scenes he is in whenever he appears.

Then we have the two lovers played by Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. Luckily for the emotions and themes the film tries to achieve, both of them give the best performances of the film.

Shailene plays Hazel with the right amount of angst and realism. She seems both depressed and happy in different points. She works off of every actor in the movie and finds a way to genuinely deliver all of her more dramatic scenes. The portrayal and the character both are filled with an honest and genuine respect towards presenting what appears to be an interpretation of teen angst. She deals with heavy problems in a way you would expect a normal person to react. Shailene Woodley I believe has always had a great ability to give very down to earth performances whether it is as the coping daughter in The Descendants, the shy, nerd in The Spectacular Now or the refreshingly downbeat protagonist of Divergent. The Fault in our Stars gives her a character she is the perfect fit for and I think it is pretty clear by the car scene in the end that this is her best performance since her should’ve been nominated role in The Descendants.

I didn’t expect much from Ansel Elgort as Augustus and mostly I thought he would just be giving a forgettable, bland and weak teen romance performance as you would expect to see in a Nicolas Sparks adaptation. Much to my surprise, Ansel does a very solid job and almost matches his counterpart. The first thing he does well is that he knows how to bounce off of what Woodley says which made for some very touching chemistry between the two. Secondly and most importantly, whenever the script asks for him to do something that is supposed to be a huge heartfelt moment, he does a great job with what he is given. Shailene still gives the better performance of the two but I think he has a lot more standout moments in his portrayal than she does.

Josh Boone’s direction is good; I don’t think it’s anything to write home about but he does a fine job nonetheless. His modernized and well shot style is certainly a step up from the direction of other teenage novel adaptations we’ve seen of late.

The only technical standout for me was the great soundtrack. The film uses a wide variety of modern alternative music without it ever feeling likes it pandering to its audience. It isn’t like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 where suddenly in one scene Peter Parker will randomly be listening to Home by Philip Phillips. The music is well placed and adds to the mood of the scenes as well as the emotions and personalities of the characters. An impressively high amount of the soundtrack was also written for the movie so if you want to expect The Fault in our Stars for an Oscar nomination, best original song is the best place to predict as of right now.

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The film impressed me again with how well the film captured the problems of the teen protagonist. From a writing standpoint, it never seemed to me to be overly melodramatic. None of the characters seemed to be simple stereotypes, much rather the film uses a wide array of interesting and likable supporting characters. The relationship between the two leads in the performances and in the characters is constantly funny, heartbreaking and inspiring, sometimes all at the same time.

Hazel is shown to be covering herself from the world. She is afraid to break hearts and have her heart broken. She wastes her days away in fear of standing face to face with the tragedies that will eventually face us all. Throughout the film, we successfully get to see her slowly evolve as she realizes that perhaps we must all face the world even if it may hurt us. Things may be painful but that is one of the great experiences that make us human. The film sometimes falls into pretty stereotypical territory to get this point across but the film is actually quite excellent at presenting us with this lifestyle through the tragic and complex relationship between the two main characters.

There were a few problems I did have with the film. As I said above, there are times where it does fall into a couple of stereotypes along the way in terms of what you would expect from a tragic romance. For the first part of the movie, the editing feels a little rushed and choppy in presenting the storyline but this flaw eventually stops as the story settles in. A problem many book adaptations can face is how to pace the story. The film slows down after the jagged opening part and I was never bored for the two hour and six minute runtime. That being said, there are a couple of moments where huge details of the story are presented out of nowhere with very poor execution and for many of these cases, there was a little bit of whiplash. The film flows fine throughout but some of the plot points felt thrown in like a boulder.

Beyond a few critiques I had with errors in storytelling and clichés scattered throughout, The Fault in our Stars is a touching coming of age story with heartfelt dialogue, interesting characters and great supporting and lead performances. We live in a scary and unpredictable world, but on the flip side this world is also exciting and poignant.

Rating:(3.5/5)

Review by: Ryan M.

Release Date: 4/4/2014

Rating: PG-13

Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff, Willem Dafoe and Laura Dern

Directed by: Josh Boone

Screenplay by: Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber

Based on the Book by: John Green


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