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tt0067116 | The French Connection | In December 1970 in Marseilles, France, a plainclothes policeman is observing former longshoreman turned entrepreneur Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) chatting with some unsavory types. Charnier is being tailed by the undercover cop because he is a kingpin in smuggling heroin overseas - a fact that costs the cop his life when he later returns home and is shot in the face by Pierre Nicoli (Marcel Bozzuffi), Charnier's henchman.Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, NY, a corner Santa is chatting with some children outside a seedy bar while a hotdog vendor completes a transaction. The Santa is Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and the vendor is his partner, Detective Salvatore Russo (Roy Scheider), whom Doyle nicknames "Cloudy." The two narcotics cops are staking out the bar in hope of finding a pusher named Willie (Alan Weeks). When Popeye sees Willie in the bar passing some drugs to a companion, he starts singing to the children, his signal to Cloudy. Cloudy enters the bar and grabs Willie's buddy. Willie sees the commotion and suddenly flees outside, with Popeye and Cloudy in hot pursuit. They corner him in an alley and Willie slashes Cloudy's arm with a hidden knife and runs. The cops chase him on foot to a deserted lot where he trips and falls and is beaten by both cops before Russo implores Doyle to stop. Once the two cops calm down they confusingly interrogate Willie, trying to get information on his drug connection.In France, Charnier finishes a day overseeing dock work and drives home to his seaside villa and his young trophy wife (Ann Rebbot), who obviously has expensive tastes. The two exchange gifts for their upcoming trip to the US. Charnier later meets his gunman Nicoli at a rendezvous point for an acquaintance of Charnier, TV personality Henri Devereaux (Frédéric de Pasquale). Devereaux is traveling to the US to make a film and has decided to aid Charnier's smuggling effort because he needs money. Nicoli believes involving Devereaux is a mistake, but is reassured by Charnier.In NYC, Popeye and Cloudy sign off for the night and Popeye takes his reluctant partner to a nightclub called The Chez. Popeye notices one table in particular, populated by known narcotics connections who are being entertained by a free-spending young man whom Popeye describes as a "greaser." Popeye smells a drug deal underway and persuades Cloudy to help him tail the greaser and his companion, a big-haired blonde. Throughout the night they tail the two, watching them drop off a suitcase in Little Italy and then switch cars early the next morning from an attractive coupe to a beat-up sedan. They then drive to a candy store/luncheonette, "Sal and Angie's", in a working-class area of Brooklyn. Peering inside as the couple prepares to open for the day, Popeye and Cloudy notice that the blonde is now a brunette, having worn a wig the night before.Realizing they are on to something, the two cops stake out the candy store for a week using audio surveillance. Cloudy poses as a photographer to question Angie. Combing records they find that the greaser is Salvatore "Sal" Boca (Tony Lo Bianco) and his wife is Angie (Arlene Farber). The candy store's income could not explain Sal's free-spending ways. The posh coupe is owned by Angie while the beat-up sedan is owned by Sal's brother Lou (Benny Marino), a garbageman in training at a facility on Ward's Island in the East River. All three Bocas have criminal records. The candy store is regularly visited by unsavory types from New Jersey, and Sal makes numerous trips to an expensive condo in Manhattan at which lives lawyer Joel Weinstock (Harold Gary), a known drug financier who bankrolled a heroin shipment from Mexico.Popeye and Cloudy raid a junk-house bar. One Afro-haired patron (Al Fann) talks back at Popeye and is hauled into a men's room to be beaten up - actually cover so Popeye can debrief his informant, who reveals that a big shipment is due within a few weeks that will satisfy everyone in the city. In order to make the ruse look convincing, Popeye punches his colleague in the jaw, a bit too enthusiastically.Popeye's boss, Walt Simonson (Eddie Egan, the real-life inspiration for Popeye Doyle), is reluctant to let the two cops continue with their investigation of Boca, pointedly reminding Popeye of a previous case where his hunches backfired. But with Joel Weinstock, whom the police have long wanted to arrest, potentially involved, Simonson relents and goes to court for a wiretap on Boca's house and candy store. The federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) now becomes involved and assigns Agents Bill Mulderig (Bill Hickman) and Bill Klein (Sonny Grosso, the real-life inspiration for Cloudy Russo), who've worked with Popeye before; Popeye and Mulderig are at constant loggerheads because Mulderig blames Popeye for the death of a policeman in a previous case and doesn't believe Popeye's hunches to begin with.Charnier, Nicoli, and Devereaux arrive in NYC and Devereaux brings with him Charnier's Lincoln, signed for in Charnier's stead. They speak fair English, but nonetheless have an interpreter, La Valle (Andre Ernotte), with them. La Valle escorts Charnier to a police auction of impounded cars and identifies Lou Boca as the scrap metal buyer for Charnier's business (suggesting how the Bocas may have linked up with Charnier).After several days of monitoring mundane conversations, the wiretap finally brings Popeye and Cloudy their first break - Charnier phones Sal to arrange a 12 o'clock meeting the next day. Popeye, Cloudy, and Mulderig tail Sal to midtown Manhattan, where they spot Sal meeting with Charnier and Nicoli. While Mulderig follows Sal, Popeye and Cloudy tail Charnier, dubbed "Frog One," and Nicoli as they walk through the city. The Frenchmen stop to eat at an expensive restaurant, which the cops observe while standing outside in freezing temperatures and eating bad pizza with worse coffee. Later, Popeye finds out that Frog One is staying at the Westbury Hotel, but Mulderig still doesn't believe Popeye is on to anything, leading to a brief argument.At Joel Weinstock's condo, a young dope chemist (Pat McDermott) tests a sample of Charnier's heroin and it measures to 89% pure. There are sixty kilos due to arrive; when cut down into "dime bags" it will total out to $32 million with a half-million cash down payment. Weinstock, however, wants to wait before the switch is made, much to Sal's displeasure as Sal fears that Charnier will abort the deal if Weinstock drags it out too long.The next day Popeye arrives at the Westbury just in time to see Charnier breeze right by the distracted Mulderig and Klein and walk into the city without a tail. Popeye tails Charnier himself, almost loses him at a flower shop, but then picks him up again at the Grand Central subway station. They play a cat-and-mouse game on the platform, but the wily Charnier manages to hop back on a train at the last moment and waves goodbye as the furious Popeye futilely runs after the train.Charnier meets Sal in Washington DC - Sal followed there by Klein - where Charnier insists that the deal must be consummated by the end of the week, despite Sal's protests that his mob pals want to wait. On the flight back to New York, Charnier expresses his worries to Nicoli, who points out that Sal's concern about the police is warranted. The Frenchmen agree that Doyle is the main problem, and Nicoli volunteers to assassinate Doyle. Charnier reluctantly agrees, unaware that a fight has erupted between Popeye and Mulderig, and that Popeye has been taken off the case by a furious Simonson.The dejected Popeye returns to his Brooklyn apartment building, where he is fired upon by Nicoli from the roof. Popeye manages to enter the building and pursues Nicoli to the roof, and then back down when he sees Nicoli fleeing. Nicoli runs to a nearby elevated train station and boards the train while Popeye screams for a uniformed transit policeman on board to stop him. As the train leaves the station, the transit policeman follows Nicoli as he moves forward through the train. Popeye commandeers a Pontiac Le Mans from a flabbergasted citizen. Nicoli kills the transit cop and seizes the motorman, forcing him to keep the train going through all the regular stops. Popeye furiously pursues in the car, barely escaping as other cars sideswipe him, and he nearly strikes a woman pushing her child in a baby carriage. Nicoli then kills the conductor who tries to intervene, and the crowd on the train flees while the terrified motorman collapses with a heart attack, locking the train on a collision course with a stopped train. The two trains crash and passengers, including Nicoli, are thrown about. Despite injuries and losing his gun, Nicoli slips out undetected - by everyone except Popeye. Nicoli starts down the stairs but is cornered by Popeye, and when he tries to flee he is shot dead.Popeye and Cloudy, now back on the case, tail Sal as he takes the Lincoln from a parking garage to a side street. The police stake out the car all night; at 4:10 AM a gang of thieves tries to strip it, but they are arrested by a horde of policemen and the car is towed to a garage to be searched as evidence. The mechanic (Irving Abrahams), cannot find any narcotics in the car, but Popeye refuses to believe it. While Devereaux (who signed for the car) and La Valle argue with the garage desk sergeant, Cloudy notices a 120-pound discrepancy between the car's listed weight and actual weight. The mechanic reveals one area he didn't open up - the car's rocker panels underneath the doors. Popeye chews him out and then helps open up these panels, and the stash is found. The car is replaced (either repaired or the department acquires another, intact one), the stash replaced, and it is returned to Devereaux, while the police now wait for the dealers to make their final move.Devereaux meets again with Charnier and is reluctant to do any more favors, until Charnier reveals that Devereaux is now an accomplice - to Devereaux's surprise and horror. Devereaux walks away, but Charnier takes the car himself and drives it to Ward's Island, where Lou Boca directs him to an abandoned factory building. There the heroin stash is revealed and tested positively. The stash is hidden inside the building and cash payment is hidden in the rocker panels of the junker car Lou Boca bought. With the deal completed, the Bocas briefly celebrate and Sal drives Charnier back to the city - and right into a police roadblock led by Popeye. Sal drives back to the factory with police in pursuit, and the mobsters hide inside the main building while Charnier hides in a secondary building. A gunfight ensues, in which Sal Boca is shot dead. Popeye hunts for Charnier inside the dilapidated warehouse. Cloudy joins him as Popeye appears to have cornered Charnier, but as the two cops approach the room Popeye sees someone from another door. He opens fire before Cloudy can corner the now-dead man - who turns out to be Agent Mulderig. Determined to get Frog One at any cost, and not caring that he just killed a Federal agent, Popeye strides through the warehouse, believing the Frenchman is still in hiding. After he rounds a corner a single gunshot is heard.In an epilogue, it is revealed that Weinstock and the surviving Bocas either skated or received peripheral sentences while Henri Devereaux wound up in federal prison for four years; Charnier escaped and is believed to be living in France, and Doyle and Russo were suspended from narcotics duty.(Note: The French Connection drug bust that inspired the film took place in 1961. However, the film's script sets the action at the time of actual filming, i.e. the winter of 1970-71, in order to avoid the need for period accuracy in the many New York street scenes.) | mystery, neo noir, realism, murder, dramatic, atmospheric, action, suspenseful | train | imdb | Look here instead for gut wrenching nihilism, frustration with the unfairness of criminal justice in the hands of bureaucracy, and a solid, plot-driven story about a couple of cops who are just trying to do their jobs as best they can.And by all means, don't watch this film if you aren't fully awake and willing to be taken down the electric, ambiguous, and compelling roads it leads to.
The film follows an aging but truculent `bad-boy' police officer Popeye Doyle and his slightly kinder partner (Roy Schneider) in their journey to bust a drug-smuggling ring of French origin.
The movie itself is basically one big chase scene, following Popeye on his cat and mouse game of catch the crook.The film has been classified as both an action and drama movie.
Modern audiences might be surprised by the lack of `action-music', but car chases and fight scenes sans pumping bass are surprisingly welcome, and help the film, as well as add an aire of classiness.Director William Friedkin is a director who knows what he wants out of a film.
The lead actors are first rate, and the script by Ernest Tidyman ('Shaft') is a good one, but Friedkin makes this something special by applying documentary film techniques to this gritty and realistic detective story.
It was the New Hollywood answer to film noir, and the lead male (Gene Hackman) is presented without glamour, the gritty city (New York) without dramatic shadows and light, and the plot (about modern drug dealing) without hyped up dramatics.
Set against the backdrop of bleak New York City streets, ill-tempered narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle and his partner 'Cloudy' Russo intercept a drug shipment coming in from France led by urbane master criminal Alan Charnier.
The seventies truly were the golden age of film making and they simply don't make movies like this anymore.The characters are perfectly realistic and director William Friedkin and the actors most certainly don't attempt to portray them as being heroic or 'good cops'.
Gene Hackman really in a way is an anti-hero and he seems to be born to play 'Popeye' Doyle, who by now truly has grown into a classic movie character.
The movie also won Oscar's for best director, best film editing, best picture and best writing, screenplay based on material from another medium and got nominated for three more.The movie might have a slow pace by today's standards but the wonderful story and acting really make up for this, "The French Connection" has stand the test of time well.
The slow pace even makes the famous car chase scene even more energetic and thrilling enough to make your adrenaline run.Truly in my opinion, the ultimate cop movie!10/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
The pressure looks like bringing success to Detectives Doyle and Russo, but Charnier's organisation has tight time targets and decides to take action to remove the heat from the job.Sometimes with "classic" films it is easy to get sucked into the hype and reputation and just love it before you have even seen it; for that reason, although I have seen it several times, I decided to give it a fresh viewing before I dared try to write my thoughts on it it finished ten minutes ago, so my memory is still fresh.
There is no doubt though, that Hackman is the heart of the film and his performance reflects this and makes the audience emotionally involved with his story from the very start.Overall this is a great 1970's cop thriller with all that comes with that genre.
This famous movie concerns on ¨Popeye Doyle¨(Gene Hackman)an unorthodox narcotics undercover police following the Marsella French connection about a smuggling ring connected with a New York crook (Tony LoBianco).He teams up with cop Buddy Russo, ¨Cloudy¨(Roy Scheider)following the trail to hunt down the ringleader named Alain Charnier(Fernando Rey), a suave gentleman but astute baddie, and his hoodlum(Marcel Bozzuffi).In this highly rated film there are noisy action, suspense, thriller, violence and is extremely entertaining.Gene Hackman as the rebel and nonconformist Popeye is magnificent,he won a deserved Academy Award .His nemesis, Fernando Rey as the drug smuggler, plays perfectly his role as the cunning and elegant villain.
This is a great film, professionally directed by William Friedkin and so is its sequel ¨French connection II ¨ by John Frankenheimer and again with Gene Hackman and Fernando Rey. Rating : Above average and well worth seeing but is an authentic classic movie..
Name every cop show or detective movie and they all have the same type of story That's the main fault of THE FRENCH CONNECTION - it's let far too many genies out of too many bottles , it's been imitated ( Usually in a far inferior manner ) a myriad of times that it seems almost run of the mill now .
Later on in a scene that rivals the car chase in Bullitt, Hackman commandeers a car and chases down one of the gang who holds a subway hostage, I think it's the Sea Beach train a stop or two from Coney Island if memory serves.The French Connection is based on a book written Green Berets author Robin Moore as told to him by Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, the cops who did the actual bust.
But this scene ends up being much more laughable than exciting.Gene Hackman does pretty well in his role as obsessive, abrasive, bigoted cop Popeye Doyle who you get the sense is always a moment away from completely losing his mind.
In this movies, the two main cops (Hackman and Scheider) are crude, profane low-life people and the rest of the characters are French or American drug dealers.
I did find the surveillance work of "Popeye Doyle" (Hackman) and "Buddy Russo" (Scheider) interesting to watch and famous car chase scene is nothing spectacular nowadays.
'The French Connection' is at its best when its palpably gritty city street setting swallows its two hard-boiled, brutish but brilliantly brass-balled heroes and churns them out as almost nothing more than another piece of superb set-dressing, simply adding to the sensationally stained sense of time and place so very vital to the success of the punchy piece; its car-chase sequence is a real stand- out too, not only within the genre but also the whole medium, thanks to the devastatingly dangerous feel afforded simply because it was shot straight-up for real, every bump, scrape and oh-so-close call just seconds away from ending not only the careers of every member of the cast and crew but also Gene Hackman's and several city- slickers' very lives, and while this reckless abandon cannot be advised or even condoned, it certainly adds to the utter determination and desperation of one of the most no-holds-barred, brash and brutally honest action scenes of the seventies, but its actually this film's quieter moments that strike me the most, Roy Schneider slowly stalking someone from behind a broadsheet or tenuously tailing the last in a long line of fruitless endeavors, as they somehow manage to keep me riveted despite their lack of action and show an ironically interesting side of a slow-burning and sometimes boring job, a side seldom seen in cinema.
I'll discuss it more later on in this review.This Oscar-winning film takes us onto the streets of New York City following two detectives, Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle (Gene Hackman) and his partner, Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider).
Quebec Rating:13+ Canadian Home Video Rating:R(should be 18A)I saw The French Connection a few days ago and I must say, I was disappointed.Everybody says this is an excellent movie.It won Best Picture of 1971 at the Academy Awards.It beat Clockwork Orange which in my opinion is a far superior film.The acting is good,the storyline is alright and the soundtrack is pretty cool but I found the film to be a bit slow and boring.Gene Hackman plays a good role.The car chase scene that everybody talks about is pretty overrated and not that good.Overall, The French Connection is an overrated and very mediocre movie..
But please, Dirty Harry was a far more interesting, well written, directed, character driven movie- an action film, sure, but one that shows how a normal cop can turn into an obsessive wreck over one criminal.
The documentary style cinematography (by Owen Roizman) is thoroughly absorbing and particularly effective during Popeye Doyle's (Gene Hackman in the best performance of his career in my opinion) interrogation of a suspect near the beginning of the film (featuring the famous "Do you pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?" line).
None of the characters are particularly likable, but that doesn't matter, what matters is getting those bad guys.Very much an Oscar-worthy performance from Gene Hackman as Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle, ably supported by Roy Scheider as Det. Buddy Russo.
Whether it was the best movie of the year is up for debate, but that does not mean The French Connection is a bad film.
There were other films, mostly in Europe, that were making movies like this, but there is also this implicit urgency that Friedkin is conveying here as well; it's gritty, sometimes in the action there's so many chances of spontaneity that it can practically do no harm.But without going into detail about the specifics of the good in the style, one only has to look at the strengths in the story.
Granted, Kubrick's work is not very widely palatable and the Academy Awards have long since been a ceremony aimed at rewarding popularity rather than artistic quality (this curious little factoid was proven in spectacular fashion in 1997), but I find it hard to believe that even at the time, when sex and violence were probably not nearly as accepted as they are today, The French Connection could have come in above A Clockwork Orange.In the movie's defense, It is finely crafted and original, setting up what was to become a hugely copied setup of crime movies featuring a detective who is so dedicated to his assignments and determined to catch the bad guy that he/she has to go outside the agency and solve the crime alone, since some rules have to be broken.
Gene Hackman's character is famously the one that is `Bad news, but a good cop.' I think that the movie's biggest problem today is that it is famous for having the greatest car chase ever put on film.
Sure, the scene where Doyle (Hackman) was chasing the bad guy in the subway train was expertly crafted if short and unspectacular, and not the greatest car chase ever put on film b any stretch of the imagination.
VERY good), the chase itself is not.The story is simple enough, Doyle is a detective frantically trying to topple a drug ring importing drugs from France, and the movie follows this plot in a simple and relatively realistic fashion, which I think is the film's greatest strength.
Although it was the best picture winner at the 1972 Oscars, successfully yet tragically fending off Stanley Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange', 'The French Connection' is nothing more than a slow, nasty looking, overly deliberate piece of 'gritty' film-making that misses the target by a long, long way.Although these things that are bad and that are going for it the whole time, there are also a few other basic things that I really couldn't believe had been included.
The film "French Connection" won best picture in 1971, as well as best director, William Friedkin, and of course, best actor, Gene Hackman!!
The surveillance is portrayed rather well, and it does lead to a gradual but deliberate buildup of the story, which revolves around a major shipment of drugs coming into New York City from France, and the efforts of a couple of NYPD detectives to stop it.Gene Hackman won an Oscar as Best Lead Actor for his portrayal of Det. Popeye Doyle - and he was deserving.
And its important that none of these complaints either account for, or show interest in, the fact that the core of the narrative is that of an actual narcotics investigation of the middle '60s.Finally, most of those who give the film a bad review utterly ignore the personality issue - the film is, to some extent, a character study of a street-smart cop who has no life and who has become too obsessed with his job to get it done properly - the American mobsters get busted but the 'French connection' himself gets away.These issues also have political ramifications.
In the end, it is hard know just why THE FRENCH CONNECTION exists.Gene Hackman, in his Oscar-winning role, gets to sneer and snort and rant and rave, though by the end, his Popeye Doyle seems to be about as poor of a cop as he is a driver.
The French Connection (1971) is an Action/Crime/Drama/Thriller movie about 2 cops in the Narcotics Bureau of New York City.
Then there are the great genre films, which work within their genre confines while expanding the boundaries for genre films to come.Such is the police procedural "The French Connection."The streets of New York City have been bone-dry of heroin for some time, but vice detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) has his eye out for a big score.
Popeye.....Does Things....His Way. Gene Hackman, a narcs cop called "Popeye Doyle" won an Academy Award for his brilliant performance...(he appears more scary than the crooks he is after.) It is a 1971 film, and that is one of the many reasons it is great (the 70s was THE golden era for great movies).
This is the case of a film that wasn't ill-received on release -- it won four Oscars (including Best Actor and Best Picture) and pretty much solidified his career.He had, up till this point, been known for his smaller roles in films like "Bonnie and Clyde" - this one proved he could really act and carry a film on his own.It's a story about a racist police officer (Hackman) on the tail of a French drug cartel importing into the States.This movie is not an easy ride and it has a rather depressing aura, but it's still a very good picture - one of the best of the decade, which is saying quite a lot.Hackman is perfect as Popeye Doyle.
Film Review: "The French Connection" (1971)Winning "Best Picture" on April 10th 1972 over highly-provocative, in some circles favored, "A Clockwork Orange" produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) toward an overly-fortunate, due to 40 time multiplying production budget at the U.S. domestic box office alone, producer Philip D'Antoni and the righteous award for "Best Director" toward 36-year-old uprising free-creative William Friedkin in order to deliver his world-wide-audience shocking novel-adaptated screen version of "The Exorcist" (1973) two years later, when this New York City cop-drama meets suspense-beats-of-excellence delivers at that time of conception new-age action-thrills due to relentless-chasing camera operations ingnited by cinematographer Owen Roizman, pushing hands-on action beats to live-performances by a deadly triangle two cops on one criminal on foot, in cars and trains, portrayed in haunting fashions by Academy-Award-winning Gene Hackman, at age 40, in best form to maximized worldview despair of an overly-clever drug-trafficking Fernando Rey (1917-1994), when Roy Scheider (1932-2008) as also-Oscar-nominated supporting character Buddy Russo brings moral stability in an early received action-thriller motion picture for any generation to indulge on, shot on gritty urban New York State locations on constant running 35mm "technicolor" -timed film-stock finished with a 100-Minute-Cut deliverance of a young filmmaker, who like no others made the most of talented cast and independent budget given to him in comparable Academy-Award "Best Picture" wins in eighty-nine years of Oscar-history since its first reception on May 16th 1929.© 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend
The French Connection remains perhaps the very best police drama ever made, combining a strong storyline with audacious direction from William Friedkin, superior performances from the large cast, and the most audacious car-chase ever filmed.The contrast between the main pursuer (Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle) and the pursued (Fernando Rey's Alain Chanier) is the film's primary theme.
To me, this is simply Gene Hackman's greatest performance and it is too bad there are not as many cops today out there like Popeye Doyle..
As Det.Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, Gene Hackman, chases down assassin Pierre Nicoli, Marcel Bozzuffi, under the Brooklyn El-train that is as heart thumping now as it was some thirty years ago.True story of "The French Connection" heroin shipment that was busted in New York by two determined police officers who came on to it by accident, and followed it through to the end.
The acting and direction is so good that its almost as effective, like the cat and mouse game between Popeye and the top drug smuggler Charnier (Fernando Rey) at the 42nd St. subway shuttle, as the incredible car vrs train chase scene that came much later in the movie.The best thing about the French Connection" if anything in the movie could top what we saw up to that point is that the ending didn't cop-out but left the viewers thinking that there are no happy endings when it comes to the never ending saga of cops and robbers, or in this case drug dealers.
The French Connection blurred the line, and set a standard for police drama that influenced a generation of imitators that has lasted until this very day with whatever latest incarnation of Law & Order.Gene Hackman (who had mostly been a second banana until this film) plays Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle, an otherwise good cop who's relentless pursuit of the bad guys inevitably ends in disaster.
For a movie with great car chases, check out Ronin.Like most things that came out of the 1970s, The French Connection sucked..
There was a real French Connection, an actual car chase, a real set of rocker panels.But that's why it's so much fun and that's why this is one of the best cop movies of all time. |
tt0020697 | Der blaue Engel | It should first be mentioned that there was an English-language version of the film shot simultaneously with the German-language version. Both versions are nearly identical, but there are a few exceptions in the story. Due to the classic nature of the film, this synopsis is based on the original German version of the film.The film opens with the sound of geese and chickens clucking in a street marketplace. A woman washes a window outside a shop featuring a poster of Lola (Marlene Dietrich) which causes the woman to pose in a similar fashion. A shot of a door which reads "Prof. Rath" introduces the other main character, Professor Immanuel Rath (Emil Jannings) who is preparing for class. A bell is heard ringing in the background as teenage schoolboys run to class. The caretaker of the house is cleaning up the house as she reminds the Professor of breakfast. The Professor enters and has some tea/ coffee and begins to whistle to his bird. When he doesn't hear a reply he checks on the bird only to find it has died. This seems to sadden the professor, which is contrasted by the housekeeper taking the bird and dumping it in an open boiler. All she can say is: "Anyway, he stopped singing long ago." The Professor goes on with his breakfast.We are then introduced to his class which is mostly composed of boys gathering in a group to look at a postcard, while one boy wipes a blackboard. The boy holding the card is blowing on it to make it react in a particular fashion that will be shown later. One boy sneaks up to the desk and takes the Professor's notebook and alters it to say Prof. Garbage (an easy pun in German, involving the mere addition of an "Un-" to the Professor's surname) and attempts to draw a crude illustration of the Professor until the pencil breaks.The Professor is then shown leaving his house for class, which is followed by the chiming of a large cuckoo-type clock. The clock is shown along with birds ironically perched on it and its statue figure which passes by from one side of the clock to the other as it chimes. The shenanigans are quickly broken up by a student barking "Watch out! The old man!" The students quickly return to their seats and are just as quickly instructed to sit down. The Professor takes his seat and blows his nose with his handkerchief, which leads to his noticing that his notebook has been defaced. He searches the class for the culprit and homes in on the most nervous of the bunch, Angst (the aptly-named character played by Rolf Muller). He instructs Angst to erase the additions, while Angst attempts to plead his innocence. The professor doesn't care and makes him erase it regardless.The Professor resumes his lesson for the day leading off with a passage from Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1 (the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy). The Professor chooses a student to recite some of Hamlet, only to interrupt him because of his poor pronunciation of English. The Professor attempts to get the student to say "the" instead of "za" by placing a pencil in his mouth. He finally gets frustrated and has students write a paper on how the story of Julius Caesar would have differed if Mark Antony had not delivered his eulogy (yet another reference to a tragic and ill-fated Shakespearian character!). One student appears to be cheating, but is actually looking what is revealed to be a Lola postcard with a dress that can be blown to reveal her undergarments. The Professor realizes this and takes the card saying warning his students that there will be consequences as he places it in his own notebook. The troublemakers are not happy about this, while Angst, the teacher's pet, is pleased by the Professor's discovery implicating the other boys. The troublemakers decide to take action against Angst.After class is out the troublemakers hide outside the door and wait for Angst to leave class. When he does they trip him, causing his books to fly open on the ground. Angst's books have cards with Lola on them, which upsets the Professor. Angst and the Professor go to his office to talk about the cards. Angst swears the cards do not belong to him, but the Professor doesn't care for Angst's protestations, regardless of whether he is innocent or not. Angst then tells the Professor that the others don't like him because he doesn't go out at night to The Blue Angel with them to see girls. The Professors interest is piqued by these new facts.The Blue Angel is a cabaret featuring women singing more than dancing on a stage. Lola is finally seen on stage for the first time performing. She sings as the Professor is shown entering the bar. Meanwhile the students are backstage with Lola trying to sweet-talk her. Lola flirts, but does little more with the students. She then takes the stage again singing of her longing for a real man, a he-man, which leads to her declaring she will find the one tonight.This is followed by the Professor's entrance. The students see him enter and run to hide backstage. The Professor looks in the crowd for the students, but is interrupted by Lola's spotlight being pointed at his back. He turns to see Lola in person for the first time as she seems to be singing to him.This is interrupted when he sees one of his students and begins to chase him. As he looks through the rooms backstage he stumbles upon a very sad clown - an oddly foreboding image. There is a brief scene of a heavier woman doing a dance with only her eyes as a Middle-Eastern type of music is played.Meanwhile Lola comes backstage and asks what the man is doing in her room. After some pleasantries are exchanged she begins to undress to change into her next costume. The Professor seems very thrown off by this, leading him to block the doorway through which people are moving on and off stage. He is then referred to as a "roadblock" which causes him to move back out of the way. Lola goes upstairs and drops her panties to the Professor, then comes down fully dressed for her next performance.At this point the loud Magician is introduced, yelling to the other women performers. He is protective of Lola until he learns of the prestige of Dr. Immanuel Rath. Suddenly the Magician Kiepert (Karl Gerron) attempts to relate and justify his job to the Professor. Kiepert then demands that Lola go on stage as he puts on a fake mustache. The Professor accuses the Magician of inappropriately accommodating his students, whereupon the Professor immediately spots one of his students and chases them out.The next scene is probably the most out of place or random in the movie. Angst is sleeping in his bed when a noise wakes him. Shadows approach as some boys jump out and attack him by slapping him. This is obviously retaliation for telling the Professor about The Blue Angel. The Professor is then shown going home to sleep, but can't seem to shake the memory of Lola out of his head especially because her undergarments have ended up in his jacket mysteriously.The next day the Professor puts on his coat and goes to return Lola's panties. The Professor arrives, and the students are forced to hide in the cellar. The garments are exchanged, and Lola sees that the Professor is there to see her again. She shows a playful grin as she begins to seduce him, and the students watch from the cellar.Lola begins her game of cat and mouse. Babying the Professor by combing his hair, then asking him how beautiful he thinks she is. Before things get serious she blows some powder in his face and then treats him like a baby again. Things finally begin to progress with the Magician demanding that Lola drink with a visiting sailor with lots of cash. The sailor treats Lola rudely as the Professor watches. He becomes furious and chases out the sailor after a fight of sorts.The sailor then returns with the cops, causing the magician to hide the Professor in the cellar. The Professor finds his students and emerges from the cellar, bringing them up with him. The ordeal with the sailor is resolved by the police taking him back to the station because one of the parties to the scuffle is a sober Professor, who is much more credible to the Officer than a drunk sailor. The Professor talks of punishing the students, but only chases them out.The Professor is then given drinks to calm his nerves, leading to his becoming pleasantly inebriated as he is serenaded by Lola. Lola sings of how she is falling in love again, and can't help it. The song is once again prophetic (like the sad clown and the Shakespearian references) of things to come.He wakes up in Lola's bed the next morning. Lola has a singing bird which comes as a delight to the Professor. She prepares breakfast for the two of them, which leads to the final part of her plan to trap her new love interest. The Professor runs to school when he hears the school bells. Because he is so late for class, a student is able to draw intricate drawings of the Professor's antics the previous night including one that depicts him as Cupid in love with Lola. The Professor tries to punish the students, but can't keep them under control. The head of the school realises that Rath's authority has been undermined and decides that the his actions have damaged his reputation to the point where he should either resign or be dismissed.The Professor is left with no choice but to follow his heart and propose to Lola. He packs up his items from the classroom and goes to Lola. One shot of the Professor in the empty classroom shows his despair, as well as being another indication of things to come. The group of travelling artistes Lola is in are packing to leave for another town as the Professor arrives. He proposes to marry to keep her. This leads first to her laughing, but ultimately to the couple marrying.Wedding music is played as the two have a reception with all of the other members of the traveling show. The Magician then makes eggs appear from the Professor's nose to the delight of everyone. The eggs cause Lola to begin clucking like a chicken, in turn causing the Professor to crow like a rooster.Early in the relationship the Professor sees some postcards spilling from Lola's suitcase, which he objects to strongly. He states that as long as he has a penny to his name, they will not sell those postcards. Lola keeps them just in case, which turns out to be not too much later as the next time the Professor is shown he is selling the postcards at a show. This is the first scene in which the Professor is shown as being lower than the others in this group. He has fallen from his former position and is now just the person that fails to sell postcards at show. Even Lola begins to talk down to him at this time. The Professor seems to be at his breaking point and leaves during the humiliating talk aimed at him by the others in this group. However, he quickly returns to Lola.Lola has the Professor assist in getting her ready for the next show. He takes her curler and burns a page of a calendar. This signifies the passage of time, which changes from days to the year 1925 to the year 1929. The Professor is now playing with clown make-up and appears to be a shadow of his former self as he applies a clown nose and wig in front of a mirror. It now seems that he has become the sad clown from earlier in the film.As the Professor is preparing his costume, the Magician enters to tell him that the next town they will be visiting is the Professor's hometown and that they will be performing at the Blue Angel. The Magician seems to be in extra high spirits because the show is a sell-out because of the top attraction: the former professor turned clown!The group arrives at the new venue just as some performers are leaving. The Strongman, Mazeppa (Hans Albers) decides to stay a little longer when he sees Lola. Mazeppa is sure he is in love with Lola and pursues her. Lola seems to be faithful to her husband despite Mazeppa's clear interest in her.Before his big performance the Professor is prepped by the Magician. During this process the Professor just stares coldly into space, a shell of a person just sitting in a chair. The Magician constantly encourages the blank-faced Immanuel to perform well. Meanwhile Mazeppa and Lola walk past the Professor together poking fun at him, which does not stir any emotion in him. Before he can do anything or find the source of the laughter upstairs he must go on stage. Lola even comes downstairs to force the scared-looking Professor onstage.Finally the Professor makes his big stage debut with the Magician. The confused Clown or former Professor is then humiliated by the Magician who breaks eggs on the Clown's head as he watches Lola flirting with Mazeppa backstage. Finally the Professor appears to crack up mentally, crowing wildly like a rooster at the Magician's command. He continues to crow as he chases Lola trying to kill her. His attack is eventually stopped by a group of men led by Mazeppa. They wrap the Professor up in a strait-jacket.Once the Professor has finally calmed down the Magician tries to reason with him. The Magician promises to take care of the situation for the Professor after undoing the strait-jacket. Once the Professor is alone he takes a coat and hat and sneaks out. As he sneaks away he hears Lola singing the "falling in love again" song, which is obviously directed at a new man. The Professor slowly stumbles through the streets until he reaches his old school. He rings on the bell until someone opens the door. The Professor stumbles past this person and into his former classroom. He collapses grasping onto his desk, mirroring the scene in which he left the school for the first time. The Man at the door finds the Professor at the desk and attempts to remove him from it, but is unsuccessful. He leaves the Professor grasping the desk as a lone spot light shines on him and bells ring in the background.Ende. | cult, romantic, melodrama | train | imdb | null |
tt0060437 | Funeral in Berlin | Berlin in the 1960s is a city divided between Cold War lines with inhabitants of the Communist East trying to escape to the West. Even with the infamous Berlin Wall these escapes are common and successful.Colonel Stok (Oskar Homolka), the head of intelligence in Russia's Berlin section and the one responsible for preventing escapes over the Wall, contacts British Intelligence and informs them that he wants to defect to the West. British spy Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is sent to West Berlin to find out if Stok's offer is genuine and arrange his escape. Palmer was once involved in black market dealings in Berlin and was given the choice of joining British Intelligence or going to jail. Returning to the city, he is re-united with his old associate, German national Johnny Vulkan (Paul Hubschmid), who also works for Palmer's superior Colonel Ross (Guy Doleman).Vulkan arranges for Palmer to go to East Berlin to meet Colonel Stok. In exchange for his co-operation with the British, Stok requests a meagre stipend, a house in the country and his escape must be carried out by Kreutzmann (Günter Meisner), a Berlin gangster responsible for the most successful escapes. Stok claims that Kreutzmann's escapes have lead his department to be investigated and that he must get out before things turn nasty.Returning to West Berlin, Palmer is picked up by a beautiful young woman called Samantha Steel (Eva Renzi), who invites him to a party but instead takes him to her flat for drinks, dinner and presumably more as Palmer is next seen leaving her place in the morning. Not taken in by Samantha's charms, Palmer hires a burglar to search her apartment to figure out who she really is. The thief discovers a number of passports of various nationalities under different variations of her name and a little black book in her safe which lists names of men next to million-dollar figures. Returning to his hotel room, Palmer finds that it too has been ransacked.Palmer negotiates an arrangement with Kreutzmann without revealing the details of the one whom the British want to get across the Wall. As part of his payment, Kreutzmann demands a set of identity papers.Palmer tests Stok in order to determine how sincere he is about defecting. The test seems conclusive and Palmer returns to London. From Hallam (Hugh Burden), the documents manager back at MI5, Palmer receives documents in the name of Paul Louis Broum. As he places the envelope in his briefcase for return to Berlin, he notices the same name on the photocopy of Samantha's little black book, with the figure $2,000,000 next to it.Palmer returns to Samantha and makes a point of letting her see the envelope with Broum's name. Dropping all pretence, she admits that she is an Israeli agent. Broum is a Nazi war criminal who stole millions from the Jews during the war and hid it in a Swiss bank account. The Israelis need the papers in order to reclaim the money. Although she threatens to kill him, Palmer refuses to give her the documents since he needs them to pay Kreutzmann.Kreutzmann and his men murder an elderly East Berliner whose body is claimed by a relative in the West - actually someone employed by Kreutzmann. A body transfer is arranged but as the hearse makes its way from the morgue to the checkpoint, it is hijacked by Kreutzmann's men and replaced with another which contains a different coffin.The coffin is taken to West Berlin and delivered to an abandoned warehouse where Palmer and his associate Vulkan are waiting. But when the coffin in opened it is found to contain the dead body of Kreutzmann! Stok's whole defection was simply a bluff to lure Kreutzmann out and put an end to the escapes he so brilliantly organised. Although well informed, he and his men never knew in advance that Stok was the intended client.Before Palmer can get away from Kreutzmann's outraged accomplices, he is knocked unconscious by Vulkan who gets hold of the Broum documents only to be held up by Samantha and two other Israeli agents who take away the papers.Vulkan tells Palmer that he was knocked out by another of Kreutzmann's men. They then go to a safe house where British officials are waiting to debrief Stok. Stok of course is not there, meaning that a lot of valuable time and money has been wasted. Palmer's boss, Colonel Ross, is also present and Palmer tells him about the Broum documents. Ross was unaware that they were being used as part of the deal with Kreutzmann. He then reveals to Palmer that towards the end of the war, Paul Louis Broum, a guard at a concentration camp, murdered a resistance fighter called Johnny Vulkan and assumed his identity. Ross got hold of the documents and used them to blackmail Broum into working for him.Now that the documents are missing, Ross has nothing with which to keep a hold on Broum/Vulkan and cannot risk him defecting. He therefore orders Palmer to kill Broum. Palmer won't kill anyone in cold blood and allows Broum/Vulkan to get away.Back in West Berlin, Palmer meets Stok who is over for a routine meeting with his Western counterparts. The affable Russian confirms that his supposed defection was just a trap to get rid of Kreutzmann. He and Palmer even joke about the latter himself defecting to the East; Stok advises: "If you need to get out in a hurry, ask Vulkan. He knows the way."Meanwhile, Broum/Vulkan goes to Samantha's flat, murders an Israeli agent and gets the documents back. He then meets Hallam, the Intelligence official who gave Palmer the Broum documents in London. However, the documents that they now have are in fact forgeries made by one of Palmer's underworld Berlin contacts. Hallam goes to Palmer, saying that he has been sent by Ross to get the real documents back. Palmer never believed Hallam's claim that he selected the Broum documents at random and forces him to admit that he is in league with Broum: they took advantage of the situation to get the documents out of London and now intend to use them in order to claim the Nazi loot that Broum deposited in the Swiss banks.Palmer and Hallam go to a quiet part of the Berlin wall through which Broum and Hallam intend to slip into the East and thus to Switzerland, but Broum kills Hallam and makes away with the documents. However he is subsequently killed by the Israeli agents who were tailing Palmer. Palmer lets them take the genuine Broum documents.When Vulkan's body is discovered, Ross is satisfied that he will just be another martyr shot while escaping to the West. Palmer however turns down Ross's offer of a bonus for his work and leaves.By the time of the next film, Billion Dollar Brain (1967), Palmer has resigned from British Intelligence. | murder | train | imdb | Similarly, the scenes with Col. Stock show great flashes of sarcastic wit, juxtaposed with attending to the serious Cold War business at hand.But the more serious fun is the wonderfully executed plot development, interweaving the various characters such as Johnny Vulcan, Col. Stock, Hallam, Ross (the boss), Kreutsmann, Steele, etc.
based on Len Deighton's outstanding novel, this sequel to "The Ipcress File" features Michael Caine once again as the the anti-James Bond British spy, Harry Palmer.
"The Ipcress File" introduced us to Harry Palmer, the anti-James Bond.
I personally think that Funeral In Berlin is a great film and far better than the previous Ipcress File which generally gets the credit as the best of Len Deighton's Harry Palmer novels to make it to the big screen.
The hard edged 'real life'(compared to Bond) atmosphere give the film it's sense of believability through all of it's complex plot turns.
This is my favourite of the three Harry Palmer films (I don't count the 90s remake.) This film is accurately done and goes at a sensible pace however, those people looking for computerised special effects and exploding cars are watching the wrong film.The plot is really good and makes absolute sense if you follow it closely.
There are a number of interesting spy novels involving British Agents, which were written by Len Deighton, but the most popular ones involves international spy Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) .
Though arguably not as cohesive as The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin still stands head and shoulders above the average 60s spy movie.
Ipcress is a fascinating spin on the its novel's central theme, Brain is an awful adaptation of a lack-lustre book but Funeral in Berlin sticks to the original story pretty firmly until it turns on you with a very groovy twist indeed..
Funeral in Berlin is to my mind the best spy-agent film of its kind!
Border guards would train their binoculars on you and the reception received from the Vopos who were in charge of passport admin was cold.Watching Funeral in Berlin takes me back to 1967, I notice Kranzlers café on the Ku'damm where I often took coffee, the Bristol Kempinski Hotel off the Ku'damm where I lived for 3 months, the Europa Centre next to the Kaiser Willhelm Memorial Church, and of course the Mercedes insignia.If you want to know more about the Berlin Wall read the excellent Christopher Hilton book The Wall: THe Peoples Story..
Reluctant spy and disgraced army sergeant Harry Palmer gets sent to Berlin to encounter a Russian general that says he wants to defect - but does he?
The success (and continued success) of the Ipcress Files lead to this very solid and very good (if complicated) follow-up which seems Palmer (Michael Caine in his too-cool-for-school best form) back in a cheap raincoat and dowdy clothes on a mission that he seems sure he is going to regret.
Indeed he makes clear that only being on probation (still?) causes him to go on it in the first place.The use of the real Berlin and the performance of Caine and Oskar Homolka (as Colonel Stok) keeps this film going as the plot is rather too thick for my liking.I am not someone that wants to do this much thinking with my fluff - but I caught most of it or at least the main parts.
Funeral in Berlin- The best of the 3 'Harry Palmer' films.
Funeral in Berlin, in my view, remains the best of the 3 Harry palmer films.
Michael Caine is at his world-weary best and supported by a fine cast, all adding to arguably the most 'authentic' spy film of the 60's.
I think it's best to appreciate this Harry Palmer adventure on it's own merits.I actually liked this film better than Billion Dollar Brain and I think the story holds up better than both BDB and Ipcress File because there's no wacky "hi-tech" props to get in the way.Not that I mind the often outlandish gizmos and such of spy-films like these and the Bond-genre.
Questionably the best Spy Film From the '60s, undoubtedly the best of the Harry Palmer Series.
The Second of Len Deightons's Harry Palmer trilogy 'Funeral In Berlin' Stands head and shoulders above nearly all spy thrillers ever made.
The supporting cast are brilliant, with an outstanding Oskar Holmolka working his genius as the Russian Colonel Stok.What the film does best is capture the tension and complicated nature of the cold war.
The only film to come close in modern times is "The Good Shepard"The look of the movie is completely stunning and the soundtrack is perfectionOften the best work will come out when there is little or no expectation- Take Marvin Gayes "Whats going on" Album.
Sure it's long and dreary and doesn't always make much sense and it's very set in its era, but it's still an entertaining piece, thanks in no small part to Michael Caine as Harry Palmer.This one has him undertaking a Russian's desire to cross over the Berlin wall legally, and discovers a dark secret about an alleged friend.
Film is something of an intellectual morality tale as Palmer deals with being ordered to kill a man in cold blood and the other various cloak and dagger techniques that come up in the world of spies, along with the whole right to identity argument.Eva Renzi (Caine's lover) and Paul Hubschmid (Caine's "friend") were later married in real life for a while.All sorts of dry British humor abound..
In my second Harry Palmer film of the weekend, "Funeral in Berlin" (1966), Michael Caine, as Cockney thief turned secret agent Palmer, is given the mission of smuggling a Russian defector (Oscar Homolka, playing Colonel Stok) out of East Berlin.
Palmer also gets involved with an Israeli secret agent in this film, played by the beautiful Eva Renzi, who, in real life, was Paul Hubschmid's wife.
Perfectly cast Cold War spy thriller includes the usual characters: The good guy fighting for the allies, the villains whose loyalties are varied and mysterious, the beautiful woman who is dangled as the inevitable love interest for the sole purpose of gaining information, and those directing the action from the safety of their respective offices at headquarters.
It's James Bond style all the way, yet much more historically plausible than merely wildly entertaining fiction.Michael Caine is brilliant as the accidental spy who wants nothing more than to pay his debt to the Crown for old crimes committed.
Harry Palmer was in complete fit at cold war era,spoken in a short few words,his assignment is surrounded by fake informations,leading the viewers most of time in a dead end,masterfully directed by Guy Hamilton this fine sample of british movie in this field,given another dimension in spies's pictures,very opposite of 007's movies directed by own director,no fireworks usually in this genre Funeral in Berlin driven to another level,forcing the brains to work in advance of happenings and a clever plot allowed gave such interpretation!!!Resume:First watch: 1989 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 8.
This is the second in a series of Harry Palmer films taken from the novels of Len Deighton.
I am not sure how closely these stories follow the novels, but I was very impressed at just how seemingly ordinary Palmer (Michael Caine) is in this film.
While I preferred the first film ("The Ipcress File"), "Funeral in Berlin" is awfully good as well.
British agent Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is dispatched to Berlin to get the real story when a Russian intelligence colonel is reported to be anxious to defect.
The Harry Palmer trilogy, featuring The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, and Billion Dollar Brain, were arguably the best of the lot and a close runner-up to Bond himself.
It also helps that the picture was directed by Guy Hamilton, a four- film veteran of the Bond series who knows the genre inside-out and realizes what areas could use a little freshening up.Verdict: The real charm of this movie lies in Michael Caine's performance as Harry Palmer and in a weird little character quirk written into the script.
You may not believe everything agent Harry Palmer does, but you won't feel your intelligence was insulted.Rating: 7- ('cos I like spy movies)Favorite quote: Samantha Steel: My name is Samantha Steel.
Second outing for Len Deighton's agent Harry Palmer, with Michael Caine reprising his role from "The Ipcress File" in another convoluted spy yarn set, obviously in Berlin marrying the then topical subjects of East-West defections and Nazi-hunting in another tense, Cold War thriller.As you'd expect, everyone, apart from Harry and his taciturn boss Ross, isn't who they seem but as before, our bespectacled, rain-coated hero manages to get ahead of the game by the end, with the usual trail of dead bodies in his wake.Atmospherically shot in location in West Berlin, "Funeral In Berlin" might lack the in-vogue 60's brain-washing gimmickry of its predecessor and that film's nail-biting (or should that be hand-gouging) conclusion, but its emphasis on realism works to its advantage.
Cleverly directed by erstwhile Bond director Guy Hamilton, even the Palmer-girl gets to keep her clothes on and there are of course no Q-type gadgets to rely on.Caine is, as before, very good in what may be his best role.
Guy Hamilton directs in a cool, assured, anti-Bond and therefore highly effective style.Less well-known than "The Ipcress File", but I think it's superior, "Funeral In Berlin" was probably the best of the three Harry Palmer films and stands out itself as one of the best spy-thrillers of its era..
Funeral In Berlin is the second spy film in the 'Harry Palmer' series, following the superior The Ipcress File (1965) and preceding the fairly bad Billion Dollar Brain (1967).
Unlike those, this one focuses on the real geopolitical scenario of the Cold War. In this instance, Palmer is sent to Berlin to check out a dubious planned defection of a high ranking Soviet commander; needless to say, things prove to be considerably more complex.Once again, the 'Palmer' films have differentiated themselves from the approach of the 'James Bond' series.
The 'Palmer' films sort of fall between the full-on over-the-top approach of Bond and the ultra-austere realism of The Spy who came in from the Cold (1965); so they sort of feed of both strands with enough realism to please those seeking truer to life fare, yet still throwing in enough action to ensure they aren't too depressingly realistic.
Funeral In Berlin is a more plot-driven film than The Ipcress File but it lacks the relentless visual invention of that movie and its fantastic John Barry score.
British agent Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is tasked with helping KGB Colonel Stok escape.
Steel turns out to be an Isreali agent out to hunt for Nazi criminal Paul Louis Broum.This is the second of the Harry Palmer movies.
They're not sequels, so if you like spy movies with the character Harry Palmer, you can watch the five films The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin, The Billion Dollar Brain, Bullet to Beijing, and Midnight in Saint Petersburg in any order.
There's some action scenes, some love scenes, and some very '60s scenes.In Funeral in Berlin, Michael Caine is given the responsibility of dealing with a Russian defector, Oskar Homolka, who wishes security and safekeeping in England.
I didn't particularly like this one, because there wasn't any element to make it stand out from all the other "Michael Caine in a spy thriller" movies, but if you like those types of films, you can give it a try..
The weakest of the three Harry Palmer movies the best being Billion Dollar Brain.This one lacks the style of the Ipcress File and the ingenuity of BDB.
On the heels of the successful "The Ipcress Files", "Funeral in Berlin" again features Michael Caine as Harry Palmer, though now more adept at spycraft.
In my opinion, the female lead is more interesting and more involved in the plot.The dialogue is also an improvement, with more of Palmer's dry ripostes to lighten the tone and to help the viewer like his character.Some viewers will see the direction in which the plot is going before it gets there, but that is forgiven in a film that make getting there so enjoyable..
In Funeral in Berlin (1966) Harry Palmer's being sent to Berlin to aid a defecting Russian corporal.
He's an insult to his profession.The film is a delight to watch, in the first place thanks to Michael Caine, who already played Harry Palmer a year before in The Ipcress File, a perhaps even more enjoyable film.
For nearly five decades, many a spy movie was set in its shadow including this laboured follow-up to "The Ipcress File".The films based on Len Deighton's Harry Palmer books introduced a different kind of secret agent.
Caine eliminated almost any kind of animation from his performance and seems to have modelled his character on an accountant or perhaps a health inspector.All cold war spy films involve double-dealing and double-crossing, and are often hard to follow.
However, there is so much switching around and changing sides in "Funeral in Berlin" that I doubt if even the people who made the film knew what was going on.The story involves Palmer's attempts to help Colonel Stok (Oskar Homolka), a prominent Russian counter intelligence chief to defect to the West.
Palmer poses as a lingerie salesman to infiltrate into East Berlin assisted by Johnny Vulkan (Paul Hubschmid) who runs a lingerie business as a cover for his espionage activities.The East German Police, Nazi war criminals, the KGB, the British Secret Service, and Israel's Mossad all find a place in the plot.Eventually, it becomes evident that Johnny Vulkan is the object of much of their attention.
Finally, the impenetrable plot plays out after much crunching around in bombed-out buildings.At the film's end, Harry Palmer stands before his controlling officer, Ross (Guy Dolman), totally disillusioned at the turn of events.
With that said, Caine's Harry Palmer seems so relentlessly unenergetic that it comes as a surprise when he is involved in a love scene or lashes out with his fists – one just can't picture him working out enough to stay in shape for this kind of activity.The film has authenticity; much of it filmed on location in Berlin and near The Wall.
The film's failings are not with its production values but rather with its plot of too many twists and credibility gaps."Funeral" is not as effective as "The Ipcress File" and is not as flashy as "Billion Dollar Brain", which reintroduced many of the same characters.
A smart spy thriller with Michael Caine as the resourceful (albiet occasionally inept) Harry Palmer.
Assigned to smuggle high ranking Russian Oskar Homolka out of East Berlin, Palmer finds himself waist deep in a game of double & triple cross.
While it's not the equal of its predecessor, "The Ipcress File", "Funeral In Berlin" is still a must-see for Michael Caine fans as well as old-school spy movie fans.
Berlin (and London) on-location shooting, Otto Heller's expert cinematography and Konrad Elfers' classic score give the film just the right look and feel of authenticity, while Michael Caine's dry wit is at its highest ("Escaped?
