I want to start off by wishing everyone a happy and safe fourth of July. While yesterday’s film was loosely based on a true story, today’s film Everest claims to be based on a true story of the 1996 tragedy. Ever since the first person to successfully climb Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary in 1953, people have been obsessed by making the climb which is 29,000 plus feet in the air. In 1996, Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) led an expedition to the top of Mount Everest, but what was supposed to be a triumphant occasion quickly went south. While up at the top of the summit, a wild and crazy storm hits the mountain forcing all the men to fight for their lives as they try to make the trek back down the mountain. The film also stars Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men) as Beck Weathers, Jake Gyllenhaal (Zodiac) as Scott Fischer, Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation) as Guy Cotter, Emily Watson (Red Dragon) as Helen Wilton, Tim Dantay (Summer) as John Taske, Michael Kelly (Now You See Me) as John Krakauer, Naoko Mori (Spice World) as Yasuko Namba, John Hawkes (Lincoln) as Doug Hansen, Martin Henderson (The Ring) as Andy Harris, Keira Knightley (Domino) as Jan Hall, and the film was directed by Baltasar Kormákur (2 Guns).
Before I get into what is fact and what is fiction about a film that clearly says that it’d BASED on a true story, I wanted to say that I really loved the film. There were way too many names to list in the above paragraph, but this was just an excellent film with excellent performances all around. Jason Clarke is a superstar and is becoming one of my favorites in the business and you can’t go wrong with the performances from Jake Gyllenhaal or Josh Brolin. It was truly an all star cast in my opinion in a film that could have gone one or two ways. This could have been a boring film about mountain climbing, but it ended up being a story about the power of belief and the will of man. These men faced unbelievable odds while climbing the mountain and while I said what was supposed to be a day of triumph turned into tragedy. Apparently John Krakauer has said this about the film, “It’s total bull … Anyone who goes to that movie and wants a fact-based account should read Into Thin Air.” After watching the film, he was annoyed at the notion that he never attempted to help anyone on the rescue mission, he says, “I never had that conversation. Anatoli came to several tents, and not even Sherpas could go out. I’m not saying I could have, or would have. What I’m saying is, no one came to my tent and asked.” To read the rest of the article, click here. There is always going to be differentiating opinions on what really happened in a film, you just have to take it or leave it. I shed some tears at certain parts of the film that I won’t give away, but it has to do with Rob and his wife Jan. Check out the film on HBO or HBOGO right now. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
For today’s film, I felt like I need a little mystery and drama in my life and I found today’s film laying around. The film is called The Jacket and it stars Adrien Brody (Predators) as Jack Stark, an injured gulf war veteran. Jack Stark was injured in the line of combat and sent home to Vermont suffering from acute Amnesia. After a mishap, he is accused of murdering a police officer, but because of his condition they believe he has no memory of it and he is sent to a hospital for the criminally insane. While he is there, he is put through some torturous acts by Doctor Becker (Kris Kristofferson) who puts him in a morgue drawer. While in the drawer, Jack has some revelations about the future and he tries to solve it before he meets his untimely death. The film also stars Keira Knightley (Domino) as Jackie Price, Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Breakfast Club) as Dr. Lorenson, Kelly Lynch (Road House) as Jean Price, Daniel Craig (Sky Fall) as Rudy Mackenzie, Steven Mackintosh (Kick-Ass 2) as Dr. Hopkins, Brendan Coyle (The Raven) as Damon, Mackenzie Phillips (One Day At A Time) as Nurse Harding, and the film was directed by John Maybury (The Edge Of Love).
The best way that I can describe this film to you is to think of The Butterfly Effect, but in a mental hospital and without the bad repercussions and distorted realities. By going inside this morgue drawer, he is able to go into what some would call hallucinations, but he is actually in the future. The only thing is that at first they don’t really explain that he is in the future very well as you think it’s a memory that he is having until he finds one key object that you’ll have to watch for yourself to find out what I am talking about. I do however want to say that truly believe that this film had to be Adrien Brodys best role that he had ever done in his career. He was absolutely brilliant in the film and I have to give it to Daniel Craig as well. Craig is really convincing as a crazy guy who believes that he isn’t that crazy. Keira Knightley is smoking hot and we get to see a little more of her than I expected in the film, but she does great as well. I am surprised I haven’t seen more of this film on Television or anything else. I stumbled upon it not realizing that I had the movie and I never watched it (believe me for some strange reason I have a lot of those). Anyhow, I was very impressed with the film and enjoyed it a lot. They list it on IMDB as a horror film, but more suspense in my opinion. I mean the tones of the film are very dark and bleak like a horror film, but it’s more of a mystery story. So, I am going to give the film an B+/A- for a final grade because it borders on both of those grades.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 