You must remember this, a yeti I did kiss…but it was against my will!
But I won’t bore you with the behind the scenes hullabaloo of being a Yeti hostage.
France! Morocco! Ooo la la! BQB here with a review of Hollywood’s first Oscar bait movie of the season, Allied.
OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING.
In early 1940s French Morocco, Canadian spy Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) meets French lady spy Marianne Beauséjour (Marion Cotillard). The duo become immersed in a whirlwind romance as they hunt Nazis together and bone in a gratuitous manner.
Alas, when they marry and head off to England, Max’s superiors begin to suspect Marianne of pulling double-duty as a spy for the Nazis. Thus, Max is charged with the unenviable task of sniffing out the truth.
Fans of the Golden Age of Hollywood will be very impressed with this film. With the French Morocco scenes, its almost as if we are treated to a visit to the Casablanca of Bogart’s time, except in this go-around we get to see it in full color, high definition and with more special effects, flying bullets and assorted war mayhem.
Yes, there is room for an argument that Casablanca was all the better off for not having all the bells and whistles of a modern film as such trivialities might have spoiled that classic. And certainly this movie does not surpass the Bogie/Bergman picture that most movie critics agree is one of (if not the best) films ever produced, but it did make me yearn for a time when a man would wear a suit and a fedora just to get a cup of coffee.
Brad Pitt is every bit a classic style movie star in a time when thought provoking films are being more and more replaced with flicks revolving around costumed super heroes (not that I’m complaining as I love those films as well but I wonder why there isn’t room for both.)
Moreover, Pitt is truly one of the best preserved fifty-something year olds I have ever seen.
Meanwhile if Pitt is Bogie, then the Bergman of this film is Cotillard. After years of being the go-to French actress in films that call for a French character, she has been rewarded handsomely with this role.
Overall, the film is visually pleasing with a plot that keeps you munching popcorn. It will face some stiff competition come Oscar time, but gold statues (or at least nominations) for Pitt, Cotillard and Director Robert Zemeckis would not surprise me.
STATUS: Play it again, Sam. Shelf-worthy and worth a trip to the theater. Good date film. Dudes, take your lady because it is so emotional that you might get a little smooch-a-roo-ski out of this.
Bookshelf Battle 
I am so mad. That premise could have been such a great storyline for a movie. It was interesting in some parts. Did not have a lot of action or tension like I was hoping and the ending was very anticlimactic. Overall I did enjoy the movie and thought the acting and chemistry was good. But what’s with all these directors lately building up the tension just to drop you flat before anything interesting actually happens? I’m so mad!
I could go back and forth on the ending. I don’t want to mention it and spoil it for anyone, not that anyone’s really reading this anyway lol but eh my take on it is it is basically a Casablanca with the added benefit of action and special effects. It was good but not great…the Morocco parts were the best of the film.
Reblogged this on Bookshelf Battle and commented:
BEST OSCAR BAIT OF 2016 AWARD
Allied was great, like a modern day Casablanca, giving us a real life, in color with special effects look at what life as a spy during WWII was like. The film has its ups and downs…it wouldn’t surprise me if one of the actors/actresses or the director gets an Oscar. The film will probably be nominated but I’m not sure it will win as it will face stiff competition.