The sixties spy thriller Funeral in Berlin is an excellent example of how the star charisma of Michael Caine can save a film from obscurity.
Because the plot of Funeral in Berlin gets so complex and convoluted with double-crossing and triple-crossing that Caine becomes a beacon and guide in the maze.Funeral in Berlin is the second of three 1960s Harry Palmer movies (let's pretend those 2 TV movies from the 1990's don't exist).
British agent Harry Palmer was the bespectacled working class answer to the glamorous globetrotting James Bond.
Michael Caine excels in pretending that he knows what it is all about in his second round as Harry Palmer.
But in contrast to James Bond is that when a beautiful woman is interested In Harry Palmer, he suspects right away it's a trap.And that's because it always is..
Paramount did rather well by Michael Caine in Funeral in Berlin (1966), the best of the three 1960s Harry Palmer movies.
***SPOILERS*** British underpaid and overworked secret agent Harry Palmer, Michael Caine, who uses public transportation in not being provided with a car, any car, by the British I5 agency that he works or slaves for is given the task by his boss Col. Ross,Guy Doleman, to sneak Russian Col. Stok, Oskar Homolka, out of Communist East Berlin to the freedom of the west in a casket provided by a local funeral home.
Not a bit fooled by this story Palmer smells a rat in all this but just goes along with it just to find out what the real reason is about what this is all about and who's behind it.The film starts to go into all directions that have to do with Nazi gold, taken from Jews in WWII, as well as Nazis hiding in both East and West Germany after the war who are planning to use the stolen loot to revive the third and soon to be forth Reich when the time is right.
It's now up to Palmer to find out why he's been set up in all this that leads to his contact in East Berlin Johnny Vulkan who's really escaped Nazi war criminal and wanted by the Isralie Mossad Louis Borum.
"Harry Palmer" (Michael Caine) is a British agent who was essentially drafted into his line of work due to some misconduct on his part while serving in the army.
So when a top Russian officer named "Colonel Stok" (Oscar Homolka) secretly announces his decision to defect Harry is sent to East Berlin to facilitate his escape.
First of all, I really don't buy the "realistic spy" reputation that Len Deighton's Harry Palmer stories have won.
Several people here seem to be labouring under the impression that this is not only a good movie but also the best of all the Harry Palmer movies, if that is the case I'd hate to see the other two. |
tt0428856 | La moustache | This synopsis is especially detailed in the hope that it will help interpret this enigmatic film.La moustache starts with a view of waves in darkness. The first words, in darkness, are "What if I shaved my moustache off?" Now, we see Marc (Vincent Lindon) shaving, and his girlfriend Agnes (Emmanuelle Devos) responds "I don't know you without it". She leaves, and he submerges in his bath water for a moment. Only then is there music as background to his shaving the moustache and thoroughly washing it down the drain. Later, there is a ring, and he starts for the door. She comes in asking "why didn't you let me in?". He waits in vain for her to notice his clean lip. Instead, she says he hasn't commented on her "tarty look". They drive to their friends Serge (Mathieu Amalric) and Nadia's (Macha Polikarpova) house, and he says to go in while he parks. Even Serge's little girl doesn't notice the missing moustache.Marc overhears Serge call Agnes two-faced, and insists on hearing the story. About 10 years ago, Serge and Agnes (Serge's ex) spent a weekend with two other couples. Serge insisted that it was clear that Agnes arranged to hog the heat, and Agnes still adamantly maintains that she didn't. This suggests Agnes might be a liar. On their drive home, Marc says "the joke has gone far enough", her pretending not to notice he shaved the moustache. She adamantly insists "I don't understand?.Finally in bed she yells "You know you've never had a moustache". He says she plotted with Serge and Nadia, so she phones them and they deny it. He checks their Bali trip photos which show a moustache, but she is asleep by then. Next morning, he sees her take the photos while she thinks he is asleep. He sees them later, but takes no actionThroughout the whole movie, he has proofs of his moustache but never uses them. It seems almost deliberate. Perhaps he is somehow not able to use them.After that, he starts to grow his moustache again. He goes to work, but even the luncheon counter man does not acknowledge a missing moustache. A fellow-worker says "The advantage is we're dealing with both neophytes and experts. The message changes, but not the words and visuals. I like that idea".Marc restarts smoking after three years. That night, he nearly attacks her and breaks down. He shows her some moustache remains, but they are beyond recognition. Later, naked in the shower, he lets the remains of his moustache go down the drain. After making love, she says "I'm not lying to you Marc. I've never lied to you" and he says "I know. That's the worst part. Should I see a psychiatrist?". Next morning, he gives up regrowing a moustache. She says "It's like freaking out when you're high. Just remember, it ends at some point. It has to end."Later, he asks a stranger the difference between a new and old picture of him. The stranger immediately acknowledges the difference as "Oui, la moustache". He goes home and they try to relate well. She buys a green jacket for him, which he doesn't like. Their restaurant is all different. He likes it. She says it tastes odd. She feels like she is color blind or dyslexic. He promises "I'll always be here, whatever happens". She also restarts smoking. At home, his dad leaves a message reminding them of tomorrows visit. She denies they ever went to Bali.Bruno (Hippolyte Girardot), from work, says Marc hasn't had a moustache in the last 15 years. Later, we see a clothes washer spinning. At noon, Agnes asks "Are we going to your parents". He says no, and she calls with an excuse. She then doesn't know who Serge and Nadia are, and swears Marc's father died a year ago. He points out she just said "parents" a minute ago, which she denies. As he's going for a nap, he says "Agnes, you're not going to vanish?". His nap is in fetal position, as the camera spins and fades into a clothes washer spin that stops. As he wakes, she gives him a pill.Next, he wakes drugged to hear her and Bruno saying that the asylum people are coming to commit him. He manages to dress sufficiently, runs into the street, and grabs a cab. He tries to locate his parents house, where he was born, but can't find it (this personal inability may disprove she is simply gaslighting him). His cell phone says "parents" (not "mother"), but the number is invalid. He decoys Agnes and Bruno to his mothers house (that he couldn't find), grabs his passport, and drives to the airport.Next stop, Hong Kong, where he walks alone among crowds. He buys a Hong Kong postcard for Agnes writing "Without your eyes, I see nothing", but keeps it in his green jacket. About to fly elsewhere, the customs man looks closely at him since the picture has a moustache. Suddenly, he changes his mind and rushes out of the airport. Now he walks alone while the crowd walks elsewhere. He sits on a seat facing differently from the crowd. The dark water comes as he naps. He wakes to snickers at him letting his seat face differently, and corrects it. Then, repeated scenes of him going through travel turnstiles, walking with the crowd, and facing the 'proper' direction. He is just traveling, never going anywhere. He tires and falls behind, losing the crowd, On impulse, he hops a boat to Macao China. He thinks of calling home, but changes his mind and throws his cell phone in the water.In Macao, he wanders into a dingy hotel, and vegetates there. Scenes of an old man and even a dog also vegetating. He still won't send the postcard. He has grown a beard and moustache.One day, Agnes shows up in his room at the Macao hotel. She has made herself at home, and continues a conversation like they had just seen each other an hour ago. No explanation of how she found him in this furthest corner of the world. He looks very unsure he wants to restart the relation. She asks "what's this clowns jacket" of the green jacket she insisted on buying him. He shaves his beard, leaving his original La Moustache. Friend show old pictures of them with him having the original moustache. Agnes expresses no surprise. The whole episode of him with no moustache has vanished. He throws away the postcard.That night, she says "I almost thought you'd shave your moustache off earlier. I'd like to see you without it one day". He does shave it off, and she acknowledges it this time, immediately saying "You've done it. It's nice". She feels his bare lip, and they sleep.We see the postcard sinking deeper into water. Marc wakes in the darkness, staring... | insanity | train | imdb | null |
tt0109266 | Bang | An out of work actress (Darling Narita) is evicted from her apartment in Los Angeles. She goes to an audition at a producer's house in Beverly Hills, but he turns out to be a sleaze. Outside his house, a crazy guy (Peter Greene) throws trash cans in the street, bringing a motorcycle cop to the scene. The cop chases the girl up a dirt track, and threatens to arrest her unless she felates him. She steals his gun and uniform, handcuffs him to a tree, and makes off on his motorcyle.The girl spends the day as a cop, albeit an unorthodox one. She goes to a cafe, gets a free breakfast, and is treated as a colleague by two other cops. She hands out dollars to down-and-outs, coaxes a suicidal drug dealer from a roof ledge, and tells a couple who are copulating on a hillside to have a nice day. Meanwhile back in Beverly Hills the crazy guy has found the real cop, and is starting to torment him.The girl's bike runs out of fuel, and two Mexican illegals drive her to get some. They become friendly, and drink and smoke weed together. As they're refilling her bike, they're shot at from a passing car. The younger Mexican, with whom the girl had connected, is badly injured.The girl tries to help, but then panics and rides off. She finds the drive-by shooters, chases them up an alley, and kills one of them. Later, in another alley, she finds a prostitute (Lucy Liu) fellating a client. She berates her, but the hooker's pimp appears and they beat the girl up.After this the girl rides to the sea and bathes in it to cleanse herself. Then she goes back to Beverly Hills, where she humiliates the sleazy producer in front of another would-be actress (she puts her gun in his mouth, causing him to wet himself).She then finds the real cop still handcuffed to the tree. She changes back into her own clothes, leaves the handcuff key where the cop can get to it, and runs off. The cop reaches his gun first, and is aiming at the girl's back when the crazy guy appears and attacks him. The gun goes off, but the girl is unhurt. As the film ends, we see the cop lying on the ground, and the crazy guy running off with his uniform. | revenge, murder | train | imdb | null |
tt0071222 | Black Christmas | The film opens at night on a snow-covered college campus. There is a Christmas party underway in one of the sorority houses, a large converted mansion. The sorority sisters and many of their boyfriends are inside. Outside in the snow, a point-of-view shot illustrates someone looking into the windows. The person breathes heavily and seems to be a man, but this is all we can tell. The person prowls around before climbing a rose trellis and entering the house through an attic window. He then climbs down through the attic trap door and lurks in the upstairs of the house, watching the girls downstairs.One of the sorority sisters, Barb Coard (Margot Kidder), receives a phone call from her mother. Barb seems to have been planning on going home over the Christmas holiday, but her mother has made plans to go away with her latest boyfriend. Barb calls her mother a gold-plated whore and says she'll make other plans for the break. She asks fellow sorority sisters Phyllis Carlson (Andrea Martin) and Jessica Bradford (Olivia Hussey) to go skiing with her instead. Jess also gets a phone call from her boyfriend, Peter (Kier Dullea), an aspiring concert pianist. She seems tense and wants to talk to Peter about something important. She says she'll see him tomorrow at the rehearsal studio. After their boyfriends leave, the girls get another phone call; Jess answers the phone and announces to all the other girls that its "The Moaner". Together they listen to the bizarre phone call, which starts out with simply heavy breathing and then
escalates into strange ranting and obscene language. Barb gets on the receiver and bawls out the caller, firing back with her own obscene comments, until the caller suddenly lowers his voice and says "I'm going to kill you." He then hangs up.A sorority sister named Clare Harrison (Lynne Griffin) seems more timid than the others. She questions Barb's judgment in provoking an unstable individual, and reminds her that a girl from town was raped recently by an unknown assailant. Barb reacts angrily and upsets Clare, who then goes upstairs to pack; her father is picking her up the next day to take her home for Christmas. Clare finds Claude, the house mother's cat, in her room, even though the door is closed. She is unaware the killer is watching her from within her closet. In a morbid twist, the psychopath meows like Claude and lures Clare into the closet, where he lunges at her and wraps plastic cleaning bags around her head, smothering her to death. He then carries her body up into the attic and places it in a rocking chair by the window, the plastic bag still over her head. He places a doll in her lap and refers to her as Agnes.Downstairs, the other girls are oblivious to Clare's death, and they welcome in the house mother, Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman), who seems to have just returned from shopping. They present her with a Christmas gift: a frilly nightgown. She pretends to like it but makes sarcastic remarks about it (and the girls themselves) while she is alone. Mrs. Mac goes to the library and seeks a book--"B for Booze!"--and hidden inside of it is a bottle of brandy, from which she takes a secret drink. She later fishes a bottle out of the toilet tank in her bathroom, as well, and rinses her mouth with booze after brushing her teeth.The next day, Clare's father (James Edmond) comes to collect her, but she is not at the appointed place. When he seeks her at the sorority house, he is shocked by the sexually suggestive posters he finds in her room, and also surprised that she has a boy's photo next to her bed (her boyfriend, Chris). Mr. Harrison seems to blame Mrs. Mac for the permissive attitude in the house. Mrs. Mac assures him that Clare is a good girl, and that she's probably just at one of the fraternity houses visiting Chris. Mr. Harrison offers to drop Mrs. Mac off at the store on his way there. Before they leave, Mrs. Mac hears Claude meowing but cannot find him; he is in the attic.Jess visits Peter while he is practicing for a very important audition, and she breaks some news to him: she is unexpectedly pregnant. Peter thinks it's good news, but Jess admits that she wasnt even going to tell Peter about it. Jess intends to get an abortion. Peter is adamantly opposed to this, and makes an ominous threat against Jess for even considering such a thing.Barb is at the fraternity house with Phyl's boyfriend, who is dressed like Santa and taking photos with small children. Barb has a bottle of wine and is getting drunk, and she gives one of the children sips of her alcohol. Mr. Harrison phones home and assures his wife that they will find Clare.Back at the sorority house, Jess receives another obscene phone call. This one is more elaborate; the killer speaks in several different voices and makes references to "Agnes" and "Billy". He also seems to be speaking in the voices of two adults, presumably the parents of Agnes and Billy. The voices even seem to overlap at times, adding to the unsettling effect. Jess is upset, especially after her confrontation with Peter.Phyl and Barb take Mr. Harrison to the police station to report Clare missing. The officer on duty at the desk, Sgt. Nash (Douglas McGrath), endures hostility from Barb about the incident. Sgt. Nash tells Mr. Harrison that hes sure Clare is just somewhere with Chris. Sgt. Nash asks Barb for the phone number at the sorority house, and she tells him its Fellatio-20880. "It's a new exchange, FE" she explains. Nash, who apparently does not know the meaning of the word fellatio, writes it down and thanks her.Back at the sorority house, Mrs. Mac tells Jess that Clare is missing, so Jess goes to see Chris while he is at hockey practice. Chris is furious when Jess tells him that the police are not taking it seriously because they think she's shacked up somewhere with him.Peter performs his audition and fails miserably, distraught about the news Jess has given him. The instructors who listen to the recital are shocked that he cannot seem to hit the right notes, and later he destroys the piano after they've gone.Chris and Jess appear at the police station and Chris angrily lashes out at Sgt. Nash for having a big mouth (meaning his suggestion that Clare was shacked up with him). Lt. Fuller (John Saxon) overhears and becomes interested in the case--he has already been taking another missing person report from a distraught mother named Mrs. Quaife, whose 13-year-old daughter Janice has suddenly disappeared while on her way home from school.Mr. Harrison has dinner with Phyl, Barb, and Mrs. Mac at the sorority house, but Barb is extremely drunk and launches into a vulgar tirade that ends with her lashing out at the others. Barb feels guilty because she was careless to Clare, and she says the others think her disappearance is Barb's fault. Barb's curt suggestion that Clare might be dead shocks Mr. Harrison, and Phyl reacts angrily, telling Barb to go to bed. Barb goes upstairs and leaves them alone. Meanwhile, Jess and Chris come back to the house and tell the others about Janice Quaife's disappearance. A search is underway, and Phyl and Mr. Harrison join them. Mrs. Mac tells them that she's leaving for her sisters house and may not be there when they return. When Jess leaves, Mrs. Mac packs her bags and calls a cab, but she is distracted by sounds from the attic: the killer lures her into the attic by making sounds like the cat. When Mrs. Mac opens the attic door, he swings a large hook at her, designed to pull things up into the attic crawlspace. The hook impales her under her chin and hangs her. Outside, the cabbie becomes impatient and leaves.The extensive search of the park turns up a body: Janice Quaife. Jess rushes back to the house, where she receives another frightening phone call from the killer. Again he uses multiple voices and reenacts some weird scenario involving naughty Billy and baby Agnes. This time, Jess calls the police to report the obscene phone calls. As she talks to Sgt. Nash, a figure approaches her from behind and startles her--it is Peter, who has been napping in the house while waiting for Jess to return. Nash does not take Jess's report seriously, although Mr. Harrison is sitting near him in the police station and overhears him talking to Jess about the calls. He and Phyl and Chris tell Lt. Fuller about it, and Lt. Fuller angrily scolds Nash for being so inept.Meanwhile, Peter proposes to Jess. He would like to quit the conservatory and marry Jess and be a father to her child. Jess, however, refuses. She does not want to get married or have a child yet, as she has things she wants to accomplish first. Peter becomes hurt and angry, telling Jess that she's talking about killing their baby as if it's like having a wart removed. Jess becomes frightened by his mounting hostility, and tells Peter to leave.Just as Peter is walking out, Phyl arrives with Lt. Fuller and a phone company rep named Graham, who puts a tap on the house phone. Fuller notices that Peter seemed angry, and he questions Jess about it. He also looks around Clare's room and asks more questions about her. Graham asks if there is another phone in the house and Fuller tells him that it is a private line belonging to Mrs. Mac and that there have been no obscene phone calls on it, so they don't tap it. Fuller tells Jess that he'll be listening in on all of her phone conversations from the station, and Graham tells her to keep the caller on the line for as long as possible so that he can trace the call. Fuller has also left an officer in a squad car outside to watch the house.When he leaves, Phyl begins crying and tells Jess that she's sure Clare is dead. Tired and emotionally exhausted, she goes to bed, and Jess waits for another phone call. Meanwhile, the killer goes into Barb's room and watches her sleeping. Barb, who has asthma, suddenly suffers an attack, and Jess rushes to her aid with an inhaler. Barb tells her that she had a nightmare about a stranger coming into her room. Barb goes back to sleep, and Jess is distracted by a group of Christmas carolers at the front door. The singing masks the sounds of Barb's murder; the killer returns and stabs her to death using a glass ornament near her bed.The carolers are suddenly rushed off by a concerned parent who has just found out about the murder of the little girl in the park. Jess hears the phone ringing, and it's the killer. He wails at her in a strange voice, and says "It's just like having a wart removed!" before hanging up. Jess is shocked; these are words she used in private to Peter. Lt. Fuller picks up on this but Jess denies that it has any significance. Phyl comes back downstairs and Jess tells her about what just happened; Phyl seems to not think the killer could possibly be Peter, and neither does Jess, but she is not sure. Peter himself calls then, and begs Jess not to kill the baby. This conversation doesn't last long enough to trace, either, but Fuller calls to ask Jess about what they were talking about. Jess admits she's pregnant, and that Peter objects to an abortion, and Fuller seems to think that Peter could be the caller after all. Jess, however, has a revelation: Peter was here at the house with her when one of the calls came through, so it couldnt be Peter calling. Fuller is still suspicious, and he requests Peters records from the Dean of Admissions. He goes to the conservatory and finds the piano violently smashed.Jess is convinced that she can now rule out Peter as a suspect, and both she and Phyl are relieved. They have a brief laugh after they are startled by two bumbling men from town who are out looking for the killer. Phyl and Jess go around the house locking all the doors and windows, when Phyl goes into Barb's room. Just inside the door, someone whispers "Agnes!" and the door slams shut. Jess tries to find Phyl but the phone rings; its the killer again. This time Jess keeps him on the phone long enough for Graham to trace the calls--they are coming from 6 Belmont Street, the same address as the sorority house itself. Nash radios Fuller with the news, and Fuller realizes the calls are coming from the house mother's phone. He tries to radio the policeman parked outside the sorority house, but the cop is now dead, his throat slit by the killer. Fuller radios Nash and tells him to call Jess and warn her to get out of there, without letting on that the killer is in the house with her. Nash, of course, is unable to do this; when Jess tells him she's going to go upstairs and get Phyl and Barb, Nash admits that the calls are coming from inside the sorority house itself.Jess is terrified, and she screams out for Phyl and Barb over and over again. The house is silent. Instead of leaving, Jess gets a poker from the fireplace and goes upstairs. In Barb's room, she finds the bodies of both Phyl and Barb on the bed. From the crack in the door, Jess sees the killer's eye watching her. "Agnes, its me, Billy! Don't tell what we did!" he whispers. Jess slams the door on him and runs. Howling in rage and pain, the killer chases after her. With no time to unlock the front door, Jess heads for the cellar. The killer catches her hair as she passes the stairs, but Jess is able to break free and bolt the cellar door behind her just in time. Eventually the maniac stops pounding on the door, and Jess hears sounds as if he is going out the front door. Unsure, she remains in the cellar. Through the basement windows, Jess can see someone prowling around the house. Unable to gain admittance, the figure seems to spot Jess in the cellar; it is Peter. He calls out to her but Jess ignores him. Peter breaks a window and enters the basement with her. "Whats the matter, Jess?" he asks, as she approaches her. He will not be dissuaded.Outside, Fuller arrives with other policemen close behind, and they find the patrolman dead in his car. Hearing Jess screaming from inside the house, they break in. By the time they reach the basement, they find Jess and Peter lying together; they appear to both be dead, but Jess stirs. She has killed Peter with the fire poker.A doctor gives Jess a sedative and she is sleeping, although the house is bustling with activity. Fuller, unable to question her, hypothesizes about the case, convinced that Peter was the killer. Mr. Harrison suddenly goes into shock. The doctor intervenes and wants to take Mr. Harrison to the hospital. Chris leaves with them, and so do the other police officers, leaving Jess alone and unconscious with a guard in front of the house. After they leave, the house is silent, and the attic door opens. The bodies of Clare and Mrs. Mac are still up there, unnoticed by anybody yet. The killer climbs down out of the attic, saying "Agnes, its me, Billy!" As the camera slowly pulls away from the house, we see the lone police officer on the front porch, smoking a cigarette. Suddenly the phone begins to ring, just as it did after all the murders that came before. | comedy, avant garde, dark, murder, mystery, cult, horror, suspenseful | train | imdb | Major credit must go to director Bob Clark (who went on to direct the epic "Citizen Kane" remake and because of legal reasons had to change it's title to "Porky's") who like John Carpenter in "Halloween", is able to create a current and simplistic creepy atmosphere.
"Black Christmas" is indeed very similar to "Halloween": Both movies are themed with a particular time of year, both movies feature a killer with breathing problems who loves POV shots, and both movies have a long and slow build-up that makes the audience care for the characters that are about to get slashed.
The difference is that "Black Christmas" does it much better, in fact, I think it is a superior film.The movie begins with a shaky POV shot of a stranger who decides to sneak inside a sorority house in order to get some fresh meat.
Also noticeable is cult star John Saxon as Lt. Fuller who many years later started showing his personal love for "Black Christmas" on interviews.The well-balanced doses of drama and comedy connects the audience to the characters on screen so strongly that they sometimes we forget it is a horror movie.
What at first appears to be a sick joke eventually turns violent for the girls during the season of supposed goodwill and merriment.The original and maybe even the best, Black Christmas' set the ball rolling for the slasher genre and was the biggest influence for the phenomenally successful John Carpenter classic, Halloween' (1978), which was, in fact, originally conceived as a sequel.
In some ways, the concealing of several key points puts the viewer's knowledge of events on a par with the actual characters.Black Christmas' is also complimented wonderfully by strong acting performances from Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, John Saxon and a highly pleasant and amusing turn from Marian Waldman.
Basically its Christmas time, as the title suggests and an unknown killer has found his way into the attic of a sorority girls house and begins killing them one by one.
Bob Clark's "Black Christmas" is a horror classic.It's obvious that it was clearly an influence on the slasher films of the late seventies and early eighties."Black Christmas" takes place in a sorority house.Most of the sorority sisters go home for the holidays,while Barb(Margot Kidder),Jess(Oivia Hussey)and Phyl(Andrea Martin)stay behind.At the outset of the film,we see a mysterious killer enter the house and hide in the attic.He then begins to kill the sisters one by one,with each murder being followed by a disturbing phone call.Bob Clark managed to create a startling atmosphere of total dread and fear.The finale is extremely creepy and memorable.The soundtrack,particularly the killer's voice on the phone is frighteningly effective.So if you want to be scared give this gem a look.Highly recommended..
The central theme of this film is that you can't trust anyone, friend or foe, and the scares are genuine, and come psychologically, instead of in your face like "Halloween" or "Friday the 13th." Bob Clark is in love with his actors as he photographs them in brightexuberant colors, while his killer is photographed in jaundiced, grainy colors.
Well a few years before those movie villains hit the screen there was another killer who packed a powerful punch his name was Billy and he was terrifying in the 1974 film "Black Christmas".
before john carpenters Halloween black Christmas really set the bar high for how good a slasher movie can be.
the killer in the film is also a very memorable and iconic villain and his phone conversations with the sorority girls are definitely disturbing and riveting.in truth there really isn't anything wrong with the movie I give it a perfect 10/10.
In one small aspect, "Black Christmas" is a transitional film set between the television gothic supsense thrillers and the onset of the slasher genre epitomized by 1978's "Halloween" and 1979's "Friday the 13th".
Olivia Hussey plays Jess, the main target of the killer with appropriate wide eyed intensity, Margot Kidder is briefly seen as the house mother, and horror regular John Saxon shows up as a suspicious Police Chief as well.
Merry Christmas To All. Really scary film with one scene near the end (hair is a clue for those who have seen this movie) that when I saw it in the theater had almost everyone jump out of their seats screaming.
They set up a wiretap to the sorority house, but will they be in time to prevent a sorority girl attrition problem?"Black Christmas" is that rare horror movie that gets everything right.
If that doesn't make a true psycho, I really don't know what does."Black Christmas" is quite simply the best horror movie I've ever seen.
In fact, the film has the (dubious) distinction of being the first 'proper' slasher film, influencing many others that were to come later, including the classic HALLOWEEN.The director, Bob Clark, was no stranger to horror films, having directed CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS.
Four years before the unprecedented success of John Carpenter's landmark American horror film "Halloween" in 1978, there was this little gem from Canada called "Black Christmas," directed in 1974 by the late Bob Clark ("A Christmas Story," my #4 favorite film of all time and Clark's possible anti-thesis to this film), and was arguably the first true slasher film (1974 was also the same year that American filmmaker Tobe Hooper directed the landmark "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre")."Black Christmas" is an expertly directed horror film, there's no question about that.
First and foremost, this is a horror film - a seriously effective and scary one at that.Upon having watched "Black Christmas," there's no doubt in my mind that John Carpenter and company watched this film at least once (and took some very, very good notes) and it most definitely played a hand in influencing the directorial style of "Halloween" (although it's widely known that Alfred Hitchcock's landmark 1960 thriller "Psycho" had the most influence on "Halloween").
I love "Halloween," by the way, and having this information on-hand makes me appreciate both films even more as seriously scary horror flicks.)What makes "Black Christmas" such an important staple in the horror genre is that a lot of the slasher movie elements that most likely first appeared in this film were later used, and popularized, by "Halloween" just four years later down the road.
We also hear his breathes as he stalks the house sisters, and he is always that unseen-but-always-felt presence in the room, like something horrible is lurking just out of sight in the shadows.The women of the Pi Kappa Sig house are preparing to leave for the Christmas holidays, but a few - Jess (Olivia Hussey), Barb (Margot Kidder), Phyl (Andrea Martin), and house mother Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman) - decide to stay behind.
It's up to the police, led by Lt. Fuller (John Saxon), to try to find this psycho before he kills anyone else.Even though "Black Christmas" does feature some particularly gruesome and shocking scenes of murder and mayhem, it actually contains very little gore (it's possible that it, like "Halloween," took a few cues from "Psycho"), the film still works largely through the power of suggestion - like what you don't see is far more terrifying because your mind allows you to fill in the gaps.
But make no mistake, the first order of business in "Black Christmas" is horror, and scaring the living daylights out of you, which it does in spades with suspense, easily identifiable and memorable characters (especially Margot Kidder - go, Margot!), Bob Clark's sharp direction, and minimal gore.
BLACK CHRISTMAS is one of the best of the horror genre and HALLOWEEN, although a great film itself, borrows much from this film - John Carpenter was friends with Bob Clark and even had asked Clark if he was going to do a sequel.
It's a shame that Clark turned his back on the horror genre after BLACK CHRISTMAS and directed crap like the PORKY'S movies and LOOSE CANNONS.
This I feel is a better film, capturing a more timeless sense of Christmas cheer than the overly sentimental Christmas Story, but putting a psychotic murder mystery twist on the season.Black Christmas is set in a sorority house as the holiday break sees most of the residents leave to spend time with family, with a few staying behind to look after the house.
Olivia Hussey plays Jess, who has a secret between her and her boyfriend Peter (played by Keir Dullea, Dave from 2001 A Space Odyssey), Margot Kidder as the crass alcoholic Barb, Andrea Martin (pre SCTV stardom) as the reasonable yet timid Phyl, Marian Waldman as the frumpy boozing house mother Mrs Mac (easily steals a lot of scenes with her secret sherry stashes), and John Saxon as the police lieutenant Ken Fuller investigating the harassing calls.The film is innovative in more than just being a prototype to the future slasher genre which would explode in the 70's and 80's, with first person POV shots from the killer, a goosebump inducing experimental soundtrack made up broken piano sounds that creeps throughout, and some tropes that would later become famous with films like When a Stranger Calls and Halloween.
The film is a slow burn in tension with characters becoming uneasy over days as well as the phone calls getting more personal and insane, so if you're looking for a gory kill a minute horror you might not be very impressed with this film.However if you're looking for a creepy Christmas horror to experience this year I'd gladly recommend you check out this unique early slasher.
Don't be fooled by the lovers of this film who say it's better; while good, it's definitely not near the classic that Halloween is.Olivia Hussey just does not demonstrate the same fear that Jamie Lee Curtis does and John Saxon appears too cool as a cumber to match the "everyone needs to be afraid" distraught characterization that Donald Pleasance brought to his authority figure.Margot Kidder, however, shines as the comic relief, better than the similar characters in Halloween.
The second instalment of my (diminishing) 'Shitty Christmas' film selections, not only is the late Bob Clark's Black Christmas a perfectly mean spirited holiday movie, it's a highly influential horror.It's the week before Christmas break at a quaint American college campus.
And wow, there are so many here including horny young girls, implausible 'don't go in there!' plot points, seven absurd fatalities, melodrama screams and glimmers of German expressionism, maniacal phone calls, a stoic detective, an Oedipally complex serial killer and, best of all, Carl Zittrer's clamorous score which comines distorted sound of cutlery clanging together and ominous analogue synths.Alongside all this genuinely nuevo scares, horrophiles will relish in spotting the homages Bob Clark fits into the movie, with callbacks' to the POV killings from Michael Powell's Peeping Tom, psychoanalytical paranoia stemming from Hitchcock's handbook, and the same eerie claustrophobia as Robert Siodmak's fantastic 1945 mystery The Spiral Staircase.Far from formulaic, Bob Clark's Black Christmas is the precursor to the Slasher sub-genre it would spawn, and it's still better than most of it's derivations today.
The fact that (despite the inevitable and tired re-make) most people don't know about/haven't seen 'Black Christmas' is certainly criminal as in terms of chills, suspense, and quality of filmmaking it is far ahead of virtually every other film in the slasher genre.
Its about a group of sorority girls who receive menacing phone calls on Christmas break, and eventually begin getting picked off one by one, by an unseen killer who has been hiding in the attic of their sorority house.
The phone calls through out the movie are very creepy, and the movie is very atmospheric, and its clear this was an inspiration for John Carpenters horror classic, Halloween, which is much more well known.
It remains to be seen if the few girls remaining in the house (most have left for their vacations) can survive the ordeal.It has naturally been mentioned many times how certain elements in this story would be popularized in subsequent movies like "Halloween" and "When a Stranger Calls".
Clark goes for a largely subtle approach, emphasizing the atmosphere and creepiness, utilizing a little bit of gore, but mostly going for a classic "old dark house" type of feeling.The sense of humour is a great asset, as well, with scene stealing Margot Kidder, as the vulgar sorority sister Barb (who also displays a touching vulnerability at one point) supplying much of it.
The film has a great advantage though of good acting by the female leads played by Kidder and Hussey and there isn't a lot of gore, which proves Clark relies on good Hitchcokian suspense to scare, making the film not to be hampered by typical gatutus sex, nudity, gore, or sleaze.The story is about an obscene phone caller that dials up a sorority house.
Suspicions are cast on the crazy-boyfriend-as-a-potential-suspect (Dullea) of the coed (Hussey) that survives the longest, but his creepiness is never fully explored.Overall, while Black Christmas is innovative but made a strong attempt at suspense and terror, it would easily inspire many latter-day horror movies like Student Bodies, When a Stranger Calls, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Halloween, just to name a few, its progeny wouldn't always improve on the formula.
Black Christmas tells the story of a group of girls in a sorority house who are getting obscene calls from a mysterious man.
Keir Dullea gave an intense performance, and Canadians Margot Kidder and Andrea Martin were both funny and dramatic.Overall, Black Christmas isn't a great classic, but it was the first slasher movie ever made, and it is the reason that most slasher movies are the way they are.7/10.
Marian Waldman is a riot as the house-mother for the sorority girls, Mrs. Mac.The plot, pacing and general story is probably nothing new to anyone who has seen "Scream" or "Halloween", as previously mentioned, many slashers take a least a note or two from "Black Christmas", which does everything splendidly.
Great direction, interesting camera angles, a couple of good jump scenes, and then there's the telephone calls...perhaps one of the most disturbing things in all slasher movies.So overall, "Black Christmas" is an amazing slasher-horror film, setting the stage for a myriad of followers over the years, but thirty years later, does not seem out-dated or cheesy.
Worried about the girl, her father and her friends go to the police for help and the detective involved discovers that maybe the girls' disappearance, a murder of a child and that of the obscene phone calls share a common interest.I remember when I use to think that Halloween was the begin all and end all of slashers and even to a extend horror films.
I had gotten to the point to where I thought I had seen all of the great horror pictures of this time period...including...THE CHANGELING, AN American WEREWOLF IN London, THE DEAD ZONE, SHAUN OF THE DEAD, EVIL DEAD 2, THE THING (1982), HALLOWEEN, THE SHINING, SUSPIRIA, THE DESCENT, DEAD-ALIVE(aka BRAINDEAD), THE EXORCIST and THE BROOD...to name a few, so obviously I was skeptical that this film BLACK Christmas that had passed me by for almost my whole life could actually be as good as all my fellow IMDb reviewers were stating.
It's been compared to HALLOWEEN and John Carpenter's film is certainly one of the best of the genre but BLACK Christmas...dare I say it...is actually better..scarier and more original.
But if B.C. has a merit, is to be original for this time, it has a twist-end and it's the first Canadian slasher, with good and popular actors (Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder and John Saxon).
Don't get me wrong, Black Christmas and Halloween are both excellent movies, but even Carpenter said that Halloween was his Argento film, or somesuch.I guess what was new here (maybe?) was that no explanation was given for the killer's motivation, and that adds to the creepiness.
However, none of those films actually scared me like Black Christmas (or "Stranger in the House" as it was called in the U.S.).
I first saw Black Christmas when I was in my second year of college and even though I watched it surrounded by friends and others in a brightly lite dorm, the weird, dark atmosphere of the film and the extremely bizarre phone calls made me uncomfortable and still do when I think about it years later.
I think it is fascinating that 'Black Christmas' very clearly precedes the embodiment of the slasher genre (which began officially with 'Halloween' in 1978) yet so-called film critics often fail to acknowledge this fact.
Although I did not find the movie to be 100% satisfying, it was certainly an original piece of work at the time it was released and therefore deserves to be credited with being a major influence on such horror classics as 'Halloween', 'When a Stranger Calls' and 'Scream' among many others.
OK, you've probably heard that Bob Clark's (RIP) "Black Christmas" is basically the original slasher movie, the inspiration for John Carpenter's "Halloween".
Whilst it's widely thought that it was John Carpenter's Halloween that initiated the slasher genre those who actually know anything about horror know that it was actually Bob Clark's Black Christmas made in 1974.
In fact, the killer isn't revealed fully throughout the entire film which is the first reason that Black Christmas is so revolutionary.The story involves a group of female students on the night before they leave their sorority house to go home for the holidays.
This was years before When A Stranger Calls.Another great thing about the film is the humour contained within the movie especially from Margot Kidder's character, Barb.
I could rave forever about Black Christmas, even the ending, which many people may not have liked; I thought it was definitely a good way to end an incredible horror film.. |
tt0050280 | The Curse of Frankenstein | The movie opens with text over a red background that reads, "More than a hundred years ago, in a mountain village in Switzerland, lived a man whose strange experiments with the dead have since become legend. The legend is still told with horror the world over...It is the legend of..." A clever segway into the title: The Curse of Frankenstein. Credits follow.A man on horseback approaches a prison in the mountains along a narrow pathway. A church bell chimes the hour as a man opens the gate for the rider. He is a priest (Alex Gallier). He is escorted by the Warder (Michael Mulcaster) to see Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing). The warder explains that the prisoner is dangerous. The Baron wishes to see the priest because he thinks he can trust the man with his story. He starts his story, "I suppose it was when I was a boy at school. I always had a brilliant intellect. When my mother died, I inherited the Frankenstein fortune."The Young Baron (Melvyn Hayes) is escorting his extended family out of his house after his mother died. His uncle (Raymond Ray) leads the family delegation. Aunt Sophie (Noel Hood) and her daughter, young Elizabeth (Sally Walsh) stay behind. Aunt Sophie wants reassurance her allowance will continue uninterrupted. After confirming the money will continue, Victor quickly escorts the two relatives out the door. As they are leaving, a dapper gentleman in a brown top hat arrives. Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart) walks into the house and presents himself to the new, but very young, Baron. He had corresponded with the Baron for a tutor. Initially he thinks there must be some mistake or a joke, but Victor explains the tutoring is for himself and he is serious. The two hit it off immediately. After two years, "I learned all he had to teach, but we went on together probing into the unknown, investigating, recording, searching, always searching until gradually the sweep of our research began to assume a single direction and to this aim we finally turned all our energies. It took us years of unrelenting work to discover what we were seeking." With chemical and electrical apparatus they were able to restore life to a dead puppy. Paul sees the possibilities of their discovery. He notes, "If we could delay or prolong the period in which the body is apparently dead while the heart is alive wed have a living body with only the barest life-spark present. That what that would mean when it came to performing major surgery!" Paul wants to write up their findings and present it at a medical conference within a month. Victor expresses his opposition because he wants to experiment further and does not want to share the secret, not yet at least. He proposes the next step. Rather than just restore life, he wants to create life from the beginning. He tells Paul, "We must build up our own creature, and built it up from nothing. We must create a human beinga perfect human." Paul disagrees, "What you're saying is nonsense, a revolt against nature. Such a thing could only end in evil." Victor persuades Paul to continue the work. He proposes to obtain a body, and knows a highwayman was hanged for his crimes and suggests they retrieve it. They take a horse and cart and cut down the body and return it to their lab. Paul notes that half the head has been eaten away. Victor quickly cuts the head off, explaining it is of no use. He dumps it into a vat of acid in the storage room next door. They remove the old clothes, wrap the body in bandages and place it in a large, glass tank. Now Paul voices his objection to the whole exercise, "I don't think we should continue with this." Victor tells Paul he will be leaving for a while but does not explain where or why.Justine the maid (Valerie Gaunt) carries refreshments into the living room and asks Paul if the Baron has returned. She answers the door, expecting that Victor has returned. To her disappointment it is not the Baron but a woman who tells her she was expected and needs help with her luggage. Elizabeth (Hazel Court) is the Baron's cousin and we learn later his fiancée. She mistakes Paul for the Baron. Victor arrives home in an excited state calling for Paul. He is not surprised to see Elizabeth. He and Paul rush off to the lab upstairs leaving Elizabeth annoyed and confused.Victor unwraps something from a small black bag. He proudly displays two hands, cut off at the wrist. He explains they are Bardello's hands--the hands of the world's greatest sculptor. Paul voices his objection to exposing Elizabeth to the experiment. He tells Victor, "While you were away, I decided I could not continue with this experiment." He tries to convince Victor to stop, but he is unsuccessful. Victor remains in the lab and will graft the new hands on by himself. Paul goes downstairs and tries to convince Elizabeth to leave. In this he is also unsuccessful, mainly because he will not explain the nature of the experiment or the danger. She explains she is to be Victor's wife.Outside the lab, Victor and Justine embrace and kiss. Victor is just toying with the maid. She believes she will be his wife, but Victor tells her that Elizabeth is to be his wife. The next morning Victor prepares to leave on another trip. Elizabeth talks to him about the household accounts and possibly assisting in other ways. Victor pays a visit to the Municipal Charnel House and buys a pair of human eyes. Victor takes them home to examine them when Paul asks to see him. He reiterates his refusal to help Victor with his work. Victor proudly shows Paul how far he has gone on his own. Paul turns away from the tank with revulsion and exclaims, "It's horrible!" Victor tells Paul that once a genius brain is obtained and installed the creature will take on a benevolent face. When asked where the brain will come from, Victor replies, "I'll get it."Victor and Elizabeth are in the living room entertaining a visitor. Professor Bernstein (Paul Hardtmuth) accepted an invitation from the Baron for dinner and to spend the night. The professor tells Victor that discoveries can be mishandled. Paul enters the room and is introduced to the distinguished professor. Victor escorts the old man upstairs to his room. At the top of the stairs Victor shows him a painting, maneuvering the old man closer to the bannister, which gives way. Victor pushes the old man through and down to his death. Professor Bernstein is given a burial at the Baron's expense and in his family vault. Later that evening the Baron retrieves Bernstein's brain. He carefully places the jar in his bag and prepares to leave the vault. Paul arrives, expecting to find Victor and accuses him of murder. Paul intends to stop Victor from using the brain, and tells him so. They briefly struggle over the bag and the jar is broken.Paul calls on Elizabeth in her room and again begs her to leave. He explains he only stays to ensure her safety. In the lab, Victor is picking pieces of glass out of the brain, trying to salvage it. He puts the brain into the skull and prepares to revive his newly finished creature. He starts the chemical and electrical equipment as an electrical storm brews outside. Paul is upstairs in his room preparing for bed. As the tank empties, Victor goes to Paul's room and again asks for help. He admits, "That apparatus was constructed for dual operation. You know that. I thought I could work it myself, but I can't." But Paul gleefully replies, "I'm delighted." A lightning bolt starts the electrical components and the body in the empty tank begins to breathe. Victor promises that after the experiment is completed he will dispose of the body. Paul reluctantly agrees to help. Victor returns to the lab and hears glass breaking. He unlocks the lab door and standing there is the creature. It pulls away the bandages covering its head to reveal a scarred and hideous face (Christopher Lee). One eye is blue, the other brown, and it stares at its creator with hate. It grabs Victor and chokes him. Only Paul's quick action saves Victor. He breaks a chair over the thing's head. The creature stumbles and falls to the floor. Paul demands the creature be destroyed as Victor straps it down to a table. Victor tells Paul he will operate on the brain the next morning and try to correct its homicidal tendencies. But the next morning the lab is a shambles and the window broken. The creature has broken free and escaped.Victor and Paul search the countryside for the creature. An old blind man (Fred Johnson) and his grandson (Claude Kingston) are out in the woods for a stroll. The old man sits and the grandson goes down to the lake shore to pick mushrooms. The creature encounters the old man. After a brief exchange he kills the old man. The grandson returns to where he left his grandfather. Victor and Paul find signs and follow it into the woods. They find it, and Paul shoots the creature through the eye. The creature falls and is pronounced dead. They bury it in place and return to the house.Paul goes to the lab and tells Victor he is leaving. With the creature dead, he no longer needs to stay and protect Elizabeth. But Paul doesn't know Victor dug his creation up and returned its lifeless body back to the lab. Victor stares at his creature hanging in the store room and promises, "I'll give you life again." Victor is dressed and tells Justine she can serve dinner. Justine reminds Victor of his promise to marry her. Her trump card is the revelation she is pregnant with his child. He does not believe he is the father, but Justine informs the master that Elizabeth will believe her. She adds that she will go to the authorities regarding the experiment. He fires the maid and orders that she leave the next morning. That night Justine goes up to the lab to get the proof she will need for the authorities. Victor leaves the lab door unlocked and Justine enters for a look. She enters the storage room and finds the revived creature. When she tries to flee, Victor locks her in, knowing his homicidal creation will kill her. It does.A week later, Victor and Elizabeth are having breakfast. Elizabeth inquires about Justine. Victor lies and tells her, "I expect some village lothario eloped with her." They discuss the wedding plans. Elizabeth reveals she invited Paul. Instead of being angry, Victor casually informs her he hopes Paul comes. He says that he has something to show Paul.It is the eve of the wedding, and a reception at the Baron's home is underway. The Burgomaster (Andrew Leigh) is enjoying the laced punch and practicing his speech. His wife (Ann Blake) reproaches her drunk husband and they leave for home. When all the guests have left, Victor announces he will be working in the lab. Elizabeth is disappointed and tells her future husband. Paul does not attend the reception, but does come later that evening. Elizabeth tells Paul to go surprise Victor. Victor is preparing a plate of flood when Paul knocks on the lab door. Victor invites his old tutor into the lab. He leads him to the storage room. Paul is shocked to discover the creature chained to the wall and showing signs of brain surgery. Victor orders the creature onto its feet. It struggles but stands, then sits when ordered. Paul chides the Baron about the creature's lack of perfection, but Victor reminds Paul, "There you see the result of your handiwork as much as mine...but you damaged it. You put a bullet in the wretched thing. This is your fault, Paul." Paul exits the lab, promising to go to the authorities and have them destroy the creature. Victor chases after him. He leaves the lab door unlocked and Elizabeth enters the lab. The creature breaks its chains. Elizabeth enters the storage room and sees the vat of acid. The creature gets out onto the roof. Victor and Paul see it and Paul goes to the village for help. Elizabeth goes outside to explore a noise she heard. Victor grabs a pistol and goes out to the roof. Firing at the creature he hits Elizabeth, then the creature. Only wounded, the creature approaches Victor. A well-aimed toss of an oil lamp sets the creature ablaze. The creature falls through the skylight and straight into the acid filled vat below.We return to the prison, and the priest still listening to the story now finished. Victor concludes, "My life's work destroyed. Destroyed in a moment. And by the same hand that gave it life." Paul comes to visit Victor at the prison. Elizabeth was only wounded and recovers. She is also at the prison, but stays in the waiting area. Victor begs Paul to tell the priest about the creature and to verify the story, but Paul denies it. He does accuse Victor of murdering Justine. Victor claims it was the creature who murdered the maid. The priest leaves the cell. Victor tries to kill Paul, but the jailer prevents it. Paul leaves the cell and returns to talk to Elizabeth. He takes her home. Victor is led to his execution. The last scene is of a guillotine, seen in silhouette, and the credits roll. | suspenseful, gothic, murder, cult, violence, horror, flashback, revenge | train | imdb | While Hammer was preparing "Quatermass 2", they gave Terence Fisher the chance to resurrect Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", and Hammer Horror was born.In "The Curse of Frankenstein", Peter Cushing plays Baron Victor Frankenstein, who after losing his family at a young age, hires scientist Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart) as a mentor.
Unlike what happens in Universal's 1931 classic adaptation, the plot is completely focused on the Baron's figure instead of on the creature, which gives a new and fresh angle to the story, as it explores Frankenstein's obsessions and how they begin to consume his life.
It still isn't exactly a straight adaptation of Shelley's novel, but Sangster's screenplay does offer an interesting idea by not making the Creature a misunderstood monster, but the literal symbol of Frankenstein's failure and corruption.Anyways, while Jimmy Sangster's screenplay is indeed worthy of recognition, it was really Terence Fisher's work as a director what ultimately gave Hammer horror it's true face.
While already an experienced director by the time he made "The Curse of Frankenstein", Fisher found in Hammer's horror films the creative freedom that allowed him to explore new realms in this reinterpretations of old classics.
"The Curse of Frankenstein" is also the film that introduced two of the most important actors in the horror genre since the days of Universal's movies: Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. As Baron Frankenstein, Cushing delivers an outstanding performance that can be considered among the best in the history of the genre.
Hazel Court is less successful as Elizabeth, although it's not really a bad performance at all.It's hard not to think about comparing Fisher's interpretation of "Frankenstein" to the legendary movie made by James Whale 26 years before for Universal, but really, in the end it's a pointless exercise as both movies are so different from each other (and different from Shelley's novel) that there's no proper way to compare them.
Jack Asher is the cinematographer and James Bernard scores the music.The first Hammer film in colour, The Curse Of Frankenstein began the second wave of cinematic horror some 25 odd years after the Universal heyday of the 30s.
Mad Science and the Resurrection of the dead have always been among my favorite Horror topics, and Hammer's Frankenstein films starring the great Peter Cushing are among the most memorable films in the field.
When it was Hammer's Dracula that made Christopher Lee the Horror icon he is, it was "The Curse Of Frankenstein" and its sequel that rose Peter Cushing to immortal fame.Hammer's Baron Frankenstein is more (insanely) dedicated than the character is in the novel or any previous film, and Cushing is brilliant in the role, which he played six times altogether.
The monster, by the way, is played by a fellow Horror icon, with whom Cushing formed the most awesome Horror-duo in a whole lot of films, none other than the great Christopher Lee. Hazel Court is a beauty in the female lead, the only tiny negative aspect is the fact that Robert Urquhart's character of Paul sometimes annoys with his moralistic nagging (also, while he is supposed to be Frankenstein's teacher, Urquhart clearly is years younger than Cushing).
Outstanding horror film that began a series starred by two greatest terror icons as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee ; being one of the best movies from Hammer Productions .
Victor Frankenstein whose experimentation with creation of life becomes an obsession , but his creature behaves not as he intended .The classic actor of horror movies named Christopher Lee is terrific as the monster and Peter Cushing brings a strong portrayal of the scientific attempting to create a human taking parts here and there .
Followed by six sequels as ¨Revenge of Frankestein¨ by Fisher , ¨Evil of Frankestein¨ by Freddie Francis , Frankestein created woman¨ by Fisher , ¨Frankestein must be destroyed¨ by Fisher , ¨The horror of Frankestein¨ by Jimmy Sangster and ¨Frankestein and the monster from hell¨ by Fisher ; all of them starred by Peter Cushing and one by Ralph Bates , besides similar artistic and technician team as the cameraman Jack Asher , Production designer Bernad Robinson , musician James Bernard and make-up by Philip Leaky.¨The curse of Frankestein¨ displays excellent set design , ambitious screenplay with too many eerie scenes and adequate interpretation for all casting .
The ingredients here would be present in most of Hammer's classics: director Terence Fisher, screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, stars Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Also great sets, nice makeup effects, and Hazel Court's cleavage!
"The Curse of Frankenstein" is most entertaining version based very freely on Mary Shelley's classic story.Terence Fisher makes another fine job here in the direction for Hammer films with the classical monsters of Universal as he did also with "The Mummy" and "Horror of Dracula".
Peter Cushing shows his professionalism and acting class as the crazy Baron and Christopher Lee under heavy make up as the creature -more than acceptable for 1957- moves to pity at times but also to menace and horror with similar effectiveness.
The rest of the cast is an interesting support, mainly Valerie Gaunt as Cushing's maid that doesn't know when she has pressed too much.Though perhaps a bit aged for today's standards "The Curse of Frankenstein" has not lost its charm as a little classic in the horror genre, even more if you consider it was made 50 years ago..
That observation is partially based on extrapolation as I gave up watching modern horror films for pleasure back in the 1980's, as my pleasure gave way to horror.Baron Frankenstein played by Peter Cushing and his former tutor turned tiresomely unwilling assistant Robert Urquhart bring back to life a composite human being Christopher Lee. Naturally, or maybe not, Lee cuts up rusty and shows ingratitude at such high-handed treatment.
Victor came into his wealth as a young man after his mother died, and hired Paul Krempe(played by Richard Urquhart) to be his tutor, but as the years passed showed a remarkable ability in the medical field, and became obsessed with recreating life, which not only affected his relationship with his fiancée Elizabeth(played by Hazel Court) but with everyone, as his crowning achievement is a creature(played by Christopher Lee) that is brought to life with old body parts...
Lots of full-color blood and violence; a stellar cast (headed in this case by Peter Cushing as Victor Frankenstein and Christopher Lee as The Monster); an atmospheric Gothic setting; a rousing musical score; and first-rate production values that belie the low budget.The one disappointment is The Monster himself.
And he looks more like a horribly disfigured human than the unearthly creature that Boris Karloff created a generation earlier.Hammer would go on to make numerous Frankenstein sequels, all of them without Lee but most with Peter Cushing as the sometimes evil, sometimes not-so-evil Baron.
