Everest

"Everest" is a movie directed by Baltasar Kormakur, starring Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Robin Wright, Keria Knightley and many others. The story follows separate groups of people who want to reach the top of mount Everest during the same period of time, but a nasty snow storm comes and leaves them with devastating results.

I have mixed feelings about this film, particularly because of the emotional impact, or the lack thereof. I admit that it has some brutal scenes towards the end, but I think it had more potential to explore this side of the story, and had it been done the right way, it could have been three times more powerful on the audience. My view is that, since there were so many characters, it's hard to present them well enough; you don't get to experience in depth the reasons behind their wishes to climb the summit.

My second issue with the movie is that it was pretty slow paced in the first half, trying to introduce all these characters that you are supposed to care about for the sake of the ending.

The performances were good and the cinematography breathtaking at times, so just for the shots of the mountain alone, you should go see it.

All in all, Everest is a good movie and I recommend it, especially for those who like films about risk takers who go on adventures and try to push themselves just so they can experience something most people don't.

The martian

"The martian" is Ridley Scott's latest movie inspired by the book with the same name written by Andy Weir and boy is it good film!

It stars Matt Damon as Mark Watney, an astronaut botanist who is left on Mars by mistake when his crew believes he is dead during an emergency take off. He is left with only his wits and a few supplies and he has to figure out a way to survive four years until the next manned mission on Mars can save him.

I've read the book 3 months before the movie came out and l was so pumped for the release because the plot of the book and the ingenuity blew me away! Gladly, I was not disappointed one bit by the picture.

Matt Damon is excellent, in my opinion one of his best roles in a while now. Donald Glover is a funny breath of fresh air, while the rest of the cast did a great job as well.

What I loved about both the book and the movie is the fact that one would expect the mood to be all sad and depressing, but on the contrary, there are many funny moments and the main character never loses hope. Also, in the book everything is explained to the smallest scientific detail, which was well transferred to the movie, however some parts were cut, which I think were better off like that.

The shots of the movie were amazing, both the ones on Mars and the ones in space, with beautiful panoramas and a nice portrayal of no gravity on the spaceship. 

All in all, I loved every single minute of this movie, it is entertaining from start to finish, the science seems legit, performances spot on, funny, interesting and beautifully executed. Go see it now!

Wild

“Wild” is a movie directed by Jean Marc Vallee, starring Reese Whiterspoon and Laura Dern, about a young woman who sets to go on a 1000 miles hike to rediscover herself and resolve some personal issues. (Oh boy  how I love this type of movies!) An interesting aspect about this film is the fact that the story is told in a non linear way, so it intertwines shots from the present, when she is hiking with shots from her past, presented as flashbacks that she has during her journey.

I really liked Jean Marc Vallee’s previous film “Dallas buyers club” and I was really curious by the plot of Wild. However, I was reluctant when it came to the leading actress, since I was not a big fan of hers. After seeing this movie I actually started to like Reese Whiterspoon and I think she did an incredible job with the character. It is believable and really well portrayed.

The cinematography of the movie is really beautiful and the story all together is excellent. The performances are spot on and as a plus, the film has a great soundtrack featuring Simon and Garfunkel songs, which I thought was a big bonus.

All in all, I really enjoyed this movie and in my opinion it is one of the best movies of 2014, so you should definitely check it out. It’s captivating, heartbreaking at times and actually motivating!After seeing it, I went and bought the book and now it is one of my favorite stories, really inspiring.