It would follow up the success of "Frankenstein" with even more successful remakes of "Dracula" and "The Mummy." Numerous other Gothic horror movies would follow until the the films finally petered out in the late 1970s.Back in my childhood days, I eagerly awaited the release of each new Hammer movie.
The critics may not have appreciated it at the time (though they certainly do now), but the paying audiences lapped up The Curse of Frankenstein's amped-up levels of gore and Gothic atmosphere.The film begins with Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) in a jail cell awaiting his execution for an unknown crime.
One of the earliest Hammer horror movies, THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN tells a familiar tale, one that closely follows the plot of other adaptations, notably James Whale's groundbreaking film for Universal in 1930.What makes Terence Fisher's version so compelling is the way in which the story has been treated; for the late Fifties it is surprisingly explicit in the way it depicts Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) handling various body-parts - eyes, limbs - and at one point is shown sawing the head off the corpse that forms the basis of the monster (Christopher Lee).
The Monster's make-up is too grotesque for my liking and one does wish that Christopher Lee had more screen time, other than that the film is wonderful.The Curse of Frankenstein does look great, the photography and costumes are handsome and the Gothic set design is outstanding and dripping with atmosphere.
The legend is still told with horror the world over
It is the legend of
The Curse of Frankenstein." Presently, shortly before his execution, titular mad scientist Peter Cushing (as Victor Frankenstein) tells his story to a priest
In flashback, we see the wealthy young baron hire longtime partner Robert Urquhart (as Paul Krempe).
He wants to create a man of extremely high intellect, but things don't always go according to plan...From England's Hammer Movie Productions, this re-make of Mary Shelley's classic "Frankenstein" has a style quite different than the model popularized by Hollywood's Universal Studios.
His fresh approach heralded an era of Hammer horror re-makes and sequels.******* The Curse of Frankenstein (5/2/57) Terence Fisher ~ Peter Cushing, Robert Urquhart, Christopher Lee, Hazel Court.
It launched director Terence Fisher's career; made stars out of actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee; and, lets not forget, established Hammer Studios as the leading brand name in horror.
Frankenstein successfully creates a creature (Played by the legendary Christopher Lee) but is not what he expected and instead of abandoning his experiments he continues the work, but the creature becomes more and more dangerous.The photography, set design, acting, script, and direction are stunning and the movie, in my opinion, stands the test of time.
Less baroque that the later Kenneth Branagh version of the 1990s this was the film that began the reputation of Hammer horror films.Christopher Lee plays the revived monster a world away from the flat headed and flat footed Boris Karloff whose makeup was trademarked to Universal Pictures.The real monster is Peter Cushing's Baron Frankenstein, an obsessive scientist, unethical and a cold blooded murderer.
Here we get all those things we associate with Hammer Studios: directorial flair and finesse, gobs of Gothic atmosphere, lush cinematography, beautiful sets and costumes, great character acting, and, of course, best of all - Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. This was their first horror film together with Fisher - the start of a beautiful friendship which would last for many, many years.
Christopher Lee plays the Creature as a child-like puppet, to be pitied more than reviled.Excellent production values, setting the high standard for Hammer's other Gothic adaptations, which were later to include Dracula, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Mummy and The Curse of the Werewolf..
(You wonder how many Frankenstein and Dracula remakes there were?) Christopher Lee, the other classic-era British horror film star of his generation, plays the monster.Hammer Horror films have been highly-regarded over the years, and justifiable so in my opinion.
My favorite is "Horror Of Dracula," made the following year (1958) with Cushing as "Dr. Van Helsing." I don't think this film measures up to that one because it doesn't have the suspense, nor does it have the "atmosphere" a Frankenstein movie should possess.......but it does have a great performance by Cushing.
The 1st of the 3 great Hammer Horror remakes in gory Eastmancolour tonight, they really did add something to the classic Universal originals, scary, slightly less comedy, more terror..& Peter Cushing/Christopher Lee
Comparisons are inevitable when viewing something like THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN for the first time after years of other monster movies, but this Hammer film is handsomely produced and features good, strong performances from its British cast.Particularly effective are PETER CUSHING as the Baron Frankenstein and ROBERT URQUHART as his teacher and reluctant laboratory assistant who agonizes over helping him.
I think the ones that are best remembered were the ones either starring or pairing Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee--such as the first release by England's Hammer Films, "The Curse of Frankenstein." Of course, I believe at the time, there were some legal restrictions that prevented Hammer from totally copying the Universal films, so in "Curse," we get another loose adaption of Mary Shelley's novel.This time, Baron Frankenstein is assisted by his childhood tutor, who at first assists the doctor, then revolts against the "abomination" he has created.
The good doctor was played by Peter Cushing, in his first pairing with Lee, and instead of a grotesque, hunchbacked assistant, Frankenstein is first helped in his experiments by his handsome former tutor Paul (Robert Urquhart) - who then turns against him.
Peter Cushing's performance as Baron Victor Frankenstein is flawless, the depth perhaps only becoming truly evident after viewing the entire series of Hammer Frankenstein movies (not including the unfortunate 'Horror of Frankenstein' which mistakenly returned to the comedic notion with hugely dissatisfying results and which featured Ralph Bates in Cushing's role) in which the character's evolution and development become chillingly clear.
Lee is a fine actor, but he fails to do much with a limited character (though the makeup is an interesting diversion from the Karloff look).I love those mounting tensions between Frankenstein and his righteous collaborator, Paul (did you ever notice that most males in the Hammer series are called either Paul or Hans?)This film was a milestone for the horror industry.
A shame considering the talents involved in this particular production: Peter Cushing as a non-sympathetic Baron (Dr.) Frankenstein as opposed to Colin Clive's and Christopher Lee as the "creature" as he's billed in this version as opposed to Karloff's billing as "The Monster - ?" in the 1931 version.
Curse of Frankenstein, The (1957) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) sets out to create life but instead creates a murdering monster (Christopher Lee) in Hammer's updated version of the classic novel.
This could have been just a good but standard horror film except for one thing: Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein (whether there's a 'von' in the middle I don't know, but there should be) is so spectacular playing such a horrible person.
I'd need to ruminate further, or rewatch the Whale films from the 30's, to know for sure whether or not this is the "best" Frankenstein movie (Bride is more ambitious, while the original has Karloff), but what makes this Hammer one stand out, the first of many as it appears, is that Cushing is so committed to this total bastard of a "doctor".
By the way, one of the fun things in this film is how, I have to think Hammer knew this as well, they combine two famous bits from previous Frankenstein movies: at one point the creature runs into a blind man who has with him a little boy.
Locked in a cell, an hour away from the guillotine, Baron Frankenstein recounts to a priest how he built a creature from human body parts and successfully brought it to life.The Curse of Frankenstein might not be one of my favourite of Hammer's Frankenstein films—I prefer the studio's later entries in the series with their lurid gore and overt sexuality—but I still hold it in extremely high regard for helping to revive the flagging horror genre (sci-fi having dominated much of the fifties) and for being the first film to team British horror icons Peter Cushing (as Baron Victor Frankenstein) and Christopher Lee (who plays his creation).Working with a limited budget, director Terence Fisher stages much the action within Victor's home and laboratory, his film very much a character driven piece, with Cushing's obsessed scientist to the fore and Lee's monster taking a back seat.
The cast is topped off by Cushing's long time collaborator and a man that would go on to become one of Hammer's biggest stars - the excellent Christopher Lee, who does a grand job in a campy turn as the monster itself.The Curse of Frankenstein isn't Hammer's best production, and to be honest I preferred the excellent Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, but this stands tall as a solid entry in their oeuvre and is recommended to horror fans..
Cushing breathes life into the role like few others can, making the doctor a thoroughly believable, if none too likable, character.The film has it's share of flaws: Besides fixing some of the more glaring plot holes, getting a slightly more stylish look and better actors for the supporting roles would have helped (though Christopher Lee in a brief role as the creature is good enough).
Hammer's production personnel had by this time become a gifted and efficient unit, and Director Terence Fisher was perfect for the first of their Gothic revivals.Curse gave horror fans two new horror stars in Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Cushing dominates the movie with a superb and ironically humorous performance as Baron Frankenstein; indeed most of the film follows Frankenstein's attempts to give life to his creature, squeezing the monster's screen time into approximately the last half-hour.The Hammer Gothic look is wonderfully established here, cinematographer Jack Asher and production designer Bernard Robinson do wonders with a limited budget, producing a garish and utterly convincing sense of period.
'The Curse of Frankenstein' was Hammer Film's first venture into Gothic horror territory, and followed on from their successful attempt at science fiction/horror with 'The Quatermass Xperiment' in 1955.Peter Cushing is excellent as Baron Victor Frankenstein, a man so devoted to scientific experimentation that he will stop at nothing, not even murder, to achieve his ends.
Even though not a very spectacular horror film, The Curse of Frankenstein remains a milestone in the genre, with some great suspense and a truly powerful acting performance by Peter Cushing.
The film was directed by Terence Fisher and stars Peter Cushing as Victor Frankenstein, Hazel Court as Elizabeth, and Christopher Lee as the creature.Peter Cushing, who was then best known for his leading roles in British television, was sought out by Hammer for this film.
It is also the first pairing of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, two guys you have a hard time NOT seeing in the same film.The movie deserves kudos for making the true monster not the creature, but Frankenstein himself.
And, of course, this is the first of Hammer's pairings of Peter Cushing, here as Victor Frankenstein, and Christopher Lee, as the monster.. |
tt1079980 | Death in Love | What burdens do the survivors of those who survived carry? A young woman in a Nazi concentration camp saves her life by seducing the young doctor who performs medical experiments on prisoners. Cut to decades later, when that same woman (Bisset) is living in New York City and married with two grown sons.The two siblings have developed differently under a mother with a long history of erratic behavior. The younger one cant cope at all, and the older one copes too well. Portrayed by Josh Lucas, he is now 40 years old and hides out in psychosexual escapades and a job at a fraudulent modeling agency scamming the young and hopeful. He is good at them both--too good. So why is he growing increasingly frightened? Is he losing his game? His sexual prowess and intellectual diatribes no longer make him feel better. He will have to change to survive. | cruelty, flashback | train | imdb | Intense adult drama about repercussions of violence and war.
This movie tells a story held secret by most people who write about the Holocaust, which is the crippling effect of the Survivors' war experiences on their children.
Studies have shown that the children of Nazi Holocaust Survivors share many if not all of their parents' psychological issues, particularly depression and post-traumatic stress.
This film has the rare courage and honesty to show the bleak emotional damage left by that war, not only on its direct victims but on their children as well.
The portrait of the mother is particularly bitterly real -- her seemingly inexplicably outbursts and fits of violence a near-mirror of the unexplained violence she witnessed as a girl; her narcissism and coldness linked to her own abandonment as a girl.
Again, a poignant and tragic reality of the psychological landscape of all survivors of war.
The actors were superb, the dialogue actually worth LISTENING to.
Haas and Lucas put in beautifully nuanced performances and Bisset was outstanding in arguably the best, most emotional performance of her career, and looking more beautiful than ever.This is not an easy film.
It is most definitely not a family film (there are explicit depictions of sex).
It is a disturbing portrait of broken people struggling to find reasons to stay alive.
It's pretty great, really..
Weak and indulgent film-making in all its glory.
What happens when the writer of some gems as "The Punisher", "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights" who also directed crap like "Uptown Girls" decides to write and direct an artsy flick?Death In Love is the answer.
This film does not pull any punch when it comes to gruesome and explicit scenes.
Writer/director Boaz Yakin had to finance this film all by himself because he had specific things in mind.
This would never have been approved by studios and I understand why he got no financial backing.
Having a specific vision, refusing to compromise are all laudable as far as I am concerned.
It's just that, unfortunately, Yakin's vision seems terribly limited.
The founding story arc revolves around a Jewish girl who begins an affair with a doctor overseeing experiments on human in a concentration camp during WWII.
Yakin goes all guns blazing trying to showcase the intensity of this relationship and fails spectacularly because there is a total lack of chemistry between the actors and the script is emotionally numb right from the start.
She just supposedly falls in love at first sight, with a psycho doctor who looks like an extra in an infomercial.
The second story arc (which gets the most screen time) takes place in the present and features this woman again with her husband and two adult sons.
All of which seem to be mysteriously as nuts as she is for no reason whatsoever.
In between, we get flashbacks from the time her sons were children and how she'd go nuts and scare them, but it's done awkwardly, like what you'd expect in a direct to video "it happened for real" melodrama featuring Melissa Gilbert or some other has-been.
The present-day story arc features the most interesting and intriguing scenes.
The youngest son (Lukas Haas) is a total waste of screen time as an obnoxious man-child who has various phobias and still live with his parent.
But the eldest son (Josh Lucas) gets a lot of screen time.
He's almost 40 years old, seemingly jaded about everything.
Of lot of his scenes (particularly with his co-worker played by Adam Brody) feature dialogue that, while not amazing, is still better than what the rest of the movie has to offer.
There are a few themes displayed but Yakin, in the least subtle way EVER implies a strong connection between pain and sexuality.
In fact, so strong that he almost implies one is synonymous with the other.
This could be a powerful and interesting theme to explore in a few characters but here, it's just not done well.
Every character on screen has intense desire to masturbate, and it seems nobody is able to make love without beating his partner at the same time.
The story and characters feel artificial despite all the courageous grit Yakin put in the film.
There is also a strong undercurrent of self-loathing in all the main characters.
Yakin is Jewish himself and I sensed that he was extremely critical of a segment of people who shun their origins and hate what they are.
One of the most powerful scene, to me, was a small one where the Jewish girl at the concentration camp (who receives favorable treatment from the doctor, her lover) refuses to give the rest of her meal to a starving Jewish violinist.
Instead, she sadistically eats every last crumb, as if she renounced her Jewish heritage and what she really is.All in all, I think Yakin tackled powerful issues in a very confusing way.
This feels like a very personal film but unfortunately, the few powerful scenes in there, the great performances by Lucas, Bisset and Haas and the grittiness can't save a weak script and a weak story..
Deep, dark and psychologically fascinating - a realistic portrayal of how "anything repressed comes out in toxic form.".
Although at times I found this movie hard to watch, I think it is an excellent film about the things that human beings don't want to talk openly about,the underbelly of human life that we all experience and identify with in one way or another.
This movie portrays these types of things with a good story, a good script and fine acting.The filmmaker should be commended for his conviction to tell a story that was obviously important to him, by investing his own money to make this film.
I see why that was required because society in general does it's best to push down out of sight, the very things that need to have the light shown in on.
In my opinion film and theater are the best way to do it, and this movie does it authentically.I agree with some of the other reviewers that this film's subject matter is very important for all of us as human beings to understand and not be afraid of, so that we may have compassion for others who may be "acting out" some neurotic compulsion that they have "inherited" or been left with from experiencing trauma, as well as compassion for our self.
Human beings "act out", it is just a part of the human condition and being alive.If you like intensity and a view into deep emotional scenarios this film is for you..
Fantastic script, good video and a philosophical plot - a movie that thinking people will enjoy.
Don't let the first few seconds scare you away.
After that, the remaining initial nine minutes of dialog in this movie grabbed my attention.
As a 49 year old guy, it was like the conversation that I've been holding in my own head was exposed, thoughts that I've never admitted to another human because of my shame, somehow brought out into the public for everyone to hear.
Unbelievably honest, real, certainly a glimpse into my very brain with the same rationale and conclusions that I have come to in my own life.If you've lived enough of live, you recognize the maternal instinct of the mother for her disadvantaged son.
She protects him, puts up with him and shows a patience that only a guilt laden (whether deservedly so or not) mother will demonstrate.
Her description of the call of her jilted boyfriend's parent's call is also not out of the ordinary for some of us.
The acting of the disabled son, the emotion, absolutely fantastic and realistic.
Unbelievably realistic, like looking into someone's personal life.The movie only gets better.
Watch it if you're interested in exploring the shadows of the human condition in an honest, thought provoking manner.
disturbing.
I'm not sure what I make of this film.
Its certainly its own film in a way that few films ever are.
Is it any good?
Your guess is as good as mine.The plot of the film concerns a woman who survived the concentration camps by sleeping with one of the Nazi doctors.
We also follow her two sons, one who is unnaturally attached to his mother and won't leave home, and the other a man who works at a questionable modeling agency and sleeps with a good number of women.
Its a very sexual and dark tale that has everyone on a downward spiral into destruction.I'm disturbed.
This is a trip into the dark side of the human psyche.
Rarely have I ever seen the eroticism of death so clearly stated.
There is a great deal of food for thought here, but I'm not sure it adds up to much.
The people here seem to be some form of extreme cases and they border on certifiable which makes taking anything away from their exploits all that more hard to take.
The performances are good and I understand why everyone took their roles, but I'm still struggling to work out what they were getting at.Worth a look if you don't mind looking at the darkness and want to see a unique vision.
All others stay away.
A hard thing to judge.
This is one of the movies which will be loved by those wannabe intellectuals, because it appears profound, alternative and provoking.
It offers a lot of opportunity e.g. for a class to discuss the problems and personal backgrounds of each character and their histories, but after all it's just very average and way too pretentious.About the plot: It starts off very good and interesting.
Our protagonist talks about life in general, people, expectations and how to deal with that in life.
His monologue pisses off his one-night-stand so badly that she gets dressed immediately and leaves.The movie switches inbetween three timelines: Childhood: He and his neurotic brother grew up with a mentally deranged mother and a father who couldn't keep her from snapping.
You'll see the mother snap, scream and shout, destroy their kids' room for some bogus reason.
Scenes appear very depressing (and annoying).Concentration Camp: The mother survived a German concentration camp by sleeping up with her angel of death, some German concentration camp doctor who apparently lets her live because she has her body to offer as a reward for that.
In this time snipplet, you'll most likely see them have sex, have dinner, dance or do other couply stuff that doesn't seem very romantic, but also very depressing and pretentious.
The last scene of this time period shows the mother cry over her doctor leaving, because the russians were coming.
She gets a hold of herself again.
But it appears that she never really got over that separation.The here and now: Most of the movie is set in the present.
The mother still snaps every once in a while and destroys inventory, her husband still doesn't have the guts to do something about it, her first son (the main character) gets conned by his new business partner and sleeps around with a lot of women while the second one has a weird eating disorder.
The mother meets her concentration camp entertainment again, just for the masochistic sex, which her son likes too, by the way.
The neurotic son doesn't seem to ever have had sex, so he stays at home and plays the piano.All this may seem very depressing and annoying, and it is.
The question I have been asking myself the entire movie, is 'What is the writer trying to tell us?' - And honestly, I have no idea.
The movie ends very sudden, while the plot doesn't really thicken.
There are just those three stories told, and of course their history: Protagonist gets stabbed by his masochistic Asian lover, although it might have been just regular sex, judging from previous scenes.
Mother meets her doc again in a hotel and has sex with him.
Brother breaks most of his fingers smashing the flap for the piano keys shut with his hand inside.There are still some weird scenes showing human body parts being cut, a human brain being BBQ'd, some more of this weird stuff without any connection to the already very weird plot.
I don't even know how to comment on these scenes, so I just chose to ignore them.On the whole: Personally, that was a waste of my time.
I was waiting for the movie to resolve some of the plot parts that seemed intriguing.
That is by the way the only reason why I gave it 4/10 instead of just 1/10.If you like dark and wannabe meaningful movies, go ahead and waste your time.
If you want to be entertained, don't watch this movie with any of your friends, that you'd like to have a fun night with later on..
Weird and Wacko.
For whatever reason I stuck with this dismal excuse of a film by Boaz Yakim until the bitter orgasmic end.Set sometime in the early nineties from what appeared to be news of the basement bombing at the World Trade Center, we meet the protagonist who for the better part of twenty minutes is either nude, with a nude, masturbating or engaging in rough sex.
Considering the fact this film was rated R, you could easily describe the goings on as mildly pornographic.Basically, the story is about a mother, Jacqueline Bisset, a Holocaust survivor thanks to her connection as a girl to a Nazi doctor into human experiments, which are shown in gory detail, her husband and two sons, Josh Lucas and Lukas Haas.
The mother is still lusting for the Nazi doctor, her husband is a wimp, her forty year old son is into raunchy sex, and her youngest at thirty-five hasn't had a date since he was in high school.The story jumps back and forth from war past to fifties past to the present.
The performances are over the top, with lots of reaction close-ups from each of the major characters, many times either crying or screaming.Mother has a number of liaisons who all turn up dead after her meetings with them courtesy of her doctor friend.
Near the end of the film, she leaves her husband alone in their apartment prior to her climatic meeting with her Nazi crush.
She deliberately leaves the apartment door ajar and we see the evil doc enter the building.
Later her youngest shows up with his smashed hand and no one is at home.
We never find out what happened to her husband, but suffice it to say, she probably will be attending another funeral prior to living happily ever after with you know who.Death in Love is one very strangely weird film..
Mrs Glass wants smore ....
This is like some crazed version of the Salinger family of cognoscenti in Franny and Zooey; all members destroyed and genius blighted by the neurotic legacy of the mother's will to survive the KZ experience in 1945.
Bisset plays the mother who suffered the Sophie's Choice of seducing her executioner-doctor with sado-masochistic sexual rompings in order to survive and make a family in New york with two sons both of whom are dripping with potential but who have had their genius crushed by her wild and uncontained rages.
The provider father is a shadow of a man who cannot control his wife's mental devolution nor his sons' actual contempt for him.With stilted monologues and dialogues their raisons d'etre paint them as hollow people pretending to cope with a meaningless set of unhappy lives.The one shocking curiosity is that the end of the film houses a prolonged scream of orgasmic satisfaction which stems from the aged mother now visited again by her Camp doctor as she is finally set free of her morbid longings with a wholehearted indulgence in what she has missed all these years.
Out of a Mephistophelian debacle comes a renaissance of the evil promise; all the evil caused by her moral turpitude is 'excused' with this one long drawn-out scream of sexual satisfaction.
Worth a watch if only for the daring moral tightrope walking ....
Best movie I've seen this year so far.
movie ends with woman in her seventies screaming while having orgasm and her son being stabbed by his Chinenese-American female boss while roll playing rape mazo fore-playing .
Woman is having sex with her long forloren lover who used to be a doctor in a Nazi extermination camp and she were interned while being abandoned in Paris by her father and step mother .
Flashbacks are absolutely amazing .Actors in them speak in french and German unlike in those usual pathetic flicks where bad guys speak with German accented English to make a flick more authentic.
if u think its yet another holocaust survivor thingy don't .I've seen quite a few of the kind and I never seen anything like that.
Woman got two sons.
One working in a shady semi con "model" agency where he gets a cut from fleecing plain average looking females from their money by implying the possibility of them getting jobs as models Other one is 'live with his parents till his forty' type .He got a good excuse though, he is seemingly talented pianist and composer unable to deal with everyday life .
The borderline conman brother gets conned by dashing new addition to agency.He looses his apartment where shortly before his brother began experimenting with living away from home .to summarize the movie in one word its Smart .Its Smartly cut .Smartly shot .Smartly written you don't feel for one minute that something is out of place or fake .
I watch like 4 to 5 movies a day and a bunch load of TV shows .I know I know sad case .So like I said my brains are conduits to pretty much huge amount of movie stuff .Not that that makes me an expert or anything but I love this movie . |
tt0280609 | Dog Soldiers | A couple is seen camping in the Scottish Highlands. The woman gives the man a silver letter opener as a present; shortly afterwards they are killed in their tent by an unseen assailant. Meanwhile, Private Cooper is seen running through a forest in North Wales. He attacks his pursuers but is overwhelmed and wrestled to the ground. It is revealed that Cooper is trying to join a special forces unit but fails when he refuses to shoot a dog in cold blood. He is returned to his unit by Captain Richard Ryan.
Four weeks later, a squad of six, British soldiers, including Cooper, is dropped into the Scottish Highlands, somewhat fed up about missing an England–Germany World Cup match. Expecting to carry out a training mission against a Special Air Service (SAS) unit, they only find their savaged remains. A badly-wounded Captain Ryan, the only survivor, makes cryptic references to what attacked them. Unseen predators then attack the troops. While retreating, Bruce is impaled by a tree branch, killing him, and Sergeant Wells is attacked. He is rescued by Cooper and carried to a rural roadside where the group met Megan, a zoologist who takes them to a lonely house, belonging to an unknown family. The soldiers who remain are Wells, Cooper, Spoon, Joe and Terry. As dark falls, the house is surrounded by the attackers: to the soldiers' incredulity, these are revealed to be werewolves.
They try to get in the Land Rover, but find it has been destroyed by the werewolves. The soldiers maintain a desperate defence against the werewolves, believing that if they can make it to sunrise, the werewolves will revert to human form. Cooper and Megan then treat Wells' wounds. After Terry is abducted and their ammunitions run short, they realize that they will not last and decide to try to escape. Spoon creates a diversion while Joe tries steal a Land Rover from the garage. When he gets in, he sees Terry in the garage being eaten alive by a werewolf, who rips off Terry's head and throws it at the windshield. Joe drives up to the house door, then realizes that a werewolf is hiding in the back seat, going down fighting.
Under interrogation, Ryan reveals that the government had sent him on a mission to capture a live werewolf so that it can be studied and exploited as a weapon; Cooper's squad was supposed to be the bait. An enraged Wells and Cooper attempted to kill Ryan, but he transforms into a werewolf due to his wounds and escapes out of a window, running off into the forest. It is then revealed that the unknown family of the house are the werewolves.
The soldiers try blowing up the barn - where Megan told them the werewolves must be hiding - with petrol, gas canisters, matches and the Land Rover. Once it has been destroyed, Megan reveals that not only were there no werewolves in the barn but she had persuaded them to destroy their only means of transport; she is a werewolf as well and had been suppressing the metamorphosis until she gives in. She also reveals that she unlocked the back door to the house, allowing the werewolves to get inside.
Before she fully transform, Wells runs into the room just in time and kills her with a gunshot to the head. He and Cooper run upstairs and Spoon runs to the kitchen, blocking the door. A werewolf breaks in and Spoon runs out of ammo. He fights the werewolf and using nearby surroundings to his advantage, he gains the upper hand, but is eventually killed when a second werewolf intervenes.
Wells and Cooper shoot through the floor upstairs to elude the werewolves, dropping into the kitchen, where they find Spoon's remains. Wells orders Cooper to take shelter in the cellar as he begins to transform into a werewolf, giving him a roll of photographic film (which was in a flashgun camera used to stun the werewolves) to prove what has happened. The werewolves break into the kitchen and confront Wells as he cuts a gas line and blows up the house, killing himself and the werewolves.
As the sun rises, Cooper attempts to leave but Ryan, who also took shelter in the cellar, confronts him. After a brutal fight, Cooper stabs Ryan in the chest with the silver letter opener, weakening him enough to allow Cooper to shoot him in the head, killing him. Cooper and Megan's dog, Sam, emerge from the cellar and walk off into the woods.
The end credits show that Cooper reported his story to the newspapers, with photographs as proof, headlined under the title of "Werewolves ate my platoon". | cult, horror, violence, atmospheric, humor, action, claustrophobic, entertaining | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0443489 | Dreamgirls | Backstage at an R&B amateur talent show at the Detroit Theatre in 1962, young car salesman Curtis Taylor Jr. meets a black girl group known as "The Dreamettes": lead singer Effie White and back-up singers Deena Jones and Lorrell Robinson. Curtis presents himself as The Dreamettes' new manager and arranges for the girls to become backup singers for popular R&B singer Jimmy 'Thunder' Early.
Curtis soon starts his own record label, Rainbow Records, out of his Detroit car dealership, and appoints Effie's brother C.C as his head songwriter. When their first single fails after another pop group releases a cover version, Curtis, C.C, and their producer Wayne turn to payola to make Jimmy and The Dreamettes mainstream pop stars. Offstage, Effie becomes infatuated with Curtis, while the married Jimmy begins an affair with Lorrell.
However, Jimmy's manager Marty grows weary of Curtis' plans to make his client more pop-friendly and walks out. When Jimmy bombs in front of a white Miami Beach audience, Curtis sends Jimmy out on the road alone, keeping The Dreamettes behind to headline in his place. Feeling that Effie's curvy figure and distinctive voice will not attract white audiences, Curtis appoints the slimmer and higher-voiced Deena lead singer and renames the group "The Dreams".
With the aid of new songs and a new more glamorous image, Curtis and C.C. transform The Dreams into a top selling mainstream pop group by 1965. However, Effie begins acting out, particularly when Curtis' affections also turn towards Deena. Curtis eventually drops Effie (who has just learned she is pregnant with Curtis' child) from the group, hiring Michelle Morris, his secretary, to take her place beginning with their 1966's New Year's Eve debut in Las Vegas as "Deena Jones & the Dreams". Despite Effie's defiance and desperate appeal to Curtis, he, C.C., and The Dreams leave her behind and forge ahead to stardom.
By 1975, Effie has become an impoverished welfare mother, living in inner-city Detroit with her daughter, Magic. Struggling to restart her career in music, Effie goes to Marty Madison for management. Meanwhile, Deena Jones & the Dreams have become superstars. With Rainbow the biggest pop business in the country, Curtis is now attempting to produce a film about Cleopatra starring an unwilling Deena, who is now his wife. Meanwhile, Jimmy Early has descended into drug addiction, his career neglected due to Curtis' preoccupation with Deena. When Jimmy has a breakdown onstage at Rainbow's tenth anniversary TV special the following year, Curtis drops him from the label, and Lorrell ends their long affair. A short time later, C.C. quits after a fight with Curtis, whom C.C. feels is undermining the artistic merit of his songs by making them into funk music for the sake of making a profit. Their fight is interrupted by the breaking news that Jimmy has been found dead in a hotel room from a heroin overdose.
Disillusioned by Jimmy's death and Curtis' cold reaction to the news, C.C returns to Detroit to find Effie. The two siblings reconcile and C.C. writes and produces Effie's comeback single, "One Night Only". Just as the record begins gaining local radio play, Curtis uses payola to force radio stations to play a disco cover of "One Night Only" by The Dreams instead. His plan falls apart when Deena, angry over Curtis' control of her career, finds evidence of his payola schemes and contacts Effie and C.C, who arrive in Los Angeles with Marty and a lawyer.
Deena and Effie reconcile, with Effie revealing to Deena that Curtis is the father of Magic while Curtis, wanting to avoid being reported to the FBI for payola, agrees to give Effie's record national distribution. Inspired by Effie's victory and realizing Curtis' true character, Deena leaves him to make it on her own.
Sometime later, The Dreams give a farewell performance at the Detroit Theater, and Effie is invited onstage for the final song. As the concert ends, Curtis notices Magic in the front row and realizes that he is her father. | romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0829482 | Superbad | Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are about to graduate from high school. Best friends for years, they face an uncertain future: Evan has been accepted into Dartmouth but Seth will have to attend the local state university. Both boys are notably horny but still virginal, something they want to correct before leaving for college at the end of the summer. Neither is particularly popular, as evidenced when a particularly obnoxious classmates stops them before school one day to not invite them to his graduation party. Seth and Evan do have female classmates to whom they are attracted. Seth is pretty sure that Jules (Emma Stone) returns his interest, but Evan is oblivious to the fact that Becca (Martha MacIsaac) wants to get with him. Seth resents Becca both for the trouble she caused for him in first grade when she revealed his obsession with drawing penises, and because she threatens his close relationship with Evan. In home economics class, Jules invites Seth and Evan to her graduation party that night. When painfully nerdy friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) reveals that he is about to get a fake ID, Seth is determined to provide the alcohol for Jules's party. Because Becca will attend Jules's party, too, Seth is convinced that he and Evan will have sex that night.Things immediately go wrong. Seth's car is towed when he parks in the faculty parking lot. When Fogell arrives with his fake ID, Seth is appalled to learn that Fogell has adopted the name "McLovin." Believing that the ID won't be accepted, Seth plans to shoplift vast quantities of liquor from a supermarket but chickens out at the last minute. Instead, he and Evan send Fogell to a liquor store. Much to his surprise, Fogell successfully uses his fake ID to buy the liquor. But before he can leave the store, he is knocked unconscious by a robber. Because they went to ogle a buxom woman down the street, Evan and Seth don't see the robbery. They do see the police car arrive and assume that Fogell is being arrested for using a fake ID. Distraught at having neither the alcohol nor the $100 Jules gave him to buy alcohol, Seth panics. He is then hit by a car driven by Francis (Joe Lo Truglio). Francis is desperate for Seth not to report the incident to the police and agrees to procure alcohol for them. Even though Francis is creepy, Seth and Evan accompany him to a house party miles from the liquor store. Shortly after getting there, Francis is beaten up by the home owner, Mark (Kevin Corrigan). Evan is angry that Seth has dragged him to this dangerous party and announces he will no longer allow Seth to dictate the course of their friendship. Seth accuses Evan of deserting him as a friend. Seth returns to the party to steal alcohol. He dirty dances with Mark's menstruating girlfriend and winds up with a blood stain on his pants. When Mark sees this, he picks a fight with Seth. Evan tries to call Becca but can't get good reception on his cell phone so goes back into the house to use a landline. He finds himself trapped in a room with cocaine snorting thugs who mistakenly think he is the golden-throated brother of someone else. He sings "These Eyes" to placate them. Eventually, Evan and Seth manage to escape the party with large amounts of alcohol concealed in two large laundry detergent jugs.Meanwhile, Fogell was not arrested by the police. In fact, Officers Slater and Michaels (Bill Hader and Seth Rogen) seem to be impressed with his taste in alcohol and ability to take a punch. Fogell winds up spending the night with them. He helps them subdue a violent drunk at a local bar and then shares a beer with them. They reveal a rather casual attitude towards police procedure and even let Fogell hold their guns. Slater and Michaels receive a call to break up a fight at the party Seth and Evan are trapped at. On the way to the party, Slater runs into Seth, knocking him to the ground. When he discovers alcohol in one of the detergent jugs, he plans to arrest Seth and Evan. But while Slater and Michaels try to devise a plan to explain the damage to the squad car, Fogell, Evan and Seth escape along with the detergent jugs and all of the alcohol Fogell bought, which he had been carrying with him while patrolling with Slater and Michaels. They take the bus to Jules's party. On the way, Seth learns that Evan and Fogell have already decided to room together at Dartmouth.Becca is already there and already drunk. Evan learns she has spent the evening drinking heavily and announcing her intentions to have sex with him. She drags him to Jules's bedroom and drunkenly tries to seduce him. He resists, wanting their relationship to be more than physical. She throws up. Seth has no greater luck. Convinced that Jules will sleep with him only if they are drunk, he gets inebriated but is surprised to learn both that Jules doesn't drink and that she would prefer they hook up when both are sober. Confused, Seth passes out; on the way down, his head slams into Jules's, giving her a black eye. When he comes to, he sees Slater and Michaels have arrived to bust the party. He rushes inside and, finding Evan drunk and passed out, carries him to safety. Michaels and Slater find Fogell in a bedroom about to have sex with Nicola (Aviva). Slater is angry that Fogell abandoned them but Michaels calms him down. They tell Fogell that they knew his ID was fake but remembered how much they hated police officers when they were Fogell's age. Wanting to demonstrate to him that cops could be cool, too, they took him out on patrol. They all agree to be friends. To impress the ladies, Fogell has Slater and Michaels drag him away as though he were a dangerous criminal. Then they go to a deserted parking lot, do donuts in the squad car, then trash it.Evan and Seth go back to Evan's house. They make miniature pizzas and climb into their sleeping bags. They confess that they will always love one another as friends. The next day, they go to the shopping mall; Evan wants a new comforter to take to Dartmouth and Seth needs new pants. There they see Becca and Jules. Becca thanks Evan for not taking advantage of her drunkenness and Seth apologizes to Jules for his own embarrassing behavior. Becca and Evan decide to go shopping for comforters and Seth will help Jules buy makeup to cover up her black eye. Secure in their friendship, Seth and Evan are finally comfortable being apart.Summary: Two high school best friends forever (Jonah Hill, Michael Cera) go on a mission to provide alcohol for a graduation party in hopes of losing their virginity.After facing the fact that both Seth [Jonah Hill] and Evan [Michael Cera] will both be going to different colleges next year, it seems more imporant than ever that they go to a high school party, and achieve some of their long time goals; including, but not limited to, losing thier virginity with the girl of their dreams by getting them wasted and being their "regret hookup." Their awkard friend Fogell [Christopher Mintz-Plasse] gets a fake ID, with just the name McLovin [it was either that or Mohammid], and agrees to get liquor to bring to Jules' [Emma Stone] aka Seths dream girl's graduation party. All seems to be going well until McLovin is suckerpunched in the liquor store by a robber. When the police come, they try to get a story out of the clerk, but she is too worried about her exam tomorrow, so their question McLovin, which they give offer to give a ride home [more hillarity ensues].All in all the boys almost / briefly get laid, and learn that its just better to man up and confront the girl than try to / count on her geting wasted if you like her. | pornographic, comedy, cult, violence, flashback, humor, entertaining | train | imdb | null |
tt0120901 | Wrongfully Accused | World-famous violinist Ryan Harrison (Leslie Nielsen, who had guest starred in two early episodes of The Fugitive television series in the 1960s) is seen giving a concert. Afterwards, he goes to a party where he meets Hibbing Goodhue (Michael York), a millionaire who sponsors Harrison's performances, as well as Goodhue's seductive wife Lauren (Kelly Le Brock) and his possible mistress Cass Lake (Melinda McGraw).
The next evening, he finds a note from Lauren in his car which summons him to the Goodhue residence. When he goes to the Goodhue mansion, he bumps into Sean Laughrea (Aaron Pearl), who has just killed Goodhue (together with an unknown accomplice). A violent fight follows, during which Harrison discovers that Sean is missing an eye, an arm, and a leg, and he overhears the preparations for an operation with the codename "Highlander" before he is knocked out. When he wakes up, Harrison finds himself arrested and convicted for the murder of Goodhue. Desperate to prove his innocence, Harrison escapes from his prison transport following an accident. Lieutenant Fergus Falls (Richard Crenna) arrives on the scene, takes charge, barks out orders and vows to do whatever it takes to capture the fugitive.
Harrison returns to the Goodhue mansion where he encounters Cass, who is trying to retrieve something from behind a portrait. She tells him she knows he is innocent and believes Lauren is the killer, but refuses to say anything to the police because Lauren is her sister. She provides him with a place to hide and helps him shake his pursuers, but Harrison's opportunities to rest are short and fleeting: Falls seems to find him wherever he goes, and Cass behaves suspiciously, increasing Harrison's doubts of whom to trust.
Harrison gradually begins to piece together the puzzle; he remembers that Sean was present at the party as the bartender and was given a great amount of money by Cass. He also finds that Cass is strangely interested in Sir Robert McKintyre, the secretary-general of the United Nations. Eventually, after investigating Sean's disabilities in a limb replacement clinic, he discovers that Cass, Lauren and Sean are planning an assassination attempt on McKintyre. He manages to follow the group but is caught. Cass shoots Harrison but actually fakes his death, both because she has fallen in love with him and because she wants to stop the assassination, since she has found out that McKintyre is really her father. Goodhue has been murdered by Sean and Lauren because he had come to suspect that his wife was actually a terrorist and had only used him to further her goals.
At a Scottish festival, Harrison and Cass just barely manage to save McKintyre's life. They are cornered by Lauren, Sean and accomplices, but Fergus Falls and a SWAT team arrive just in the nick of time, arresting the terrorists. Falls officially tells Harrison that he was "wrongfully accused", clearing his name and acquitting him. In the last scene, Harrison and Cass are riding on the bow of a cruise ship (spoofing Titanic) and end up bumping their heads on a low bridge. | murder | train | wikipedia | I read another reviewer's comments about Wrongfully Accused, and I am continually amazed at how many people judge movies like this as though they are meant to be serious cinematic endeavors.
Leslie Nielsen's films, literally, are jokes, and if you can't take them that way then maybe it would be better if you didn't watch them.
I only say this here rather than just to that reviewer because I think it's worth pointing out that, in case you couldn't already tell, this movie is a parody and is meant to be laughed at.
I am perfectly willing to admit that it is peppered with scenes that fall completely flat (the sex scene with the sports commentary in the background is a prime example) and much of Nielsen's acting is absolutely awful (also note that much of this is also a parody of similar bad acting in the movies that are being spoofed in this movie, such as The Fugitive and obviously some of the James Bond films), but again, you really need to keep in mind what kind of movie this is.
Comedy is a surprise, if you just saw what was expected it wouldn't be funny!I can't say that Wrongfully Accused promises a cerebral workout or any moving social commentary, but if you look at the cover of this movie and expect something like that, maybe you should stick to the kid's section at the video store, because you are probably a little out of your league.
For much of it, this movie was laugh-out-loud funny.It helped not only to know "The Fugitive" story well but also "North By Northwest," "Casablanca" "Titantic," and many, many other films, both classic and modern-day.
The more familiar you are with movies, the more of these "inside" jokes are going to make you laugh.Being a movie buff, a lot of these gags connected and made me really have a good time watching this Leslie Nielsen farce.
Nielsen is perhaps one of the funniest comedic actors around, though his movies like this are criticized as though they were supposed to be some Oscar Nomminated hit or something.
Spoofing THE FUGITIVE, Leslie Nielsen takes us on a wild ride that combines the Three Stooges with the Marx Brothers and includes quick stops at CASABLANCA and THE MALTESE FALCON, then north by northwest to MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, BRAVEHEART, and TITANIC.
There has been a murder in town and the violin player superstar is the main suspect.He is wrongfully accused, of course.He gets a death sentence but he manages to escape.So then he is an innicent violin player chased by the cops.All he knows is that the real murderer is a one-armed, one-legged and one-eyed man.
Shouldn't be so hard to find.Easier said than done.Wrongfully Accused is a comedy, that has parodies from many other movies and some series.Mostly from The Fugitive.There are also parodies from movies like Braveheart and Titanic.Leslie Nielsen is perfect for the movie.He knows the genre very well.He is a parody man.Great comedian.Great comedy..
If you like leslie nielson movies, naked gun, airplane, then you will love this.
You do not go to see a Nielsen movie expecting anything else but a good laugh.
this movie is not as good as some other nielsen movies like the naked gun series.
The best way to get away from the seriousness of outside world is to watch Lesie Nielsen movies.
A late entry in Leslie Nielsen's career-rebooting series of movie parodies, 1998's "Wrongfully Accused" treads familiar territory.
However, the film will likely be catnip to fans of "Airplane," "Naked Gun," and "Police Squad." Written, produced, and directed by Pat Proft, a veteran writer on the "Police Squad" TV series and the "Naked Gun" movie trilogy, the movie is an endless string of hit-or-miss sight gags, bad puns, and slapstick.
For movie buffs, the references to old movies are enough to make the film entertaining; from extended scenes that mimic "The Usual Suspects," "Mission Impossible," "Titanic," and "North by Northwest," to passing references to "The Empire Strikes Back," "Field of Dreams," and "Braveheart," to dialog lifted from "Casablanca," Proft's movie is great fun.
Viewers are advised to sit through the wacky end credits, which like those of earlier Nielsen spoofs, include a number of genuinely funny attributions.
Leslie Nielsen returns with another hilarious spoof, this time starring as violinist Ryan Harrison, who is framed for murdering Hibbing Goodhue.
He needs to find a mysterious one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged man to get to the truth of the crime, all the while trying to hide from the pursuing authorities.As with any Nielson spoofs, there are non-stop gags from start to finish that will have you horse-laughing.
Slapstick humor is abundance here, but did get a little old in a plot where the momentum didn't flow as quick as Nielsen's earlier spoof movies like the Naked Gun films.
Stars Wars, Titanic, Back to the Future and Anaconda are among the many movies hilariously spoofed - all giving us another entertaining and laughable comedy.Grade B-.
Pat Proft's directorial debut is a grand slam in my opinion, Leslie Nielsen is hilarious in this movie, he delivers some of the funniest Naked Gun inspired lines of all the characters.I would recommend this movie to anyone who just wants to chill out watch a silly movie and get some real laughs.
If it stars Leslie Nielsen, you know that it's just a totally silly spoof.
Most people didn't see this one, compared to movies like Hot Shots and Naked Gun, where a lot of people saw and thought those were the cornerstone of spoof movies.
In the new film "Wrongfully Accused," Nielsen once more proves that he is capable of saving a bad spoof from being bad.
In it, he releases his natural talent of comic genius into his character similar to the one from the magnificent movie "The Fugitive"(Harrison Ford) and, of course, makes us laugh up a storm.Leslie Nielsen is surprisingly energetic in this film, more than usual.
The US marshals shoot machine guns at the criminals' feet making them do an Irish dance."Wrongfully Accused" is the summer's second spoof movie.
To have Leslie Nielsen on your team when you're making a spoof, that's an almost certain success even if the film on its own is bad, like this movie.
The outline follows "The Fugitive", but there are also overtones of "North by Northwest", "Casablanca" and "Fields of Dreams" among others that Mr. Proft makes fun of.One can't even begin to think of anyone for the main character of Ryan, but Leslie Nielsen, an actor whose contributions to the genre are delightful and funny.
Michael York has a small part."Wrongly Accused" is fun to watch with the family or a group of friends as it will keep the viewers amused by all the insanity Leslie Nielsen brings to the movie..
Wrongfully Accused is very funny in spots, but doesn't Leslie Nielsen and Pat Proft, the director, remember that spoofs are much funnier when played seriously.
Another hilarious film with many references to popular shows and movies, with Leslie Nielson, the man from The Naked Gun movies, Spy Hard, Dracula Dead and Loving It, Scary Movie 3, and Airplane.
Leslie Nielsen basically stopped acting after making the Naked Gun movies.
Another funny movie with Leslie Nielsen ....
I found this movie not as good as The Naked Gun series, but still quite funny.
I love this style of movies!!If you liked Wrongfully Accused (a little), then I think you will love The Naked Gun (and the original series Police Squad), and Hot Shots.
(If you don't like The Naked Gun or Leslie Nielsen, you will hate this movie.).
It is very underrated, but I see it as the best of the post-Naked Gun Leslie Nielsen flicks.
Just like all of the previous Pat Proft/Naked Gun/Hot Shots movies, you will need to review the movie several times to pick up gags/references you missed earlier.
I think the producers were trying to capture the magic of the Naked Guns and figured all they needed was Leslie Nielsen to pull it off.
I put this movie second last, just before Pauly Shore's Son-in-Law. I think a lot of us would love to see Lt. Frank Drebin bumble his way through another Naked Gun incarnation..
There are so many movies being ridiculed in so many ways and so often that's almost impossible you won't be laughing at least a couple of times.Jokes literally appear every ten seconds continually from beginning to the end.
Leslie Nielsen gave a classical performance where he finds himself in plenty over-the-top situations, be it as a violinist, doctor or convict.Yes, there are some things done badly in Wrongfully Accused but the point is that those things just don't matter in this type of film.
Leslie Nielsen did a good job, making his role in this film.
The Airplane!-Naked Gun comedy genre is always worth watching just because they are meant to be silly fun and nothing more.
It was actually better than I'd expected.There are at least five bright spots that make this film worth watching: Richard Crenna's masterful parody of Tommy Lee Jones character in "The Fugitive," a host of memorable one-liners, watching an aging Leslie Nielson nail yet another physically-demanding dead-pan performance, counting the number of famous films being parodied, and a scene featuring a particularly hilarious low-rider..
Nielsen's Third Best Movie Only To Naked Gun and Spy Hard!.
Thou shalt not take this movie over "Airplane!" or "The Naked Gun", but at least it's better than some of Nielsen's previous garbage (for all of you who, like me, had to suffer through watching "Repossessed", I feel your pain).
Wrongfully Accused is a hilarious movie, and especially for me my first time, because I had seen the Fugitive the previous night.
This could be Leslie Neilson's best movie, but there's Spy Hard and The Naked Gun to compete with it.
the fact that a lot of us are actually talking about "Leslie Nielsen-movies" instead of "spoof", is, in my opinion, a very bad thing.
In fact, there are quite a few movies starring him that were plain bad(Mr. Magoo, Dracula).When I first saw 'Spy Hard' (I know that this is a "Wrongfully Accused" review, don't worry), I thought it was a fine comedy.
This isn't a bad thing when it comes to the visual jokes of course, but one of the great strengths of for instance 'The Naked Gun', was it's superb dialogue, and the way the lines were delivered by the cast.So, what does this all say about "Wrongfully Accused"?
Wrongfully Accused is a funny movie, I'll say that, but it seems like not much effort was put into the film being funny.
This absolutely maniacal menagerie of funny cracks and memorable moments combines to make WRONGFULLY ACCUSED one of the dumbest but yet hilarious movies ever made.
One of Leslie nielsens best movies ever.
Yes there are some funny momements, but overall the movie is a tired attempt at humour that really offers nothing new to the audience.This time Leslie Nielsen plays Ryan Harrison who has been wrongfully accused of a murder he did not commit.
Her role is that of the scheming adultress who orchestrates her husband's (Michael York)murder.Leslie Nielsen fans will undoubtedly love this movie.
this is definitely one of the best films starring Leslie Nielsen!
Anyway, I liked this movie more than The Naked Gun 33 1/3 and any of the Hot Shots!
Wrongfully Accused is a spoof movie.
This is not as good as The Naked Gun films but I think it´s a nice and entertaining movie for a Saturday evening.I hope that the up-coming Titanic Too: It Missed The Iceberg will be a great film!!!!!.
Leslie Nielsen is hilarious in Wrongfully Accused.
I have always been a huge Leslie Nielsen fan(The Naked Gun)and this is one of his best.
I know the whole idea of Wrongfully Accused was to spoof other movies, but that doesn't mean you can't have your own story to tie everything together.
Wrongfully Accused is Leslie Nielsen's funniest movie since Dracula: Dead and Loving it.
While not quite at the level of the Naked Guns, this movie was much better than his last few films (Dracula, Mr. Magoo, etc).
It's the best kind of spoof, one where the jokes race by so fast you don't have time to think about whether they're good or bad.
I also noticed "Dirty Harry", "Titanic" and "Field of Dreams" were parodied.Leslie Nielsen didn't quite achieve the masterful performances from the "Airplane" and "Naked Gun" movies, but I enjoyed his work anyway.
I could tell he was spoofing the "Fugitive" detective, but something seemed to be missing from his performance.Melinda McGraw looked good, and she gave a decent performance as well.They can't all be "Airplane!" or "The Naked Gun" but I still had a good time..
Wrongfully Accused is without a doubt Leslie Nielsen's best movie...
I HAVE seen movies like Scary Movie, Not Another Teen Movie, Spy Hard, etc., and I loved them, but Wrongfully Accused surpasses them by far.What I'm trying to say here is, if you don't laugh at this movie, you have no sense of humor.
Basically, if it's not a spoof movie, it has most likely been spoofed by Wrongfully Accused.Leslie Nielsen is the king of spoofs.
Wrongfully Accused is the best comedy spoof since the Naked Gun movies.
Leslie Nielsen is hilarious in this movie.
Pat Proft's Wrongfully Accused is a funny parody of many films (examples: Titanic, The Fugitive, Basic Instinct, Lord of the Dance, Anaconda, etc.) that is well played by Leslie Nielson.
Nielsen does give a gung ho performance (and so does Richard Crenna), but the two actors have little to make characters.Though a lot of energy was put into this movie, it feels all the same tired and worn out.
The humor works & it's lead-star, the amazing Leslie Nielsen, does exceedingly well.'Wrongfully Accused' Synopsis: Ryan Harrison is framed for murder and must prove himself innocent by finding a mysterious one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged man after escaping from a bus accident on the way to jail.'Wrongfully Accused' is a parody of the 1993 film The Fugitive, And I must say, this parody is funny.
Wrongfully Accused is a spoof The Fugitive, Braveheart, Clear and Present Danger, and of course Titanic, I couldn't help but laugh at the many gags at Mr. Nielson's disposal.
It was good but sad to see Richard Crenna of Rambo fame in this movie and he gives some of the best lines and jokes throughout this film.
But his other movies are much better so I'll check those out before the week is gone so if you're a Leslie Nielson fan, pick up the Naked Gun series and Spy Hard.
Wrongfully Accused is not a bad movie, but it's not really different from a spoof film perspective either..
"...All of these movies were hysterical as the actors like Leslie Nielsen and Charlie Sheen played their characters straight and generated so much laughs through hilarious dialogue and cool sight gags.
" and the NAKED GUN movies..goes solo and writes/directs this new spoof of THE FUGITIVE.
He just isn't funny as the wrongfully accused fugitive Ryan Harrison.
It's at least better than Nielsen's previous two movies, Mr.Magoo and Spy Hard, both of which were HORRIBLE!!!Wrongfully Accused spoofs The Fugitive (and Harrison Ford) and does a neat, though weak, job.
This is just another typical Leslie Nielsen vehicle, and like most of his recent films, this has many more misses than hits.
I can understand people who can't get enough of these kind of movies ( '' Hot shots '', '' Naked gun '', '' Spy Hard '' ) but i can at the same time understand people who taught it was good for a start, but can't stand it now.
It seems that if the movie studios have a parody film that is really bad, they just have to get Leslie Nielson to star and everything will be all right.
Leslie Nielsen lends his natural parody mindset to this 1998 spoof of The Fugitive, as well as a cleverly delivered collection of other films such as Braveheart, Mission Impossible and Titanic.
While running from the police, led by Lieutenant Fergus Falls (portrayed by Richard Crenna of Rambo fame), Harrison manages to not only escape from execution, but also disguise himself as a gardener, a fisherman named Buzz'n Frog, and a doctor, while acting as a private detective himself in an attempt to stop the killing of Sir Robert McKintyre from those who have framed him.As a Leslie Nielsen fan who appreciates his unique and natural sense of humor and expression, I would say Wrongfully Accused is one of his best films – a winner in not only the spoof genre, but in the comedy world as a whole.
On top of that, the acting is very good as well, with Leslie Nielsen playing the wrongfully accused Ryan Harrison, a man on the run for the murder of a rich statesman who was in fact killed as part of a Terrorist Insurtion.
one of leslie nielsen's funniest movies.
all in all a must see comedy and one of leslie nielsen's funniest movies..
Indeed there's so much going on that dedicated fans will probably want to watch a couple of times to check out all the jokes they missed.Nielsen is on top form as usual, and supported by an able cast including the likes of Richard Crenna and Michael York.
Take out the jokes and Naked Gun still sort of vaguely hangs together as a police movie, but Wrongfully Accused is not in any way thrilling...
Wrongfully Accused (1998): Dir: Pat Proft / Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Kelly Le Brock, Richard Crenna, Michael York, Melinda McGraw: Spoof of The Fugitive with Leslie Nielsen as a violinist framed for murder but he escapes thanks to a bus wreckage. |
tt0070030 | Emperor of the North Pole | Shack (Ernest Borgnine) is a merciless, inhumane, and sadistic bully of a conductor on an Oregon railroad during the Great Depression. He takes it upon himself to ensure that no one would ever ride his freight train for free, and that anyone who has would no longer live. Shack has an arsenal of makeshift weapons: a hammer, a steel rod, and a chain. During the opening credits, he hits a hobo who is riding between two cars on the head, causing the "bo" to fall on the tracks and be cut in two by the train's wheels.
A hobo who is a hero to his peers, A-No.-1 (Lee Marvin), manages to hop the train with the younger, less-experienced Cigaret (Keith Carradine) close behind. To create a distraction, A-No.-1 sets fire to the car in which he and Cigaret are riding. At the next stop, A-No.-1 evades the rail yard workers and escapes to the hobo jungle, but Cigaret is caught. Cigaret brags to the workers (Vic Tayback and others) that he was the one who rode Shack's train and that the other tramp burned to death. Most of the workers believe him and they dispatch another "bo" to spread the word that Cigaret is the one who finally beat Shack. When this tramp arrives in the hobo jungle, A-No.-1 is there and he is furious to learn that the young braggart Cigaret is taking credit for his deed. A-No.-1 determines to ride Shack's train all the way to Portland to prove that only he is capable of such a bold act. He has another hobo scratch his intention on the yard water tower. When word of this posting arrives in the train shed, Shack is in the process of strangling Cigaret for daring to claim he has ridden Shack's train. Forgotten in the excitement among the yard workers over whether A-No.-1 will succeed, Cigaret slips out unnoticed. The other hobos agree that the first who can successfully ride Shack's train will have earned the title "Emperor of the North Pole." Railroad workers place bets whether A-No.-1 can do it, spreading the news up and down the line by telephone and telegraph, Shack being widely known and disliked.
The next morning is foggy. One of the hobos picks the lock on a switch so that Shack's train, Number 19, will be sent off on a branch line, making it easier for A-No.-1 to board. A-No.-1 unhitches the engine and tender from the freight cars to distract Shack further. Shack yells at A-No.-1 in his hiding place in the woods that this prank might cost ten lives when the fast mail train comes through in just a few minutes. A-No.-1 dismisses this as merely "a ghost story." Hogger (the engineer) and Coaly (the stoker) desperately get the train going again and they barely succeed in getting it off onto a siding, narrowly avoiding a catastrophic collision with the mail train.
A-No.-1 hides inside a pipe on a flatcar and as the morning advances and the fog burns off, he discovers that Cigaret is hiding in another pipe. Shack stops the train on a high trestle so that he and his dimwitted brakeman Cracker (Charles Tyner) can search for hobos more easily. Realizing that he will soon be discovered, Cigaret climbs down the trestle only to discover that A-No.-1 is already relaxing and smoking a cigar in a junk pile at the bottom of a ravine. They reboard the train beyond the trestle but A-No.-1 loses his grip (Shack has sabotaged some of the hand- and footholds) and falls off, while Shack strikes Cigaret on the head with a large hammer, causing him to fall off also.
The two men go back to the junk pile and haul several buckets back up the slope where they smear the rails with grease. A passenger train is slowed down by this sufficiently that A-No.-1 and Cigaret are able to jump onto the roof of one of the cars from an overhead sluice. The two jump off at the Salem yard and steal a turkey. A policeman (Simon Oakland) chases them to a hobo jungle, but is surrounded and forced to humiliate himself by barking like a dog. A-No.-1, by now deeply annoyed by Cigaret's empty boasts, tells the younger man that if he will only listen and allow himself to learn, he has what it takes to become a true hobo, possibly even Emperor of the North Pole. They then get involved in an immersion baptism service as a means of stealing a change of clothes.
Back in the Salem yard, A-No.-1 has once again scratched on the water tower his intent to ride Train 19 all the way to Portland. Shack tells Hogger to take the train out of the yard at regular speed, thereby allowing the two hobos to board easily; Shack clearly wants to settle the matter once and for all. A-No.-1 and Cigaret climb aboard the undercarriage of one of the freight cars, where Shack once again uses a bouncing steel pin on a rope to injure them. In pain, A-No.-1 uses his foot to throw a lever that releases the pressure in the brake lines, causing the train to stop quickly. Coaly is thrown against the firebox, severely burning his back. Cracker is flung down from his perch in the caboose, breaking his neck and dying in the process. Cigaret finds A-No.-1 nursing his injuries near a pond and berates him for lacking the strength and courage to go the distance. The younger man insists that he himself is going to become one of the all-time great hobos.
After this tirade, Cigaret reboards the train, but immediately retreats in fear from the hammer-wielding and very angry Shack. Just as Shack is about to deliver a fatal blow, A-No.-1 appears and begins battling Shack. A desperate struggle involving heavy chains, planks of wood and an axe ensues (Cigaret watches from a safe distance). A-No.-1 ultimately has the bloodied Shack at his mercy, but instead of killing him, throws him off the train. In defiance, Shack yells that A-No.-1 has not seen the last of him. The older man then tosses Cigaret off for bragging about how "they" defeated Shack, telling the kid he could have become a good bum but he's got no class. "You had the juice, kid, but not the heart," he yells as the train heads into the distance. | depressing, murder, violence, cult, good versus evil, sadist | train | wikipedia | This film is one of the unsung gems of the seventies, part adventure film, part social drama, part road movie.Set during the depression when riding the rails was a way of life for desperate men (and women), the film follows three characters - Lee Marvin, as Number One, a legend among the grizzled hobos congregating along the rail lines; Ernest Borgnine as Shack, the sadistic conductor perfectly willing to do whatever necessary to keep free loaders off his trains; and a young Keith Carradine as Two-Bit, a novice full of bluster and false bravado out to make a name for himself.
Ultimately a wager is made, and Marvin will put his life on the line to best Borgnine and show he is the Emperor of the North.At times it's a very brutal film - the final confrontation between Marvin & Borgnine is one of the toughest, nastiest fights ever photographed - but it is splendidly made and endlessly fascinating..
Director Robert Aldrich having completed the acclaimed and commercially successful "The Dirty Dozen" just 6 years earlier had the resources, the artistic courage, and the benefit of working with two veteran Dirty Dozen actors (Lee Marvin & Ernest Borgnine)who just lock-on to their respective characters with perfection.
Emperor of the North Pole is great movie and an absolute must see if you are a fan of vintage railroading, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Aldrich, or Keith Carradine.
Only instead of the wild blue yonder, or landing on the heaving deck of an aircraft carrier, or NASCAR racing, the thing to be conquered here is Ernest Borgnine, the sadistic conductor who chuckles as he throws hobos off his train, sometimes to their deaths, kind of redoing his Fatso Judson number, so evil that if he did not exist it would be necessary to prevent him.It's a classical subculture in that it has all the features of a closed world with its own values.
In other movies exploring such subcultures they may have names like "Fast Eddy," "Minnesota Fats," "Maverick," "Dragstrip," "Charlie the Gent." Here they have names like "A Number 1" (Lee Marvin), "Cigaret" (Keith Carradine), and "Shack" (Borgnine).
This film really gets the feel of a depression-era USA, and the conflict between Marvin and Borgnine is visceral and cunning, and the scene with the near-miss of the oncoming train has great tension.
Directed by Robert Aldrich, and bearing his unmistakable anarchist's stamp, it tells the story of two hoboes, one, A-1, played by Lee Marvin, a seasoned, lone wolf, and the other, Cigaret (Keith Carradine), a young boaster who tags along for the rides, and forever tries to convince his friend and mentor that he is in the same league with him in the art of hobodom, and maybe even better.
The story revolves around the attempt of both men to ride the Number 19, a train lorded over by vicious railroadman Shack (Ernest Borgnine), who is known for despising hoboes, and for attacking them with hammer and chains!
Most importantly, the central conflict between Borgnine's Shack and Marvin's A Number One, and the methods both use to overcome their enemy are very closely based on the Jack London story, in which a group of hobo's set out to ride the train on which a particularly brutal shack, or railway guard works..
It was just AWESOME, I was so thrilled, that from that day I took all efforts needed to see as many from Aldrich's movies (and lee Marvin's, of course) as possible.MARVIN and BORGNINE play the roles of their lives and are possible the best imaginable actors for these roles (although at the time the movie was made, you had a lot of great tough guys to choose from, while today you'd have real troubles finding any actors, who could believable play these roles - they're all weepies now), the script is tough and intelligent and although the movie runs for nearly 2 hours, it's never boring.
Those people, commonly called "hobos", are truly hated by Shack (Ernest Borgnine), a sadistical railway conductor who announces he will kill any tramp who attempts to cop his train and swore that no hobo will ride his locomotive for free .
Well, no-one but the legendary Number One (Lee Marvin) and a young hobo named Cigaret (Keith Carradine's character Cigaret is named after the moniker that Jack London adopted on the road) are ready to put their lives at wager to become national legends , as the first persons who survived the trip on Shack's known train .Tough hobo Lee Marvin & sadistic conductor Ernest Borgnine meet in the fight of the century , both of whom give excellent performances .
It was Robert Aldrich's intention that the characters played by Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin and Keith Carradine represented the Establishment, the Anti-Establishment and the Youth of Today respectively .
In this society Lee Marvin is A-No.1, he's earned that by challenging all the train bosses for his right to thumb a ride on any train going anywhere in the 48 states.Years ago I remember reading a biography of Jack Dempsey who in his youth was a hobo like Marvin, probably one about Keith Carradine's age who rode the rails as you see Carradine and Marvin do.
Is Marvin up to the challenge however both from Borgnine and from young Carradine who thinks he's tough enough to live in the hobo camps and ride the rails as well?For that you have to watch Emperor Of The North Pole.
But in the midst is hobo supreme, A No. 1, a man who is never afraid to take up a challenge, so along with Cigaret, a young wannabe legend, he sets about destroying Shack's reputation whilst furthering his own.Make no bones about it, Emperor Of The North Pole is unashamedly macho, director Robert Aldrich filling his picture with machismo beefcakes and molding a story of brawn versus brawn aboard the unlikely setting of a steam train journey.
Ernest Borgnine is the meanest sonofabitch on the railroad and Lee Marvin is the hobo who gives him a hard time riding the rails.
Robert Aldrich's "Emperor of the North" is one of his male-orientated pictures, displaying a good deal of his signature brutality and while it's a minor work in the Aldrich canon it has much to recommend it; here it's the duel to the death between Marvin and Borgnine who makes for a truly nasty villain and is just one of the reasons why this is such a ridiculously entertaining picture.
Great Oregon locations and Acting especially by Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine and a very young Keith Carradine..
The story follows two hobos, A-No 1 (Marvin) and a rookie (Carradine) who are trying to ride a mean conductor's (Borginine) train to Portland.
In this tale we have an aging Hobo called A-Number 1(Lee Marvin) who has challenged the most sadistic, murderous and brutal conductor (Ernest Borgnine) called Shack to a dangerous wager.
"A Number One", (Lee Marvin) is the grizzled hobo legend, a veteran of the rails, decides to challenge the status quo of the local rail line that "Shack", (Ernest Borgine), as conductor runs as a 'Bo free train.
This in itself would make for a interesting and picturesque little film but writer Christopher Knox and Director Robert Aldrich, include a few more interesting and unique characters such as Keith Carradine's, young dumb punk character, Cigaret and plot twists that create a genuine feel of a world going mad, which as the depression was going on - it was; you have a film that goes from good to outstanding.
A good story line, with characters familiar from our lives (the crazed, sadistic "Shack", the gruff but worldly, once impatient but finally weathered to a worn wisdom "A#1", and the know-it-all, heading for a fall "Cigaret".) I could blab on and on, but suffice it to say that one must see this movie, if for no other reason, to see one of the great movies of life on the trains, and in the Northwest..
I like him in this film.The railroad set was as good a look at old time depression era railroading as you will ever see.
Bushy-browed Ernest Borgnine stars as a Depression-era railroad conductor who'll be damned if he'll allow hoboes to ride his train.
They take what could have been a formulaic action movie and put heart and soul into it.Ernest Borgnine does a lot of scowling and growling in his role as the menacing train conductor, but it really works set against the brutality of the Great Depression.
And Keith Carradine does a good but not spectacular job as the brash newcomer who wants to displace Marvin as the "Emperor of the North Pole" who is the king of the hobos scattered up and down the Northwest road.I expect that the movie will get some new traction as it finally emerges on DVD, and as the current economic times get us thinking about the Great Depression again.
It is tough violent film set in the depression era Pacific Northwest railroads and concerns hobos hitching a free ride on the trains and the railway guards fighting them off.One rail guard is Shack (Ernest Borgnine) he is a mean one and will kill any hobo who rides on his train and he enjoys it.
Lee Marvin is the hobo who is determined to ride Shack's train and this leads to a clash of these two alpha males and two Oscar winning actors.Along for the ride is Keith Carradine as the young hobo who also gets involved in a tussle with Marvin and Borgnine.
Were they supposed to be uneasy allies or enemies as in the key final fight he is just a spectator.The film is filled with the depression period atmosphere and it is a muscular film, interesting and novel but I expected something with more substance from Aldrich such as a more shaded villain from Borgnine, his Shack is so disliked that other rail workers were hoping Marvin would successfully ride his train..
This is a gritty, daunting film about hobos riding trains during the Great Depression.
Fans of "Emperor Of The North" may disagree on whether this film is superficial or deep, and they may enjoy it for different reasons.Fans who like this movie on a "superficial" level will certainly enjoy the sometimes slapstick comedy, and the gags that are perpetrated by the hobos in their quest to ride the railroad trains for free.
It is certainly legitimate to see the movie as primarily an elaborate, albeit thoroughly enjoyable, bar room joke.Fans who like this movie on a "deeper" level will see the battle between Shack (Ernest Borgnine) and A No. 1 (Lee Marvin) as a classic struggle between the "haves" and the "have nots," the "cops" and the "robbers," the "establishment" and the "rebels," or as the ultimate battle for Alpha Male supremacy.However you view this movie, it is a worthwhile look at life during the Great Depression, and how it plays out for a large portion of the population who became homeless through little or no fault of their own..
Interesting, quasi-political film of depression era hobo (Lee Marvin) - famous within hobo circles for being able to ride any train - trying to ride one guarded by meanest guy in the world (Ernest Borgnine).
Set in the time of the Great Depression and hidden under a misguiding title, Emperor of the North deals with train-riding hobos and their battle against the Railroad Man. Lee Marvin is A#1, cunning train-riding hobo extraordinaire.
Emperor of the North, a vivid Depression-era drama, opens with a friendly, down-home song that doesn't prepare the audience for what follows: The brutal killing of a train-hopping bum at the hands of a cruel conductor named Shack (Ernest Borgnine, Marty, The Poseidon Adventure).
A hobo called A-No. 1 (Lee Marvin, Cat Ballou, The Big Heat) rises to the challenge of catching a ride on Shack's train--but his heels are dogged by a tenderfoot (Keith Carradine, Deadwood, Nashville), whose inexperience may get them both killed.
Marvin is a legendary hobo riding the rails, while Borgnine is a railroad "bull" obsessed with keeping his train clear of freeloaders like Marvin.
By concentrating purely on a train and life on the railroad through eyes of a few juicy characters the film under Aldrich's direction becomes also one of the best action movies of the 1970's.Lee Marvin and Keith Carradine make an interesting pair as two railway bums who are always confronting each other, yet end up helping and even saving each other's life.
If you are a fan of Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, director Robert Altman; or of just plain old fun to watch movies, then go no further!
It is brutal, the climax not just of this movie, but of Robert Aldrich's career of showing tough guys persevere.Keith Carradine provides some comic relief and youthful sex appeal as "Cigaret," an upstart daring to ride the freight-train that no hobo has ever before lived to tell about hopping.
Lee Marvin plays the principle character A No 1, who would end Shack 'Ernest Borgnine' ideals by chancing a ride on the Old Number 19.The whole movie is a battle between the principle and secondary characters to reach Portland Oregon, including a part where the freight train Lee Marvin is riding upon nearly collides with a fast mail train.Along the way Keith Carradine attempts to take the title of Emperor of the North pole from Lee Marvin after he is incapacitated using sly means, stating that A No1 should get up and fight when he is quite clearly injured, the graphic life experience of A No1 makes this attempt rather difficult at times.There are many funny scenes such as the Cop and the Turkey at a tramps camp.
In "Emperor of the North", Lee Marvin's character A No. 1 is clearly meant to be the protagonist; Ernest Borgnine's Shack is portrayed as the antagonist.
Lee Marvin who is known as a great actor (my standards is that he is an okay actor) does a role that makes you forget him as the actor, but he portrays A No-1, AKA The Emperor of the North Pole, as the greatest bum (which Marvin quotes himself as being a bum) that has ever ridin the rails.Ernest Borgnine who is considered a class B actor even though a lot of movies that he either second rolled in were Hollywood winners takes his role as a psychotic conductor that will kill any lowlife hobo scum that will try to ride his train.Keith Carradine, second in line out of the three Carradine Brothers, Plays the kid, smart mouth prick that thinks that he knows everything and pushes Marvin's buttons to the limits more than once during the film.
Always trying to out do Marvin just to prove that he can do it as well if not better that him.But if you love trains, or are interested in how the life's of Hobo's and Railroad workers in the 1930's were like watch this film.
Set on the rails in the northwest during the great depression Emperor of the North is on the surface a tale of hobos and trains.
Rounding out the cast is Carradine as Cigaret a young up start hobo trying to make a name for himself on the rails.We get a glimpse of what Makes Shack tick in one of the opening scenes of the film after her brains a hobo with a hammer when he catches him riding for free on his train.
A No.1 becomes a folk hero to other hobos, earning himself the title 'Emperor Of The North Pole', setting the scene for an epic confrontation between the tramp and the railroad man...As was the case with 'Dirty Dozen', the cast is mostly all male ( there are a couple of amusing moments which feature women - Cigaret spies a lady shaving her armpits, and a baptist pushes a woman into a river to cleanse her of sin and when she emerges her white gown has become transparent and her breasts can be seen ), and Marvin dominates the film.
This adventure drama takes place in the Pacific Northwest during the depths of the Great Depression when hobo-ism was prolific due to joblessness.Ernest Borgnine is Shack, a legendary sadistic railroad agent of the Oregon Pacific Train #19, determined that no "bo" is ever going to ride one of his trains.
He challenges the thuggish railroad policeman, Shack (Borgnine), there's a supremely brutal fight on a rolling flatcar, the best 'bo wins, he finally rides Shack's "No. 19" to Portland, and, you guessed it, A No. 1 is the king of the road.Sounds like a few of the "B" movies you've seen over the years?All routinely imaginable stuff, but Marvin's imperial performance stirs the imagination.Watch it again.
If your curious the other is Von Ryan's Express.(Only a mild spoiler) Emperor of the North is an odd film and I'm probably the only one of my friends who likes it because I'm the only one who has heard of it.Set during the Great Depression, Emperor of the North is about a hobo named A No. 1 (Lee Marvin) along with a loudmouth younger man named Cigaret (Keith Carradine) try to ride a freight train run by the most vicious conductor who will flat out kill you, the Shack (Ernest Borgnine).I watched this movie with the DVD commentary once, I don't completely agree with the guy but he made some interesting points.
On a more negative note, the combination of sadism and symbolism proves an uneasy mix, creating a film that sometimes seems a little too off-kilter for its own good.In 1930s Oregon, a ruthless train conductor called Shack (Ernest Borgnine) prides himself on catching hobos that try to ride for free aboard his train.
Two hobos the enigmatic A-No.1 (Lee Marvin), and the young, dim-witted Cigaret (Keith Carradine) board Shack's train and hitch a ride to a nearby town. |
tt0419706 | Doom | On Mars in the year 2046, in the Union Aerospace Corporation (UAC)-owned Olduvai Research Facility, scientists are attacked and pulled into the darkness by an unseen monster. Doctor Carmack (Robert Russell) transmits a warning about a Level 5 security breach before the door behind him is torn open. He turns around and sees something through the gap.On Earth, a team of eight Marines known as the RRTS (Rapid Response Tactical Squad) are preparing to go on leave. Their leave is cancelled when the squad leader, Sarge (Dwayne Johnson), receives new orders. Contact with Olduvai has been lost and the RRTS is being sent to investigate. The Mars station is quarantined and the 85 UAC employees on Mars are not allowed to return to Earth. As the men suit up, Sarge pulls aside John "Reaper" Grimm (Karl Urban) and asks him not to go because Reaper's sister is on the station. Reaper suits up anyway, and their team is deployed to Mars via a teleportation device called the "Ark", located at Area 51. The Ark was discovered in 2026, and scientists have been studying it. The team meets an early victim of the Ark system, Pinky (Dexter Fletcher), who "went to one galaxy while his ass went to another" (his lower torso now a two-wheeled engine resembling a Segway) during an Ark teleportation event. They meet up with Dr. Samantha Grimm (Rosamund Pike), Reaper's sister.Their mission is simple: eliminate the threat, secure the facility and retrieve UAC property. Reaper converses with his sister and learns that they discovered humanoid remains on Mars that contain a 24th chromosome, making the creatures superhuman, invulnerable to disease and with the ability to rapidly heal injuries. The team locates Carmack, who is deranged to the point of tearing off his own ear. They return him to the lab and Grimm tries sedating him. The Marines explore the facility, encountering creatures intent on killing them. An Imp slays Goat (Ben Daniels) before being killed and brought to Grimm. Blood samples taken from two hostile creatures reveal that they were human. Grimm determines that their genetics have been altered by the addition of the Martian chromosome; however, the chromosome seems to "choose" whether it causes the person to be superhuman or a monster, apparently able to determine on a genetic level whether a person has the capacity to be evil. The chromosome is spread by the projectile tongues of those infected. The Marines discover that Carmack deliberately injected the chromosome into an "evil" subject (prisoner Curtis Stahl, a multiple murderer), who later transformed and broke loose.Multiple attacks by the Imps kill Mac, Destroyer and Portman, reducing the squad to Sarge, Reaper, The Kid (Al Weaver), Duke (Raz Adoti) and Grimm. The surviving team realize that a Hell Knight has escaped through the Ark to the Earth due to Pinky's refusal to trigger a grenade Mac left with him to destroy the Ark. Sarge takes the Bio Force Gun, dubbing it the "Big Fucking Gun".The group finds the UAC facility on Earth full of corpses. Sarge orders his men to kill anything alive in order to prevent the infection from spreading. The Kid finds a group of non-infected humans, and Sarge kills him for insubordination when he refuses to kill them. Pinky reappears, aiming a pistol at Sarge, but is dragged off by a monster.Zombies attack, killing Duke and dragging Sarge through a malfunctioning bulletproof screen. Reaper is hit by a ricochet. To save his life, Grimm injects Reaper with Chomosome 24. Instead of becoming a monster, Reaper awakens as a superhuman with enhanced strength and healing abilities.Following Reaper's transformation and the discovery that Grimm is missing, the movie takes on a first-person shooter perspective. Within a few minutes, Reaper slays an array of monsters, including Pinky, who has mutated into a Demon dragging his lower mechanism behind it.Switching back to a standard camera angle, Reaper emerges at the facility's exit. Bodies are scattered everywhere, and a melted blue hole in the wall, the mark of a BFG blast, is still cooling. Reaper encounters Sarge and an unconscious Grimm lying on the floor. Reaper asks Sarge what happened to the non-infected survivors, to which he replies that he killed them. Reaper notices the same injury on Sarge that Carmack had before he turned into an Imp, something Sarge has been hiding. After a badly injured Grimm crawls to safety, the Marines face off. As he holds Reaper against the wall Sarge begins transforming, developing features such as a prominent skull structure, sharp teeth and red eyes. Reaper throws Sarge into the Ark, followed by a grenade. Sarge and the Ark are obliterated. Reaper retrieves Grimm, who is conscious but unable to walk, and holds her in his arms as he returns to the Earth's surface. | murder, violence, horror, good versus evil, humor, suspenseful | train | imdb | null |
tt0419677 | Dead Man's Shoes | The story details the return of Richard to his home town of Matlock, Derbyshire in the Peak District, England, after serving as a paratrooper in the British Army. Richard and his younger, mentally-impaired brother Anthony, camp at an abandoned farm near the town. Flashbacks reveal Anthony's abuse by a group of drug dealers in the town; Richard vows to take revenge.
Richard has a verbal confrontation with Herbie, one of the abusers, who does not recognise him at first. Later, Herbie and friends Soz and Tuff are in a flat taking drugs. He tells them about the confrontation, and states he thinks the man might be Anthony's brother, who has been away serving in the army. When Herbie leaves he sees a man in a military gas mask banging on the front door of the block. Soz and Tuff run outside but the man is nowhere to be seen. When they go back into their flat they discover Richard has ransacked it, stolen the drugs and spray painted the words "Cheyne Stoking", a pun on the scientific name for the pattern of breathing a human being goes into when they are dying.
The next day the thugs visit Sonny, the de facto leader of the gang, to explain where the drugs went. When they meet, Sonny has had his face painted but doesn't realise. The other gang members arrive during this time and they have had their hair and clothes painted as well. They all suspect one another of playing games until Herbie states that the man he saw in the pool hall is Richard, Anthony's brother. All of the gang become silent as they realise that Richard is back in town.
The men encounter Richard while driving in their Citroën 2CV. He makes it clear that he is not scared of any of them and invites them to come and find him at the old farm where he is staying. The gang leaves with Sonny visibly concerned at Richard's apparent lack of fear. That evening, Richard sneaks into a house where the gang are hiding out and playing cards. He brutally kills one of the members with an axe, using the dead man's blood to smear the words "One Down" on the wall. Sonny decides that they should shoot Richard.
The next morning, they take their car and go to the farm where Richard is staying with Anthony. Sending in Big Al (one of their members) to draw Richard out, Sonny prepares to shoot him with a rifle and their only round. However, he misses and kills Al. With no rounds remaining in the rifle they retreat and return to town, while Richard smiles.
The surviving members stop at a local petrol station where the car breaks down and Tuff runs off, scared of Richard's revenge. Later at Sonny's house, they arm themselves and search the place, expecting Richard to be there. They do not find him, although he is hiding in the kitchen pantry. While they are upstairs Richard laces their kettle with a cocktail of the drugs he took from the gang earlier in the film. The three men become completely intoxicated a few hours later and Richard reappears to kill them one by one. He toys with them, dancing and joking. He shoots Sonny in the head, and kills Soz with an upward palm strike. He then sits down Herbie and brings out a suitcase, which has Tuff crushed into. Richard then tells him he is a good man and will let him live if he tells him where the final gang member is as he left the gang years before. He tells him without hesitation and Richard hugs him. But he finds Herbie's knife and asks him if it was to be used on him. Herbie lies at first then tells the truth, but Richard stabs him regardless. Richard leaves right after.
The next day, Richard arrives in a nearby town where the final gang member, Mark, lives with his wife and two boys. He talks with the children's mother and asks her to let her husband know that he is Richard, Anthony's brother. When Mark returns home, she explains the conversation to her husband. Terrified, he tells her how the gang abused Anthony. The abuse culminated with them pretending to hang him at a local ruined castle whilst he was high on acid. This final episode of abuse culminates with Anthony actually hanging himself after his 'friends' run off. It then becomes clear that Richard has been alone the whole time, and talking to a vision of his dead brother.
The next morning, Richard sneaks into Mark's house and takes him hostage using a knife. He makes him drive to the same ruined building where Anthony hanged himself and demands he tell him his part in what happened. Mark explains how his fault was in not stopping the abuse. Richard confesses to his crimes against the other men. He tells Mark how he now feels like the monster and that he simply wants to lie down with his brother. Richard gives the knife to Mark and demands that he kill him lest he continue his monstrous ways. Mark refuses but Richard clasps his hands and pulls them towards him. Mark eventually stabs and kills Richard, then stumbles away. | cruelty, murder, violence, atmospheric, flashback, haunting, revenge, sadist | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0051500 | The Cry Baby Killer | The first motion picture starring Jack Nicholson starts with title and credits shown over a section of brick wall. Jimmy Wallace (Jack Nicholson) is in an alley and gets into a fight with Manny Cole (Brett Halsey) over a woman. Three more join the fight and hold Jimmy while Manny beats him unconscious.At the Klix restaurant a carhop, Julie (Lynn Cartwright) brings a policeman more coffee. Manny and his friend Joey Clayman (Ralph Reed) enter the restaurant. In the alley, Jimmy is coming to. He is helped to his feet by a friend and football player, Fred Davis (uncredited). Manny is at a table with Joey and Carole Fields (Carolyn Mitchell). Pete Gambelli (Frank Richards) is the owner of the place and approaches their table and inquires if everything is ok. Evelyn (Mitzi McCall), Manny's last girlfriend, approaches the table. She says hello to Manny and invites herself to sit down. Manny immediately tells her, "Get Lost." It is Joey who wryly observes, "They dont know when Manny's through with them." Carole expresses concern over Jimmy's beating. Manny tells Carole she's now his girl and pours an ample supply of alcohol into her soft drink. She reluctantly drinks the spiked cola. Al Werner (James Fillmore) and Gad (uncredited) join Joey, Manny and Carole at their table. Gad is considered another Jimmy Wallace, so he is rudely dismissed from the table. Manny gives Joey money and orders his flunky to procure two more bottles of alcohol.Joey exits the restaurant to annoy Julie and Police Officer Glen Gannon (John Shay). Jimmy and Fred arrive at the Klix. Fred tells Jimmy that Carole isn't any good. He convinces Jimmy to use the phone to talk to Carole. Evelyn answers the phone. She gets Carole, but phrases it so Manny thinks it might be another boyfriend calling her. Carole tells Jimmy not to call her anymore. A very jealous Manny hustles her back to the table. Jimmy and Fred enter the restaurant. Jimmy announces that he is taking Carole home. As things escalate, Pete comes over to intervene. He tells Manny and Jimmy to take it outside. The five men: Manny, Jimmy, Joey, Al and Fred step outside. A man, his wife and baby pull into the parking lot in their car. The five men continue walking. A scuffle breaks out and Jimmy manages to grab the gun from Al, who was holding the gun for Manny. Two gunshots ring out. Office Gannon quickly exits his police car and confronts Jimmy. Mrs. Maxton (Barbara Knudson) leaves the bathroom carrying her infant. Sam (Smoki Whitfield) leaves the storeroom and leads Mrs. Maxton back to the storeroom. Jimmy runs back and enters the storeroom. He closes and locks the door. Mr. Carl Maxton (William A. Forester) pleads with Gannon to help his wife and baby. Jimmy turns around, and to his shock and dismay, sees he is not alone in the storeroom.Pete Gambelli is annoyed, and tells Lt. Porter (Harry Lauter), that the police closed up his business. Porter asks Sgt. Reed (John Weed) about the two boys who were shot. He is told that they were alive when the ambulance left. Porter talks to Fred Davis and comments about the brass knuckles used on his face. Porter talks to officer Gannon. Gannon tells Porter that things are quiet and Jimmy isn't talking. Porter calls to Jimmy over the loud speaker. He demands Jimmy surrender. Gannon takes the microphone and continues to demand Jimmy surrender. Sam tells Jimmy, "The man's right, boy. You're in bad enough trouble as it is." He pleads with Jimmy to let the lady and baby go. The baby begins to get restless and Mrs. Maxton asks to leave. The baby begins to cry.In the restaurant, Porter calls for the Fields girl, Carole. Evelyn informs the Lieutenant that she ran out. The police begin to question the patrons. A truck pulls up outside. Joey taunts Evelyn about her loyalty to Manny. Joey sarcastically states, "Patsies. The world's full of 'em." The KQQQ news van stops in the parking lot. Joe the driver (an uncredited Roger Corman) and reporter, Rick Connor (Ed Nelson) get out and set up for a live broadcast. Sgt. Reed greets Connor and warns him of the danger. Fred tells Porter it started over girls. He relays the story of finding Jimmy in the alley and Jimmy's desire to get Carole away from Manny. Joey is next for questioning. He is a smartass and his attitude is not appreciated by Porter. The Lieutenant lifts him off his feet and frisks the little punk. He finds the brass knuckles. Joey does a surprising amount of talking. He volunteers that the gun used in the crime was in Al's possession, but belongs to Manny. He also admits Manny was trying to get Carole drunk, as her parents are out of town for the evening. Joey is a font of information and sings like a canary. He also lets slip that Gambelli looks the other way when alcohol is secreted into his establishment. Porter orders Joey to be arrested on a concealed weapons charge. Sgt. Reed informs Porter that the television news crew has arrived and there is still no word from Jimmy.Connor begins to record some of his dialog for the evening news. It has now been two hours since Jimmy took three hostages. Connor directs the camera over to the anxious Carl Maxton. Connor interviews Porter. A policeman arrives with Carole Fields. A car drives up with Jimmy's parents. Maxton confronts the anxious Wallace couple. Mr. Wallace (Bill Erwin) doesn't say much, but his wife Helen Wallace (an uncredited Ruth Swanson) speaks her mind. She tells Maxton that Carole is "selfish, vulgar and cruel." She directs her anger to the girl standing within earshot and adds, "She's rotten!"Julie brings Officer Glen Gannon a sandwich. Julie tells Gannon she has kids of her own and that her husband was killed in a car accident. Amid all the commotion, a man approaches with a rifle. Cannon orders Julie back inside. The man stands on a box near a window of the storeroom where Jimmy is holding his hostages. Gannon disarms the man and shots are fired. The rifleman is identified as Mr. Werner (an uncredited Claude Stroud) the father of Al Werner, one of the boys shot. Mr. Werner tried to take the law into his own hands, and was arrested and taken away. Porter asks Mrs. Wallace to talk to her son. Carole seeks a little sympathy from Julie, but Julie tells her, "Don't you know what you've done? That boy might be killed any minute. You think because you're 16 the world owes you something. Well it doesn't. You'll end up in the gutter."A man in the crowd (screenplay writer Leo Gordon) tells a woman the fire department will be down soon. If the crowd gets out of hand, they hose them down. Mrs. Wallace pleads with Jimmy to give himself up. Carole runs out of the restaurant and pleads with Mrs. Wallace to let her talk to Jimmy. She is sent back into the restaurant. Jimmy goes to the window to talk to his mother. The crowd goes wild and Jimmy fires three shots at them and then ducks back down. The baby is still crying and Mrs. Maxton is at her wits end. She blurts out, "I hope they kill you. You're worse than an animal."Three hours have elapsed since the hostage situation began. Jimmy's nerves are raw and the baby crying only makes things worse, "Keep him quiet, can't you?" Mrs. Maxton explains the baby is hungry. Jimmy orders Sam to go to the window and order a bottle of milk for the infant. Sam wisely waves a white flag so he doesn't get shot by mistake. Sam asks for a bottle of milk for the baby. A bottle is prepared. A thermos of coffee is spiked by Porter with a sedative and added to the basket. Mrs. Maxton makes a break for the door, but the baby's cries defeat her plans. Jimmy begs her not to try that again. Sam and Mrs. Maxton take turns holding and comforting the baby.Sgt. Reed warns Connor to move his news van. He tells the reporter that they plan to blast the kid out, but Gambelli voices his objections to his place being damaged. A hot dog vendor arrives and begins peddling his wares. This only adds to the carnival-like atmosphere. Gambelli's lawyer, John Lawson (an uncredited Herb Vigran) arrives by car. Porter starts by insulting the lawyer. He listens to the lawyer, then brushes him off with a promise to see both in jail. Porter again makes his appeal for Jimmy to give up. The time is 1:50 a.m. Porter tells Jimmy he has ten minutes, and then the police will break in. Porter plans to use tear gas with guns as a last resort.As the minutes tick by, all those involved prepare for the worst. The Wallaces try to leave the restaurant where they are being held by the police, but Gannon won't let them leave. The police don gas masks. With just one minute left, Carole Fields pushes past Gannon and runs outside. She demands to talk to Jimmy. Mr. Wallace asks Porter to allow her to try. Carole asks Jimmy to surrender. She admits it may be her fault. Jimmy tells Carole he wants to come out. He walks out and Carole runs over to him. They embrace and kiss. Jimmy drops the gun. Sam and Mrs. Maxton exit the storeroom. Jimmy is arrested and taken away by two officers. We close with a scene of the crowding walking away and the cast credits rolling. | revenge, murder, violence | train | imdb | You'd know why you'd want to find this film, as it's the ultra-low budget, barely-a-drive-in quickie that features the great Jack Nicholson in his feature debut at the tender age of 21 (he was a mailman at MGM in his previous years in Hollywood).
Cry Baby Killer, The (1958) *** (out of 4) This is somewhat of a Holy Grail for me because I've been dying to see this flick since I became a fan of Jack Nicholson back in the late 80s.
I've been pretty lucky to know people who own rare movies but not a single one ever had this film and in fact, I never he knew anyone who had actually seen it.
In the film Nicholson (in his debut) plays a hot headed teen who is upset when the town's tough guy steals his girl.
After being jumped, Nicholson gets ahold of a gun, kills the tough guy and then takes another man, a woman and her baby hostage.
Jack Nicholson had an interesting film debut in The Cry Baby Killer.
So after watching this movie, another curiosity was sated: I got to see Jack Nicholson's first film and find out if it was any good.
Nicholson certainly does well when he becomes desperate enough to hold up a woman with a baby and a middle-aged black man hostage after shooting at a couple of punks who beat him up at the beginning of the movie.
Roger Corman was the executive producer only here so there's not much of his creative hand in the finished product though it was interesting seeing his cameo when he briefly talks to the TV reporter before he was going on the air to broadcast the standoff.
A film that's a B movie classic, special because of legendary Jack's first screen appearance and well done at it's time from Roger Corman..
After all these years it's finally a treat to watch this B film classic from 1958 "Cry Baby Killer".
It's very special because it's Nicholson's first film appearance, and a must see for any die hard fans of Jack.
The film is pretty low key and stays simple with it's plot and the acting is straight forward, and Nicholson does good work for a newcomer even though his voice and many words are spoken with a soft slow draw accent.
At it's time Roger Corman really done this film short in time length, yet the concept and plot of 1958 was a little ahead of it's time with the hostage taking and media circus developing which would be so common in many later action and adventure films.
Nicholson in his first film debut plays loner and rebel type teenager Jimmy Wallace who is defeated in a brawl with thugs resulting in his girl leaving him.
Jack's character Jimmy like so many of his later anti-hero type characters develops the big chip on the shoulder and the feeling for macho acts takes place.
Then Corman's direction pulls out all the drama and stops when Jimmy is next in a brawl he grabs for a gun panics and shoots, leading him to take cover in a storeroom with a mom and her baby setting up a long standoff!
Good suspense for 1958 is added by showing police interrogation and media interviews and flashing cameras the type of circus film lovers would later so commonly see in the 80's and 90's.
So the direction and plot line was for 1958 ahead of it's time, good job by Roger Corman.
All in all nothing great, yet for a 1958 film the plot and acting is decently good and a real treat to see since it's Jack's first actual screen time a must see for Nicholson enthusiast..
***SPOILERS**** Somewhat misleading title in that the star of the film Jack Nicholson as the misunderstood teenager Jimmy Wallace is not a killer, he didn't kill anyone, but defiantly is a crybaby who cry's up a storm that almost drowns the entire cast by the time the film is finally over.
Jimmy who has a confrontation with Manny Cole, Brett Halsey, and his two friends Joey & Al, Ralph Reed & James Fillmore, over his girlfriend Carole Fields, Carolyn Mitchell, is later confronted by the trio again this time using brass knuckles and a revolver.
It's then in trying to defend himself Jimmy accidentally shoots one of his attackers and runs for his life thinking that he killed him and may be facing life behind bars or a one way trip to the San Quentin gas chamber.Taking Mrs. Maxton, Brabara Knudson, and her 4 month baby girl as well as dishwasher Sam, Smoki Whitefield, hostage in a nearby diner Jimmy is ready to go down in a hail of police bullets until his girlfriend Carole as well as Sam, the real hero in the movie, talk him into surrendering to the police before anybody including himself ends up getting killed.
It's just when the cops are about to storm the place It's both Carole and Sam who end up saving the day, or night in that everything takes place in the dark in the movie, by getting a tearful Jimmy to surrender before he ends up getting shot by the police.
As for Sam he gets no credit at all by the head of the police Let. Porter, Harry Lauter, not even a thank you for the great job he did by risking his life, unlike Let. Porter, to get Jimmy to surrender and releasing Mrs. Maxton and her infant daughter unharmed.Jack Nicholson's movie debut before he made it big 12 years later with his "Five Easy Pieces" as well as "Easy Rider" that made him a top star in Hollywood.
Things didn't turns out so good for Nicholson's co-star in the movie Carolyn Mitchell who later married and divorced Mickey Rooney and was tragically murdered by her former boyfriend bit part Yogoslave actor Milos Mlosevice at the age 29 in 1966 in what was described by the local police as a murder suicide ..
Producer Roger Corman's mark is heavy on this film, so much so that he might as well have directed it himself instead of TV director Jus Addiss.
Working from a script by actor Leo Gordon, this film in its short 61 minute running time takes us through a sort of "movie of the week" scenario with a troubled youth (Jack Nicholson, making his film debut) accidentally shooting another kid during an argument over a girl (Carolyn Mitchell) and taking a baby and mother hostage.Nicholson was pretty good in my opinion, green as he was.
It wasn't all that often that Nicholson even got this much screen time in his early years, usually he was a supporting actor and at one point wanted to direct and write.
So this is kind of an unusual movie for fans because they get a chance to see him in a real leading role at such an early age.Harry Lauter plays the main detective trying to resolve the situation, and his performance is well measured and helps to balance the film's basic melodrama.
With the crowd waiting around for violence, it's sort of a B movie version of "Ace in the Hole" crossed with "The Desperate Hours." Strangely though, while it seems critical of the media/public obsession with the sensationalism of the incident, the movie shows the cops and reporters in friendly relationships.There's nothing hugely appealing about the movie though, I don't think it broke any new ground other than introducing Nicholson.
Recently, this viewer happened to watch, for the first time, the 1950 film "The Men," historically important today as the screen debut of 26-year-old Marlon Brando.
And by some strange coincidence, my next film, also seen for the first time, was the 1958 picture "The Cry Baby Killer," whose only legitimate claim to fame today is that it marked the screen debut of the 21-year-old Jack Nicholson.
The connection between the two actors, of course, is that they were neighbors for many years on Beverly Hills' Mulholland Drive, as well as former costars in 1976's "The Missouri Breaks." And as reported on a certain Wiki site, Nicholson even purchased Brando's home after his death, with the express intention of having the place torn down out of respect for Marlon's memory.
But whereas the Brando debut in "The Men" clearly demonstrated the emergence of a wonderful new screen talent, in an exceptionally fine film, "Cry Baby Killer" just barely hints at the latent possibilities that the young Nicholson harbored, and the film itself is...well, let's just say that it is far from "exceptionally fine." Indeed, even executive producer Roger Corman (who I had erroneously thought the film's director, who had met Nicholson in an acting class, and who was on a two-month trip around the world as the film was being prepared) has gone on to say that "the finished movie is less than inspiring." In truth, without Jack's presence, the film would hardly be worth watching today, and yet...well, as will be seen, it still has some points to commend it to the viewer's attention, and at a brief 61 minutes, can hardly be accused of overstaying its welcome!In the film, Jack stars as teenager Jimmy Wallace, who, when we first encounter him, is in the process of getting the crap pounded out of him by a gang led by the suit-and-tie-clad Manny Cole (Brett Halsey).
Later that evening, Jimmy enters the Klix Drive-In eatery, in which Manny presides like some kind of smarmy, thuggish demigod, determined to take back his girl, Carole (Carolyn Mitchell, whose only other film appears to be that same year's "Dragstrip Riot"), from the older punk.
A fight develops outside, during which Jimmy grabs a gun from one of Manny's accomplices and shoots two of the toughs in the heat of battle.
Thinking that he has slain the two youths (as it develops, he hasn't; just wounded them in their intestines), Jimmy holes up in a shack next to the drive-in, holding a young mother and her baby, as well as an older black man, as hostages.
And before long, a siege situation develops, as cops, spectators, relatives and a news crew gather, and Jimmy is soon being referred to as "the boy with the gun."Of course, the question uppermost in the viewer's mind will probably be "Why doesn't Jimmy just give himself up right away?," but I suppose that if that were the way things logically transpired, this hour-long movie would barely have cracked the 10-minute mark.
Rather, "The Cry Baby Killer" (an odd title, actually, given that Jimmy does not shed tears once and, as has been mentioned, is not actually a killer) treats the viewer to around 50 minutes' worth of the head cop, Lt. Porter (Harry Lauter), questioning everyone at the scene, Jimmy's parents and Carole begging the mixed-up nut via bullhorn to come out, and, most annoyingly, a newsman from KQQQ (!) repeating every incident that we have already witnessed for the benefit of the television viewers at home.
Fortunately, we also get to see what is transpiring inside that shack, and thus are privy to Nicholson's first on-screen rants, as he screams at the young mother to make her hungry baby stop crying.
Curiously, the circus atmosphere that eventually develops at the siege site, with vendors selling hot dogs and Red Hots to the gawking crowd, is almost reminiscent of the situation that develops at the cave-in locale in Billy Wilder's wonderful offering of 1951, "Ace in the Hole"; of course, "The Cry Baby Killer" should not even be mentioned in the same breath as that classic film.
Besides Nicholson, only a few faces here will be at all familiar to most viewers: Ed Nelson as that TV reporter (Nelson also appeared in Corman's popular schlock classics "Attack of the Crab Monsters," "Teenage Cave Man" and "A Bucket of Blood," but will probably be most recognizable to baby boomers by dint of his work on TV's "Peyton Place") and Herb Vigran as a shyster lawyer (Herb appeared as crooks no less than six times on TV's "The Adventures of Superman"!).
Oh...Corman is in there, too; a cameo as a TV technician whose only line is "Sounds OK!" And speaking of Roger, perhaps it would have been better for all concerned if he had indeed directed this film, as the work turned in here by Justus Addiss--who seems to have directed almost exclusively for '50s and '60s television--is pedestrian, at best.
"The Cry Baby Killer," to its credit, does feature a title tune that will likely work as an "earworm" in your head for many days.
Composed and sung by actor and sometimes music writer Dick Kallman, this bizarre, repetitive number almost sounds as if it were being chanted by a beatnik, perhaps in a coffeehouse similar to the Yellow Door Cafe in "A Bucket of Blood." This memorable tune, and the fact that this was indeed Nicholson's first go before the cameras, are probably the two best reasons (possibly the only reasons!) for seeking out this otherwise forgettable film.
At worst, it will inspire viewers to check out one of Jack's later, better performances...such as masochistic dental patient Wilbur Force in the Corman-directed "Little Shop of Horrors," for example.
This is really a bad movie, and it could have been so much better.Unless you're a Jack Nicholson fanatic, forget this one.
They beat him up, for no real reason.In a stupid mistake, the screenplay has one hood carry the gun and the director forgets which one has it in his possession later on.Two guys are shot, but we never see it happen.
By the time it comes to an end, no one is dead, and we don't care one way or the other.Nicholson is OK in his debut, but who cares?
(Flash Review)Jack's first film was him playing a young man at the wrong side of a hostage standoff!!
THE CRY BABY KILLER is a curosity piece for modern viewers; it offers the opportunity to see a teenage Jack Nicholson in his debut performance, playing a young and bash kid who gets into a personal vendetta with an obnoxious gang leader.
When Jack shoots the guy, he holes up in a cafe from the police and takes a number of hostages to boot.
This is very much a budget production without much effort having gone into it, but seeing a youthful Nicholson acting up the screen is a lot of fun.
This title will be familiar to most viewers who have heard of it as the film debut of Jack Nicholson in the title role, second billed to veteran TV and 'B' movie tough guy Harry Lauter; here representing the law.
Although Roger Corman is billed as Executive Producer (and has one line as a TV cameraman (after which all we see of him for the rest of the film is his right hand resting on the side of the camera), the film is a United Artists release rather than one of AIP's quickies, with slightly bigger production values; a mixed blessing in the face of TV director Justus Addiss's lethargic direction.Corman regulars Leo Gordon (who co-wrote the script) and Bruno Ve Sota (who the same year directed 'The Brain Eaters') fill out the economy-sized crowd who have gathered to ogle; and Gordon generously gives Ve Sota one of the script's best lines, "Teenagers, never had 'em when I was a kid!" The basic situation dates back at least as far as Jean Gabin in 'Le Jour se Lève' (1939), and was probably more immediately inspired by the siege at the end of 'Rebel Without a Cause'.
Nicholson doesn't actually get that much screen time, as much of the action taking place back in the diner and in the forecourt.
The script flits from character to character, including Gordon's own wife Lynn Cartwright, who gives an attractive performance as waitress Julie, united with Ruth Swanson as Nicholson's mother in her contempt for poison maiden Carolyn Mitchell who started all the trouble in the first place by ditching Nicholson for obnoxious alpha male bully Brett Halsey.
That we don't see him get his due as Hero of the Hour at the film's conclusion is one of several issues left unresolved (including the ultimate fates of both Nicholson and Halsey) when the end credits roll..
I sought out this film because it was produced by Roger Corman and I have long respected his ability to do a lot with very little.
While some of his films are indeed ultra-cheesy, so often they ended up far better than if other had been given such limited resources and, oddly, his movie always seemed to make money (the one exception--a William Shatner film that actually was pretty good).
So, while I was not expecting gold, I was expecting a low budget film that somehow is a bit better than you'd normally see.It begins with a group of punks working over young Jack Nicholson.
Later, after Nicholson returns to the restaurant where the gang hangs out, there is a mini-rumble and the gang (armed with brass knuckles and guns) are about to hurt him one more time--when the guy pulls out a gun and shoots two of his many attackers.
Most of the film consists of the police manning the barricade and trying to convince him to surrender.
For what it is, it's quite tense and interesting and is about what I expected--good low-budget entertainment.By the way, maybe it's only a coincidence but two of the LA cop characters are named 'Gannon' and 'Reed'--two names of officers from later Jack Webb programs ("Dragnet" and "Adam-12"..
Jack Nicholson's film debut.
He plays a teenage kid who shoots two other guys (off screen) and panics.
He thinks he's killed them (he hasn't) so he gets some hostages and holes up in a room.
So worth seeing if you're a Nicholson fan but it's a pretty bad film. |
tt0091991 | Soul Man | Mark Watson, a recent college graduate, plans to go to law school at Harvard. Mark feels secure that his tuition and other fees for law school will be paid for by his wealthy parents, who had saved money for him. However, during a conversation with his father, he finds out that his parents have reneged and spent the money on a timeshare condominium in the Tropics. In retaliation, Mark hangs his father in effigy, using a Cabbage Patch doll he's dressed up to look like his dad.Mark starts a frantic search for a scholarship program, however, his parent's wealth keeps him from qualifying. He finds one scholarship given to an academically exceptional student from the state of California each year. The only catch is that the student must be African-American to qualify. Mark talks to a friend of his who works as a pharmaceutical technician and obtains experimental tanning pills. Mark exceeds the suggested dosage and darkens his skin to appear black. The ruse works; Mark is able to fool his best friend, Gordon (who's also attending Harvard), and the scholarship committee.Mark and Gordon arrive in Boston and rent an apartment from an obviously bigoted man whose daughter, Whitney, will also be living in the same house. She quickly comes on to Mark, saying that she feels the pain of his slave ancestry. She also invites him to her parent's house for dinner which results in an uncomfortable evening for Mark; Whitney's father glares at him thinking he's only looking for a white girlfriend. The rest of the family has their prejudicial opinions of him as well.Mark and Gordon register for classes together, Mark breaking a minor oath with Gordon not to take criminal law - Mark sees that the professor, Banks, is also black and believes he can take advantage of the connection and will coast through the semester. However, Mark finds that Banks' class is much tougher than he thought and that Banks does not play favorites, no matter what race they are.Mark also meets a woman named Sarah, also a law student and is immediately attracted to her. Sarah comes from a much poorer background than Mark and is working her way through law school. She is also a single mother and sees right through his flirting. Mark gradually wins her over, proving to her that he has the potential to excel academically.One day, while driving through Cambridge, Mark is followed by a policeman, who has blatantly targeted him in a racist manner. Mark follows the traffic laws and controls very carefully until he's forced to swerve from someone opening a car door in front of him; he's immediately pulled over. When the officer asks to see his license, Mark remembers that the photo is of him as a white man and he tells the officer he lost it. He's arrested on the spot and thrown in jail where a group of disgruntled football fans beat him because their team lost to another team of mostly black players.Mark's incarceration prevents him from writing an important term paper for Banks' class. He races to see Banks who refuses to grant him an extension on the due date. Mark tries to reason with the stolid professor, who seems unmoved by Mark's story about being held without formal charges and being beat up in jail. Banks grants him a few days to turn in his paper, which finds Mark spending his Thanksgiving vacation completing it. When he reads it, Banks is actually quite impressed.Late in the semester, Mark, while studying with Sarah, finds out from her that she was the other applicant for the same scholarship he'd won in California. Mark is crushed, feeling guilty that he'd stolen her chance to attend Harvard with the grant. Gordon tells Mark to ignore his feelings; if he's exposed, he'll be ruined. Mark, en route to tell Sarah, is stopped by Banks who, seeing that Mark's classwork has shown exceptional improvement during the semester, offers him a seat on the university's student judiciary council when the council's only black student had fallen ill and stepped down. The conversation only makes Mark feel guiltier but he accepts.Mark returns to his apartment and meets Gordon. He tries to tell his roommate about his guilt, but is dismissed. Gordon tells Mark to go into his room where he finds Whitney, mostly undressed and wanting to have sex with him. Mark refuses, knowing that Whitney's father hates him and tries to get her to leave. At that moment, Mark's parents make a surprise visit and Sarah shows up shortly after. Mark frantically tries to juggle talking to all of them but eventually reveals his identity. Sarah storms off, Mark's parents are shocked and Whitney is led off by her father after the superintendent of the building calls him and rats Mark out. Whitney's father also hits Mark in the stomach and the super happily serves him eviction papers. After everyone leaves, Mark and Gordon work on a plan to resolve everything.The student judiciary convenes the next day. Gordon goes in ahead of Mark and offers an impassioned defense, saying that Mark feels great remorse for committing fraud and especially for cheating Sarah out of her rightful scholarship. Mark reveals himself to the council and to the astonishment of everyone in the room. He meets privately with Banks and tells him that he plans to apologize publicly and in writing to the university, allow his future wages to be garnished to pay back Sarah and also allow a future scholarship to be established in Sarah's name. He also asks that he be allowed to continue to attend law school. Banks tells Mark that he's learned something that other white students never could; what it feels like to be black and the subject of prejudice as a minority. Mark claims that he didn't learn such a thing because he could have bowed out at any time. Banks believes Mark has learned a great deal more than he thought.Mark takes up a job much like the one that Sarah had, working in the university's cafeteria. He overhears a couple of bigoted students telling a racial joke within earshot of Sarah and punches them both, sending them flying. The movie ends with the two of them striking up a friendship again. | satire | train | imdb | null |
tt1502712 | Fantastic Four | In the year 2007, young Reed Richards does a presentation for his class and states that he wants to be the first person to teleport through dimensions. His classmates laugh at him and his teacher Mr. Kenny (Dan Castellaneta) mocks his goal, but Ben Grimm takes an interest in Reed's words.Later that night, Reed sneaks into Ben's family's junkyard and gets him to help him bring a device into his basement. Reed gets a toy car and attempts to show Ben that teleportation is very real. He activates his machine and fries every transformer in the neighborhood, but he manages to teleport the car and sees a pile of rocks where the car used to be. Ben tells Reed he's insane.Seven years later, teenage Reed (Miles Teller) and Ben (Jamie Bell) are best friends entering a science fair to show off their machine. Reed teleports a kid's model plane but causes an energy surge that breaks a basketball net, disqualifying him. He and Ben are approached by Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and his adopted daughter Sue (Kate Mara). Impressed by Reed's invention, Franklin invites him to join him in a project at the Baxter Foundation. Ben later gives Reed his old pocketknife as a going-away present.Franklin speaks before a board of other researchers headed by Dr. Harvey Allen (Tim Blake Nelson), who isn't too eager to put young scientists on this project. Franklin wants to use inter-dimensional travel to acquire new resources that can be used on Earth. He later goes to see out Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell), as he is the one that started the project. Franklin finds him in a shack and urged him to go back and work with him, despite Victor being rejected before. Victor only agrees because he has a thing for Sue.Meanwhile, Franklin's son Johnny (Michael B. Jordan) in a street race. He initially stalls out but catches up and puts the pedal to the metal... until his car's engine blows out. Franklin finds Johnny in the hospital as he is leaving with an injured arm and scolds him for wasting his potential, but Johnny resents his dad for putting more focus on his work than his family.Johnny joins the team and quickly befriends Reed. Victor is cold and snobby towards them, but the whole team works together and creates a bigger teleportation machine based off of Reed's designs, known as the "Quantum Gate". After the machine is complete, the team sends a little chimp through the other dimension, which they call "Planet Zero." They receive video surveillance of the planet, and they successfully bring the chimp back in one piece. Allen then tells the team that he and the other board members will be recruiting NASA members to be the first human subjects to travel to Planet Zero, despite Franklin trying to convince Allen that the team is ready.Reed and Johnny share a drink with Victor as they lament this news. They decide that they're gonna go ahead and teleport themselves anyway. Reed calls Ben and invites him to join them.The four guys suit up and teleport themselves to Planet Zero. Sue picks up a notice that the Quantum Gate was activated and she calls Franklin to the lab. On Planet Zero, the guys find soil and a green substance that reacts to organic matter. It starts to turn in a bad way and then causes an eruption. Realizing the place is unstable, the guys run back to the Quantum Gate. They climb back up a hill, only for Victor to be hit by a lot of the substance, causing him to fall into it. The other three run back and contact Sue, but Ben's pod gets filled with rocks while Johnny gets hit by a big ball of fire. They're teleported back, bringing a wave of radiation with them that hits Sue as well, making her partially invisible. When Reed comes to, he crawls over to Ben as he calls for help beneath a pile of rocks. Johnny is unconscious and completely on fire. Reed then sees his leg has stretched to an unnatural length and he faints.Reed awakens to find himself strapped to a bed with his limbs stretched out. He repeatedly asks for Ben but none of the doctors answer him. When they leave, he removes the straps and crawls through the air vents as he hears Ben calling for him. When Reed finds him, he sees Ben has been mutated into a huge rock creature. He begs Reed for help, but Reed hears people coming. He promises Ben he'll be back for him, and Reed escapes. He flee from the facility known as Area 57 and flee into the forest.One year later. Allen has used Ben/Thing as an asset in warfare due to his size and strength. He is seen smashing tanks on the field. Johnny/Human Torch has managed to control his fire and flight powers, while Sue/Invisible Girl is exercising her invisibility and force field powers. Both have been given suits to accommodate these powers. Meanwhile, everyone is still looking for Reed. Sue tracks the pattern of the last few places he's been spotted. She gets a reading by tracking his emails, recognizing "cptn_n3mo" from when they talked about "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea."Reed is in Panama, able to disguise himself by altering his facial features. He detects that the airbase is breached and he is found by some mercenaries. Reed avoids their attacks by stretching and escaping, but Ben catches him. Feeling betrayed by Reed for abandoning him, he headbutts Reed and has him brought in.Reed is taken to Area 57. Allen tells him that he wants Reed to help reactivate the Quantum Gate, and they may be able to find a cure from Planet Zero. Reed reluctantly agrees to help his friends.After some time, Reed is reunited with the other three and a group of explorers re-enter Planet Zero. They detect a life form in the distance. It's Victor. The explorers bring him back and see his whole body coated in metal, a result of his suit fusing with him and the green substance. Victor awakens and says that he has grown stronger on Planet Zero and feels that he must destroy Earth to recreate Planet Zero in his own image. He starts to manipulate the objects in the room and kills a couple of doctors before blowing up Allen's head. Victor breaks out and continues blowing up heads before getting back to the Quantum Gate. Franklin tries to stop him, but Victor fries him. Before dying, Franklin tells Sue and Johnny to look after each other. Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben run after him and follow him through the Gate.Everyone is back on Planet Zero. Victor has opened a black hole in order to absorb Earth matter and destroy it. The four realize they need to take him out in order to take out the portal. Victor continues manipulating the environment against the four, pinning them down. Reed tells them that he may be stronger than each of them, but not all of them together. Sue maintains a force field on the portal briefly while Reed distracts Victor. Ben declares, "It's clobberin time!" and punches Victor into the path of the black hole, absorbing and destroying him. Johnny then manages to close the portal while he flies and Sue brings herself, Reed, and Ben back to Earth.The military, while hesitant to continue working with the four, reward them for saving the world and agree to give them a private base of operations. Reed decides the team needs a name. Ben admires the place and comments that it's fantastic. And suddenly, Reed knows what to call the team.The Fantastic Four... end credits. | good versus evil, revenge, psychedelic, murder, violence | train | imdb | null |
tt0034303 | Topper Returns | Wealthy heiress Ann Carrington (Carole Landis), and her best friend Gail Richards (Joan Blondell) are riding in a speeding taxi driven by Bob (Dennis OKeefe), along the coast. A figure dressed all in black, with covered face and hat, aims a rifle with a telescopic sight with crosshairs at the cab from a distance and shoots at one tire to create an accident that nearly kills everyone. The taxi ends up on its side at the very edge of a high cliff, inches away from having fallen into crashing ocean waves below.Bob leaves his fares on the road and walks back to seek help. Ann and Gail try hitchhiking first, then sit in the middle of the road so a car is forced to stop, a sports car. In the car are banker Cosmo Topper (Roland Young) and his chauffeur Eddie (Eddie Rochester Anderson). The two girls brazenly climb into the car and insist on being driven to Anns destination, the Carrington Mansion. The sports car is so small that Gail must ride sitting on Cosmos lap.As they drive past Toppers residence, Mrs. Clara Topper (Billie Burke) sees her husband ride past with a curvaceous blond sitting on his lap, and distraughtly concludes he is having an adventure.The girls are dropped off at the stately cliff top mansion next door to Toppers residence, where they are received by three creepy staff members, butler Rama (Trevor Bardette), housekeeper Lillian (Rafaela Ottiano), and doctor Jeris (George Zucco).Dr. Jeris warns Ann that her father Henry Carrington (H. B. Warner) is in poor health and leads her into another room to meet him. In their conversation we find out that the next day would be Anns twenty first birthday, the day that, according to her mothers will and a trust fund, she is to come into full control of a fortune. Ann has no memories of her father, as they have been separated since her mother died in a cave in while she was inspecting the family mine together with a business partner.After meeting her father, Ann and Gail are shown to upstairs adjoining bedrooms. As Ann crosses the main hall, a heavy giant chandelier drops down, and she escapes harm because Gail screams in time for her to jump out of the way, being missed by inches. Anns bedroom is spectacularly decorated and Gail makes such a fuss about how beautiful it is that Ann insists that they trade beds, and Gail sleeps in what was supposedly Anns bed.In the middle of the night, a secret panel opens in Anns bedroom, the masked, hatted figure dressed all in black enters the bedroom, and Gail is knifed to death as she gets up to shut the window, evidently having been mistaken for Ann.Gails ghost separates from her body. Ghost-Gail slowly realizes she has been murdered instead of her friend Ann, and that someone in the house is guilty. She goes to the next mansion down the road, where Topper lives, to find someone who can both protect Ann and solve her own murder. At the next house she finds Topper, who can see her and talk to her, and convinces him to come to the Carrington mansion by threatening to make a terrible scandal with his wife if he doesnt.Topper uses the house phone to call Eddie the chauffeur, to get the car ready. Eddie grumbles protests but he does drive Topper to the next door mansion, not without experiencing, along the way, an enormous number of puzzles as doors open and shut, cushions depress, voices are heard, cigarettes smoke themselves, footprints appear on the walkways, and so on. Eventually he gets so scared that he drives back to Toppers and starts packing to leave. Mrs. Topper finds him and asks where Cosmo is, and wants to be driven to the house next door to find him. Eddie says hes had it and wants to go back to work for his former employer, Mr. Benny, but Mrs. Topper convinces him to go to look for Topper.Meantime, Topper with the guidance of Ghost-Gail finds the dead body of Gail, then goes downstairs and decides to phone the police. But the phone does not work, and the creepy staff find him and surround him and keep him confined. He insists on going up to the bedroom to show them the body but Gails body is not there. The doctor and Mr. Carrington now treat him as a lunatic.At this point Mrs. Topper, her maid Emily (Patsy Kelly), and Eddie arrive and insist Topper is in the house and they push their way in to look for him.By this time it is nearly daytime, Bob the taxi driver comes to the house to collect his unpaid fare, and Ann, who is wondering what happened to Gail, becomes frightened and asks Bob to stick around and escort her, which he does, as she is very pretty and appealing. They go into the bedroom where Gail had slept and while Ann is there the black dressed masked assassin goes to attack Ann but she sees him in time, in a mirror, screams, and Bob responds in time to see the black figure escape by the window.In the following sequences, there are lots of comings and goings with people disappearing and reappearing by way of concealed stairways and hallways reachable by moving or rotating wall panels. Mrs. Topper calls the police and soon a police detective (Donald Mc Bride) with a squad of cops comes in and starts asking questions. He gets confused by the conflicting answers and by tricks that Ghost-Gail plays from time to time.The creepy staff and Mr. Carrington, who, by the way, no longer acts and moves as a sick frail man, confine Mr. Topper in the kitchen walk in refrigerator for a while. Later, Ghost-Gail steals the gun from the detectives pocket and with it, she pushes Topper to get everyone else into the refrigerator and lock them in, so as to gain time to find Gails body, as the detective insists there isnt any murder evidence if there isnt a body.Lillian the housekeeper, who models her clothing and behavior after the creepy Mrs. Danvers in the movie Rebecca, decides to start talking to say she was in some of the deceptions but had nothing to do with the murder, the lights go out suddenly and Lillian disappears. It turns out there is a secret chain in the fireplace that, when pulled, makes the chair in the center of the room tilt backwards and dump the occupant down a vertical shaft and land in a water filled cave below the mansion.Eventually, the threads come together, Topper and Gail manage to get Gails body back from a small ship a short distance away from the water cave, the body is displayed, and despite the comic total confusion of the detective, logic finds that the killer must have been the person who was standing nearest the fireplace when Lillian was about to talk, and that person was none other than . . .
Mr. Carrington!Mr. Carrington uses his knowledge of the house to make a dash out, get in a car, and drive off. Ghost Gail gets into Mr. Toppers sports car, and goes in pursuit. Eddie is in the back seat, terrified at the car that is being driven at top speed on winding roads with an invisible driver. Mr. Carrington, followed in hot pursuit, must drive faster and faster and eventually loses control, crashes his car against a tree on the side of the road, and he dies, becoming a ghost himself. Before anyone else arrives, Ghost-Gail and Ghost-Carrington talk to Eddie. Ghost-Carrington apologizes to Eddie for the several dunkings into the ocean water that he endured earlier after sitting in the trick chair. But Eddie is so freaked out by the voices, that he dashes off to seek employment elsewhere.Ghost-Gail browbeats Ghost-Carrington into writing a letter to Ann, confessing that he is not her father, but her fathers old business partner. Her father died in the mine together with Anns mother, and he has been impersonating Carrington, and wanted to kill Ann to keep the fortune for himself. Ghost-Gail gives the letter to Topper when the rest of the cast arrives at the crash scene, and Topper hands it to Ann.That pretty much ends the movie, as Clara Topper sees that Cosmo was telling mostly truth about his adventures with the two young ladies, and Bob and Ann comfort each other. | murder | train | imdb | null |
tt0074434 | Drive In Massacre | A opening title card reads that on August 10th, at a rural California drive-in, the horror began. A young couple arrives at a local drive-in to watch the movie playing that is currently playing. They park their car and talk about having a baby. The woman suggests procreating at the drive-in, but the man, Alan, wants to see the beginning of the movie. As Alan reaches out for the speaker to hang upon the car window, he is beheaded by a sword-like machete. The woman screams, but the unseen killer shoves the blade through her neck and she dies a slow death as she opens the car door and falls out onto the ground.The next day, two police detectives, John Kosh and Mike Leary, go to the drive-in to investigate the murders and talk to the grumpy manager, Austin Johnson. Austin tells them about a carnival what was once there before the "trash heap" of the drive-in was opened. He says that Germy, the simpleton drive-in cleaner and the man who discovered the bodies, was once a carnival geek. The cops talk with Germy where he tells them that he was once a sword swallower, and he says that the theater owner (who is away in Hawaii on vacation) lets him use his private sword collection. Germy talks about a trouble-maker who is at the drive-in every night looking for kissing couples to spy on. He describes the man and his car to John and Mike, and the officers ask Germy to get the license plate number if the man returns.That night, another young couple, named David and Lori, arrive at the drive-in, and Lori tells David that she is pregnant. David seems happy with the news and the two of them kiss, but Lori is uncomfortable due to the murders on the previous night. While David and Lori are making out, an unseen man is spying on them. Suddenly, another unseen man opens the passenger door and shoves a sword right through David and Lori.The next morning at the police station, John and Mike talk with their police captain who introduces them to a police psychologist who tells them that it may be difficult to find the killer since he does not seem to leave a pattern except for the using the same weapon and using the same location to kill. Afterwords, Germy is brought to the police station where he tells John and Mike that the sword discovered with the two recent murder victims is not from the owner's personal collection. He tells them that Austin also worked at the carnival, but was "not very good with the blades", and chased around girls for fun. But he tells them that the mysterious man was at the drive-in that night and gives them the license plate number.John and Mike go to see Orville at his house where the cops press the man about being at the drive-in for the last two nights. While Mike plays the bad cop, John is the sympathetic cop. While Orville admits to being at the drive-in to spy on couples having sex in their cars, he maintains that he did not kill anyone and promises that he will not return to the drive-in. He lets the officers look at his car. When a bloody cloth is found, Orville runs. John and Mike catch up to Orville and arrest him. Orville claims that the blood is from a dog that he ran over the previous night.A little later, the cops are told by a pathologist that the blood on the rag found in Orville's car is really from a canine. Orville is released with a warning not to return to the drive-in. But that evening, Orville returns to the drive-in anyway. Nearby, John and Mike are staking out the place as decoys (with Mike dressed in drag), waiting for Orville to show up and make his move. Nearby in another car, a man, named Jim, tries to kiss the woman that's with him, but she is too much into watching the movie. The man exits the car to go to the concession stand. Germy goes up to the police officers car to talk with them, when he gets pulled away by Austin who tells him to get back to work. Mike gets out of the car to "answer the call of nature" and John helps him get out of the car. Nearby, Jim returns to his car, when he sees his girlfriend's severed head fall off her body, and screams for help. Mike and John run back to the scene, but then discover Orville dead in his car too.The next day, Austin is brought into the station where Mike and John talk to him about once being a knife-thrower at the carnival. But Austin is furious at them when they tell him to close down the drive-in until the case is solved, and mocks them for being so close to the killer while he killed another person right under their noses. But after several minutes of interrogation, Austin is free to go since the police do not have anything to hold him on. At the drive-in, Austin tells Germy that he's fired and also tells him to get his things and leave. That evening, Germy goes to a nearby carnival and hears voices talking to or about him.Meanwhile, John and Mike get a phone call that a man is cornered in a small warehouse after killing two people with a machete. In the warehouse, a man has a little girl hostage. She bites his hand and runs away. The man chases after her and talks about cutting the "poison" (he means meanness) out of her. John and Mike arrive at the warehouse, run inside, and following gunfire and a pursuit, Mike shoots and kills the man. The girl comes out of hiding and says that the man they killed was her sick father, who had killed her mother and aunt years ago with a machete, but that he broke out of a mental hospital that morning.John and Mike suddenly realize that Austin can leave the projection booth between the reel changes during the movie which could make him the killer since he told them previously that he was inside the booth all night. John and Mike race over the drive-in to pick him up.Meanwhile, Arlene, the drive-in cashier, tries to stop Germy from going to see Austin. Germy says that he owes him money and that he has a gift for the manager. Germy is shown to have the owner's sword collection with him. John and Mike arrive at the drive-in where they see on the big screen where a western movie is being shown, the shadow of Austin being stabbed by a sword. The detectives run inside the projection booth to find Austin dead... hacked to pieces. While Arlene turns on the PA speakers announcing that everyone leave, John and Mike hear a noise in the next room and run in with their guns drawn only to find Germy dead as well.A disclaimer in the final shot says:"The senseless bloodbath that gripped a California Drive-in has spread to other theaters throughout the country. Authorities say there are no clues to the killer's identity and no end to the horror in sight. The killer could strike again. Anywhere... Anytime... Who will be next?"There is a public-address voice-over from the drive in theater manager telling the drive-in theater audience viewing this movie that there is a killer lurking in the theater and not to panic for the police are on their way. | cult, mystery, murder, violence | train | imdb | null |
tt1190080 | 2012 | In 2009, American geologist Adrian Helmsley visits astrophysicist Satnam Surtani in India and learns that neutrinos from a huge solar flare are heating Earth's core. Helmsley presents his information to White House Chief of Staff Carl Anheuser, who brings him to the president.
In 2010, during a chaotic mass protest in Vancouver, U.S. President Thomas Wilson and other world leaders begin a secret project to ensure humanity's survival. China and the G8 nations begin building nine arks, each capable of carrying 100,000 people, in the Himalayas near Cho Ming, Tibet. Nima, a Buddhist monk, is evacuated and his brother Tenzin joins the ark project. Funding is raised by selling tickets at €1 billion per person. By 2011, articles of value are moved to the arks with the help of art expert and First Daughter Laura Wilson.
In 2012, struggling Los Angeles science-fiction writer Jackson Curtis is a chauffeur for Russian billionaire Yuri Karpov. Jackson's former wife (Kate) and their children (Noah and Lilly) live with Kate's boyfriend, plastic surgeon and pilot Gordon Silberman. Jackson takes Noah and Lilly camping in Yellowstone National Park. When they find an area fenced off by the Army, Jackson and his children climb over the fence. They are caught and brought to the geologist Adrian, who has read Jackson's books. After they are released they meet Charlie Frost, who hosts a radio show from the park. After Jackson and his children leave, Adrian learns that the Earth is about to undergo drastic changes in a few hours, earlier than expected, with only four of the arks completed.
That night, after the military evacuates Yellowstone, Jackson watches Charlie's video of Charles Hapgood's theory that polar shifts, Earth Crustal Displacement and the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar predict a 2012 phenomenon. According to Charlie, anyone who attempted to inform the public was killed, including Jackson's NASA contact. After Jackson and his children return home, he delivers Yuri's sons Alec and Oleg to Santa Monica Airport. Realizing that Charlie was right, Jackson rents a plane and rescues his family as the Earth-crust displacement begins, causing a 10.9 magnitude earthquake, and they escape from LA by air as the city is destroyed and sinks into the Pacific Ocean.
They fly to Yellowstone to retrieve a map from Charlie with the arks' location. As they leave, the Yellowstone Caldera erupts; Charlie stays behind to cover the eruption and is killed. The group lands in Las Vegas to find a larger plane and meet Yuri, his twin sons Alec and Oleg, his girlfriend Tamara and their pilot Sasha. Sasha finds an Antonov An-500 and pilots it with Gordon, and they leave just as the Yellowstone ash cloud consumes Vegas.
Adrian, Carl and Laura fly to the arks on Air Force One. Knowing that his daughter will survive, President Wilson remains in the capital to address the nation for the last time while millions of people die in earthquakes and tsunamis worldwide. With the presidential line of succession gone, Carl assumes the position of acting commander-in-chief.
The group arrives in China. Everyone except Sasha escapes on a Bentley Continental Flying Spur stored in the cargo hold just before the plane runs out of fuel. Sasha is killed when the plane crashes, and the others are spotted by Chinese Air Force helicopters. Yuri and his sons, possessing tickets, are brought to the arks and the Curtis family, Tamara and Gordon are left behind. On Ark 4, the American ark, Adrian is contacted by Satnam, who tells that he is stuck on the Nampan Plateau with his entire family as the airlift meant for them never came, with a massive tsunami coming from the east, killing Satnam himself, his entire family and all the evacuees around them. Enraged, Adrian estimates that the wave will hit the arks in 28 minutes. The remaining group consisting of Jackson, Tamara, Noah, Lilly, Gordon and Kate, gets picked up by Nima and brought to the arks with his grandparents. With Tenzin's help they stow away on Ark 4. Due to the lack of time, Carl wants to leave immediately, but Adrian manages to use Satnam's death to convince the world leaders to let the people outside in.
As the wave breaches the Himalayas and approaches the site, an impact driver lodges in the ark-door gears, keeping a boarding gate open and preventing the ship's engines from starting. In the ensuing chaos where many people attempt to board the ships, Yuri, Tamara and Gordon are killed, Tenzin is injured, Ark 4 begins filling with water and is set adrift after Air Force One crashes into one of its supports, while also causing it to skim the hull of Ark 6 before drifting off. With Jackson and Noah's help, the crew of the Ark manages to regain control of the Ark narrowly before it fatally smashes into Mount Everest.
Jackson is reunited with his family and reconciles with Kate. Twenty-seven days later, as the waters recede, the arks approach the Cape of Good Hope, where the Drakensberg (now the tallest mountain range on Earth) is emerging. Adrian and Laura begin a relationship, and Jackson and Kate rekindle their own romance.
=== Alternate ending ===
An alternate ending appears in the film's DVD version. After Captain Michaels (the Ark 4 captain) announces that they are heading for the Cape of Good Hope, Adrian receives a phone call. He answers the call, and is shocked to recognize the voice as his father's (Harry). Harry tells Adrian that he, his friend Tony (whose left arm is in a sling) and several others survived the megatsunami and are shipwrecked on an island. Adrian informs Captain Michaels of this and the Ark heads for them. Kate thanks Laura for taking care of Lilly, and Laura tells Jackson that she enjoyed his book. Jackson returns Noah's cell phone, which he recovered during the Ark 4 flood. Lilly says that she sees an island, and the ark finds the shipwrecked Genesis and her survivors on a beach. | mystery, action, stupid | train | wikipedia | So to sum up: If you feel like turning your brain off and watching special effects and big explosions with a very shallow storyline then this movie is for you.
Emmerich certainly pushes "suspension of disbelief" to its limit.John Cusack and Woody Harrelson are the only actors that attempt to hold the film together, while Danny Glover and Thandie Newton were an utter and complete let-down considering their previous work history.
That would have and could have made this film closer to a 10 if I didn't feel like my brain was utterly wasted on this CGI and special effects bonanza.
You won't wince at how painfully awful this movie is, and you won't walk away knowing anything meaningful about 2012, but hopefully you'll help repay Sony pictures for the exorbitant amount of money that they and Roland Emmerich spent on their special effects budget.
Roland Emmerich, who's made such cinematic classics as Independence Day, The Patriot, Godzilla, and The Day after Tomorrow, was asked if he wanted a quintillion billion bazillion dollars to make a movie about the end of the world, and he said sure.
Or he could have said, "The heck with the characters, give me blowy-uppy thingys." This sometimes works: See Independence Day, a movie that made me feel pretty good when I left the theater after seeing it but that ultimately, frankly, was pretty bad.Emmerich chose the latter.
Sad and unintentionally hilarious.And you can forget about the plot, really, because most of it makes no sense anyway and would happen only in a Big Movie like this.
One thing many reviewers haven't been picking up on while watching this movie is the very slight tongue-in-cheekiness of the subject that Emmerich cleverly wove into the plot.
It's not that great either so ignore those who gush and tell you how awesome it is and rate it 10 out of 10.This is a film best viewed in the movie theaters on the largest screen possible to enjoy the thrilling sensation of cities breaking up, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
But as the movie drags on, even the smallest character gets his "i have to say goodbye to my loved ones"-scene - which becomes quite annoying after you've watched this for the 5th time in a row.
But the one thing, he can't do properly is "good"-emotional cinema - which works fine in some of his other movies when his pathos-laden, goofy dialogue writing doesn't get in the way of the big explosions - it fit's, makes them funnier to a point.
His latest effort adheres closely to the formula established by his earlier films "Independence Day" and "The Day After Tomorrow"- in other words we get to watch a typically flawed-but-lovable American family (headed by John Cusack and Amanda Peet), along with a range of supporting characters, attempt to survive the end of the world.That's all there is to the basic plot.
But none of that matters since "2012" is exactly the film it was intended to be- a great big popcorn movie that offers big laughs, big thrills, and a lot of good old fashioned fun..
But, never fear, by the end of the film, they are cuddly little teddy bears that have brokered a reconciliation between their estranged parents.The adult characters in this movie are not believable.
It is a prime example of why some people loathe Hollywood excess.Roland Emmerich could have given every man woman and child 50 cents NOT to watch this movie and everyone would have come out ahead.
(Start watching foreign films; you'll be astounded to see real acting!) My only consolation is that I saw it for free on one of my movie channels and didn't waste a Netflix rental or money on a movie ticket.
It would be much more fair if they made just an hour of CGI effects, than trying to package it in this "movie".I didn't expect to see Schindler's List, and I love action flicks, I watched Independence Day 3 or 4 times, but this one is really disaster..
What you do get for your money is over the top special effects, with lots of good looking people having family crises & personal battles & they come together to save the world!!
Everything about the film is boring & the special effects don't save the movie.I was aware that I should not expect much when in all the trailers they only showed things being blown up or cracked open.
Even though there are a lot of fancy special effects to look at, it's a boring movie because the characters are so obviously fictional that you just don't care if they live or die.
Thankfully this will be Rowland Emmerich's last disaster flick...so he says.I think we've all had enough of this type of film now, where special effects take the place of story or plot.If you haven't seen it already then don't.
At times like that the acting became very juicy, making me think I was watching 'Titanic' instead.One point of advise: Do not take this movie too seriously.
While I can't really say I'm enjoying the movie (I find it's a pretty big bore, and the disaster scenes at the beginning were way too unrealistic to be even remotely believable), I have to say it's astonishingly "honest" in how the directors expect that the rich people and the arrogant Americans will survive, while everyone else will get shafted.
That may explain why "2012" takes a nominally more scientific approach to the cataclysm (neutrinos, crust displacement, blah, blah, blah), though even Chiwetel Ejiofor, as the president's scientific adviser, seems to know that it's all one big joke long before Woody Harrelson, as some sort of apocalyptic hippie fanatic, can pop his eyeballs and declare, "It's the apocalypse, man!"Mr. Harrelson's character doesn't figure much into the story beyond the usual wise fool archetype, though at least his bug-eyed mugging gives oomph to what is otherwise a pretty unremarkable disaster flick.
The sturdy B-movie screenplay by Mr. Emmerich and Harold Kloser actually picks up in 2009, giving time to introduce a few of the leading men and women who will figure into the imminent end, some of them likable (Mr. Ejiofor), others abhorrent (Oliver Platt as a blustering government bigwig), most of them just plain boring.
Mr. Emmerich is not entirely to blame, of course, though it's nonetheless a wonder that after three stabs at destroying the planet, he still can't avoid the disconnect between human tragedy and worldwide destruction that runs through "2012" like a fissure and keeps even its most realistic-looking disasters from ever feeling remotely real.
i was looking foreward to see this long awaited epic movie but...i was very disappointed aftwerwords,even in the first break i actually wanted to leave the room because of the ridiculous way this story keeps stretching the meaning of the word tension,i mean how many times can one escape at the last second from disaster??1,2 or 3times avctually in this movie it was i think 10times,it's just too much of a good thing witch took away all the pleasure one usually has to experience watching these special effects on a big screen,it took away all fun,i saw "knowing" a few months ago and it so much better even the special effects were so much better timed and just took you more than in 2012,it was like an avalanche of special effects well they loose their effect when used too much this is how i felt it,i was actyually pretty sad that they made a movie so expensive and mess it all up with a ridiculous story and totally unbelevable follow ups of last minute escapes,even my10year old son found this too much of a good thing..
I suppose it's hard to argue with the fact that this movie does look quite good and some of the CGI is impressive,however, the story is just so awful that it makes you throw your hands in the air and exclaim; ARE THEY ACTUALLY SERIOUS?
But when the clock is ticking down to the last minute or two of total annihilation, and people who are purportedly intelligent, thinking people, chose that moment to have an extended discussion of their feelings, GIVE ME A BREAK.And I usually don't mind movie that run over 2 hours because, sometimes it just takes longer to help the audience understand the human motivation, or to give the plot enough time to evolve logically.
Other than some awesome special effects and computer-generated scenes of apocalyptic devastation, this movie is a two-and-a-half-hour abomination.
Its the only explanation for the sheer tripe that we are presented with.I wont bore you with the setup,but needless to say,the world is on the eve of destruction from within.The film plods through all the clichés as our main characters go through the motions in a painfully uninteresting way.The CGI destruction of the world offers no threat or tension,it just happens in a really non emotional and tedious way.At no point in the film did i marvel or sit in awe of the spectacle of it all.Instead,i winced at the 2 hours and 40 mins running time and willed the movie to its predictable and boring climax.Some good actors do very little than pick up the paycheque,only Oliver Platt seems to want to have a go at having fun but alas,its all in vain.The film is terrible and Roland Emmerich does nothing to divorce himself from having a reputation for making terribly bloated and over sentimentalised garbage..
If only the vote drop down list allowed for negative votes up to -1000000000000000000000000000000.Waste of time, embarrassing, over the top rubbish, 158 minutes of my life wasted."Contains spoiler", more like spoilt my afternoon!I like action films and the occasional unbelievable escape/rescue, but this was happening every five minutes.I couldn't wait for the film to finish, even the special effects was over the top and unrealistic at times.I will make sure to remember the name "Roland Emmerich" in order to avoid such a poor film, shame on you people who voted this film higher than a 1!.
While the (mostly computer generated) special-effects are impressive at times, the chaotic script and the laughable acting-performances are nothing to write home about.2012 has all the ingredients of a traditional disaster-movie as we know it, and like I said the special-effects are good as you come to expect from a movie this recent.
I think they could have easily cut out a good 30 minutes or so of soap-opera esq scenes.The acting in this movie is very below average, to the point that its almost embarrassing to watch.
But if its special-effects you want, you will be pretty bored with this movie as well I think, because 2012 has little other redeeming features to offer.Director Roland Emmerich said that 2012 will be his final disaster- movie, and frankly this is a very good thing before his movies turn out even more disastrous then this movie.
Imagine, how much wonderful things could happen to the world - if money and time were not waisted on making of this film..
Everything in this film is so bad that no CGI effect can save it.Wasted resources and time of consumers, of producers and makers.
Now it is only waste and rubbish.Imagine, how much wonderful things could happen to the world - if money and time were not wasted on making of this film..
It's a shame because Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich can't direct action scenes to save their lives, and decided instead to write the movie to utilize every disaster movie cliché in the book since it was written in the 70's with the likes of "Earthquake" and "Airport".
How original, I bet he stayed up for endless nights and lost massive amounts of sleep coming up with that million dollar idea!The movie is also loaded with tons of unrealistic sound effects, like when the floor starts to crack in the supermarket, you hear a " tearing " noise.....hmmmmm......
The only way I can explain this logically is, the director is completely deaf, or just doesn't care.Danny Glover is in this movie, which is great, but his assistant needs acting lessons and might want to step into a NYC comedy club once in a while, since he obviously has forgotten what a "joke" is, because he is not funny....
Basically I'm not even going to make a joke about him, because I'd probably feel like I was making fun of a retarded person.This movie had an excellent idea, take an actual apocalyptic scenario from Myan carvings, and put it into action....
It's sad such an original premise of a movie had to come to such a silly fate at the hands of this so called director.Another thing I noticed was, when they were driving off in the limousine trying to escape the ground shattering beneath them, was the fact that his limo sounded exactly like an 1980's Ferrari GTO.......
It was just how bad this movie was, when they tried to show "heart" or "feeling" or "warmth." Or at the consistent "near-misses" for our, uh, so-called, "heroes." Or the number of plane dipping.Despite the sometimes good special effects – I honestly can't justify giving it an extra half star for that due to the overwhelming negatives, I will say this in the movie's favor: I didn't snicker or laugh out loud as many times as I thought I would.
To each their own, but I appreciate a movie-goer who appreciates film as an art and not as mindless special effects engine.And the joke's on you people.
This movie just proves that although Emmerich has all the money in world, and top notch special effects at his disposal, he goes and mess it up by making 2012.
Yes Im sure it will be a blockbuster, people around the world will go see this and the movie may even make a serious profit, and Hollywwod will praise Emmerich for making so much money...but thats about it.
The camera work is alright at times, though there are a few awkward switches between techniques.If you, however, are only looking for a way to kill three hours, and you have not seen a lot of movies like this before, perhaps 2012 is for you.
Don't spend 10 dollars on this, rent it on DVD, watch it on a big HD screen and huff a lot of propane, and this movie will be your favorite film of all time.It is a bit sad, because I must say that Emmerich's films in the past, particularly Independence Day, were quite good.
So, my advice is that if you are one of those people freaking out about the world ending in 2012, then watch this movie.
Acting is poor ( even Danny Glover just doesn't do the trick) and in the and you don't actually care whether the characters live or die (Actually for several moments I wished they'd all die so the movie could finally end).
I just felt that I lost my time and -What hurts the most- my money.Not even close to the "Big disaster movie I was expecting" no explanations given.
1% of the movie was the story, 98% was effects and 1% was kissing at the end.It doesn't happen often, but I was sitting at the cinema and watched the clock.
2012 is an okay movie if you haven't seen anything like it before, but otherwise - like for me - it's boring and not even eye-candy, because imho the special effects were not good.
I really should have known that the movie was gonna be bad when I saw that John Cusack and Amanda Peet were the leads, but I fooled myself into thinking that the special effects would make up for it.
I went into this movie knowing it would lack storyline like previous flicks Roland has directed, but I had hoped the special effects would make up for it.
Not everything about this film is appalling; the visual effects are stunning at some points - down right impressive at others.Unfortunately that's about all the positive points covered.The story steals parts from every other disaster movie, such as the family life from the War of the Worlds, scenes from Titanic etc.Every character is damp and pathetic, and at the end you want everyone of the main cast to die; unfortunately some don't.They made use of every cheesy line, painfully obvious metaphor and overused cliché I could think of.A truly terrible film, you have been warned..
As the physical signs of the end start increasing, one-time author and current limo driver Jackson Curtis is out with his children for the weekend and begins to put things together himself to get to a terrible conclusion.This was a big movie in the cinema and it continues to be so on video thanks to a massive advertising budget and like many others I was always going to watch it whether I fancied it or not.
I am sorry to say I actually did not want to waste my time writing a review on this movie, but feel it s my responsibility to make sure as many people do not have to endure what I did.
If you can overlook why the world is ending, this is actually an captivating film with some spectacular effects scenes.
The movie attempts to stun you into submission with out of control special effects and body slams you with unbelievable action sequences at every turn.It is a depressing piece of film and an awful way to bring in the new year!
The acting would have been OK if the dialogue had at least been mildly interesting - Woody Harrelson's portrayal being the exception, and at 158 minutes there is way too much of the boring dialogue to be had - they could easily have cut an hour.The action sequences are completely over the top which is expected in a disaster movie, but here the characters aren't on a cliff's edge the whole time they are for the most part over the edge yet somehow survive.Adding to the calamity is the fact that the internal logic is deeply flawed.
The special effects were the only thing that made the movie worth watching. |
tt0101748 | Dogfight | Prologue: Greyhound bus headed for San Francisco. Seems to be the heyday of the Haight-Ashbury scene. We meet a limping, grizzled Birdlace (River Phoenix): he chain smokes, doesn't eat much as we hear the week's numbers from Vietnam on TV: 141 dead, 391 wounded, 47 missing. Back on the bus, as Birdlace daydreams through the window, a flashback begins. Most of this movie is presented in one long flashback.Act I: November 1963; the Four B's (Birdlace, Burzin (Richard Panebianco), Benjamin (Mitchell Whitfield) and Bueller (Anthony Clark), a.k.a. Okie) are going on a last night of liberty before shipping out for Okinawa. Bonded by bullshit and macho posturing, they have an "elite" event planned - the eponymous 'Dogfight' - that everyone seems to want in on, even officers. Each goes "hunting" for a date to bring to this event; it is soon evident they are to bring the most unattractive girl they can find; the winner gets a jackpot.
After striking out with several prospects, Birdlace steps into Rose's Coffee Shop to get out of the rain. He is desperate, and for just a beat seems to consider the old lady seated near the door. Rose Sr. (Holly Near) is cold to him but he hears Rose Jr. (Lili Taylor) trying to learn the guitar chords for Malvina Reynolds' "What Have They Done to the Rain?" He strikes up a conversation full of nonsense, especially about the imaginary Jim Swain and his great influence on Bob Dylan as co-writer of most of Woody Guthrie's songs. Rose knows her stuff and isn't buying it, but is warm to Birdlace anyway. After hesitating, she agrees to go as his date to "a party."
Rose gets sick at the Dogfight, so Birdlace wins the consolation prize. As she is cleaning herself up in the rest room, she overhears an argument between Burzin and his date, Marcy (E.G. Daily). Marcy has "won" the dogfight for Burzin and is fighting with him over her share of the jackpot - it turns out she was hired, not found. Rose questions Marcy and learns the truth of this event; Rose then slaps and slugs an inebriated Birdlace as he sits on a bar stool and gives him a verbal lashing as well - even to the other Marines who seem overwhelmed by her ferocity. With tear-smeared makeup, Rose then takes refuge in her room - her folk music world - listening to Joan Baez sing "Silver Dagger."Act II: Birdlace deals with his own dogfight - the large German shepherd in Rose's back yard - to put a note on her window - an apology and an invitation to dinner. She accepts but on her terms - if there's any more dogfight, she'll kill him. He declines what appears to be a Polish or Ukrainian restaurant saying "We can do better." They end up going into an elegant establishment with string quartet and tuxedoed wait staff, and are denied entry because Birdlace has no dinner jacket. Now on a mission that binds them, they roust an elderly clothing store couple out of bed to get Birdlace a jacket, which he wears proudly with price tag still hanging from the collar, to get a seat at the restaurant. After dinner, as they walk, he throws the just-purchased jacket from an overpass into traffic below.
Scenes jump from Birdlace and Rose to the other B's enjoying their liberty in a much different fashion - getting tattoos (bees, of course) and being serviced orally by an arcade hooker as they watch Russ Meyer's The Immoral Mr. Teas. At one point, in a Chinatown tattoo parlor, Burzin sees Birdlace walking with Rose but does not let on to the others - he senses there is something important going on there.
Rose and Birdlace argue about their differing approach to life - one a pacifist, the other a soldier who sees change resulting from shooting. Nonetheless there is a deepening bond between them.
Rose takes Birdlace to the Still Life Cafe, where she hopes to sing one day. When she writes to him, she wants him to know what she's talking about. While there, he asks her to sing the song she was singing earlier in the coffee shop, which she does, reluctantly. This simple, quiet version of the entire song ("What Have They Done to the Rain?) sums up all that is going on in the world at the time as well as with both of them personally.
Birdlace then takes Rose to an arcade - the complete opposite of The Still Life - where they play Whack-a Mole to Rose's delight. Knowing that music is important to her, he then takes her into a special room full of music machines. He drops coins into all of them which soon results in a cacophony - but a charming one, like a magic carnival. Finally there is only one large music box playing and they dance slowly, awkwardly kissing - perhaps the first kiss for both of them.
In spite of his macho banter, use of profanity and willingness to use a girl in a dogfight, Birdlace is actually very courteous and thoughtful. Arriving back at Rose's place, he does not push himself on her - but is glad when she asks him in. He asks if it's OK before he touches her or removes some of her clothing, and having recently viewed the films about STDs in boot camp, is sure to get out a condom (he hides it under her teddy bear as she puts on a robe in her closet). Rose has actually invited somebody into her world. As they begin to cuddle and embrace, one song ends and The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan drops onto the turntable; they begin sweet and tender foreplay as "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" plays.Act III: Birdlace and Rose are on the sidewalk in front of her building. She hands him a piece of paper with her address on it. She says he can write, but seems resigned to never hearing from him again. Birdlace runs, with backlighted bridge in background.
Birdlace finds the other three Bees in the bus station appearing haggard from their night of liberty, and the loud, brash military talk and swagger soon replaces all remnants of his quiet night with Rose. On the military bus to Treasure Island, after exaggerated bragging about spending the night with an officer's wife, Birdlace has a heart-to-heart talk with Burzin about how full of shit they all are. In a great speech that sums up the acceptance of bullshit as the basis of all that they do, Burzin points to the two Bee tattoos on his arm and says there's no bullshit in that. Amid continuing macho talk, Birdlace tears up the paper with Rose's address and throws it out the window - he's "all in" with his Marines and their mission.
DISSOLVE to Rose sitting on the floor in her room, holding her guitar, listening to Pete Seeger's record of We Shall Overcome. She is not at all sad or remorseful; in fact she appears hopeful.
DISSOLVE to an endless stream of soldiers carrying duffle bags on their shoulders embarking for overseas duty.
DISSOLVE to TV news report of Kennedy's assassination - not dwelt on long. FADE to black.
Open on an exterior shot of the Four Bees playing cards in a military camp in Chu Lai, South Vietnam, 1966. Okie tries to break the monotony by telling a joke. Shells land nearby; Benjamin is killed and Birdlace's leg is wounded. As Okie and Burzin drag Birdlace to safety another shell hits and kills them both. At the sound of another shell exploding, JUMP CUT to a startled Birdlace coming out of the flashback, on the bus going to San Francisco, 1967.
Birdlace walks the streets of Haight Ashbury to Van Morrison's "T.B. Sheets." As he passes Rose's Coffee Shop a hippie asks Birdlace how many babies did he kill. Birdlace goes into a seedy bar called The Circus - perhaps to remember and relive his first embrace with Rose in the carnival-like room of musical machines. Instead, this is a dive with cheap circus posters and clown paintings. It is also across the street from Rose's and Birdlace watches from the window for a while. The only other patrons are three much older men yet Birdlace seems to fit right in with them - his youth is gone. Tattoos are displayed; Birdlace now has four Bee tattoos in addition to the bluebird of happiness on his hand; the fat bartender has a "belly dancer" on his belly. These older guys are crude but they have respect for Birdlace's military service. They describe for Birdlace that Rose Jr is being groomed to take over Rose's Coffee Shop. Birdlace sees Rose come out of the coffee shop with some departing friends, then go back in.
He crosses the street to The Rascal's "Groovin."
The door is open and has a Peace Corps poster on it. He enters quietly and watches Rose in the same back corner where he first saw her. Now she is drying glasses. He calls her name and she walks to him; few words are spoken. She sees his scars and we see that she is much more mature now. They hold a long wordless embrace. It is clear they are deeply in love and there is hope that Birdlace can recover and put his life together. | romantic, melodrama | train | imdb | Love story, Vietnam bound Marine & a hip '60's San Francisco anti-war girl..
The movie also accurately portrayed how young G.I.'s bond with other young guys who in civilian life they might not have bothered to befriend.The love story involves a girl invited to the 'Dogfight' (a contest to see who could bring the ugliest girl) and the young Marine who brings her.
I went to see this film because I am a River Phoenix fan, but when Ms.Taylor appeared on the screen my breath was taken away.
This is more of a character study and love story than anything else with River Phoenix and Lili Taylor both just superb in their roles.
Still, him and Taylor are so great and believable in their roles you get caught up in the movie.I do have a few minor complaints--Phoenix's constant swearing got annoying (although it does lead up to a very funny scene in a restaurant with Taylor) and the ending seems somewhat forced and rushed--although I have to admit I cried.
I first watched Dogfight as an 18yr teenager living on an army barracks in Australia it was a movie that I enjoyed and could relate to slightly, after knowing quite a few soldiers!
"Dogfight", starring River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, is a surprisingly charming film.
Phoenix and Taylor are quiet and awkward people on seemingly different paths who spend a short time together and wind up falling deeply in love with one another.
River Phoenix, who died tragically just two years after the film's release, is memorable as a soldier who struggles with human contact.
This movie contains fantastic performances by Lili Taylor and River Phoenix.
Lili Taylor and River Phoenix are perfect for this simple little story about a young marine in town for a little fun before being sent to Vietnam.
Great use of pre Beatles 60s music and the film adequately captures the mood and feeling of the time.If you are over 50 now, this one will stay with you for years after you watch it.
Interesting story focusing on hot-tempered, booze-loving, foul-mouthed Eddie Birdlace (brilliantly played by river phoenix)and his quest for an ugly-duckling to take with him to a dogfight.
Just before the dogfight begins, birdlace begins to have feelings for his date and as the movie progresses he falls deeper and deeper in love with her.
Rose, his date to the dogfight (brilliantly played by Lili Taylor)also begins to fall in love with Eddie.
Overlooked and unappreciated when first released DOGFIGHT seemed to be belatedly discovered after River Phoenix died and viewers curious to see more of his better work found this pic on video.
A lot like the 70s film BUSTER AND BILLIE where Jan Michael Vincent fell for the town "slut" when he realised there was a real person underneath DOGFIGHT is an emotional discovery well worth your pursuit.
This is my favorite film of all time-not just because it stars River Phoenix,but because it is so well written and acted.The story is a very believable one,and it is a highly underrated film!.This film portrays the frustrations of the young and often immature soldiers and the ways they try to combat them,but with a good old fashioned dose of romance thrown in,it is very emotional in parts,with some swearing,but some very,very funny and memorable moments,it is one of the few movies that i can watch over and over and never get tired ofNot your average Vietnam film-but then again River wasn't your average actor....i believe this is his best performance ever!!.
The film's stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor are the reason that this film works.
Lili Taylor takes a character--Rose, a plain waitress in San Francisco in the early 60's--and transforms her into a woman of such delight, mystery, energy and commitment that it is conceivable that River Phoenix would find her companionship and eventually, her respect and her love, so gratifying.
This film doesn't want to tell only a love story but the story about how a young woman helps a confused young marine to discover his own better nature.
Every word of the screenplay is absolutely perfect and Savoca directs with great care creating moments of surprising tenderness (like that in which Birdlace and Rose make love) and other of enormous strength (like that in which Rose finds out about "dogfight" and attacks Birdlace).
River Phoenix is excellent (the best actor of 90s even though he is unfortunately gone) and Lily Taylor absolutely superb.
A pre Vietnam, pre Bob Dylan, pre make love not war, Dogfight is a beautiful story of innocence lost and innocence found.
I don't know if I ever would have thought to pair together Lili Taylor and River Phoenix, but it turns out they worked beautifully together.
Watch this film, and watch him be brilliant.In one clumsy, awkward and beautiful night, Eddie (Pheonix) and Rose (Taylor) get together in a strange way...through what the Marines called a "dogfight".
River Phoenix and Lili Taylor were both AMAZING GO RENT IT NOW!!!!.
And as a change from the mainline razzmatazz US productions, this is a rather hushed down production, which it would easily be possible to miss out on if you are not aware of the quality of this sensible and sensitive film.Perhaps neither River Pheonix nor Lili Taylor would ever walk the red carpet into the Kodak Theatre: perhaps neither of them are anything like being `brilliant' actors.
Ms. Savoca with studious deliberation prepared her scenes I think maybe in Oakland rather than in Seattle or San Francisco, maybe and the music admirably completed the setting, even with fragments of `Wimoweh' in the original Weavers' recording.This is good film-making, of the kind which I have often thought that only here in Europe could be made; so much gratitude to Ms. Savoca for showing us that sometimes the US can make sincere little stories that really work.
I watched this film because of my new 'Im obsessed with River Phoenix' phase.
This is about a mean marine, BirdLace (River Phoenix) who has found his self innocence by meeting with Rose (Lili Taylor).
When I heard the title "Dogfight" and knew that it had something to do with the war in Vietnam, I could never think that it would be this kind of movie.
River Phoenix, Richard Panebianco, Anthony Clark and Mitchell Whitfield did a nice job portraying the four friends and Lili Taylor was nice as Rose.
A beautiful movie - the way the cast and crew approach these characters with such honesty makes for a truly amazing film-going experience.
Original movie with Phoenix who's drafted for Vietnam and Taylor as the 'ugly' and shy waitress with a special character.
Good acting performances of Phoenix and Taylor, a good example how war can change people, if you are looking for a movie about Vietnam you will be disappointed the part in Vietnam lasts only one minute..
and Lili Taylor truly makes you believe that she is this poor pathetic little ugly girl (i know how horrible that sounds, but its true)Rose.
But something happens with the young Eddie (played by the always gifted River Phoenix) when he mets his "ugly girl" Rose (Lili Taylor) a sweet girl who works in her mother's restaurant.
When she discovers the truth and leaves Eddie he follows her and apologizing for his behavior and the behavior of his friends he asks her to go out with him because it's his last night in U.S. The rest of the movie is a collection of moments that you've probably saw it before but here it really works, Taylor and Phoenix's chemistry is incredible, both actors played very well their parts.
River Phoenix (what an actor was he!) and Lili Taylor (one day I hope to say "Oscar Winner") gave 2 outstanding performances, portraying 2 tender characters: 2 hearts in 2 storms.
While the characters that were created for Taylor and Phoenix to play were (IMHO) two-dimensional, the performances by both took these roles above and beyond and turned them into something that, while at times bordered on cliché phrases used by either a girl into the music of the 60's, or a jarhead, as it were, were utterly believable and seemingly natural.Also, on a different note, I was taken aback by how River slipped into this role so seamlessly.
The performance of River Phoenix and Lili Taylor make this film timeless.The storyline is pretty much this - young marines on the eve of shipping out to the eventual destination of Vietnam stopping over in San Francisco with an pretty sick party idea - a competition with prize money for who can bring the ugliest woman.
The real essence of the story begins when the date of one young marine finds out the true purpose of her presence at the party and stands up to him - verbally ripping him to shreds before storming out with as much dignity as she can muster - and his immediate true remorse and shame - resulting in his pursuit of the girl he initially wanted to use as part of a cruel competition but ends up falling deeply for.I have seen a few of River Phoenix's films and i have to say after experiencing him in the role of Eddie Birdlace it is absolutely impossible to imagine any other actor that could come close to presenting us this initially downright unlikeable character in such an layered and completely charming way.
I think that River never looked sexier or played a character so detached from who he was as a person in real life - but who the audience could believe so easily that it wasn't acting - the mark of a true artist - imagine what he could have achieved had he not left us so young.As for Lili Taylor - one word - AMAZING - this woman was born to act!
Lili Taylor plays the character of Rose in an ugly duckling role that has you wishing by the end of the film that you had a smidgen Rose's appeal and true beauty.
A young girl on the brink of womanhood who while she embodies all the insecurities that a non-pretty girl at that age has towards the opposite sex, she nevertheless chooses to hope, trust and put herself out there in order to experience life and not let it pass her by stuck in her mother's diner - even after a humiliating experience.The way the film takes you on the characters journey together throughout the evening is believable and natural - you begin to truly like Eddie and see why Rose is attracted to him and you begin to LOVE Rose even more.
In my opinion the ending is appropriate and respectful of the type of love the two discovered on that fateful first night.I repeat that it is a movie that will stay with you and one that you will want to re-visit again and again - a film that i consider a true masterpiece of the simplicity and power of human emotion and what can happen when people get down to just being themselves and taking a chance of opening up to another human being..
The film stars River Phoenix and Lili Taylor in my favorite roles of theirs as Eddie Birdlace and Rose Fenny, respectively.The film takes place in 1963, specifically the day before John F.
She agrees to go with him but later discovers that it is a "dogfight": a competition where the ugliest woman the marines can find is the winner.The reason I truly love (and I mean LOVE) this film is the simple romance.
I enjoyed seeing Eddie and Rose's love evolve naturally and realistically.Phoenix and Taylor have unique chemistry.
The dialogue is great; the characters say things that we people say in real life.There are absolutely NO WORDS to describe how much I love this movie.
I originally rented this one out after reading an article about it in Danny Peary's fun book "Alternate Oscars," in which he makes the case for Lili Taylor being more deserving of the 1991 Best Actress award than Jodie Foster, who won that year for "The Silence of the Lambs." Though I personally feel that Mimi Rogers should have won that dubious honor in '91 for her startling performance in "The Rapture," I must admit that Taylor does some very impressive work here as the surprisingly resilient, sweet, spunky and charming Rose, a supposedly ugly duckling who even the chauvinistic and foul-mouthed Eddie comes to realize is a blessing in his life.
Featuring a terrific soundtrack largely composed of early '60s folk songs (with a particularly fine use of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright") and sensitive direction by Nancy Savoca, "Dogfight" is a sweet little film that is certainly well worth any viewer's time.
Matter: which the song is and do interpret of the end of the movie, that of the hug of Phoenix and its love, that of the titles?
"Dogfight" is my favorite movie of all time.Lili Taylor is wonderful as always, and River Phoenix's portrayal of the coolly aloof but strangely charming Birdlace is wonderful.
The movie is an unlikely love story - the homely and sensitive young girl who dreams of becoming a singer abd the the young Jarhead who takes her to the Dogfight and ends up getting something much better then the fifty dollar prize - Rose.The ending of the movie is by and far the most touching part, at least to me.
The most atypical River Phoenix role, the furthest from his own personality comes in this film.
You can see why it was overlooked in the early 90s, but River Phoenix brings an elegance and a gravitas to this "little" film.
Lili Taylor was his foil perfectly, her breathy shy performance against his bravado and puffery wears him down and the tenderness between them is touching and beautiful - something that River has demonstrated in other films, most notably My Own Private Idaho.
The titular dogfight is a competition between the marines to pull the least attractive girl, but Birdlace (Phoenix) struggles to find someone and when he does find a plain Jane he realises that she is too good and too nice for the seedy wager and tries to get her out of it, and gets to know her in the process.The film is shown through a long flashback, and it's genius is that it doesn't over-narrate.
I was unaware that River Phoenix was the main character in this film, my being much older than most of his fans.
It is a true love story about two young people finding a budding relationship on the cusp of their adult lives during this time of turmoil.
What did they have in common just the fact that they were young and he's a man (boy) and she's a woman (girl) and let nature take care of the rest?The story time line was way off.
I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys great love stories.
It was definitely a tear-jerker for me, (actually, I cried at the beginning, middle, and end!) This is the PERFECT movie for couples, or girls who are about to give up on love, because this film shows that you never know when, where, or how you are going to meet your true love..
River Phoenix's Eddie Birdlace manages to humiliate Lily Taylor's Rose before finally seeing the human being underneath the unattractive coif and clothes--which of course makes him a better man.
River Phoenix plays his characters so well thought out and really gets into them.
The way River treats her (after the dogfight) in this movie I really adore!
The most obvious is that people today often only watch this film to see River Phoenix, an actor we all so sorely miss, but most often, unless you are a real hardcore fan, this one is not the one you rent to see him in.
He turns in a touching and believable performance as usual, but the best surprise of this film, other than the sure handed direction, is Lili Taylor.
I say this because unlike other war films, you get to know and love these young marines and understand their world, then realize how these men's worlds are shattered by the fight: the true tragedy of a war.
And the sequence where Eddie goes off to Okinawa after his night with Rose, with the great folk music of the era playing is like a beautiful dream we all have, a dream we never want to end.
And it has one of the best endings in film history,the only way a real love story can end: unknown.
It's truly unforgettable and opens you up to the awkwardness and the perfectness of love, (or something like it), in a way very few films accomplish or even attempt..
And I think that is because while Rose is such a driven and opinionated young girl, Eddie's character is the exact opposite, a guy frustrated with his situation for a reason he himself can't really explain.
I had loved his performance in the movie 'stand by me' and i continued to search for his best work.
I salute you too, Lili Taylor and River Phoenix..
But there is a side of Eddie Birdlace that is loving, caring, and sweet, and in a strange way, true.Lili Taylor is excellent as Rose Fenny,the innocent, sweet, country dreaming girl.
The movie has some funny scenes, some of them including River Phoenix attempting to jump over a fence with a vicious dog on the other side, and annoying a posh man who won't let them in the restaurant because Eddie isn't wearing a jacket.But there is a sentimental heart to the film , and it makes you think about love.The closure to the movie is a little strange, with Lili Taylor and River meeting again after war and hugging. |
tt0063255 | Mad Doctor of Blood Island | A woman running naked through the jungle on Blood Island is killed by something that resembles a man. At the same time, a ship arrives at the island carrying American pathologist Bill Foster (Ashley), who is investigating the discovery of green blood; Sheila Willard (Pettyjohn), who has come to find her father; and Carlos Lopez (Ronaldo Valdez), who wants to get his mother, Mrs. Lopez (Tita Muñoz), off the island. The captain of the ship claims that the island is cursed and tells a story of a man they picked up on a raft who bled green blood.
Sheila finds out that her father (Tony Edmunds) is a hopeless drunk. Carlos' mother doesn't want to leave the island, even though her husband, Don Ramon Lopez, is dead. Dr. Lorca (Ronald Remy) doesn't tell much about Don Ramon's death. Marla (Alicia Alonzo) drops some hints about Don Ramon, much to the annoyance of Carlos' mother.
Dr. Lorca and his assistant Razak (Bruno Punzalan) head into the jungle, looking for something. One night, a native with green sores on his body tries to break into the government house, but gets away. The next day, Willard goes into the jungle to watch Marla swim. Sheila follows him before she is attacked by a monster who butchers one of the natives. It is revealed that Dr. Lorca has been experimenting on the islanders, including Don Ramon, who was dying of cancer but was turned him into a monster by Lorca's serum.
Don Ramon kills his wife and Dr. Lorca captures Carlos. Marla, who was Don Ramon's lover, leads him to Dr. Lorca, who is apparently killed. A fire breaks out and Lorca's lab explodes. Sheila, her father, Dr. Foster and Carlos return to the ship to leave the island. A hand appears under a tarp, dripping green blood. | violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0430357 | Miami Vice | The movie opens in a night club on an upper story in a Miami high rise. Detectives James 'Sonny' Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Jamie Foxx), along with their partners Trudy Joplin (Naomie Harris), Larry Zito (Justin Theroux), and Gina Calabrese (Elizabeth Rodriguez), are mingling in the club, obviously waiting for something to happen or someone to arrive. While waiting, Sonny orders a drink and flirts with the bartender. Outside, two white Escalades pull up to the club and out jumps a 15-person entourage of thuggish men and scantily clad women, led by Neptune (Isaach De Bankole). The entourage skips the line, enters the club, and once inside Neptune approaches undercover Detective Stan Switek (Dominick Lombardozzi). It seems Neptune is a pimp, and he offers his ladies' services to Switek. Switek notices one of the prostitutes looks shaken and upset, but Neptune explains that she is feeling a little sick. Switek takes two of the prostitutes to an elevator, while Neptune and the thugs take the other ladies, including the upset prostitute, in the other direction. Tubbs sees the upset prostitute being handled roughly, and begins to follow her with Sonny right behind. One of the thugs get in Tubbs way, but Tubbs quickly dispatches him. Some more thugs begin attacking Tubbs and Sonny, but the detectives easily beat them up. However, Neptune and the upset prostitute make it to an exit. Meanwhile, Zito and Calabrese are using a cellphone to watch a live video of Switek undressing with the prostitutes.Sonny's pursuit is then interrupted by a phone call. Sonny walks out to a balcony to hear the call better. It turns out to be Alonzo Stevens (John Hawkes), a former informant who worked with Sonny and Tubbs. Hawkes is frantic and driving very fast. He tells Sonny that a deal is about to go very bad, but he didn't give up Sonny's name, and he wants him to look out for Lucianna, who is apparently Steven's wife. Sonny asks for more details but Hawkes is too frantic and states he needs to make a quick stop at home. Tubbs joins Sonny on the balcony, and Sonny tells him that the Neptune problem will have to wait. Sonny then calls the FBI and gets on the line with Agent Fujima (Ciaran Hinds). He asks Fujima if the informant Stevens had been working on any cases for the FBI, and Fujima explains that Stevens was indeed working on a case and some inside men were currently in the process of making a deal. Sonny tells Fujima that he believes these men's cover had been blown and asks if these men had any back up, to which Fujima replies no. At the same time, Tubbs tries calling Lucianna at Steven's house but only gets the answering machine. We get a glimpse inside Steven's house while the message is being recorded and see a scary looking white dude covered in tattoos looking through the fridge.The movie then cuts to the drug deal in question, which is taking place next to the water. The two FBI men get out of their car and approach a group of scary looking white men. The leader of the scary looking men, Coleman (Tom Towles), tells the two men that they have all the drugs they need. There is a drug for money swap, and the two FBI men return to their car with the bag of drugs. Right before they get it the car, Coleman yells to them, "How long have you been working for the FBI?" The two men realize their cover is blown and try to get in their car and drive away. Unfortunately the scary looking men have two hidden snipers on a boat with very large caliber weapons. These snipers begin firing and completely obliterate the two men inside their car.The movie cuts back to Sonny and Tubbs who are trying to catch up with Stevens. The rest of the squad is in a helicopter overhead helping the two detectives find Stevens. They eventually find him and pull him over on to the side of the freeway. They begin questioning Stevens, who explains he was working with some FBI men but was forced to give them up. Apparently the FBI was compromised, Stevens was revealed as an informant, and the drug dealers forced Stevens to identify the FBI men. Stevens reiterates that he never mentioned Sonny or Tubbs. Stevens, however, is very afraid for his wife and needs to get home to check on her. Tubbs explains that the police have already been sent there. The movie cuts to Steven's house where we see police finding a dead body. We then cut back to Tubbs, who gets a phone call explaining that the bad guys already made it to Steven's house. Tubbs tells Stevens it is too late to go home. Sonny and Tubbs stare at Stevens, trying to look sympathetic. Stevens get very upset, turns towards the freeway, and walks right in to path of an oncoming truck, turning himself into a bloody streak on the asphalt.Sonny and Tubbs begin driving over to Stevens' house, but before they get there, their superior, Lieutenant Martin Castillo (Barry Shabaka Henley) tells them to turn around and meet them at a designated location. Sonny and Tubbs get there, and are met by Castillo and Agent Fujima. Agent Fujima introduces himself as the man on the phone earlier. Fujima explains to Sonny and Tubbs that the FBI was trying to infiltrate an Aryan Brotherhood drug ring, but somehow the FBI's undercover operations were compromised. Since the FBI can no longer trust its own undercover operations, they need to enlist an outside undercover operation, namely Miami Vice! Sonny and Tubbs agree to do it, and they then begin to discuss the Aryan Brotherhood's operation, and how they can infiltrate it. It is explained that the Aryan Brotherhood picks up drugs that are transported from a South American cartel, and the best way to get in is to get involved with the transportation of the drugs.Before they split, Fujima agrees to temporarily deputize Sonny and Tubbs, effectively making them FBI.Later, Sonny, Tubbs and Castillo are watching some infrared video of two super cool speedboats traveling from Haiti to Miami. The two boats are traveling right next to each other, so that they look like one blip on the radar. The group decides they need to take over this route.Cut to a dock, where Sonny, Tubbs and their squad are donning ski masks and loading their weapons. They then burst in to a small warehouse full of drugs and take away all the men inside. They then go out onto the dock and throw grenades into two super cool speedboats, blowing them up.Cut to a fancy apartment where the squad meets up with Nicholas (Eddie Marsan), an informant who had helped the squad in the past. They tell Nicholas they want to set up a meeting with the South American cartel. Nicholas is reluctant, until Trudy reminds him that he is rich because of them and if they wanted to they could cause him some serious trouble. Nicholas is nervous but agrees.Back at someone's house, Tubbs is taking a shower. In steps Trudy, revealing that the two of them have an amorous relationship. There is a bit of soap lathering but nothing else.Later, out in the living room, Sonny, Tubbs and Trudy start talking. Trudy explains that a new identity will be created for Sonny and Tubbs, and that the drug dealers will be able to access that identity.Later, Tubbs jumps in bed with Trudy and they do it.We cut to Haiti, where a bunch of people are passing around a usb flash drive. The flash drive eventually ends up in the hands of Jose Yero (John Ortiz), who downloads it contents, which turns out to be Sonny and Tubbs' new false identities. Apparently Yero was checking into these guys and the new false identities worked.The squad flies down to Haiti to meet with Yero. They end up in a really seedy part of town, where everyone is carrying guns. They meet Yero in a basement with a bunch of thugs. Also there is Isabella (Li Gong), watching the events go down. Sonny and Tubbs sit down with Yero, and Yero asks what kind of operation Sonny and Tubbs run, and what kind of jobs have they pulled in the past. Tubbs acts offended, and explains that Yero must have looked up this kind of information before and he didn't expect an interview. Yero explains that he is a real bad ass, and is referred to as the cerdo loco, or crazy pig. He gets real aggressive and all the thugs start pulling out their guns. At the same time Sonny pulls out a hand grenade and pulls the pin. Sonny explains that they can all die or they can all make some money. Yero explains he is actually counter intelligence for the operation and wanted to know what kind of people Sonny and Tubbs were. Yero tells them to wait at a hotel for further word. On the way out Sonny and Isabella exchange glances.Sonny and Tubbs wait at the hotel, and after waiting four hours they decide they've waited long enough. They walk into the room where somehow Yero and Isabella and all the thugs are waiting. Next, we see Sonny and Tubbs driven in a car. Sonny remarks that he has reception but no service, meaning his cell phone is being jammed. Tubbs says that there are as hi tech as the American army in Baghdad. Sonny and Tubbs are then brought to a convoy of SUV's. Isabella gets in to one of the cars, and Sonny and Tubbs soon enter the same car. Inside they meet Jesus Montaya (John Cortiz), the head of the cartel, who is seated in the back seat of the car with Isabella. Montaya tells them he has agreed to use them as transporters, but he expects results not a service. He also tells them that they will never see him again, and he wishes their families well. Sonny and Isabella exchange more glances.We cut to a South American jungle where a native looking dude throws a bale of what is apparently drugs into a plane where Sonny takes it and stows it away. With Tubbs flying, they take off with the drugs. The drug plane flies next to another plane so as to look like one blip on the radar. Apparently the rest of the transportation is uneventful.Sonny calls Yero and tells him the drugs were delivered but there were complications along the way. Yero and Isabella meet Sonny, Tubbs, and the rest of the squad at a run down house. Sonny makes up a story that during the course of the drug run, another group of drug runners tried to steal their shipment. They were able to handle these pirates, and in the process they recovered another large stash of drugs. Sonny shows Yero the stash they recovered, and Yero recognizes the drugs as the stash that had been stolen earlier. Yero is suspicious, but Sonny and Tubbs play it off, even though they had in fact stolen it originally, and threaten to go sell it to someone else.Later, in a much fancier house, Yero and Isabella ask Sonny how much they want for the recovered drug stash. Sonny says they can have it for free, and to consider it an investment. In return, Isabella agrees to give them another shipment. Isabella stands and leaves, but Sonny decides to follow her out while Yero and Tubbs work out the details. Sonny asks Isabella if he can buy her a drink. She asks him what kind of drink he likes and he says Mojitos. She then looks at Sonny's speedboat and asks if it is fast. He says it is and she tells him she knows of a place.Once in the boat, Sonny discovers that Isabella is not married to Montaya, and that she is a business woman. Isabella explains that the place she had in mind is in Cuba, where her Chinese mother raised her. Sonny says he can't get in with his passport but Isabella explains she has connections. Sonny then buckles her seat belt for her and begins driving his boat really fast. They end up in Cuba, where they drink their Mojitos. They talk for a while, flirting, and then begin to dance. They really get it to and then we cut to the hotel room where they have sex. Apparently the sex is so great it makes Isabella cry. In the morning, they begin talking business, and Sonny convinces Isabella to let them be percentage partners in the shipments instead of flat fee carriers. During breakfast, they discuss how their relationship could never last.Sonny meets up with Tubbs, Castillo, and Agent Fujima. Fujima wants to bring down the Aryan Brotherhood but Sonny wants to keep the operation going so they can bring down Montaya as well. Fujima and Sonny get in a heated argument over it, and since Sonny has the leverage he eventually wins out. After Castillo and Fujima leave, Tubbs questions Sonny's motives, and points out that there is deep cover and then there is which way is up.Later back in South America, Isabella and Montaya are sitting on a bed talking. Isabella tells Montaya she slept with Sonny. She also explains the partnership deal. Montaya seems reluctant, and suggests killing them instead. Isabella tells him to do what he feels is best, and Montaya then backs off and agrees to try the partnership deal. Montaya then begins kissing Isabella and the two of them begin making out.We then cut to a club in Haiti where Sonny and Tubbs have come to met Yero. Sonny walks in with Isabella and Tubbs walks in with Trudy. The club belongs to Yero, who explains that he is a disco kid. Yero explains the upcoming shipment, which is to be delivered by boat to the Aryan Brotherhood. After the meeting, they all go out to dance. Yero watches, with apparent jealousy, as Sonny and Isabella start dancing and are obviously super infatuated with each other.After they dance, Sonny and Isabella go for a walk where Sonny asks Isabella if she has an insurance plan in case something bad happens.Sonny and Tubbs and the rest of the squad (except Trudy) begin loading drugs from a freighter onto some speedboats. Meanwhile, Trudy is returning from the grocery store and entering her house when she is attacked and kidnapped by a bunch of Aryan Brotherhood thugs. They take her to a meth lab and tie her up, and she hears a jet plane fly overhead. One of the thugs calls Sonny and lets him hear Trudy, who in the few seconds she has mentions a white trash trailer park and airplanes. Coleman then talks to Sonny and explains that the drop has to be executed in a very specific manner at a specific bridge, to which Sonny agrees.The squad realizes that the Aryan Brotherhood will probably kill Trudy anyway, but not until they get the drugs. They enlist Castillo to get in a helicopter and look at trailer parks around the airport, specifically for a trailer with some big antennas on it. They take their speedboats up a river towards the bridge, but before they get there they drop off Sonny, Tubbs, and Calabrese. Zito and Switek continue on in the boats, very slowly to give them time.Castillo, in his chopper, finds the specific trailer. Sonny, Tubbs, and Calabrese, heavily armed, descend on the trailer. Sonny takes out a sentry while Calabrese pokes a scope under the trailer to take a look inside and see Trudy. Tubbs grabs a pizza box from the trash and knocks on the door. One of the rednecks opens the door and is pulled out and knocked out by Tubbs. Tubbs and Calabrese jump in and fight two of the other rednecks and Tubbs shoots one of them in the head. A fourth redneck grabs a detonator that is attached to a bomb around Trudy's neck. He claims that if he is shot he will release the button and the bomb will go off. Calabrese counters that if she shoots him right above the cerebellum he will effectively be brain dead but his body will still be alive and he will not let go. He does nothing, and she asks if he believes her or not. She then shoots him right in the head, and the bomb does not go off. Tubbs unties Trudy and carries her out to the trailer entrance.Meanwhile, Yero has a video feed to the trailer. He activates his own bomb inside the trailer, and just as Trudy is walking down the steps it goes off, throwing Trudy through the air. Trudy is brought to the hospital where the squad learns she is in a coma and in a very serious condition.Outside the hospital, Sonny gets a call from Yero who claims he heard there were some troubles with the drop off. Sonny is pissed, and knows that Yero was in on it. Sonny arranges for another drop off, and this time demands that Yero be there.Cut to a scene with Yero talking to Montaya. Yero says he has no hard evidence that the "Americans" were at fault for the drop, but he does have evidence that they are not to be trusted. He shows Montaya video from the disco when Sonny and Isabella were dancing and getting super into it. He tells Montaya that their relationship is not casual.Meanwhile, Sonny and Tubbs are getting ready for the drop off. Castillo explains that the Aryan Brotherhood will obviously change the location immediately before the drop off so that it will very difficult for the squad to get set up. Castillo also explains that he will run the show and they must wait until he can find the shooters. Tubbs talks to Sonny about his relationship with Isabella, and Sonny explains he will do what he has to do.The squad is waiting when they get the call from Coleman concerning the new drop off location. The squad speeds there and Castillo tries to get set up with his snipers. Sonny, Tubbs, and the rest of the squad approach the bad guys at the drop off point, which is next to the water. Castillo tells Sonny and Tubbs to stall because he can't find the shooters. Tubbs calls out for Yero who emerges with Isabella. Yero explains that Montaya gave Isabella over to Yero and he will have his way with her and then violently kill her when he is done. Coleman asks to see the drugs and Sonny replies that he will not show the drugs until he sees the money. Coleman agrees to send over one of his men in return for one of theirs, but Sonny says that he will only agree if Isabella is the one to come over. Coleman agrees and sends over Isabella while Switek goes to look at the money.As Sonny walks Isabella to the car, Castillo finally finds the shooters and has his own snipers take them out. As the shooters are shot, one of them lets off a shot, which causes a massive shoot out. Everyone takes cover, and most of the bad guys are taken out. Zito gets shot in the knee but keeps fighting. Sonny puts Isabella behind a car, and runs forward. Isabella sees his badge and finally realizes he is a cop. She runs forward to attack him, and Sonny has to tackle her to prevent Coleman from shooting her. Sonny then turns and shoots Coleman in the foot, knocking him to ground. He then puts two bullets right in Coleman's head.Meanwhile, Tubbs has tracked down Yero who has run away with his bodyguard. Tubbs takes out the bodyguard and then blows a gaping hole in Yero's chest.After the gunfight, Sonny grabs Isabella and throws her in his car. He drives her away to a safe house by the beach. He calls some people up and arranges to have a boat take her away back to Cuba. She is upset at first, but then resigns herself to being sad. They then talk about how it could never be and they get really sad as they look longingly at each other.Tubbs is back at the hospital, holding Trudy's hand. Her hand begins to twitch, and Tubbs gets all excited as she comes out of her coma.Back at the safe house, the sheets are shown to be all ruffled and Isabella is floating away on a boat. The last scene is of Sonny walking back into the hospital | dark, neo noir, murder, violence, psychedelic, suspenseful | train | imdb | null |
tt0095484 | Lady in White | The film begins with a successful horror author returning to his hometown of Willowpoint Falls. Stopping at a cemetery to visit a pair of gravestones, he begins to tell his driver their story. On Halloween 1962, 9-year-old Franklin "Frankie" Scarlatti (Lukas Haas) tells a scary story to his classmates. Afterwards, two of school jokesters Donald (Jared Rushton) and Louie (Gregory Levinson) take Frankie's hat and toss it on a shelf in the cloak room. They let Frankie know where it is and then lock him in in the cloak room as he tries to get it back.At nightfall, Frankie is still locked in the cloak room and sees the ghost of a little girl re-enact her death. Afterwards, a darkened figure enters the cloak room and begins to unscrew the metal vent unaware that Frankie is still hiding in the room. A rat startles Frankie which alerts the stranger to his presence. The stranger attacks Frankie and he loses consciousness taking him into a dreamlike state where he speaks to the ghost girl. Frankie is revived by his father giving him CPR and rushed to the hospital. Police find and arrest the black school janitor Harold Williams who was found drunk in the basement.Frankie is soon released from the hospital and enjoys a comfortable recovery with his family. His brother Geno, brings a newspaper home which proclaims Frankie to be a star. Geno is reprimanded for making an inappropriate remark and the newspaper is thrown away. Secretly, Frankie finds the newspaper and reads the story regarding his attack which coincidentally links him to an on-going 10 year investigation into the deaths of 11 other children at the hands of a serial killer. Within the same article, he learns the name of the ghost - Melissa Ann Montgomery (Joelle Jacobi). Soon, Frankie sees the ghost of Melissa frequently and he befriends her. Her only request is that he help her find her mother.When he returns to school, Frankie finishes removing the grate cover on the airvent in the cloakroom and removes an odd assortment of children's objects. He singles out two things, a hairclip - which he assumes to belongs to Melissa as he saw something hard and shiny fly off her hair and drop into the grate during her struggle - and an old high school class ring. Frankie cannot figure out the significance of anything he found in the grate. A few more weeks pass and the seasons change.One day, Frankie overhears a conversation between his father and the chief of police. The chief readily admits that Mr. Williams is probably a scapegoat for the murders. The chief also explains that blood found within the cloakroom links that location to the murder of Melissa Montgomery - a fact not released to the press. In a flash, Frankie figures out that the killer came back for his class ring which he dropped into the airvent the night he killed Melissa.Unbeknownst to Frankie, the ring has fallen out of his pocket in his bedroom several days earlier (and picked up by Geno). Frankie relays his theories to family friend Phil. Several days later, Frankie is lured out to the cliffs by Donald and Louie and encounters a lady in white clothing inside an old abandoned cottage. All three kids run out of the house scared but Frankie realizes that she may be Melissa's mother and tries to explain the situation to Geno (who has come looking for him due to the late hour). Geno does not believe him but now understands the origin of the ring he found. Although he does not tell Frankie that he found the ring.Melissa's ghost haunts Frankie in a non-threatening way. She appears one night and even Geno sees her. Suddenly, both boys follow her as she re-creates her death scene at 10pm (it is implied that this happens every night). They are late arriving at the school and by the time they get to the front door, her ghost is seen being carried down the stairs (presumably dead) and back out of the school. This time, Frankie follows her but Geno is incapacitated by a thorn in the foot and cannot give chase. Alone, Frankie follows the body (that is being carried by an unseen person) out to the cliffs. There, Frankie sees that at the last minute, Melissa regains consciousness, screams and is thrown over the cliffs alive. Afterwards, Melissa's mother runs out of the old white cottage calling for her daughter. She sees Melissa's body at the foot of the cliffs and then throws herself over the edge. Geno finally catches up with a very startled Frankie and they both go home.Harold Williams, the black school janitor, who got drunk while watching a ballgame in the school basement on the night of Frankie's assault, is accused of the attempted murder of Frankie and the murder of Melissa and ten other children. This sets off instances of outrage in the community but Angelo Scarlatti (Alex Rocco), Frankie's father, believes Williams' claim of innocence upon failure to link the janitor to Frankie's assault and the fact that Williams is also a father. Williams is later freed when a grand jury decides against going to trial due to insufficient evidence, but he is then murdered by the mother of one of the victims (who believes him to be guilty).Meanwhile, Geno continues to investigate the ring that Frankie found in the vent. His father has an old trunk full of old sentimental objects and he notices that his father owns an identical class ring from the same school year. He realizes that the killer may be in the same graduating class as his father. Geno compares the initials on the old ring with his father's yearbook, and discovers that the murderer is family friend Phil. He frantically runs to tell his father and the police chief. Frankie, who is with Phil at that time, figures out the truth when Phil is whistling "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking" (Melissa's song) and unwittingly tips off Phil. Phil attempts to attack Frankie, but he escapes and runs to the cliffs. Phil chases him and admits to being the killer, but claims he had no idea he was attacking Frankie on Halloween. He explains that he wouldn't have done it had Frankie not been wearing his Halloween mask as he cares about him a great deal. Phil attacks Frankie by strangling him and demands the whereabouts/return of the ring. Suddenly he's struck from behind by an unseen person and both Frankie and Phil collapse.Frankie then awakens in the well-preserved bedroom (presumably the old cottage) which had been Melissa's, under the care of the woman who saved him, Amanda Harper (Katherine Helmond). She reveals that she is Melissa's aunt and has been despondent over the loss of her sister and niece. She also tells Frankie that she set fire to her own house in an attempt to take her own life in order to be reunited with her family, but was rescued from the blaze and subsequently branded the town crazy.Before she can finish her explanations, Phil sneaks into the cottage, attacks, and murders Harper. Several candles are knocked over during the struggle and a large housefire begins. Phil rescues Frankie from the burning cottage but only to try and throw Frankie off the cliff. Frankie puts up a great struggle and in the end is saved by the ghost of Melissa's mother (the true Lady in White) who scares Phil over the edge of the cliff. Having brought the ghost of Melissa with him, Frankie watches as she and the Lady in White reunite and ascend into the sky.Frankie attempts to crawl away from the cliff edge but is grabbed around the ankle by a struggling Phil (who's holding onto a lone tree branch). Frankie's father Angelo, Geno, the police, and hunters with scent-tracking dogs arrive. Angelo frees Frankie and tries to save Phil, but at the last minute Phil lets go and falls to his death. With Phil dead, the movie ends with the group watching as the cottage burns down while the snow begins to fall. | murder, cult, horror, violence, psychedelic, revenge, sadist | train | imdb | This movie isn't any kind of masterpiece, but I still enjoyed it.Starring Lukas Haas (the Amish boy in "Witness"), Len Cariou, Alex Rocco (Moe Greene in "The Godfather") and Katherine Helmond..
Just like Taboada's "Hasta el viento tiene miedo", LaLoggia's "Lady in White" is an absolutely astonishing movie in every part of it, starting from the visual style to the plot.
Once finished watching, someone would think that it's the plot that makes this movie so unique, but for a movie-lover it's not too hard to remember at least a couple of other flicks with similar plots but miles weaker than "Lady in White", so it's obvious that everything: acting, direction, music, design, photography; so well fit together so they create a potion of pure imagination incredibly interknit with an almost touchable reality.
The real power of the film for me was the presentation of the film - the creepy moments with the Lady in White, Katherine Helmond as a crazed woman obsessed with candles, and the claustrophobic atmosphere of a little school room.
It is a ghost story, a murder mystery, a nostalgia film, and a family drama.The story is centered on Frankie, a successful novelist of horror stories.
Much of the story is seen in the context of an Italo-American family, with mild comedic incidents.Major spoiler: The identity of the murderer is a bit easy to figure out, particularly with him whistling an early Bing Crosby song that Frankie (and the audience) knows is connected to the little girl's ghost.The film delivers on all its fronts, and is perfect to watch after the Trick-Or-Treaters have finished..
Barry hated HELLBOUND which is unsurprising since he is notoriouslyintolerant of gore and violence but he did praise THE LADY IN WHITE but after finally seeing it I have to admit it's a very patchy movie Much of the problem lies in the film trying to say a little too much .
Considering the title of the movie the title character doesn't make an appearance until well into the second half of the running time and up till then GIRL IN PINK would have been a more appropriate title In fact nothing much at all happens until a subplot featuring a ring comes to the fore and when it does the story becomes compelling and exciting and a little bit disturbing .
I think the idea is good and the performances are excellent, especially Lucas Haas and Alex Rocco but that the script, direction and over-the-top corny moments hinder it.If you don't mind ropey effects and are a sucker for sugar then you may well love this as much as I once did, if you love films and can over-look glaring faults then I would recommend checking it out (the archery scene is still stand out for me and the best part of the film).If you are very discerning it will grate too much, still I don't regret buying it and will no doubt watch it again..
There's a racial subplot and a subtle theme of pedophilia that run throughout the movie and sadly, the former never ends up being resolved and the latter does little more than skew this movie away from being for kids, despite its B grade special effects and the fact that most of the main characters are children.It is a good movie an it's directed quite well, however the movie sadly feels like it was caught in a tug of war between the director, writer and the people financing the film.
As seen through the eyes of young Frankie Scarlatti, the mysterious "Lady in White" becomes the thread connecting the pursuit of a child killer with the appearance of a young girl's ghost.
Set in the town of Willowpoint Falls, the movie begins with the return of a grown up Frankie, now a successful writer of supernatural fiction, as he recalls the childhood events which directed his career path.
A Halloween prank results in Frankie being locked in his school's cloakroom overnight, and the ethereal vision of a young victim and her attacker sets in motion a series of events which will ultimately reveal the shocking identity of the serial killer and the secret behind the legendary "Lady in White".
(Which wasn't really creepy.)Then the movies goes Mystery away, finding out who the attack or Killer was, (Some clues long the away, which make sense in the end,)I liked it how it was revealed who the attack was, it something so small give away, some of the of the fantasy scenes were really pointless.Some of effects this movie looked really outdated now, I think they should just kept Halloween theme though out the movie, (However this could be watch at Halloween and Xmas).However I felt missed out on the aftermath of the whole story, Wanted to see people find who the killer was, it never get to see that, which I way going give this movie.
The young boy soon finds himself on a path to identify the murderer and help the ghost of the young girl.What I really enjoyed about this movie was the ability to cause tension and fear (even if minimalistically) without gore, cheap scares, and superficial jump scenes.
There is a sensitivity about him, but at the same time he exudes the playful energy of any young boy at that age.For those looking for a decent ghost story that is also something the kids can enjoy (naturally, not for small kids), then this is definitely worth a watch.
When you see where the Halloween topic has been through,the likes of Carpenter's stuff,it's a wonder one can make a non-gore ,adult,clever movie on such a hackneyed subject.The main theme in "lady in white" is the fear of losing our dear ones,a fear which dwells in every child.Not only the young hero-played by a sensitive actor-lost his mother at such an early age but remember that Phil suffered the death of both his father and his mother too.Even the ghost (the little girl) cannot find peace of mind because of her splintered childhood.The black children will experience this terrible fate.The spirit of HALLOWEEN is the core of the movie who could be dedicated to our faithful departed.
After getting locked into his school's cloak-room by a couple of class bullies on Halloween night, Frankie witnesses a ghostly re-enactment of a murder that took place there years ago!
The setting is placed in a small lovable New England town, which is quickly transposed into a genuinely creepy and surreal atmosphere when a young boy "Franki" gets locked in his school closet on Halloween night and witnesses a ghostly reenactment of the murder of a young schoolgirl.He then holds the key to help the girl "rest in peace" by finding her killer.......
LADY IN WHITE is one of those rare gems.A murder mystery, a ghost story and a coming-of-age "dramedy" all wrapped up in one, it is the realization of the vision of one very gifted director, Frank La Loggia, whom I believe has paid a heavy price for staying true to his instincts, when it comes to what kind of films he wants to make.
The story begins with the recollection of author Frankie Scarlatti, whose specialty runs into Stephen King-like novels and stories, as he remembers his childhood in the town of Willowpoint Falls, in upstate New York, and the events there that would shape the rest of his life and his career.Young Frankie, (Lukas Hass from WITNESS) becomes the victim of a prank played on him by two of his school chums.
But more than that; he becomes a reluctant witness to her murder after the fact, and nearly victim number eleven.Frankie survives the ordeal, and in the events that follow, he learns about prejudice, paranoia, how not to fear the darkness or the dead, and that the greatest terror of all comes from the living, especially when evil strikes closer to home than you ever dared believe.The most amazing thing about this film is how, on such a limited budget, La Loggia evokes such a strong sense of time and place.
What's more, the care and skill he used to coax such remarkable performances out of the cast reflect what a labor of love this was for him, and I believe that if he never makes another film, LADY IN WHITE will stand the test of time as one of the best films of its kind.Aside from the great work done by Haas, then about midway through his child-acting days, Alex Rocco, Len Cariou and Katherine Helmond give some of the best performances of their careers.
The efforts of the entire cast, as orchestrated by La Loggia, ensure that this is one character-driven movie that does not suffer for lack of car-chases, explosions or elaborate CGI set pieces.Though it may be a little too intense for members of the younger set, (under 13), for a story that will delight, chill, amaze and move you, you won't get better than this, whether you sit down to watch it alone, or preferably, with the entire family..
I remember some memorable scenes:Lukas Haas being trap in the coat room and actually climbing to view the window outside the school campusI remember when he was reciting a ghost story and the teacher jumped.My first glimpse of seeing the Lady in White the first time:(she scarred me when I was little and I must confess this was it)The lizard incident with Lukas Haas scared me the most.The shooting involving the mother killing the accused black man.Now, seeing it the second time.
My affection for Frank LaLoggia's modern classic is easy to explain: the film's world is similar to the world I grew up in: small town, Italian grandparents, loving blue collar parents, and cronies fascinated with monsters and ghosts.
Writer-director LaLoggia so perfectly recreates the 1960s childhood experience that one totally identifies with young Frankie Scarlatti (Lukas Haas) as he's caught up with murder, ghosts, a benevolent madwoman, and a precious family friend with a dark secret.
If I get some good special effects and strong camera work a film goes to the top of my list.Lady in White has all of the items on my check list.The added bonus is that I can watch this movie over and over again.
One of the many strengths of Frank LaLoggia's 1988 ghost story "Lady In White" might be considered uncommon for a horror film; there is a lot of care, passion and compassion both behind and in front of the cameras.
And that's exactly what LaLoggia does with this nostalgic tale.If you like your horror films to have a bit more originality and style than today's cookie- cutter Hollywood fare, then don't miss Lady in White..
A ghost story that utilizes atmosphere, a touching and at times complex story that is grounded in characters that we care about, and style in spades, makes the Lady In White a movie that you need to see this and every Halloween season..
But LaLoggia's ambition and genuine affection for his story lifts this far above many of 1988's tepid releases.Plot sees Lukas Haas play Frankie, a young boy who as part of a bully prank gets locked in the school cloak-room on Halloween night 1962.
Surviving the attack (one of the film's itchy flaws since the killer must closely know him to let him live), Frankie embarks upon a mission to uncover the story behind the little girl's murder.
LaLoggia's movie also benefits from strong performances from the principal actors, with Haas (unassuming with commonsense child mannerisms) & Rocco (emotionally tortured but stoic father) playing out two of the best turns in the horror calendar year.Guessing the killer isn't hard, and in fact he shows up rather too early.
LADY IN WHITE tackles a ghost story, comedy, racism and family in a movie that doesn't quite deliver all the goods but I liked it for what it was.Young Frankie Scarlatti, upon having a trick played on him by two smart ass classmates, is locked in the cloakroom (closet-whatever you want to call it) of his school and witnesses the murder of a little girl.
Thus begins Frank LaLoggia's beautiful and atmospheric LADY IN WHITE, a ghost story that is so much more.
But after fellow students lock him in the school cloakroom, he comes across the ghost of a little girl that will change his life forever.LaLoggia helmed 1981's FEAR NO EVIL, but that outing is far and away different that this story, which combines the innocence of childhood and the brutality of adulthood.
"Lady in White" is about a young boy named Frankie Scarlatti (Lukas Haas), who lives in a rural small town.
After the horrific incident, Frankie becomes immersed in a mystery involving the young murdered girl, her relation to a ghostly woman known as the 'Lady in white', and the serial killer who has claimed the lives of countless other children for the past ten years.I watched this movie when I was about nine or ten years old, and it truly frightened me.
Though the kids frequently tell tales of the Lady in White, we only ever get one real scene of an actual terror involving the specter and its' played almost more for laughs than scares.If you want a good ghost story, I can names dozens that are better.
Lady in White is set in the small US town of Willowpoint Falls during 1962 where a young ten year old boy Frankie Scarlatti (Lukas Haas) has been locked inside the school cloakroom by two bullies the night before Halloween, trapped inside Frankie sees the ghost of a young girl playing before she is killed.
Frankie decides to investigate the murders & expose the killer with some help from his new ghostly friend...Written, produced & directed by Frank LaLoggia who also composed the music for it Lady in White is a strange film to watch, it mixes all sorts of genres & styles to reasonable if not amazing success.
Lady in White is basically a fairly mild ghost story that goes in many different directions as it's told from the perspective of a young boy it's a coming of age drama, comedic at times emotional tear jerking nostalgic chiller that even has a stab at bringing up the idea of racism from the early 60's.
There's no real gore although someone is shot & not much violence either, Lady in White goes for mood rather than scares.With a supposed budget of about $4,700,000 this had a lot more money behind it than many independent horror films ever had or ever will have, it looks nice enough & has good production values although some of the special effects have dated badly.
The acting is very good here & one of the films strongest points, the child actor's have that rare ability not to be annoying & feel natural & at ease while director LaLoggia has an uncredited cameo as Frankie later in life during the opening prologue.Lady in White is an odd film that feels like a mix of ideas & themes, it's a very slow film which I think hurts it but the quaint small town drama of family life intertwined with a ghost story may be enough for some to like it.
Suddenly, this ghostly girl is haunting him constantly, showing up, wanting him to follow her, wanting him to help solve the mystery of her murder so that she can rest in peace.In a parallel ghost story within the film, a mysterious "Lady in White", another ghost, haunts the seaside cliffs in the small town, walking back and forth and weeping.
Luckily, he also gifted us with this film, a ghost story that bombed on initial release but has gone on to be a celebrated film, one that's just as much about growing up as it is about murder.Horror author Franklin "Frankie" Scarlatti (as an adult, he's played by the director, but in the film itself, it's Lukas Haas) is on his way back to Willowpoint Falls and relates the story of how way back in 1962, over Halloween, he was attacked and nearly strangled to death by a mysterious figure in black.
Even more frightening, he witnesses the death of a young redhead girl, who has ties to the mysterious lady in white, an urban legend that all of the schoolboys live in fear of.The police arrest the school's black janitor, Harold "Willy" Williams, for the killings and the way the town reacts to this forms the moral backbone of the film.
It IS scary, especially the scenes with Melissa, the little girl ghost, being murdered, and the ghostly re-enactment of her mother's suicide later on...and then there's the extremely suspensful (and again scary) scene of young Frankie fighting for his life when the same man who murdered Melissa tries to throw him off the cliffs...trust me, it's pretty heavy stuff.The basic plot is that on Halloween in 1962 (the setting of the story), Frankie Scarlotti is locked in his schools cloak room when two of his "friends" play a prank on him.
Now Frankie, after making a promise to Melissa when he met her while in a near-death like state, is determind to solve the murders of Melissa so that the little ghost girl can re-unit with her mother...a white robed woman who roams the local cliffs, labelled by many as the lady in white.The best things about Lady In White, aside from the great story, are the cast, sets and costumes.
Although "Lady In White" is not an adventure film, it is nonetheless adventurous for young Frankie Scarlatti.
Frank LaLoggia's "Lady's in White" is a film that is seen from a young boy's perspective.
Those things, Frankie discovers, later on, belong to the children that were murdered in the town.Lucas Haas, who started in films as a young boy, was an unusual presence in his early appearances. |
tt0327162 | The Stepford Wives | The premise involves the married men of the fictional town of Stepford, Connecticut and their fawning, submissive, impossibly beautiful wives. The protagonist is Joanna Eberhart, a talented photographer newly arrived from New York City with her husband and children, eager to start a new life. As time goes on, she becomes increasingly disturbed by the zombie-like, submissive wives of Stepford, especially when she sees her once independent-minded friends, fellow new arrivals to Stepford, turn into mindless, docile housewives overnight. Her husband, who seems to be spending more and more time at meetings of the local men's association, mocks her fears.
As the story progresses, Joanna becomes convinced that the wives of Stepford are being poisoned or brainwashed into submission by the men's club. She visits the library and researches the pasts of Stepford's wives, discovering that some of the women were once feminist activists and very successful professionals and that the leader of the men's club is a former Disney engineer and others are artists and scientists, capable of creating lifelike robots. Her friend Bobbie helps her investigate, going so far as to write to the EPA to inquire about possible environmental toxins in Stepford. However, eventually, Bobbie is also transformed into a docile housewife and has no interest in her previous activities.
At the end of the novel, Joanna decides to flee Stepford but when she gets home she finds that her children have been taken. She asks her husband to let her leave but he takes her car keys. She manages to escape from the house on foot and several of the men's club members track her down. They corner her in the woods, and she accuses them of creating robots out of the town's women. The men deny the accusation and ask Joanna if she would believe them if she saw one of the other women bleed. Joanna agrees to this, and they take her to Bobbie's house. Bobbie's husband and son are upstairs, with loud rock music playing as if to cover screams. The scene ends as Bobbie brandishes a knife at her former friend.
In the story's epilogue, Joanna has become another Stepford wife gliding through the local supermarket, having given up her career as a photographer, while Ruthanne (a new resident in Stepford) appears poised to become the conspiracy's next victim. | mystery, revenge, comedy, satire | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0120762 | Mulan | During the Han Dynasty in ancient China, the legendary Great Wall fails to keep out the notorious Hun army and their ruthless leader, Shan Yu (Miguel Ferrer). The alarm is raised, and the Emperor (Pat Morita) entrusts General Li (James Shigeta) with mobilizing an army to protect China. The wise Emperor reminds the general that "one man can be the difference between victory and defeat."Fa Mulan (Ming-Na Wen), the teenage daughter of prosperous farmer Fa Zhou (Soon-Tek Oh), nervously prepares for her meeting with the village matchmaker (Miriam Margolyes). Though clever and kindhearted, Mulan is a tomboyish klutz who has little faith in her ability to become a poised and dignified bride. After rushing through her morning chores, she meets her mother, Fa Li (Freda Foh Shen) and grandmother (June Foray) in town and is bathed and dressed before joining the other girls at the matchmaker's house. Mulan's eccentric grandmother insists that Mulan take a live cricket with her for good luck, but the insect escapes from its cage and wreaks havoc at the meeting. Mulan is deemed a "disgrace," and is told she will never bring honor to her family.Deeply ashamed, Mulan returns home and laments that she is not the daughter her parents deserve. Her father, however, comforts her and metaphorically suggests that the cherry blossom late to bloom will be the most beautiful of all.The Emperor's smug councilman, Chi Fu (James Hong) arrives at Mulan's village to draft one man from each family for the imperial army. Mulan watches in fear as young men are called forward to receive their orders, knowing that her aging and weak father will be called up as well, being the only male member of the Fa family. As Fa Zhou is summoned by Chi Fu, Mulan pleads for her father to be excused from battle, as he is already a veteran and is afflicted with an injured leg. Fa Zhou reprimands her for her interference, and insists he will go to training camp the next day with the other soldiers. Knowing her father will die if put in combat again, Mulan makes a desperate decision. After her parents are asleep, she cuts her hair short, dons her father's armor, and takes his draft information before riding out to the camp in his place. Fa Zhou and Fa Li awaken and discover with horror that their daughter has left to join the army. They cannot go after her, for impersonating a soldier is a capital offense, and Mulan would be executed if her identity was revealed. Grandmother Fa prays to their ancestors to protect Mulan.In the small temple on the Fa's property, the statues of the ancestors come to life to deliberate over what to do about Mulan. Mushu the dragon (Eddie Murphy), a former guardian who was demoted to gong-ringer, is sent to awaken the Great Stone Dragon, the most powerful guardian, to bring Mulan home safely. While grumpily trying to wake the statue, Mushu accidentally reduces it to rubble. He is met by Cri-Kee, the "lucky" cricket who had accompanied Mulan to the matchmaker, and the two eventually decide to go after Mulan themselves. Mushu plans to make Mulan excel in the army, thus earning back his place among the ancestors as a guardian.Shan Yu and the Huns are riding quickly through the wilderness toward the Imperial City. Shan Yu sends a taunting message to the Emperor, daring him to send his finest troops to face the Hun army.Mulan arrives at the outskirts of the training camp, terrified of her task and dejectedly telling her horse, Khan, that it would take a miracle for her plan to work. As if on cue, Mushu and Cri-Kee appear, with Mushu falsely introducing himself as a trusted guardian of her ancestors and promising to help her become a model soldier. Mulan timidly enters the camp and, following Mushu's instructions on how to interact with men, inadvertently causes a brawl. The ruckus is quelled by Captain Li Shang (B.D. Wong), the son of General Li, who was appointed by his father to train the new troops while Li takes his army to protect the Imperial City. Shang is unimpressed with the sloppy new recruits, especially awkward Mulan, who presents herself as Fa Zhou's little-seen son Ping.Mushu supports Mulan as she struggles through training, which is especially harrowing because her fellow soldiers are still angry with her for the camp-wide fight on their first day. Shang presents them with a seemingly-impossible task: to climb a huge wooden pole while wearing heavy arm weights to retrieve an arrow from the top. Mulan finally redeems herself by cleverly using the weights to her advantage, scaling the pole and reaching the arrow. The other troops begin to warm up to "Ping," especially grouchy Yao (Harvey Fierstein), gawky Ling (Gedde Watanabe), and enormous but gentle Chien-Po (Jerry Tondo). Mulan has an increasingly difficult time keeping her identity hidden, especially since the men all bathe together in a nearby lake, and Mushu is called upon to provide distractions when things get too dangerous.Shan Yu plans to move his army through a mountain pass, which is the swiftest route to the Imperial City. Though he determines that General Li and his army is already guarding the pass, Shan Yu confidently leads the Huns to battle the imperial troops.Chi Fu, the Emperor's council, has remained at training camp to compile a report on the new troops. He remains unimpressed, though the soldiers have successfully completed training, and behaves rudely toward Captain Shang. Mushu, continuing his plan to transform Mulan into a war hero, has Cri-Kee forge a letter from General Li, requesting backup troops at the mountain pass. The ruse works, and Shang marches the troops out of camp the following day. During their trek, Mulan's friends keep their spirits up by dreaming about their ideal woman, but their optimism is short-lived. When they reach the mountain pass, they find General Li and his entire platoon slaughtered. Shang is shocked and grief-stricken at his father's death, but is all the more determined to stop Shan Yu before he reaches the Emperor.As Mulan, Shang, and the troops progress through the snowy mountains, Mushu accidentally sets off a cannon and gives away their position. The Huns immediately attack, and it is evident that they greatly outnumber the soldiers. As the Hun army charges toward them, Shang instructs Yao to aim their last cannon at Shan Yu. Quick-thinking Mulan swipes the cannon and fires it at the mountainside, causing a huge avalanche that buries the Huns. The soldiers run for safety, with Shang and Mulan narrowly avoiding falling to their deaths over a cliff. Shang thanks Mulan for saving their lives, and gets her medical attention for an injury she sustained from Shan Yu's sword. Mulan can no longer hide her gender, and she is ousted to the rest of the troops. Chi Fu pressures Shang to execute Mulan immediately, but Shang, while angry at Mulan for her deception, refuses to kill her and leaves her in the mountains with her horse and supplies.Mulan miserably tells Mushu that entering the army was a mistake, and that she was fated to dishonor her family. Mushu finally admits that he was not sent by the ancestors, and that his mission was a selfish one to get his job back. Even Cri-Kee confesses that he is not a truly lucky cricket. They are all about to give up hope when they discover that Shan Yu and many of the Huns had survived the avalanche and are emerging from the snow. Mulan, Mushu, Khan and Cri-Kee rush to the Imperial City to warn of the coming attack.In the city, Shang and his troops are being hailed as heroes for defeating the Huns. Mulan, presenting herself as a woman again, confronts Shang during their victory parade (though Shang, Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po are noticeably glum) and tells him what she saw in the mountains. Shang dismisses her as a liar, and members of the crowd are deaf to Mulan's words. On the steps of the palace, the Emperor is kidnapped by the Huns, who beat Mulan to the city. Shang, Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po turn to Mulan for a plan. With the latter four disguising themselves as concubines, they infiltrate the palace and attack the Huns guarding the chamber into which Shan Yu had taken the Emperor. Shan Yu threatens to kill the Emperor if he refuses to bow to him and accept him as the new leader of China. The Emperor stoically refuses, but Shang leaps to his aid just in time. As Shang and Shan Yu battle, Chien-Po carries the Emperor to safety. Mulan then attracts Shan Yu's attention by proving herself to be the soldier who started the avalanche, and Shan Yu turns his wrath from Shang to her. Mulan lures Shan Yu to the roof of the palace, before Mushu arms himself with an enormous firework rocket which he launches at Shan Yu. The Hun leader is blasted to smithereens in a colorful display, and Mulan drops to safety on the palace steps.As the chaos subsides, Chi Fu verbally attacks Mulan for her actions. Shang angrily defends her until the Emperor appears. He explains to Mulan that, despite her fraud, she has saved the entire nation of China. In the ultimate display of respect, the Emperor bows to Mulan, as do the countless people in the attending crowd. He then offers Mulan a job as his council (to the shock of Chi Fu), but Mulan respectfully declines and expresses her wish to return home. The Emperor gives her his medallion and Shan Yu's sword as gifts to honor the Fa family.Back at the Fa estate, Fa Zhou is overjoyed at the return of his daughter. Though she presents him with the Emperor's crest and the sword of Shan Yu, he casts the priceless gifts aside and embraces Mulan, ensuring her that "the greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter." Shang arrives soon afterward, returning the helmet that Mulan left behind, and awkwardly but happily accepts Mulan's invitation to stay for dinner.Mushu, at last, is restored to guardian status in the family temple. Mulan thanks him for his help in her adventurous plan, and the ancestors celebrate that the Fa family is complete again. | violence, cute, entertaining | train | imdb | She pretends to be a man and does the training to go to war against the Huns who invaded China.With some nice new songs, great music by Jerry Goldsmith and beautiful animations this is a real Disney.
The mountain scene contains some of the best animation I have seen from Disney, and the rousing score from maestro Jerry Goldsmith accompanies the action superbly.This may not turn out to be a classic in the same way as THE LION KING and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, but I enjoyed it immensely.
A great story..I have always been impressed by China's history,by its culture..even though this film is fiction but even so..I like it!..A girl,Mulan,who wants to save his father from going to war and die in battle...a little dragon,Mushu,who tries to convince the ancestors of the Fa family that he can do something important without messing up things around him..a bug who thinks he's lucky and it seems that he really has lot of luck..and a brave horse and companion,Khan..they all decide to help Mulan in war..that's the plot of the story...In the end everything turns out OK and Shang and Mulan fall in love..
But Mulan's story is every bit as good as those movies, even if you find the animation less impressive.The strengths of the movie for me are not the songs (which are very weak compared to earlier Disney), nor the animation (which is charming with a few Chinese flourishes) or any other technical aspect of the movie production.
While in most Disney movies the silly sidekicks or cute animals steal the show, in this movie Mulan is both funny and brave, making her a truly human character that I rooted for whole-heartedly.I am also a crazy feminist and for me this movie is the ultimate girl-power movie.
Mushu always makes me laugh, and watching Mulan try to spit is still the funniest thing I've ever seen in a movie.If you want the classic singing, dancing fairy tale-style Disney movies a la The Little Mermaid, this is not quite what you're looking for.
And the ending was great too, not completely wrapping up the story like most Disney movies do.
With the help of dragon Mushu, Mulan overcomes her status as a woman to help take on the Hun.I wasn't sure I would like this film as I have grown a little tired of the Disney formula of `songs, romance and smartassed comedy sidekicks', which Mulan sticks to pretty well, however I did really enjoy this film.
I've read through most of the posted comments posted before this about this movie; I find that some people love the music, but think the characters are thin; some hate Eddie Murphy's presence, and think the love story is stupid.
Well, your experience with a film is individual, I guess.That said, I'll follow the trail and state why I loved watching this movie not once, but several times:First of all, I'm far from being a fan of animated Disney classics.
Wership of the ancestors, the power and position of the emperor, I found myself lost in the dream of a world long gone; I loved the image of a China with different traditions but still found myself attracted to the pro-Disney story about a girl standing up to a culture's sexist prejudice.
(I do find the plot a bit silly, actually, but I let myself be taken away...it's just a Disney.) Agree, the characters lack a little bit, the love story of Mulan and Shang should perhaps have had a few more frames to play with.
The computer animation used for the Great Wall and the attack of the Huns startles me again and again; Not many live movies can do the job as good.So that's what Mulan is for me...The dream of ancient China and Eddie Murphy's speedy tongue.
And now back to the movie, there's a lot to love about Disney's mulan: the story, the fun characters, the songs and music, the beautiful animation, etc.
The artful animation(watch the smoke) the terrific songs like "Be a Man", the laugh out loud antics of Eddie Murphy's Mushu, and a heroic, feisty, and really likable Mulan help make this movie truly special.
The characters do look a bit funny, but the artists defiantly took their time in making this wonderful film.Mulan is very powerful, very detailed and very funny- just like all animated films should be.
There's a great likelihood that this man is going to die in battle.So, out of the sheer love for her father, Mulan disguises herself in his armor and takes his place in the army.This movie isn't about some gal going off to war to prove herself, or break free from the caste system, like so many other Disney heroines.
I don't know if that'll hurt my opinion on this film or not, but I'm giving my opinion anyways.Mulan is probably one of the best Disney movies of all time.
The music isn't tiresome or annoying like some Disney movies, the message is strong and a good one, and there are some dark elements in it that won't scare the children but will provide a little extra entertainment for adults.I personally think that this movie should be in every household - whether there are children or teenagers or adults watching, it's fantastic..
The characters are also very memorable; Ming Na's feisty Mulan(one of Disney's greatest female characters), George Takei's brooding ancestor, Eddie Murphy's hilarious Mushu- who bags most of the film's best lines-, BD Wong's handsome Shang, Miguel Ferrer's mysterious and often frightening Shan Yu(who actually is an effective and underrated villain despite having an all-too-easy and lame death scene) and of course Pat Morita's wise Emperor.
One of my favorite Disney characters.Girl/young woman can learn a lot from the Mulan character.Beautiful animation with this film as well.I never get tired of this film..
Perhaps I am not the best person to review Disney cartoons...I spend too much of my time thinking things like......Hey they seem to be wearing Tang Dynasty clothes but they are practicing ancestor worship which was not introduced until the birth of the Neo-Confucian religion in the Song Dynasty.However Chinese stories have always gone through a process of growth and change, with elements added and removed by different story tellers and at different times.Disney's Mulan tells the historic/legendary story of Hua Mu Lan, a character popular with Chinese woman.
The values of families sticking together, good beating evil, try your best etc are the 1950s American values that have lived on at Disney.However it is an enjoyable story, and I watch it in China, in Inner Mongolia (Mongolians being from the same region as the Huns), with Chinese and Mongolians....and well they weren't offended....and it is a lovely story, funny, sad, serious, with a lot of beautiful shots, heroic battles, clever dialog in the Disney fashion.
Asian culture and their stories get limited enough time as it is in the theaters, so, being of Chinese blood, movies like Mulan are something for me to look forward to as a moviegoer.I am happy to say that I was delighted by what I saw.
Enjoyable Disney movie about a young woman named Mulan in ancient China who poses as a man and joins the army so her elderly father will not have to.
Disney has created a beautifully artistic and cultural movie, with an excellent story, in the form of Mulan.
Mushu (Eddie Murphy), Mulan's guardian dragon, is a hilarious character who proves to quite helpful on certain occasions and brings much of the comedy into the film.
The trio (Yau, Ling, and Chien-Po) are really fun to watch as they hilariously interact with other characters such as Mulan, Chi-Fu, and even each other.This movie has the perfect blend of amazing art design, epic action scenes, wonderful music that complements the various scenes, memorable songs, great comedy, intricate storytelling, flawless animation, and excellent themes.
Yes, Beauty and the Beast was nominated for Best Picture, and The Lion King and The Little Mermaid won two Oscars each, but how many kid's movies from any company -- or country for that matter -- have such a great message?I loved Mulan for the characters, the script, the voices (this is one of the few movies Eddie Murphey has done that isn't completely asinine)...basically, I love every part of it.This movie has definitely earned its place in the pantheon of great Disney animated features, and not only for its box office success and general entertainment and discussion value, but for the innovations in computer animation that almost inevitably accompany a Disney animated movie.
Mulan came at a time when Disney movies were not as appealing as they once were (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules), but it revived the Disney scene anyway.While I still say that the new classics, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King are the best films Disney has produced, with well-written storylines and amazing musical scores, Mulan is a wonder of its own.
It scouted earlier for the general's encampment and brought back the doll, remember?Oh, and the cross-dressing thing at the end was a little too weird--a bit too Fushigi Yugi and not really very intelligent--do you honestly think that anybody would fall for that trick, even if they were really women (especially considering what the Monguls would have done).The best parts of the movie were the references to Japanese cartoons (anime).
The thing I like about the Disney movies is that they all feel the same and totally different at the same time.Mulan feels very authentic, as much as I could tell, and the story was fun.
Eddie Murphy gives the little lizard ("It's D-R-A-G-O-N to you!") an excellent voice, and he gives the movie a lot of its life, so to speak.Also, passing along the tradition of the latest Disney animated "classics", this one is extremely well made, especially the scene where the Huns come racing down the hillside, and the music is also the now "accounted for" quality.All in all, a very good movie, well worth seeing only to hear out the lizards comments!.
Mulan is one of the best Disney animated movies.
A love story,laughs,dragons,singing and violence.Like most of the Disney animated movies this does have singing.
This is by no means an average Disney effort but like I said,an average Disney still rates as an all time classic.Nobody can beat them in the family/animation genres.What makes this one average as opposed to it having been one of the best was the fact that I found the animations a little rough.They could have made more spectacular background effects.They had ancient China for scenery and that would give them leeway for much more spectacular scenery.I wanted more attention to detail in this area given the animation technology available today.Also,they could have made Mulan a little more stronger looking.More of a stronger look and personality could be done for women without compromising their female qualities.There are many amazon/warrior type gorgeous women and a lot of them,contrary to stereotipical beliefs,are Asian too.How many chances does Disney have to focus a movie on east Asia.They should have been more responsible wih their portrayal of scenery and people of this great land in this regard.But other than this point,and given how many other things could have gone wrong,Disney once again did a bravo job.Not shying away from exotic cultures and taking on women's rights issues are very commendable and really educate the world's children.The little dragon stole the show too and I was laughing so hard!I forgive the producers regarding the music becouse good musical compositions are very very difficult to come by and you do not just create top quality music any time you want.Great music is very precious and people must realise this fact.So we must appreciate what ever great music we got from this movie(like "Reflection").Creatng great music is very spur of the moment and pops up unpredictably.Ask pro composers and they will tell you.But other aspects like visual animation can very much be controlled big time.Particularly now when hand drawn art is backed up by computer animation technologies.Peace out.......
A Female Warrior Goes Her Way. Movie Review: "Mulan" (1998)In the wake of a post "The Lion King" period at Disney Animation Studios beginning with "Pocahontas" (1995) and concluding with "Treasure Planet" (2002), while Pixar Animation Studios with director John Lasseter establishes digital animated features with the first ever widely distributed "Toy Story" (1995) engaging two times Academy-Award-Winning Tom Hanks to speak the leading character of Sheriff Woody, comes the hand-drawn animation highlight "Mulan" in the year 1998 directed by former character animators Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, who present an extraordinary tale of a Chinese daughter of a weaken military man in the post Han Dynasty 450 AD China.
The main character of "Mulan" decides to abandon female family-inflicted traditions, cutting off her lang raven-black hair with a long sword, before attending an ancient boot camp training period to confront a massive army leading character of Shan-Yu, vocally performed by almost unrecognizable-fierce actor Miguel Ferrer, whos character coming from the North of Mongolia, overtaking the Chinese Wall, pushing through snow-covered, avalanche-indulging mountains of North Eastern China, arguably taking detours though the region of Da Hinggan Ling to hit a central Chinese village palace scenario on his way to the Dynasty's Southern capital.Show-Stealing all-too-funny character of dragon-pet character Mushu, given voice by spitfiring dialogue lines sharing actor Eddie Murphy, keeps the audience alive through a major martial-arts action-spectacle-miss-out in further emotionally uneventful sword duels and gun-powder inflaming rockets shooting through plain clearing mountain strings, at time loveless animated feature, especially in the daytime training scenes, when "Mulan" nevertheless had all the possibilities under a doubled production budget with consequent design efforts, apart from the storywise-superior to suspense-strangling "The Lion King", to become a Disney animated classic, which furthermore due to the lacking depth-of-character supporting cast, which entirely builds on deceased-ghostly-animated roundtable of imperial family members, when the missing thrilling touch becomes indifferent by the time of a showdown-forsaking confrontation between Warrior-becoming woman Mulan and Gorilla-beast-moving Shan-Yu in an even with 80 Minutes relatively short editorial by Michael Kelly, whos cut cannot deliver an ascending character arc of sophisticated Chinese Legend "Hua Mulan", spiritually as technically superior to the character of "Joan D'Arc" inhabited in western civilization, when at least rest-in-peace Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004) infuses international audiences with charms of a an innovative classic-to-synthesized moving score to a over-all fair success of exceeding a worldwide box office revenue by 300 Million U.S. Dollars in concluding exhibitions of holiday season 1998/1999.© 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend
It doesn't really ruin the film, and I'm not convinced that a more traditional voice would have worked any better either, but it is a thing to ponder about.The songs are also great, though perhaps not Disney's best effort either.
I'm not a big fan of Mulan's dragon aid Mushu and think his more self-aware comedic stylings don't fit the film at all, Eddie Murphy provides a lot of energy but it just doesn't work for me.The animation is really impressive.
It's a very sweet, beautifully animated film that will surely please all Disney fans, it stands as a classic animated film in the same vein as Aladdin and The Lion King does, it also has some unforgettable songs that you will find yourself humming long after you've watched the movie, such as Reflection and I'll Make a Man Out of You. The only thing I think this movie is missing is a strong factor of Disney animation films, comic relief, I know that Mushu is a fantastic character and brilliantly voiced by Eddie Murphy, but he dosen't have as much scenes as he should have to lighten the tone of the film, it takes itself too seriously at times and it's story can be very heavy for a younger audience, but we have to hand it to Disney for taking a huge risk on openly dealing with war.
Beautifully animated with stunning music, I would recommend Mulan to anyone looking for a good family film.
Mulan, even if it isn't one of the best Disney animated musicals, is certainly one that should satisfy those of all ages looking for a rousing and inspirational tale.One last thought: What the heck were they thinking with that first song in the ending credits?
It may not be as strong as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, but it's a lot better than some of the later films in the early 2000s (except Treasure Planet, Lilo & Stitch, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and The Emperor's New Groove).The story is great and the way they made a Disney princess become a hero is what made it work.
Like I said before, Mushu is funny thanks to Eddie Murphy's great voice work.The songs may not be as memorable as the other Disney scores, but they're fine enough for me to listen to.
The look of China, the emperor's palace, and the mountains are great as are the character animation.Overall, Mulan may not be as solid as the three films I've already stated, but it's a childhood classic that has been stuck with me for a while and would be looking forward to watch it again.
The villain lives a impression as well.Plus how great to see a Disney movie that doesn't focus on a love story.
This movie has fun and lovely songs, a great plot, wonderful variety of characters, Well drawn, and really does capture what a girl might think in life.
What makes Mulan a great movie is not only the story, but the script and terrific songs written by the latest Disney lyricist David Zippel.
(And the villains were so creepy looking too!) Animated or not, there should be more movies like Mulan...a film for the WHOLE family.
Great animation just like Disney always shows us that the company is the best for animated movies.
Disney's best movie since Aladdin and Eddie Murphy's Mushu is just as funny. |
tt1261978 | Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead | College student Alex and her friends go to the woods on a rafting trip. Soon after, her friends are killed by the mutant cannibal "Three Fingers", who survived from the previous films. She is left to fend for herself, but not for long.[2] Two days later a group of prisoners are being transferred by Nate Wilson, a prison guard, on his last day before leaving to become a lawyer. During transport their bus is attacked by Three Fingers and the prisoners escape.[3] While being chased through the woods, the prisoners and Nate encounter Alex and an abandoned armored van filled with money. The money becomes the prisoners sole motivation for escape and survival.The prisoners escape one booby trap perpetrated by "Three Fingers'" son. They then catch the son, and behead him and leave the trophy on the spent booby trap for "Three Fingers" to find. One-by-one "Three Fingers" hunts and murders everyone except Nate, Alex and Brandon and is finally killed when Nate stabs him in the head with his own meat hook. An unknown amount of time later Nate returns to take the money that was left behind in the truck (the rest having been burned by "Three Fingers" earlier). But suddenly Brandon, who is a convict which Nate let go free, kills Nate with an arrow straight through his chest and says to him "You should never trust a convict". But then a cannibal appears and walks towards Brandon, as Brandon's scream is heard over the ending credits.****************************************************************************************************************************************College student Alex and her friends go into the woods on a rafting trip. Her friends are killed by the mutant cannibal 'Three Fingers', from the previous films. She is left to fend for herself, but not for long. Two days later a most dangerous mexican prisoner,Carlo Chavez,and group of prisoners are being transferred by Nate Wilson, a prison guard, on his last day before leaving to become a lawyer. On the way, Nate meets up with an old friend, Sheriff Calvin Carver, making viewers aware that Nate has been in these lands before. During transportation their bus is attacked by Three Fingers and they escape. While being chased through the woods, the prisoners led by Chavez, use Nate as a guide to lead them to a watch tower (which was the tower from the first movie) to issue an SOS. Officer Walter, now a prisoner, encounters Alex and an abandoned armored truck filled with cash. The money quickly becomes the prisoners' sole motivation for escape and survival. Chavez commands Walter to pick up one of the bags of money, but Walter refuses because of his injury from Three Fingers. Walter pulls out a gun and tries to shoot Chavez. Unfortunately, the gun was not loaded and Chavez kills Nate's friend.During the trail, they stumble upon a booby trap. The prisoners escape the booby trap set by Three-Toes (Three Finger's son from the previous film). They then catch the son and behead him, leaving a trophy on the spent booby trap for Three Fingers to find as a message. They soon realize it only made Three Fingers even more fearsome. One-by-one, Three Fingers hunts and murders every prisoner and kills the sheriff and his deputy. During the killings, Nate and Alex manage to escape. They are able to find the watch tower, which was badly burned years ago (first movie). Chavez decides to get rid of Nate, but instead promises him another way to get out. They find Three Finger's truck and Chavez uses Alex as bait. Three Fingers kidnapped Alex and Nate rescues her. Floyd steals the money and Chavez chases him down only to see his money burning and Floyd gets killed by Three Fingers. Three Fingers goes to another location to find the rest, until he is face to face with Chaveez and battles him with a Hatchet and a meat hook. Both beat one another, but Three Fingers eventually kills Chavez, hangs his corpse in a tree, removes his scalp and eats part of his brain. Nate finds Three Fingers' house with the help of the sheriff's dog and frees Alex. Three Fingers hides behind a door and ambushes Nate. The dog attacks Three Fingers to save them, but is killed by the hook. Alex stabs Three Fingers using the large stake that held Three Toes' head and believes she killed him. Nate and Alex take his tow truck and drive away. Thinking it's over, Three Fingers follows them and gets on top of the truck. Nate crashes into a tree and Brandon the prisoner, sees the whole thing and decides to help them. The truck catches fire and is about to explode, when Brandon gets Alex out then Nate. Three Fingers attempts to attack them but something goes wrong and he is finally killed when Nate stabs him in the head with his own meat hook.Sometime later, Nate returns to collect the remainig cash from the truck (the rest having been burned by "Three Fingers" earlier). But Brandon, who is one of the convicts that Nate let go, kills him with an arrow through the chest, with the retort, "Never trust a con". A cannibal (could've been Three Fingers for he had surived in each movie or someone new) appears holding a crude weapon dripping with blood (possibly the blood of Alex) and walks towards Brandon, as Brandon's scream and a hillbilly laugh is heard over the ending credits. | insanity, cult, murder, violence | train | imdb | null |
tt0389722 | 30 Days of Night | Barrow, Alaska, a small town on the Arctic circle, is preparing for its annual "30 days of night," a period during the winter when the sun will not be seen. People who don't want to suffer the extended darkness leave for Fairbanks or other parts south. As the town gets ready, The Stranger [Ben Foster], rows ashore from a larger ship, then trudges towards Barrow. Once he arrives, he sets about sabotaging the town. He steals and destroys all the cell phones, destroys the town's only helicopter and kills all of the sled dogs.Barrow's sheriff, Eben Oleson [Josh Hartnett] investigates these crimes. As he does so, he learns that his estranged wife, Stella [Melissa George], who moved out of town awhile ago, missed the last plane out of town and will have to spend the 30 day period in Barrow. Although they try to avoid one another, when Eben confronts The Stranger in the town diner, she helps subdue him and take him to the station house.From the jail cell, The Stranger taunts Eben, Stella, Eben's teenaged brother Jake [Mark Rendall], and their grandmother [Elizabeth McRae], telling them that death is coming for them. Just then, vampires attack the local telecommunications center and power supply, rendering the town dark and cut off from the outside world. Eben goes to the telecommunications center and finds the operator's head on a pike. He and Stella then go through town, trying to find the ones responsible for the gruesome crimes.Meanwhile, the vampires, led by Marlow [Danny Huston] attack the town. Marlow speaks in an ancient, gutteral language; the other vampires shriek. Unless they are shot in the head, bullets are useless against them, and they slaughter most of the town, including Eben's grandmother. Those who survive congregate in the diner. The vampires attack Eben and Stella but Beau Brower [Mark Boone Junior], the local snowplow driver, rescues them. They too go to the diner. Everyone decides to go to the boarded up house of someone who had left town earlier that day. The house has a hidden attic where they will be able to hide. Marlow finds The Stranger in the jail and, taking mercy on him in thanks for his work on the vampires' behalf, kills him quickly. Marlow orders the vampires not to turn anyone into a vampire; they will slaughter the town and then disappear in order to preserve modern humanity's belief that vampires are the stuff of bad dreams and nothing more.Over the next week, Eben, Stella, Jake and seven others stick it out in the attic. They fight about leaving but most stay; only Wilson and his senile father, Isaac, are lost. Eben ventures out to try to help a stray survivor and learns that beheading the vampires will kill them. When a blizzard hits, Eben and the others use the whiteout conditions to make it to the general store. There, a young girl vampire attacks them, wounding one of them. The whiteout conditions end, preventing them from making it back to the abandoned house. Eben decides everyone should go to the station house. He will provide a diversion by running to his grandmother's house. She grew marijuana and has an ultraviolet lighting system. Eben makes it to the house, turns on the generator and turns the light on the vampires who have followed him. It hideously burns one, forcing Marlow to kill her. Eben escapes the house but the vampires are in pursuit. Beau comes to the rescue again, killing many of the vampires with his plow. He crashes into a hotel and then ignites a box of dynamite, hoping to incinerate the vampires. His ploy is unsuccessful but it gives Eben the time to make it to the station house. There, the wounded member turns into a vampire. With some shred of his humanity left, he asks Eben to behead him. Eben complies.Two more weeks pass. Stella and Eben see someone signaling them from across the street. It is Billy Kitka [Manu Bennett], Eben's deputy. Eben and Stella make it to Billy's house. When the vampires attacked, he killed his wife and daughters but the gun jammed before he could commit suicide. Stella and Eben take him back to the station house. There they learn that the others have made it to the utilidor, a power station that controls the oil pipeline, the only structure that still has power. Eben, Stella and Billy begin to sneak towards the utilidor. Stella stops to rescue a young girl who is being stalked by a vampire. Eben and Billy try to distract the vampire while Stella gets the girl to safety. Instead, Billy and Eben are separated. They both eventually make it to the utilidor, but a vampire follows Billy.Eben is happy to see the rest of the survivors have made it alive. The vampire attacks Billy, ripping into his neck and cutting off his hand. When the vampire attacks Eben, Billy knocks it into the gears of the utilidor's pump, disintegrating it. Eben then kills Billy before he can turn into a vampire.The sun is due to rise in a few hours. The vampires decide to incinerate the town to cover their tracks. Stella radios to Eben that she and the young girl are hiding under an abandoned truck, the flames rapidly approaching them. Realizing he cannot beat the vampires as a human, Eben injects himself with Billy's infected blood so he can fight them as a vampire. He and Marlow fight a vicious battle and Eben wins. Leaderless, the other vampires disappear.Stella takes Eben to watch the dawn. She holds him in her arms as he is incinerated. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl] | cult, suspenseful, murder, violence | train | imdb | Okay, this is a scary film actually worth watching.I've seen quiet a lot of vampire/zombie movies, and this one stands out to me, because even though it sometimes uses a bit of gore, that's not what makes it scary.It's the tension.
Most scary movies I see end really badly, this one sort of did as well, but with a bit of romance.The thing that scared me the most about it is the vampires, I mean, you wont want one of them coming into your room at night.Overall, very good and worth watching..8/10.
While successfully adapting some of the great imagery from the graphic novel, Slade is fully aware that this is still a film and shies away from CGI and overly-stylized lighting and effects that would detract from the sense of realism necessary in a far-fetched horror film such as this.Slade also makes good use of his cast.
Like many serious horror films of recent memory ("Dawn of the Dead" or "The Descent") the film attempts some character development that is often "emo" but never overplays its hand.Aside from being better directed and better acted than your run-of-the-mill horror flick, "30 Days of Night" is also fantastically gory.
However, for the shear originality of its central conceit, the intensity of the gore, and the haunting quality of many of its signature shots, David Slade's "30 Days of Night" is the most exhilarating horror film since Danny Boyle's original "28 Days Later" and the best vampire film since Francis Ford Coppola delivered "Bram Stoker's Dracula" back in 1992..
I had the opportunity to see this film tonight at a free screening at a theater in Chelsea, NY with the director David Spade, Melissa George and Josh Hartnett all present at the screening and I walked in expecting another run of the mill vampire movie and walked away pleasantly surprised.It's no question that over the last 9 years the whole Vampire trend has been overdone to death.
Of course there's the sudden jump moments, but you don't see Even leaping over dumpsters shooting off semi-automatic weapons and spurting out one liners.When it comes to the films performances, the supporting actors do a good job and the ever dopey and extremely untalented Josh Hartnett whom I never fail to dislike, in everything he does, somehow seemed almost likable in this movie and I don't know why, but I did like him in this roll.Some of the shots in this movie are incredible; I can honestly say I've never seen anything like a few scenes that popped up in this movie.
It's not perfect, but it's still better than just about every horror movie I've seen since "The Descent" (which also relied on a creepy atmosphere to fill the viewer with a sense of dread and hopelessness).This movie is set in the small town of Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost town in the U.S. Because it is so far up north, there comes a time every winter where the sun doesn't rise for 30 days.
These vampire's are just scary, no sexual innuendo, they are just plain beasts.The films Comic book origins are quite evident through the film, one of its main draw cards is that it looks beautiful, the cinematography is fabulous, the punchy electro rock score used is effectively scarce during the film, silence is the films most potent suspense weapon.The Cast is great, Josh Hartnet Putting probably the best performance of his career, but it's Ben Foster who really steals the show, I've never seen a actor possessed by their own character to that extent since Anthony Hopkins and Lector.
Young and movie star handsome, he threatens to come off as unbelievable, like the Ben Affleck sheriff in "Phantoms." Hartnett, however, despite his young years, has the gravitas to pull off this role, and director David Slade gets masterful performances from all the fine actors in this film.Melissa George is scrumptiously beautiful.
The special make-up efx (blood and guts et al) are completely believable, but aside from a few very graphic images and much spilled blood in the snow, are not as overwhelming as some overly squeamish reviewers have claimed.The cinematography is gorgeous, and is enhanced by the seamlessly integrated visual effects noted above.If you're in the mood for a nicely paced, well-produced, superbly directed movie that'll satisfy your craving for a dose of traditional horror, you can't go wrong with this one..
If this film made me immediately jump to the computer and start the sequel to see how it continues, the other made me watch it in fast-forward.The film gets a little of that Swedish movie Låt den rätte komma: the vampires are human-like, but not human; they are strong and fast and deadly; they do not glitter, wear fashionable clothing or have other interests than drinking your blood.
The movie was a masterpiece.Nothing ridiculous as i see on many horror movies,the main character Josh Hartnett played very good and during the movie time I was captured all the time, I don't blink a second.The vampires were made very good,they really looked scary!!The scenery man must to be a genius,I really appreciate the work that he did on this movie.Very good thinking !!
David Slade did an exceptional work once again and is fast becoming a director from whom we can expect great things in the future.The film has an astounding look due to its excellently worked cinematography.The art direction is also top class while the way the vampires are portrayed adds extra points to it.The movie manages to pass through the feeling of isolation and dread that the characters are supposed to feel and i especially enjoyed the fact that a melancholic touch is present throughout it's duration.The action is intense and the gore strikes true.Additionally,if you are into Josh Hartnett as an actor there is no way you'll be disappointed as he does a high standard job in this film.Finally,it has to be said that for fans of Carpenter's "The Thing" and "Vampires","30 Days of Night" is a must see..
Eben and his estranged wife Stella (Melissa George) are forced to fight for their lives along with a group of survivors until sunlight appears again.Modern horror movies are usually just looking to make you jump but 30 Days of Night is genuinely creepy and scary.
Thanks to the brutal make up and great acting, the Vampires look soul-less and real monsters, that are not moved by a logic, nor softened as Anne's Rice; but into their brutal needs of feeding like a hound of animals.Always with your blood frozen and your hairs paralyzed, the movie just keeps you guessing when you are going to get a big sudden scare.
And of course kick some vampire ass where possible.Problems arise with the fact that it never once feels like more than one night of horror, so the questions of sleep, eat and toilet habits don't come into until you start to realise this is spread over 30 days!
Hartnett and George do a good job as the leads of the film desperately trying to survive the onslaught unleashed by bloodthirsty vampires in an Alaskan town where there are thirty days of night.
I thought the vampires were a little unoriginal, and in this case that's a bad thing, and the movie, like I said, not getting too fed up with itself does enough at times to make it seem unsavory, and make it seem like a "big, bad" film when it really just should've went with the flow, and even though it's definitely not Hard Candy, it's non-stop gratification just like Hard Candy was and I was very pleased with it..
Rating: 4 out of 5Genre: Horror, Vampires, Comic BookDirector: David SladeStars: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Mark Boone Junior, Mark Rendall, Amber Sainsbury, Manu Bennett, Megan Franich, Joel TobeckSynopsis: "30 Days of Night" is an adaptation of the 2002 Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith comic book series about Barrow, Alaska.
But this film is better than most movies with this genre (AKA vampire movies).What I think might disappoint fans is the slow beginning.Like usual horror movies, there always come a bloody prologue resulting to kills and gore.
Instead, literally nothing happens in about 40 minutes, if you exclude the random scenes of animal and human kills.I like the set up and the slow beginning obviously wants you to get to know the characters but what you get is no less than other horror movies that start off the violence right away.
Now Eben, Stella and a small group of survivors try to hold on from hiding and fighting these unstoppable vampires until the sunlight comes back.Directed by David Slade (Hard Candy) made an extremely well-acted, well directed Horror movie with a few genuine moments of suspense and terror.
You won't have to sit through half an hour of character back-story - the town's attack is already in motion by the time the opening credits have rolled.30 Days Of Night is, without a doubt, one of the best horror movies of 2007 and I look forward to seeing Slades' next feature, whatever it be..
In other words i recommend this film for you horror \ vampire movie fans because in my opinion it was the best I've seen yet..
Directed by David Slade of last year's underground thriller Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night gives a new name to vampire films with its slick acting and directing, stunning special effects, insane action, gallons of blood and gore, and intensely terrifying sequences.
30 Days of Night stars Josh Hartnett and Melissa George, and is based upon the graphic novel of the same name.After being plunged into darkness for an entire month, an Alaskan town is attacked by dark creatures that feed on human blood.
Desperate to survive and without phones or any way of communicating, Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett), Stella (Melissa George), and a select few other survivors fight for their life against bloodthirsty vampires and try to make it through 30 days of pure darkness.Director David Slade utilizes beautiful cinematography along with the stunning surroundings of Alaska and snowy winds.
He gets some of the best dialogue in the movie.Unpredictable for the most part, 30 Days of Night moves at an insanely fast pace and felt a lot like 28 Weeks Later for the vampire lover.
One of the best horror movies of 2007, 30 Days of Night should not be missed for its unique performances, non-stop action, shocking scenes, great score, and a very creative direction from David Slade.
A dark and nasty force descends on the isolated town of Barrow, Alaska, in the movie 30 Days of Night, and if you thought it was a horde of bloodthirsty vampires you'd only be half right in this paint-by-numbers denture drama that's heavy on the red corn syrup and devoid of much else.Heralded by some as the movie that puts the fright factor back in vampires after TV shows like Buffy and Angel turned them into lounge singers, crime fighters and less-than-threatening freaks of the week, 30 Days of Night did little more than vamp my ire at the Hollywood hype machine for marketing a fairly pedestrian big budget B movie as a new and innovative twist on a somewhat forlorn horror genre.Josh Harnett stars as the uni-browed sheriff of this small Alaskan outpost, isolated from the rest of the state by a lack of roads and inaccessible by sea or (inexplicably) air during the winter months when the northern sun dips below the horizon throwing the town into the titular month long darkness.
It's pretty hard to be scared when you're holding back the giggles as the lead baddie (Danny Huston) barks out something that sounds like "ack wack bubba-duck bokay".Director David Slade does a good job trying to keep the story moving, however somewhere along the way, maybe in the screenplay or editing stage, what little that was interesting ends up being given short shrift in the quest to infuse the plot with action.The enigmatic and talented Ben Foster, last seen chewing up the screen as psycho gunslinger Charlie Prince in 3:10 to Yuma, is wasted here as a mysterious stranger (seemingly the vampire ship's human captain it's never explained) who wanders into Barrow with the bloodsuckers on his trail.The result is a film that coalesces into a sort of Northern Exposure meets Night of the Living Dead, with little of what made the latter so terrifying, unless you consider three inch fingernails, bad dentures and blood smeared faces terrifying.
The stranger warns them all that they are not safe, while at this time the power gos out and the vampires come to town.The film is of a high standard, a very good horror flick, an O.K story, good acting (Josh Hartnett was actually good in this film, I was surprised.) good film shots and techniques.
The movie, however, based on the comic miniseries by Steve Niles, was a bit disappointing and did not live up to the great premise that it set up.The town of Barrow, Alaska, where the movie takes place, is so far north that once a year they experience a month of complete darkness, hence, 30 Days of Night.
His estranged wife, Stella, played by Melissa George, misses the last plane out of Barrow and is forced to remain in the dark town for the month.The first scary character is actually not a vampire, but something almost like one.
Sure, it's a vampire flick with a pretty boy as the star, but if you can get over that initial realization and the associated horror, and just go with the flow, there is a good chance you might enjoy yourself.There is some decent acting from a fairly interesting cast, there are some pretty scary and reasonably original undead, there are great visuals, obviously involving quite a bit of well-done gore, and even the script isn't all that bad.
No big deal really, any horror other horror movie, but the idea of this film was so hinged on the "30 days of NIGHT" i.e. DARK.And the vampire language...sounded more like klingon than anything else...
But what you really have is a survival film, how are the townsfolk going to last for 30 days with such vicious vampires lurking just about everywhere?Well director David Slade who made Hard Candy lays on the suspense and action with visual flair, so when the vampires do attack, a small group of survivors fight back, so for this type of movie to work, you have to have some inventive kills to keep the blood flowing and the adrenaline pumping, and you do get some nasty bloody kills to keep the horror fans happy.
I have to admit i didn't have that high hopes for 30 days of night being any good, i saw the trailer and thought it looked pretty good but trailers are deceiving some times so i wasn't quite sure, so on the first showing in my local cinema on the night of Halloween i went and watched it and iv'e got to say it's definitely one of the best vampire movies i've seen.
Special effects weren't used that much apart from the vampires and the blood but it was all really well done and there were some very realistic decapitations and killings, the vampires were very messy eaters they kind of shook their head as they did which looked a bit weird and it made some people in the cinema laugh which i don't really think was the intension but it was all done effectively none the less.Josh Harnett who i'm not a great fan of for his acting ability performs the part of sheriff Eban well although i found it hard to believe at his age he could be a sheriff, the rest of the cast were good too and they all acted to the situation believably there were no semi auto weapons fired while diving over a table or exploding barrels or anything stupid like that it was all realistic.I really liked the birds eye view of the town when the vampires were trashing the place and killing everyone it was done brilliantly.30 days of night overall was a great horror and not a action comedy horror like so many nowadays,it was a serious horror movie with no jokes but it was entertaining and i think anyone who likes the genre and has a brain when it comes to knowing whats good will like it.7 out of 10..
I think we all know that Hartnett WAS an overrated actor in his day and has since then his name has been a bane to our eyes in the world of movies, but he's finally done something excellent and completely not in his acting type.This is one of the best horror films I've seen and definitely the best vampire movie in my opinion.
But that didn't happen in this movie.Even though most of it was in the dark there was enough light to see every gory detail.Thank you David Slade for that.David Slade did a superb job as the director.He built up the tension without a lot of those phony horror movie tactics and the lowers the boom when the time is right and never lets up.Hopefully Slade will get more directing chances after this great movie.All the actors were good in this movie but special mention goes to Danny Huston who played the vampire leader,Marlow.He was spectacular as he crushed skulls and tore out throats.This movie has restored my faith that there are still people out there who know how to make a great horror movie.I just wish it wasn't necessary to wade through 99 stinkers to find 1 great one like this.This is a movie that horror fans will want to add to their collection.It is worthy of more than one watching..
30 Days of Night is probably one of the most disappointing I've seen in a long time, even with its new twist on the clichés of the vampire in films.
this paired with the rather fresh premise of 30 days of pure darkness in a small Alaskan town, makes for a wonderfully refreshing vampire film.David Slade's direction here is actually quite good, he had a reasonable budget to work with and it showed. |
tt0080904 | Humanoids from the Deep | Anglers from the fishing village of Noyo, California catch what appears to be a monster. The young son of one of the anglers falls into the water and something unseen drags him under the surface. Another angler prepares a flare gun but he slips and accidentally fires it into the deck, which is soaked with gasoline dropped earlier by the boy. The vessel bursts into flames and explodes; everybody aboard is killed. Jim Hill (McClure) and his wife Carol witness the explosion. Later, Jim and Carol's dog goes missing and the pair finds its dismembered corpse on the nearby beach.
The following day, teenagers Jerry Potter (Meegan King) and Peggy Larson (Lynn Schiller) go for a swim at the beach. Jerry is abruptly pulled under the water. Peggy believes it is a prank until she discovers his mutilated corpse. Peggy screams and tries to reach the beach but a monstrous figure attacks her and drags onto the sand. The humanoid creature tears off her swimsuit and rapes her.
That night, two more teenagers are camping on the same beach. Billy (David Strassman) is about to have sex with his girlfriend, Becky (Lisa Glaser) when another humanoid monster claws its way inside, kills him and chases Becky onto the beach. She outruns her assailant but then runs into the arms of yet another monster, which throws her to the sand and rapes her. More attacks follow; not all of them successful, but few witnesses survive to tell the public about the incidents; only Peggy is found alive, though severely traumatized. Jim's brother is also attacked, prompting Jim to take a personal interest in the matter.
A company called Canco has announced plans to build a huge cannery near Noyo. The murderous, sex-hungry mutations are apparently the result of Canco's experiments with a growth hormone they had earlier administered to salmon. The salmon escaped from Canco's laboratory into the ocean during a storm and were eaten by large fish that then mutated into the brutal, depraved humanoids that have begun to terrorize the village.
By the time Jim and Canco scientist Dr. Susan Drake (Turkel) have deduced what is occurring, the village's annual festival has begun. At the festival, many humanoids appear, murdering the men and raping every woman they can grab. Jim devises a plan to stop the humanoids by pumping gasoline into the bay and setting it on fire, cutting off the humanoids' way of retreat. Meanwhile, Carol is attacked at home by two of the creatures, but manages to kill them before Jim arrives.
The morning after the festival, normality seems to have returned to the village. Jim asks the sheriff about Dr. Drake. The sheriff mumbles that she went back to the lab, where she is coaching a pregnant Peggy, who has survived her sexual assault. Peggy is about to give birth when her monstrous offspring bursts from her womb, with Peggy screaming at the screeching baby. | cult, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0031385 | Goodbye, Mr. Chips | In 1870, Mr. Charles Chipping (Robert Donat), an unsophisticated, very shy young man, starts a teaching career at Brookfield, an English boys school created in 1492. Chipping is a kindhearted man who takes pity on a homesick young boy he meets on his and the boy's first train ride to Brookfield. But his shyness, the new boy's sobbing response to his efforts cause the other boys in the compartment to think the new teacher has tormented the new boy. This sets the stage for the chaos that ensues in his first classroom meeting as a Brookfield teacher. Because the school's headmaster threatens Mr. Chippings with dismissal at his failure to control the boys, the new teacher goes too far in his discipline to the point that later in the year the school loses its traditional cricket rival match because he keeps his class, and the team's star, for extra work when the match is on.Mr. Chipping is now disliked by the boys and looked upon condescendingly by his fellow instructors. This hurts him because of his deep affection for teaching and the boys he works with. But his shyness keeps him from making changes in his life for many years even after he is greeted warmly by the grown man who was that frightened new boy on his first train ride to Brookfield. A change occurs when the headmaster passes over him (despite his seniority) for a post as the head of one of the "houses", the dormitories the boys live in, when the current head retires at the end of the year. Because of these two events Mr. Chipping allows his one friend, Max Staefel (Paul Henreid), a German master, to convince him to take a walking tour of Austria together. The terminally shy teacher skips his usual English beach summer "holiday" to climb some Alps. During a dense fog, Chipping encounters Katherine Ellis (Greer Garson), a modern young Englishwoman who is enchanted by his kindness and old-fashioned manners. Although Chipping falls in love with Kathy, he thinks that their different personalities and ages would make any relationship impossible. He forgoes the celebration at the local inn when he is seen as her rescuer, again showing his shyness, and she leaves the inn uncertain of his true feelings. When they meet again in Vienna, their love deepens, especially when he gets up the courage to ask her to dance a waltz during their last night, and they dance the night away. Just as Kathy is boarding the train to England with her friend Flora, she kisses him goodbye full on the lips. Startled, he runs after the departing train yelling out to Kathy, "Do you...?" and she responds, "Yes, I do..." and he ends by saying, "You will just have to marry me now, you know!" She agrees but more cannot be said between them as the train pulls away. Fearful that despite their new engagement he may never find Kathy again, Mr. Chipping is reassured by his friend, Max, who with Kathy's friend Flora have already picked out the wedding church.At the beginning of the new term at Brookfield, the students and staff read the newspaper's report of Chipping's marriage and believe the shy schoolmaster has found a similarly dour partner to share his life with. Then Chipping arrives with his wife in his new suit and are shocked to see how attractive and charming Kathy is. With her gentle guidance, "Chips," as she calls him, allows his kind nature to emerge and thereby gains the respect and affection of students and faculty. Although Kathy dies in childbirth, Chips's enduring love for her helps him to maintain his blossomed personality and advance his career. Years later, when an elderly Chips is given notice of his termination by a new headmaster who wants to "modernize" the school, the boys, along with their parents, many of whom as students had also grown to love Chips, demand that the headmaster ask Chips to stay on. Several years later, when Chips does retire, he maintains a cottage near the school and continues his closeness with the boys, entertaining them after school and listening to their troubles. When World War I begins and many of the masters enlist in the army, Chips is asked to return to the school and serve as its headmaster, the position for which he and Kathy had wished years before. After the war, Chips returns to retirement, but still stays in close contact with the boys. He dies dreaming of all his past students not long after young Peter Colley III, the youngest of a family of boys whom Chips had taught through the years, waves to him and says "Goodbye, Mr. Chips."
[With much help from Turner Movie Classics website.] | romantic, historical, melodrama | train | imdb | null |
tt0364343 | The Final Cut | In this futuristic tale, Alan Hakman (Robin Williams) witnesses the death of his childhood friend who had fallen off a plank of wood in the abandoned building in which they were playing. Flash to the present, and chips called "Zoe" are inserted into the brain at birth and record a person's entire life; when the person dies, the video is edited and shown at the funeral. Video editor ("cutter") Alan Hakman edits the recordings of people's lives according to the wishes of the subject's family, interviewing the person's family members to get an idea of what to look for in the recordings. Of course, in the case of some unscrupulous people, the bad parts are left out, but the entire recording of a person's life is therefore subject to scrutiny. So, in some cases, Hakman was knowingly burying the bad and highlighting the good. As a result, Alan is turned into a cold megalomaniac, but things change when he stumbles across a subject's memory of his friend, who he thought was dead. In searching for a record of his friend's Zoe chip, he finds none, as only 20% of all people have the implants. What he does find is a record of his own implant, of which he was unaware. He goes about accessing the memory, which shows that Alan's friend was still breathing, and the "blood" Alan thought he remembered stepping in as he was leaving the building turned out to be paint. Meantime, the Zoe chip of his subject is destroyed during a confrontation in his office. Confronted by activists who want his subject's life opened to all, Alan attempts to flee because his memory chip recorded what he saw of the subject's life, but is shot and killed by the activist, who justifies his actions, hence Alan was not killed in vain. Mira Sorvino and James Caviezel also star. | murder, flashback | train | imdb | Robin Williams is good as always and he tries his best to keep you interested, and the opening of the movie was promising.
As one would expect, Williams turns in an incredible performance, but the script, by writer/director Omar Naim, could have used a lot of work.The premise is fabulous.
This is all good stuff, and it's excellently played by Williams.The flow of the film is a bit odd, and especially the ending (which I praised for its relative nihilism) is eventually abrupt in a way that doesn't exactly work (and I usually love abrupt endings).
Of course Naim was faced with cutting the film to make it look good, but it's a bit awkward and arbitrary-feeling, just as a cutter's work would likely be when faced with having to produce a coherent 90-minute film out of 80 years' worth of material.
Being less generous, Naim simply needs to learn how to better tell a story, and there was no intention of real-world reflexivity with his fictional material.The Final Cut is worth seeing, especially if you're a Robin Williams fan as I am, but it's a disappointment considering what it could have been..
As a first film, Omar Naim does a credible job at directing Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, and Jim Caviziel.
Thom Bishops who I never heard of before was suprisingly impressive as the light point in the film.To me, this film comes at a time when this subject is pertinent as social commentary on where our society is headed.There was a couple of plot holes though, and I felt that the romance between Mira Sorvino's character and Robin's could have been more developed..
The plot is timely and intriguing, providing lots of food for thought as to the perhaps not-too-far future prospects of technology and our own legacies.I agree the relationship between Williams' character and his love interest was too sketchy.
You can see the huge burden of guilt the character carries.Basically, the premise of this movie is that organic implants are placed into peoples' heads which records everything they see and hear their whole life.
"The Final Cut" is a dark cross between "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "One-Hour Photo" and "Citizen Kane."While this is an original screenplay by writer/director Omar Naim, it is faithful to a Philip Dick-type imagining of a techno-world in the not-so-distant future, with the bleakness, of both the excellent production design, cinematography, music and the story, only briefly mitigated.I like how gradually we see the explanations and issues of memories from many different view points and issues, while one lives and dreams and how one lives on in other people's memories, as a multiplier effect in touching other people and our own souls.
The "cutters" -- like the Robin Williams character -- are like film editors, but your entire life is the film or tape to be edited.
That's the premise of THE FINAL CUT (TFC), a movie that raises intriguing questions about privacy, truth, and memory, but unfortunately, leaves the answers on the cutting room floor.TFC fast forwards from our post-911 world of surveillance cams and camera phones to a time when one in five people carry an organic TiVo in their brain.
Then 'cutters' convert a lifetime of memory into a movie-length 'rememory' for survivors.ROBIN WILLIAMS plays Alan Hakman (hack man, get it?).
I'm going to have to start looking out for more Canadian-made features at this rate, because their studios have shouldered their way to the forefront of the global film industry, and "The Final Cut" is a great example of what I'm talking about."The Final Cut" takes place in the indefinite future, a time when modern technology has made it possible for those who can afford it to outfit their children before birth with a device, the Zöe Implant, that creates a faithful, total, lifelong visual record of their lives, to be retrieved after their death.
(Playing Jesus Christ sure does mess with people's expectations of you - Peter O'Toole is the only actor I'm aware of who carried it off without damage to his career afterward, albeit in a very skewed way, in "The Ruling Class".) I am honestly impressed with the performance Caviezel put in for "The Final Cut," with its texture and depth, very impressive for a supporting character in a movie that's only an hour and a half long.Mira Sorvino is also good, playing a fellow Cutter - Cutters are an odd, wonkish ilk, it turns out, and she manages to create a not-hackneyed, not-stereotypical hacker character with warmth and verve.
It only took him an hour and a half to totally make his name as far as I'm concerned with "The Final Cut." It's a crisp, professional corker of a science-fiction thriller with very few slow places, lots of twists and a plot that won't let you relax until five minutes after the end credits.I can't recommend this film highly enough..
If you are interested in seeing other films like this one by Robin Williams, I will have to recommend the World According to Garp.
I was a little disappointed with the ending so that's why 9 stars rather than 10.Robin Williams gives his usual outstanding performance in this film--as we've come to expect of him.Again, Robin plays a bit of an off-center, troubled character, the type he does so well.The setting is in the very near future where some people are having implants placed in their children, before they are even born, which will record every detail of the child's life.
The implant can only be retrieved upon the death of that person.The recording is then turned over to a "cutter" who goes through the video of the person's life seeking out those precious memories the family will want to re-live and treasure forever.
The cutter does splicing, cutting and editing to create the film for the grieving relatives and friends of the deceased.Cutters, however, are not allowed to have these implants themselves.Robin Williams plays a troubled cutter who has a memory of his own that is tormenting and haunting him.
We see early in the film, Robin's character as a young boy, who during playtime with another boy his age, witnesses the other boy fall to his death.This childhood incident plays itself out in the storyline, as well as the protesters of the implant, who become dangerous to Robin.Mira Sorvino plays Robin Williams "much too young for him", girlfriend, and his occupation as a cutter also affects their relationship.The film is well done, and kept this viewer interested throughout.9 stars out of 10..
Meanwhile, Alan finds that he has also an implanted microchip, which is against the rules of a cutter.When I saw the trailer of "The Final Cut", I became anxious to see this promising sci-fi movie.
It's so incredibly absurd, nothing in it is the least bit feasible, and it's a stupid movie anyway, does Jim Caviezel's character hate or love Robin William's character, first he's trying to kill him, then he's being nice, which makes no sense.
Set in a world with memory implants, Robin Williams plays a cutter, someone with the power of final edit over people's recorded histories.
It's a flick for you to think, to get involved in the ramifications of what you see and don't.The movie is not perfect, of course, it has its flaws and little plot holes, but I find them to be minuscule (that part when Williams has got 5 minutes to dive in the memory -not giving more details in order to avoid spoilers- is somehow a bit dodgy).Yet again, I could be wrong and there's no utter motives or dilemmas behind the obvious and it's all in my head.
An interesting premise; media and its manipulations are examined, there are some interesting visuals here, and Robin Williams is believable as the "cutter" Hakman, who pieces together funeral presentations, editing the crimes and horrors that people experience in their life.It is a bit reminiscent (to anyone who reads) of F.
In a slightly vague future, Robin Williams plays a video editor named Alan, his job is assembling 1-2 hour video portraits of deceased clients whose parent's were well off enough to have had them fitted (while still in the womb) with a "Zoe" implant.
Even still, the overall sheen of the photography (likely added in post-production) was kind of drab in some spots and looked a little boring, particularly in the flashbacks and implant footage.Performance-wise, Robin Williams and Jim Caviezel do decent work as the protagonist and primary antagonist, respectively.
Plus we have Robin Williams in one of his 'serious roles' (which I prefer him as, after watching him in The Fisher Kind, The World's Greatest Dad and - the excellent One Hour Photo).Unfortunately, despite its intriguing premise, The Final Cut doesn't live up to expectations.
Not only does Robin Williams (uncharacteristically) 'phone-in' his performance, coming across as bored and uninteresting, but the film itself is about as interesting as he appears to be.Through his work as a 'cutter' (someone who splices together people's memories after they die for the benefit of their grieving relatives), he discovers some dark secrets that need to be investigated.
Robin Williams plays Alan Hakman, a cutter whose specializes in piecing together said films and who is weighed down emotionally by a tragic event from his childhood."The Final Cut" is no doubt a bold and interesting movie, but it's also a messy one too.
this is a great film but the ending was well it just ended ,it didn't really have an ending ,it needed another 45minutes to have a conclusion and to show what happens after the so called ending.this was robin williams best performance ,he plays the "serious" part very wellthe beginning of the film is very nice but the rest of the film doesn't keep with that pace but i liked the pace of the film and the storyline was excellent just the ending ruins all of that ,so the 8 I've given is for all of the film apart from the last 5 mins which kind of bring the film down to a 1damn i hate the ending!!.
It had some good things going one, like for instance it was a bit short and it had Robin Williams who is a good enough actor to save a movie from being a total disaster (or sometimes the other way around, but that's another story).
Intriguing concept hodgepodge about the near-future with a grim Williams cast as a 'cutter', a state-of-the-art editor of sorts who cuts together home movie type eulogies for those who have passed that were implanted with a recording device of their entire lives' diaries leads to a conflict of interest when he is asked to take the case of a recently deceased magnate to the technology at hand with some skeletons rattling in his closet, leading to some sins of Williams' Alan Hakman (a very apropro surname though not as subtle as the proceedings at hand).
Robin Williams seems to play his non-comedic roles as pathetic rather than dramatic, and the "cutter" here portrayed, who edits people's life-recording chips after their death, was quite similar to the character in "One-Hour Photo." This time instead of being attracted to (or at least fascinated by) children, he is haunted by a recurrent and traumatic childhood memory.
Instead of using the normal video technology, people insert a "chip" into their heads so that when they die, a "cutter" composes a movie from their lives.Can you imagine a more ridiculous and degrading event: your relative died, you're sad and grieving, but subject yourself to watching a melodramatic representation of his/her whole life in two hours?
Lebanese writer-director Omar Naïm's debut feature drops an intriguing, provocative premise: in the future, a memory chip can be implanted at birth and record a person's entire life experience, edited after death into a memorial film by a "cutter", described by one character as "part taxidermist, part priest and part mortician" for his ability to absolve the sins of the dead while presenting to the world a perfect facade.
Robin Williams plays the appropriately named Alan Hakman, one such cutter, who finds in an editing job an image that sends him back to a childhood trauma and leads him directly into the moral quandaries involved in recording and editing memories that he had always shied away from.
So many plot holes, so many undeveloped characters it made my head hurt trying to think about it.The concept of the movie is great, as a story which you 'could' do something with in a Isaac Asimov kinda way...
***SPOILERS*** The late Robin Williams gives an eerie performance as a future micro or Zio-Implant chip cutter or director Alan Hakman who used the implanted microchips that a person has planted into their brain at birth.
The idea is when the children die, a cutter (Robin Williams) can movie edit out the most sentimental parts to display during the funeral, which presumably the parents wont live to see anyway.There were a lot of silly things about this movie, although I must admit I took away the interesting proposition that sometimes even our strongest recollections may not actually be the way things happened.
Robin Williams is Alan Hackman, a 'cutter' with the job of editing a person's memory down to a few highlights to be played at the funeral.
A strong concept(technology that is implanted in the brain that records every experience and memory of the individual,which can be in turn used to create a sort of film as a summation or "tribute" to the individual's life) and some solid acting from Robin Williams(in particular) makes this movie very watchable.
Add to that the fact that I think the film under-uses Mira Sorvino and Jim Caviezel,two very worthy and compelling actors,and it does seem somewhat wanting.Still,a compelling piece of film work that is nicely filmed(credit the director Omar Naif--is that the right spelling?) and edited and definitely worth a look,provided you're up for some heavy meditation on the nature of human memory..
"The Final Cut" is an interesting Sci-Fi, starring Robin Williams in the leading role, that of a "cutter", namely a sort of "mortician" as his girlfriend(?), played by Mira Sorvino, names him at one moment.
In the future you can see inside people's memories.Robin Williams plays a cutter called Alan W.Hakman, whose job is to edit the highlights of the deceased persons' lives.Then he sees a face from the past in one memory implant, a man he thought died when they were children.This particular implant is also wanted by certain people and his life is in danger.There's also a lady called Delila, played by Mira Sorvino,involved in the story.Omar Naim's The Final Cut (2004) is a real neat sci-fi thriller.Robin Williams is excellent as the troubled cutter.This actor-comedian, who turns 57 today, has starred many memorable movies.Mira Sorvino is wonderful as Delila.I would have liked to see more of her.Jim Caviezel is great playing Fletcher.This movie has a lot of good.The future that is portrayed there is fascinating.If we look at the possibility...the world where we would have memory implants, I'm sure people would go protesting in the streets.Just like they do in this movie.Let's hope this will not be our future..
The idea of having some kind of chip recording all our memories so that others could remember us through them is not only morally controversial, but it also raises important questions about our place in the world and how we perceive it.However, despite all the very relevant issues this premise could raise, The Final Cut goes in a totally diffente path, losing itself in conspiracy theories and thriller-like subplots that make this movie totally irrelevant and not at all worth remembering.It makes me sad to think that this script could have been a completely different film in the hands of a director like Michel Gondry or even Richard Kelly..
Robin Williams as Alan Hakman, (love that character name for a man that does cutting!) is a great strength of this movie.
but I don't think he made a good choice by choosing to act in The Final Cut. Personally, I thought it was a pretty dumb movie.
The ideas presented are unique to me, the sets and cinematography are innovative.The whole concept of seeing through someone else's eyes is fascinating (and one I have contemplated many times over.) In one portion of the movie, one man questions whether Robin's character changed the color of a boat in his brother's "rememory" to green.
This is the subject of Omar Naim's film The Final Cut.Robin Williams plays Alan Hakman, a "cutter" by trade who takes people's memories and makes them into rememories, or a little movie using the deceased's own memories.
A wannabe thriller with a fantastic premise sinks under its own weight, complete with overacting, a muddled plot, and a clichéd script.Alan Hakman (Robin Williams) is a cutter, responsible for editing the recorded video of people's lives (they've been implanted since birth with a recording device) into an upbeat, hero-building "Rememory" for surviving loved ones to enjoy.
"The Final Cut" is yet another film with a dark, thriller, mystery edge that Robin Williams does an excellent job acting in.
After their death, the memory chips can be retrieved and a movie can then be made by the memory chip editors called "cutters" who Robin Williams plays.
Directors of photography, editors, cinematographers
Then came Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, Jim Caviezel
It doesn't matter if then it wasn't enough, or if the movie wasn't great (it isn't), they all lived the experience, and most importantly, Naim did.A man in his 20's, capable of taking the direction in his own thing
Remarkable.
He added a lot of drama into the whole film, with a nostalgic beginning, and then threw us into the cutting world, and into the best cutter (Alan Hakman) life.
Robin Williams plays a "cutter" who takes the recorded life histories of deceased men and women implanted with a memory chip in the womb and pieces together a moving scrapbook of personal memories for loved ones to watch at the memorial service. |
tt2146816 | Logos | With complex dramatic sensibilities reminiscent of great filmmakers like Krzysztof Kielowski and Darren Aronofsky comes Michael Sorokorensky's LOGOS. Rich in symbolism and deliberately presented, each carefully selected frame layers a deeper meaning. LOGOS is a brutal story told gently.James Carroll, a nineteen year old computer science student, is mourning the death of his father who jumped out of the first tower in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. James has become convinced that uncertainty is the root of all evil and strives to contain world's problems using sophisticated computer algorithms. In the process, he distances himself from the very elements he wishes to correct, and delves deeper into the dark recesses of his mind.Although knowing the future is one step closer to controlling it, James must first overcome his own frailties. But the world isnt making it easy, and James' shaky grasp on reality is tested further by the few remaining people in his life; his egomaniacal roommate, a clumsy best friend, and an elusive romantic interest. Each person somehow finds ways to hurt James, quite often unintentionally. Even complete strangers manage to multiply James angst and yearning for solitary predictability. Only computers and simpler organisms provide James the much needed consolation.The more James alienates himself, the deeper he burrows into his work, the more tenuous his return to normalcy becomes. As the days go by and little is done to elate his suffering, James starts to cave. Until, finally, he can take no more.Somewhere between James' dreams and reality lies the truth. | psychedelic | train | imdb | very artistic. love the depth of this film. It's poetry with a story, told freshly, and revealed through genuine characters that I could believe in. Despite any budgetary limitations the film holds up, and is presented beautifully in its DVD release. This is one of the few films out there that makes you really think. Some of the elements I found very mystical, and symbolic. But somehow James' heady observations still feel grounded, and despite his very reclusive nature, James quickly becomes relateable. Sure there are moments, like in any first-time director's overzealous efforts, that come off pretentious. But these can be overlooked because it's clear the director wanted to give his audience something new, something fresh. Plus I did find some of the retro allusions very entertaining.Be warned, this is not your regular crowd pleaser, Hollywood, blockbuster flick. It is a serious piece of cinema, even if it sometimes felt that the budget held Sorokorensky back from accomplishing his vision. I loved the visual style even in its the raw, yet somehow polished and deliberate, guerrilla form. I wish more independent filmmakers would use their time, and limited budgets, to produce something meaningful, not just another slasher, vampire, zombie, horror flick. How many times can we see a half-naked girl be chased by a killer?The director did a superb job of staying on point while navigating through what may seem like random events in James' daily routine. You'll connect the dots in the end and appreciate the wait. Do yourself a favor and allay your A.D.D. Don't stop watching/ Believe me things are building, the end is worth it... and it all will be worth discussing. (I debated this film with my husband for days after the end credits rolled.)In the end, I feel we get the answer to the key question posed (implied in the opening quote for the film) if James will make himself worthy of his sufferings. And now, I am thinking, are we worthy of ours? |
tt0122685 | Riti, magie nere e segrete orge nel trecento... | In the cellar of the local cursed castle, Satanists are cutting out
the hearts and drinking the blood of virgins in order to keep alive their
Great Mistress Isabella Isabella Drupel [Rita Calderoni], a witch/vampire who was staked through the chest
and burned to death in the 14th century. They currently await "the 25th
moon", when Isabella (chained to a wall and with a big hole in her chest)
will be able to fully reincarnate in another body. Neither the stories
about the castle being the site of the Inquisition, nor the heartless
village virgins being found all over, nor the fact that some odd occultist [Raoul Lovecchio]
and his servant are also living in the castle, phases Jack Nelson [Mickey Hargitay], the
castle's new owner. In fact, one of the first things Jack does is to throw
an engagement party for niece Laureen [Rita Calderoni] who is marrying a local boy, Richard
Brenton [William Darni].Jack doesn't care about the castle's notoriety because he is actually
Count Dracula, and he's been waiting 500 years for the day when his
beloved Isabella will return to him. He doesn't care about the occultist
either, because it was he who helped remove Isabella's body from the stake
all those years ago. In fact, many of the male guests are also vampires
who have been awaiting Isabella's return, and most of the female guests
are reincarnations of the same girls who were shouting "Burn the witch!"
all those years ago when Isabella was suffering.[Herein insert a good 45 minutes of scenes with no continuity and
even less sense, mostly of Isabella being staked and burned, the virgins
being seduced by the vampires, Christa [Christa Barrymore] being buried alive and then
returning as a vampire, lots of bare breasts and women being held by the
torturers, and Laureen escaping from a tightening cage of knives and
falling into amnesia about what happened to her.] This kind of stuff goes
on until Richard stumbles upon one of the occultist's books that explains
how Vampires need blood uncontaminated by semen (i.e., from virgins) and
Jack and the occultist explain how everyone there has paid a role, past
and present, in Isabella's death.It is the night of the 25th moon. All the vampires suddenly go on a
feeding frenzy. Two of their victims escape but, while they are running
through the valley clothed only in a black cape, a lightning bolt strikes
a wooden cross and sets it on fire. The villagers see the cross burning
and, like in the old days, start screaming there be witches here. The
villagers attempt to kill the girls, but the occultist suggests that they
be allowed to pass the altar at the crossroads where it is said no demon
can pass without being incinerated. The villagers agree, and the two girls
are promptly engulfed by fire and disappear, reappearing in the castle
cellar where they rejoin the other girls being held as sacrifices to
Isabella. Tired of all the mysteries and disappearing girls, Richard
confronts the occultist who delivers the moral of the story: There is a
thin line between the known and the unknown, the real and the unreal, and
maybe the things we see are just the things we want to see. Profound?Meanwhile, Laureen has disappeared again. She has become the Chosen
One, the one who will provide the eyes and ears of the reincarnated
Isabella. Only Laureen must be a willing body donor. In a drugged state,
it looks like Laureen is going to consent, but just as Isabella begins to
awaken, Laureen cries out "Monster!" and the spell is broken. Laureen then
kills Jack, and the next thing we know, Laureen is waking up in her own
little bed oblivious to it all. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl] | pornographic, gothic | train | imdb | null |
tt0405336 | Southland Tales | PrologueThe film begins with home-video footage of July 4th 2005 celebrations in Abilene, Texas. All of a sudden, a huge bang is heard and a mushroom cloud appears in the sky.A narration begins to say that after the detonations of two nuclear weapons in Texas that America went into chaos and a new World War III had begun between Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and North Korea. Because of this, oil was in short supply so the government looked to alternative fuel sources.
The Patriot Act is upgraded so much that you need a visa to cross from one state into the next. Extremist and rebellious groups begin appearing, the most known is the Neo-Marxists to run out of Venice Beach in L.A. The narrator begins talking about the upcoming election between Clinton/Lieberman and Elliot/Frost and it basically all depends on the votes in California. On June 27th, 2008, Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) was kidnapped and abandoned in the Nevada desert but the government know that he is back in California but they don't know how.The film fades up on the Santa Monica beach at dawn; Boxer is lying on the sand and awakens. The camera then shows the narrator, Pilot Abilene (Justin Timberlake), an Iraqi War vet who was scarred by a friendly-fire incident. He is sitting at a turret on the Santa Monica pier, and is reading from the Book of Revelations. Pilot introduces himself through voiceover and says that he will tell the story of Boxer Santaros and the journey down the road not taken and then says This is the Way the World Ends...Not with a Whimper-With a Bang. The camera pulls back and reveals a bank of monitors showing various TV footage.The title then appears on the screen...IVTemptation WaitsVarious protestors are standing outside of a public building. The narrator begins to talk about US-IDENT-an agency that was set up by the Republican Party to regulate over cyberspace and CCTV. US-IDENT is run by a woman named Nana Mae Frost (Miranda Richardson) (wife of Texas senator Bobby Frost) (Holmes Osbourne)The film then cuts to Boxer, standing in front of a mirror, the narrator says that Boxer suffers from amnesia and says that he has been manipulated by Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), an ex-porn star, who has also convinced him that they have both written a script called The Power. They are both lying in bed watching the film Kiss Me Deadly.The narrator begins to talk once more about Americas quest for alternate fuels and tells of a German scientist named Baron von Westphalen (Wallace Shawn) who created a machine in the ocean that would essentially create a field of wireless electricity called Fluid Karma.Cut to: A man named Fortunio Balducci (Will Sasso) watching TV and flicking through the channels until he finds a show called Now-a talk-show that features Krysta Now and her group of fellow porn-stars where they talk about abortion, terrorism, crime, poverty, social reform, quantum teleportation, teen horniness and war. They begin to talk about why Krysta wont do anal. Krysta walks up the stairs of Fortunios home and Fortunio jokes that with her that great social changes are impossible without feminine commotion. Krysta tells him that deep down, everyone wishes that they were a porn star because she believes America is a bi-sexual nation living in denial...all because of a bunch of nerds-a bunch of nerds who got off a boat in the 15th century and decided that sex was something to be ashamed of-all the pilgrims did was ruin the American Indian orgy of freedom.Then Boxer walks into the room and asks Krysta whether or not she has been lying to him about everything. She tells him that she is protecting him.Later, Krysta goes to a diner and meets with a porn director/Neo-Marxist member named Cyndi Pinziki. Krysta begins talking about how at first she was known as just Krysta but changed her name to Krysta Now! to differentiate herself from the 76 other Krystas in the porn industry. Krysta then begins to talk about her career reinvention with the launch of her new talk show, pop album, clothing and perfume line, an energy drink and a jewelery line. Krysta then asks her if she can keep a secret and reveals that she is sleeping with a very large and important manAt US-IDENT, the head of the organization, Nana Mae Frost is searching for her son-in-law, Boxer. Boxer is married to her daughter, Madeline Frost-Santaros (Mandy Moore). Boxer has been declared missing for several days, but they know that he was in Nevada and that he is back in California. They believe that Boxer was kidnapped at a charity event in a stolen SUV prototype which was tracked to Lake Mead. They also believe that the person behind the kidnapping was involved in the Neo-Marxist group. The car was set on fire and that there were two people inside the car.Pilot starts narrating about the Neo-Marxists and what they stood for Destroy Capitalism, Dethrone God. We cut to Cyndi and another woman named Teri Riley who are doing surveillance on Fortunios house (where Boxer and Krysta are in hiding). Apparently Krysta tipped them off (which is why she was at the diner talking with Cyndi) and that she has promised a marriage AND election killer. They then watch as Krysta and Boxer stand on the balcony of Fortunios home.Revelations 6:8
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death...Cut to: Another Neo-Marxist member named Zora Carmichaels and a gun-runner named Walter Mung standing inside of an ice cream truck, which has been retrofitted for holding guns which he sells from the truck. Zora is there to buy some blanks from him but her eye catches a rocket launcher behind him. She gives him a check which he wont accept and calls her a Cro-Magnon bitch. She then grabs his neck and pushes him to the floor. She storms off with the blanks.The scene then shifts to a TV reporter talking with the committee behind Treer Products, who asks them about the usage of Fluid Karma as a drug (According to a scroll at the bottom of the screen-Pilot Abilene released a statement saying that he was involved in a military drug test when he was stationed in Iraq). The camera turns around on Dion and Dream (the leaders of the Neo-Marxists) (Wood Harris and Amy Poehler) and Zora at the Neo-Marxist HQ where they are watching the report. Officer Ronald Taverner (Seann William Scott) is inside the bathroom staring at a big mirror where his reflection seems to be delayed by 2-3 seconds.Pilot introduces him and then says that Ronald is a pawn for the Neo-Marxists who will be used to destroy the Republican Partys chances of winning the state of Florida and also to destroy US-IDENT. He is also suffering from amnesia, like Boxer. Dion and Dream have blood-packs taped to their clothes. Zora goes to the bathroom door and reminds Ronald that he kidnapped an L.A.P.D. officer, which is against the law and that she needs him to help her. Ronald pulls a gun on his own head and then shoots the floor. Ronald then walks out of the bathroom to Dion, Dream and Zora and asks them to promise that no one will get hurt. Ronald walks out and the camera whips around to an unconscious Ronald tied up in a chair (the Ronald that is tied up is his twin brother-Roland)Ronald is outside Fortunios house looking out at the Santa Monica beach. Pilot is still at his turret and recognises Ronald. He narrates by saying that Ronalds mission was to impersonate his twin brother who is an L.A.P.D. cop himself). Fortunio walks outside and invites him in.Boxer and Krysta are upstairs and they begin pitching a movie to Ronald. The movie is an epic Los Angeles crime saga. Ronald can assume that Boxer is playing a cop and that hell want a ride along. Boxer says yes and tells him that its a film that takes place in the near-future (Krysta chimes in by saying that scientists predict that the future is going to be far more futuristic than they originally predicted) and that he plays a paranoid schizophrenic police officer named Jericho Kane-who can see things. One day he senses a change in L.A.-crime skyrockets for no apparent reason and the apocalypse is occurring-but his character is the only one who knows why the Earths rotation is slowing down at .00000006 miles per hour each day and its disrupting the chemical equilibrium in the human brain which cause erratic criminal behaviour.Ronald isnt exactly thrilled by the pitch but asks how Boxers character stops it. Boxer says that he cant stop what cant be stopped and that only God can do so. Boxer says that his character is killed at the end in a shootout in downtown L.A. while he is whispering the truth to Dr. Muriel Fox (a character who will be played by Krysta Now)Boxer and Ronald are on the ride-along, where Boxer has a camcorder and is asking Roland a bunch of questions. He asks how he feels when hes behind the wheel of a car as a police officer and how he perceives the world. Ronald says that he believes they act like concerned citizen. Ronald then says to Boxer to be honest with you-we have to look out for the n*****s. Boxer believes him to be serious but it turns out he was joking with Boxer (The Neo Marxists had Ronald intentionally say that to make him seem to be a racist cop).Dion and Dream (who are listening in on the car conversation) are pleased that he has said n****r. Dream tells him over a microphone to ask Boxer about his wife. Ronald does so and asks how she feels that is having an affair with a porn star. Boxer doesn't know what he is talking about and says that he isn't married and tells Ronald to stop asking questions (Because Boxer suffers from amnesia, he doesn't know he is married to Madeline Frost-Santaros and this is the first time she is made reference to him). Ronald then asks what Boxers movie really is about. He knows there is something that Boxer wont say. Boxer then says that it all hinges on a top secret experiment a young couple come home from the hospital with a newborn baby but the baby has not yet produced a bowel movement in a week and Boxer then says that the baby is special and that it processes energy differently. Ronald is weirded out by this because he then confesses to Boxer that he has not made a bowel movement in six days.Revelation 11
Two witnesses appear in Jerusalem to speak out against the sins of mankind. They are eventually killed by those who are tormented by their prophecies.Dion and Dream are arguing about Ronald's inability to produce a bowel movement. Dion believes that it is wrong because its going against Mother Nature whilst Dream believes that its not written in the Bible that you have to produce a bowel movement. They then stop arguing because they know they'll never get to a right answer and they are waiting impatiently for a man named Kenny Chan to arrive. Kenny then arrives and they tell him that he is really late. Dion and Dream go to leave but before they do, they tell Kenny that if Ronalds twin brother-Roland wakes up, inject him with the needle left beside him (it is fill off Fluid Karma).Pilot narrates by saying that Kenny works at US-IDENT and that the Neo-Marxists recruited him to infiltrate it as a mole. Kenny is seen talking to Starla Von Luft (a fellow employee at US-IDENT) for his coat back. She had it bugged so that she can track him.A TV news broadcast says that US-IDENT have unraveled a plot by Neo-Marxists to rig the US election by using severed thumbs. Bobby Frost, Vaughn Smallhouse (John Larroquette) (Frosts Hollywood Aide) and Brandt Huntington (Frost's assistant) are watching this report on a laptop. Bobby picks up a CD at the laptop-its Krystas CD entitled Teen Horniness Is Not a Crime and are e-mailed a video file of Boxer and Krysta kissing on Fortunio's balcony. The e-mail was sent from a group called Deep Throat 2.They cant trace the e-mail but immediately, they get a phone call from Deep Throat 2-Its Cyndi, Teri and Krysta. They tells them that they have a tape of Boxer Santaros in compromising positions-they'll give them the tape in exchange for $1 million in cash and a Yes vote on Proposition 69. Bobby threatens them and he hangs up on them. Cyndi and Teri remain calm and tell Krysta that there is always Phase Two. Krysta wasnt aware of a Phase Two but they tell her to be quiet and leave it to them.Back at US-IDENT, Nana Mae Frost is watching Krystas show Now!- one of the women on the show ask about if you are on a flight from London to L.A. and you have sex on the flight, then takes the morning after pill-while traveling over the time zone-then it becomes the morning before pill.Pilot narrates about what Phase Two was...Dream and Dion were going to stage a domestic disturbance that Ronald would investigate along with Boxer and fake their deaths. In an abandoned house, Dion and Dream are dressed as a newly-wed couple and are getting prosthetics applied on their face by another member of the Neo-Marxist group named Bing Zinneman. Zora is also there, playing around on rollerblades. Zora doesn't see the point of them wearing prosthetics, but Dream says that the two of them are cultural icons and that they cannot be recognized.Back at US-IDENT, Starla traces Kenny's whereabouts to an abandoned building in downtown L.A. (The Neo-Marxist HQ). Kenny is on the phone to a female telling her about how some password should work. Nana Mae Frost is tapped into the conversation and when she hears Kenny saying Nana Mae Frost can go eat a fucking dick-she orders in the police to raid the building. They go in and kill two Neo Marxist members (one of which is Hostel director Eli Roth in a blink-and-youll-miss cameo) before they make their way to Kenny upstairs. Kenny hears the shots and runs to Roland and tries to wake him and when he does, Roland sees everything distorted and quasi-animated (similar to A Scanner Darkly). Ronald says Where Is He? Promise Me Youll Find Him. Kenny tells Roland that there is a window that leads to the roof and he should escape. Roland gets out in time while Kenny is gunned down. Once Roland gets to the top of the roof, he jumps off and lands inside of a dumpster.At a diner at Santa Monica Beach, Ronald and Boxer are having lunch and discussing the film. Ronald tells Boxer that he is having a recurring dream where he wakes up in a maze of sand and when he is walking inside the maze, he finds a light source and there is a person waiting there for him Boxer. Boxer then asks him does he ever feel like there is a thousand people locked inside our yourself. Ronald says sometimes. Boxer then adds that its your memory that keeps them glued together and from breaking out and fighting one another a memory gospel (a reference to a song from Moby). Ronald sees two men (one with a Mohawk his cousin Jimmy Hermosa, and his uncle Tab Taverner) and they signal Ronald to go over to them. When he leaves, Boxer notices an Asian women smoking a cigarette who is staring at him her name is Serpentine (Bai Ling). Ronald turns around to Boxer and looks at him very suspiciously. Boxer then gets up from the table and follows Serpentine into a bookstore called Small World Books.He then finds her with Inga Von Westphalen (mother of Baron) and a midget named Dr. Katarina Kuntzler. Inga tells Boxer that no matter what happens next, its not Boxers fault and then Dr Kuntzler says that they have read his script. Boxer takes the script off of her and asks how they got a copy. Serpentine just says Dont look so scared, Mr. Santaros-the future is just like you imagined. Inga says This Is the Way The World Ends...Not With A Whimper, With a Bang)...VMemory GospelAt US-IDENT, Starla is on toilet duty (basically shes watching hours upon hours of footage of people at LAX excreting. Pilot starts narrating-Starla has downloaded a copy of Boxers screenplay from Krystas website and she is obsessed with Boxer. Upon reading the script, she apparently had a spiritual transformation-she assumed the role of Dr. Muriel Fox and that only she could help Boxer.On the ride-along, Zora radios in a disturbance to Ronald, which he bring Boxer along to investigate. At the house, Dream and Dion (now in their wedding attire and prosthetics) begin to faux-fight with each other (a pretty hilarious scene where Dion accuses Dream of sleeping with another man to which she says yes).Ronald and Boxer pull up to the house, when another police car pulls up beside them. The officer driving is named Bart Bookman (Jon Lovitz). Bart can hear Dream and Dions yelling and offers his assistance. Ronald says no, but Bart doesnt take no for an answer. The approach to the house is very foggy, which Bart explains is caused by Treers tidal generator. Boxer (videoing the entire pursuit to the house) is with them.Dream and Dion see Bart with Boxer and Ronald-they know something is wrong as this wasnt part of the plan. Dream then says a spoken word poem to Bart, which insults him to he kills Dream and Dion. Boxer and Ronald are in total shock. Boxer tells Bart that the two were not armed, so Bart takes Boxers camera and points it at Boxer and tells him to leave. Boxer then runs off along with Ronald. Pilot narrates that the plan should have been perfect a staged double homicide, by a racist cop, and filmed by a Hollywood movie star with political ties, but no one could expect the arrival of Bart. Zora and Bing run away from their hideout on their rollerblades.Boxer and Ronald then run away from each other in opposite directions. Ronald makes it back to his car, where drives off into the distance. Boxer runs as far as he can and he then receives a phone call on his cell phone. He is still shaken from the incident so it takes him some time to find his phone. Once he does, he answers it. Its Starla. She asks if he is Jericho Kane (the character he is playing in his script). She introduces herself as Dr. Muriel Fox and tells him that she has uncovered a secret document about the tidal generator and that Jericho was right in that a space-time rift was created in the Nevada desert near Lake Mead. She says that she cannot say anymore because they are listening and tells him to call her back on her number which she gives. She actually gives him Vaughn Smallhouses cell phone number. So he hangs up and calls the number.A commercial appears for Treer and their new Fluid Karma powered SUV on a TV screen. The commercial starts in a suburban neighbourhood with two Treer SUVs. One of the drives behind the other and drives up it and then a penis shaped exhaust appears from the SUV on top and it inserts itself into a vagina-shaped exhaust and begins fucking-doggy style. Once the commercial ends, there is a round of applause for Baron Von Westphalen. They are inside of Bobby Frosts home, where Madeline is watching the commercial. There seems to be a party going on inside of the house to celebrate the release of this SUV. Madeline is opposed to the idea of the Republican Party associating themselves with the likes of Baron. Vaughns cell phone begins to ring and he answers it. Its Boxer, who claims to be Jericho Kane, thinking that he is talking to Starla. Vaughn recognises Boxers voice and tells him to go to the Baja Cantina in Venice, and there will be a car waiting for him there.Pilot is still sitting at his mount at the Santa Monica Pier and is looking through his sniper scope at the people on the beach. At the Deep Throat 2 HQ, Teri, Cyndi and Krysta are there and they are searching for Boxer through his manager (who happens to be Vaughn). Boxer is picked up at the Baja Cantina and is brought to Bobby Frosts home. At US-IDENT, Nana Mae Frost is looking at forensic footage of Dion and Dreams bodies. She seems pleased to see that two of her enemies are destroyed.Inside Ronalds police car, Ronald, Zora and Bing are contemplating what just happened. Ronald knows that they are dead but Zora is trying to convince Ronald that the shots were just squibs. Ronald believes that they are all lying to him. Bing asks them if he can leave and go home, which Zora allows. When Bing leaves, Zora injects Ronald in the neck and throws him out onto the street and she drives off. She then runs over Bing (who knows too much at this point) which kills him.Revelation 22
It will never be night again and they will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will be shining on them. They will reign forever and ever...Roland is still inside of the dumpster. He looks at his hand where a beam of light appears. He then jumps out of the dumpster and runs down the street. He sees an ice cream truck and runs to it, the driver is Walter Mung the arms dealer. He asks if he can use his phone which Walter does. When Roland dials the number he turns around and sees Walter pointing a gun in his face. Walther then injects him in the neck and throws him inside of the van.Boxer arrives at Frosts home and is escorted inside...Revelation 12 and 13
A pregnant woman, a dragon and two beasts They are the puppets of the Anti-ChristBoxer is then led into a room where Madeline, Booby, Vaughn and Brandt are waiting. Madeline sarcastically says What-Have you got amnesia?...Boxer replies yes. Boxer then realises that Madeline is his wife. Vaughn then hugs Boxer and tells him that he is so happy hes alive.Back at the raided Neo-Marxist HQ, Zora is talking with Bart Bookman. She asks does he have the tape of the murders, which he then gives to her. He asks when hell get paid and tells her that the tape better not get leaked on to the internet. Zora assures him that it wont and that they are going to be paid a lot of money to destroy it.At US-IDENT, Nana Mae Frost is watching Krystas music video on a monitor entitled Teen Horniness Is Not a Crime-it compromises of her and her friends dancing on a beach. Then it shows Madeline looking at a DVD cover with Krysta on it entitled CockChuggers 2: Cockchuggin-she has someone go look for her and to bring her to the house immediately.The Frosts try explaining to Boxer who he really is, they tell him that they believe the Neo-Marxists kidnapped and brainwashed him. Krysta is brought inside the room where she is insulted by Madeline but Boxer steps him and defends her by saying that she just cut her own pop album, developing her own reality show, jewellery, clothing and perfume line and an energy drink. Madeline cant believe her ears-she is convinced that she has set him up and asks if there is video footage of the two of you together. Boxer says no, but Krysta says there is. Vaughn assumes that Krysta wants $1 million and a Yes vote on Proposition 69 (He naturally assumes that she is Deep Throat 2-to which she replies No, Im not in that movie).Madeline tries reasoning with her father and tells him that if the tape is leaked, the election is over but Bobby says no, claiming that he does not negotiate with terrorists. Brandt agrees with Madeline and advises Bobby to comply. Madeline tells her father to take the money from Boxers account. She then tells Boxer that she is pregnant and that he is the father. Vaughn asks Krysta did anyone put her up to this. She says yes and that it was Baron who paid her to bring him back from Nevada into California. Madeline believes Krysta because she believes that Baron is funding the Neo-Marxists. Baron is insulted and then reveals that Boxer is not the father of her child, Brandt is.Boxer then leaves the house and is waiting for his valet to arrive with his car. He sees Krysta who tells him I Love You, Jericho Kane. She then drives off, leaving the estate. Boxers phone begins to ring, he answers it. Its Starla who is still pretending to be Dr. Muriel Fox, she asks to meet her at the Santa Monica Pier tomorrow. She then hangs up. He turns around and looks back inside the house where he sees Dr. Kuntzler who says: We Saw the Shadows of the Morning Light, The Shadows of the Evening Sun, Until the Shadows and Light Were One. Boxers car arrives and he drives off.Baron is on his phone and he says into the receiver This is the Wizard, remove the body from Utopia Three. We cut to who he was speaking with on the phone, a wheel-chair bound scientist named Simon Theory. He says to himself So It Begins...Pilot begins narrating once again. He says that Baron was conducting experiments on soldiers in Iraq by injecting them with Fluid Karma. He was a part of this experiment and was one of a few so lived through the experiment. Pilot says that Barons quest for world domination was almost complete and that negotiations with Hideo Takehashi (Prime Minister of Japan) have finished. Hideo was going to have one of his fingers cut off in return, Japan will have access to Fluid Karma. Serpentine holds a hatchet toward his finger, she swings down and cuts off his whole hand. Baron states that Hideos lawyers should have read the contract in detail, which states that there is a 6 inch margin of error.Walter Mung is driving his ice-cream truck through downtown L.A., where Roland is unconscious in the back. A TV broadcast says that there is record-breaking heat waves occurring all over the Southland.At Arcade Fire (a bar/arcade for soldiers), Martin Kefauver (Lou Pucci) arrives inside and is stopped by two soldiers who tell him not to waste their time. They let him by where he meets with Pilot. Martin is selling him medicinal marijuana. While Pilot examines the marijuana, Martin tells him that he is a big fan of his movies and also lets slip that his father is Pilots plastic surgeon. Pilot then recognises Martin and tells him to tell his father that hell give him a call soon. Pilot then wants to get back down to business and tells Martin of Fluid Karma and how he has been smuggling it from the generator Utopia Three. He shows him the needle used to administer Fluid Karma, it needs to be injected into the neck, he claims the experience is like talking to God, without seeing Him-you hear His voice and see his disciples-their like angels...angels that can see through time. Pilot injects himself in the neck. Martin then leaves Arcade Fire and shortly afterwards, Pilot collapses to the ground.When he wakes, hes standing and staring into the camera, drinking a can of Budweiser, wearing a blood-soaked t-shirt. The song All These Things I Have Done by The Killers begins playing. Pilot is lip-syncing the song to the audience, walking around Arcade Fire in a drunken daze. All of a sudden, eight women dressed as nurses are lying down on skeeball tables and dancing. The nurses are all dancing around him as he continues to sing to the camera. Towards the end of the song, he pours all of his can over his head and begins to stare into the camera...the dream ends.Pilot begins narrating that his face still haunts Ronalds dreams. In an alleyway, Ronald wakes up from his sleep. He gets up from the pavement and runs down the alley....VIWave Of MutilationAt US-IDENT, each employee, led by Nana Mae, are doing aerobic/yoga exercises from their cubicles. Pilot narrates saying that for billions of years, the daily cycles of the ocean tides have influenced patterns of hunting, breathing and feeding behaviour among the developing life forms of our planet. A TV reporter is talking about the excitement of the unveiling of a Mega-Zeppelin named Jenny Von Westphalen-its docking area is right beside the Staples Centre and is over 900 foot long.At Zoras apartment, Krysta arrives at her door and Zora asks what she wants. Krysta tells her that she is boarding the Mega Zeppelin that night and that she needs some drugs. Zora leaves the room for a few moments, when Krysta spots a tape lying on a chair entitled BOXER. Pilot says that Pandoras Box is exposed to prying eyes. She thinks its the sex tape of herself and Boxer so she steals it.She then meets with Shoshanna outside of Zoras apartment and tells her that she has the tape. Shoshanna asks why she has the tape and Krysta tells her that she wants to go public with it, effectively destroying the Republicans chances of winning the election. Shoshanna tells her about a website that Krysta could broadcast it on called USIDeath-a Neo-Marxist website that is running without USIDENT authorisation. Shoshanna tells her that she can just leave it in a dropbox.Krysta and Shoshanna walk by a black SUV, inside the SUV is Martin Kefauver, reading a short letter. He is obviously upset. He takes a gun to his own head, and is prepared to kill himself...he has just been drafted to fight in the army. Down the street, Ronald is walking in a daze, until he sees Martin with a gun up to his head.Ronald walks towards the car and knocks on the window. Ronald takes the gun away from him and enters the SUV. Ronald asks for his help-to help find his brother. Martin says OK.Inside a diner nearby, Cyndi sits down at a table with Vaughn. Cyndi gives him a memory card and she tells him that it is the only copy. Cyndi is about to leave when Vaughn tells her to stay and wants to ask her some questions. He asks her how she sleeps at night. She answers by saying that she sleeps very well, only until US-IDENT wrongfully raids her neighbours house. Vaughn asks her has she ever lost anyone she knew in a terrorist attack. Surprisingly, she does-her two former husbands were killed in Abilene when the nuclear bombs went off in 2005. He calls her by her real name, then Cyndi interrupts and tells him that she has something way more valuable...a tazer gun to his testicles. She shocks his testicles and then tells him that there is another tape in the open of the Dream/Dion murder. She leaves the table, leaving Vaughn in agony.Boxer is arriving at the Santa Monica Pier and is looking around for Starla (who claims to be Dr. Muriel Fox).At The Neo-Marxist HQ, Zora is in a rage...Krysta has stolen the tape of the Dream/Dion murder (she assumed it was the sex tape between herself and Boxer). She is on the phone with Cyndi, screaming about how she will kill Krysta and she then throws her phone at the wall, breaking it.Boxer is walking the Santa Monica Beach and is drinking a six-pack of Budweiser, stalking him in the background is Starla.TV reports are being shown on the screen. The first is a TV commercial of a man holding an AK-47 telling people to vote NO on Proposition 69. The next is a segment of a TV news cast, showing President Bush, who is talking about Treer and their Mega-Zeppelin. The following segment is a new cast about fires occurring spontaneously and many small earthquakes in the Southland area, urging all residents that another massive earthquake could occur so be prepared.Pilot is sitting at his post, reading a newspaper. He looks up and throws his newspaper down and looks at his laptop. Pilot narrates by saying that he is having a premonition-danger was on the horizon. He rotates his post and looks through his scope, he sees Boxer Santaros, standing at the pier. All of a sudden, Starla screams JERICHO KANE-THE INFORMATION THAT I HAVE UNCOVERED COULD GET ME KILLED...BUT IT WAS A RISK I WAS WILLING TO TAKE, THE FATE OF THE WORLD REST UPON YOU, JERICHO KANE.Boxer turns around and nods at her. She tells him that he must board the Mega-Zeppelin and that the secret he is looking for is inside Barons secret chamber. Boxer asks what the secret is. She tells him that there was a dead body retrieved from inside Boxers car in the desert. Boxer asks if he killed the man. She whispers that she cannot say anymore as they are listening. She then says I want to suck your dick, Jericho, she pulls out a gun and threatens to kill herself, if he does not let her. Pilot is watching all of this through his sniper scope, he puts a round into the rifle and loads it. Starla tells Boxer to take his pants off immediately. Boxer says Okay-Jericho Kane is going to make your wish come true and turn you into a new woman. We can rent a room with shutters-thats my favourite place.Pilot pulls the trigger and kills Starla, causing mass hysteria on the pier. Boxer runs away in fear.At US-IDENT, Nana Mae tells her men that Bart Bookman and Zora are on their way to retrieve a tape from Krysta Now. Cut to Krysta driving her Lamborghini with her friends along the beach.At the beach, Krysta and her friends are filming a scene for her show, and they are talking about how they have obtained their first SteadiCam for the show, but Krysta is still pissed off because she wanted a read Hollywood SteadiCam. The four girls go to a bar called the PoopDeck (where Krysta plans to drop off the tape). She walks inside of the ladies toilets and leaves the tape to be collected. When she goes outside, she sees Zora running inside of the PoopDeck. Krysta then runs to a nearby man and tells him that Zora and Bart are trying to kill her. He attacks Zora, who easily takes the man down. As this is happening Krysta and her friends run out of the bar to escape.A soldier, who is stationed on the pier, sees this all happening through his scope at his post and he loads his rifle. Zora and Bart run out of the bar and chase after them. Zora shouts at Krysta and tells her that it is the wrong tape. Bart runs up onto a table and fires warning shots into the air. This grabs the soldiers attention, who quickly kills him. The soldier quickly reloads his gun and aims at Zora (who shots at him, calling him A FACIST PIG) kills her. Everyone runs away from the scene and Krysta and her friends drive off in her Lamborghini.Boxer is still around the beach. He takes out his phone and calls Fortunio. Fortunio tells him that he will meet Boxer at a bar nearby.At US-IDENT, Nana Mae is watching footage from the beach and seems to be thrilled about the murder of Zora. As she is watching the footage, its mostly all people partying, which disgusts her.As Boxer is walking along the beach, he runs into Fortunio, who is with the two men from the diner (the two men that called Ronald over). Pilot narrates saying that Fortunio is on the Barons payroll. A man comes from behind Boxer and begins strangling him. Fortunio approaches him and then injects him in the neck, rendering him unconscious. The Baron ordered Fortunio to bring Boxer back to Treer Plaza before the end of the day. The men then drag Boxer to an ambulance, they throw him inside and then drive off.At Deep Throat 2 HQ, Teri and Cyndi are toasting one another. Cyndi has obtained a ticket for the Mega-Zeppelin, but unfortunately, its not +1-so Teri cant go.Pilot narrates: The day is becoming night and that Neo-Marxist cells were grouping together in downtown L.A.Inside Walters ice cream truck, he is driving towards downtown L.A. with Roland still tied up inside. According to TV reports, riots are breaking out in L.A.-a first since 1992.Inside Martins SUV, Ronald asks Martin why he wanted to kill himself. He tells him about how he got drafted. Ronald comes to a realisation and says Fallujah...Martin asks was he stationed in Iraq and how he managed to get out. Ronald tells him that its none of his business. Ronald tells him that they should try crossing over into Mexico and starting fresh.In Treer Plaza, Boxer wakes up inside a bedroom with Madeline. She tells him that he says something while he was asleep We Saw The Shadows of the Morning Light, The Shadows of the Evening Sun, Till The Shadows and Light Were One. She asks what it means. He responses: Three Days...The Final Three Days...It All Ends Tonight.Krysta and her three friends are wearing ropes and toasting one another inside the Mega-Zeppelin. Baron walks towards Krysta and hands her a purse and tells her that she did a good job. She asks him what will happen to him. He responds by saying-Only time will tell.Madeline takes off Boxers hoodie and sees all the tattoos he got while he was gone. She looks at one of them and asks what it means. Boxer says There Is A Path To End All Suffering...You Should Take ItCyndi is onboard the Mega-Zeppelin and is on the phone with Simon. She asks if he got the DVD from Deep Throat 2. Simon tells her that he did and that hes going to broadcast it.The video is leaked out on the internet and all the news networks. Ronald is exposed as a racist cop and Bart Bookman is shown killing Dream and Dion, the video shows Boxer briefly.Boxer is getting ready to board the Mega-Zeppelin with Madeline. Madeline asks how does it end?, Boxer replies With a handshake. Madeline tells him that she had a dream that he died. Once they arrive on the Mega-Zeppelin, Boxer is invited to the Marx Suite alone. Boxer leaves Madeline and tells her that he isnt going to die.Boxer goes down the elevator and exits. He walks to a box where he takes out a handgun that was left inside. He goes down a second elevator.Revelation 22
Very soon now, I shall be with you again, bringing the reward to be given to every man according to what he deservesThe elevator doors open and Boxer whips his gun at the person behind it. It is Simon Theory along with Dr. Kuntzler and Dr. Soberin Exx (Curtis Armstrong). Simon tells him to enter and lower his gun.Nana Mae Frost is calling Bobby. She tells him that the Neo-Marxists are rigging the election in their own favour and that something must be done about it. She then hangs up on him. Vaughn asks Bobby why she isnt at the party. He tells her that she is still caught up at work, but Brandt tells him that the Neo-Marxists have infiltrated it and she must leave immediately.Soon afterwards, the Mega-Zeppelin is finally launched and begins orbiting around L.A. Down in the Marx Suite, Simon tells Boxer about Serpentine Dream Theory-an experiment orchestrated by Treer. Dr. Soberin tells Boxer that the tidal generator in Utopia Three has created a simulation of perpetual motion, because of this, its slowed the rotation of Earth down that environmental anomalies have sprung up. One of these anomalies was a rift in the fourth dimension was created in the Nevada desert. Boxer knows where the rift has occurred and where exactly and how big it is (this is probably due to The Power script). Once Treer had discovered this rift, they launched monkeys into it. Boxer tells them that a monkey couldnt survive that trip but only a human with a soul could. After trial and error with the monkey, Baron decided to send Boxer through it.Boxer then asks why he was chosen. Dr. Kuntzler explains that it was because of his political ties and his celebrity persona. He is told that he travelled through the rift and when he did, he subsequently travelled 69 minutes back in time, creating two Boxer Santaros- a past and a present. Boxer realises that he is his present-self. Dr. Soberin shows Boxer his past-self, the burned-up corpse the Baron told Simon to have moved. He goes on to say that his corpse could help them unlock the secrets of humankind. Boxer is freaked out by the corpse. Boxer tells them I dont understand, Ive NEVER contemplated suicide...Im a pimp, and pimps dont commit suicide.Dr. Soberin tells him that they do not know the consequences of two identical souls occupying the same space and come into contact could do.In Martins SUV, Roland finds a Fluid Karma syringe beside his seat. He picks it up and asks Martin where he got it. Martin tells him that he got it from Pilot Abilene. Martin asks him if he bleeds. Roland injects himself in the neck. Pilot starts narrating saying what happened in Fallujah was called friendly fire accident. Martin asks him where they are going. Roland tells him that they must go downtown. Roland somehow knows that his brother is inside an ice cream truck. Rolands hand begins to glow (just like what happened to Roland in the dumpster). The two of them pull up to an SUV, where Martin has to empty out his bank account. Martin tries to take out his money but it wont let him. Roland starts to become impatient so he tells him that they are going to take the ATM machine with them to Mexico.Onboard the Mega-Zeppelin, Rebekah Del Rio (famous Latin American singer) is announced onto the stage and everyone rises for the National Anthem sung by her. Strangely the first few lines are sung in Spanish. As this is being sung, Ronald and Martin are chaining up the ATM and attaching the chain to the SUV, they go inside the SUV and floor it, ripping out the ATM and dragging it along the road.In downtown L.A., there are riots occurring on the streets. A police force soon arrives but this is just the tip of the iceberg, they are also enthralled into the fighting. Soon after, Walters ice cream van begins driving through this chaos in the streets. Out of nowhere, Martins SUV cuts in front of them at a crossroads and the ice cream truck crashes into the ATM machine, sending the truck spiralling in the air. Martin skids to a stop while Ronald notices the ice cream truck.Onboard the Mega-Zeppelin, Cyndi is on the phone with Teri (whos dressed as Coffy, wielding a shotgun and wearing an afro-wig), and is fighting in the riots. Boxer approaches Serpentine and he asks if he is still alive. Serpentine replies In more ways that one. Boxer realises that she was there to make sure Ronald travelled through the time rift with him and she was the one who killed the past-Boxer, not himself (confirming that he didnt commit suicide). Serpentine tells him that he is a pimp and that pimps dont commit suicide. Boxer asks Serpentine were Ronald and Roland even twins. She says they are two identical souls walking the face of the Earth, coexisting in the same domain of chaos. She asks Boxer what would happen if the two of them shake hands. Boxer says that the fourth dimension would collapse and the universe will be destroyed. Boxer leaves her and looks at a TV report on a monitor he then says that the ocean is in control now. He turns around and sees Senator Bobby Frost, Madeline, Vaughn and Brandt staring at him. He walks up to them and says that the Mega-Zeppelin is a Tower of Fire...they must evacuate everyone off the Zeppelin now.Back in downtown L.A., Ronald grabs a gun and climbs out of the ice cream truck, when Roland finally sees him. Roland and Martin get out of the SUV and hide beside it. Ronald notices Roland for the first time, but is caught off guard when Ronald is shot in his eye. Seeing this, Roland runs towards Roland and tries to help him up. Martin tends to Walter, who is badly hurt. He takes the rocket launcher that Zora was looking at earlier in the film and hands it to Martin.Ronald climbs inside of the ice cream truck and once he grabs Rolands hand, they seem to fuse, with a white light shining from their hands. The ice cream truck begins to float into the sky, with Martin standing on top of it, with the rocket launcher. A strange aura is beaming out of the ice-cream truck and over the L.A. skyline.Onboard the Mega-Zeppelin, Krysta and her three friends are The Memory Gospel Dancers. They are onstage wearing gasmasks and dancing to Moby-Memory Gospel. At this time also, at US-IDENT, all the power is shut off, leaving Nana Mae Frost by herself inside of her office. She hits the panic button and immediately, many rioters (including Fortunio) break inside of the building, killing all of the workers and then finally, shooting her down inside of her own office.Boxer sees Krysta performing on the stage so he walks onto the stage and begins slow dancing with her. She says It had to be this way. He just replies I know. Madeline sees this also and walks on to the stage also. The two women begin dancing with Boxer, and then just the two women. Madeline tells Krysta that Boxer will die, but Krysta just says that there is nothing that anyone can do about it. Boxer lets the two women continue dancing with each other. He stands back and takes his gun out and fires into the air. Boxer puts the gun to his head and tells everyone to leave the atrium and move to the rear of the Mega-Zeppelin or he will kill himself (and this time, he means it). Baron assures everyone that nothing is wrong and tells everyone to remain seated.Inside the ice-cream truck, Roland is trying to let go. When Ronald refuses, he puts a gun to his head. As this argument continues inside the truck, Martin is still standing on top, holding the rocket launcher. He places it on his shoulder and aims at the Mega-Zeppelin.Back on the Mega-Zeppelin, Baron is trying to talk some sense into Boxer. Boxer tells him that this is all in his head, and by pulling the trigger, he can finally wake up. Baron says that their mission is to Dethrone Capitalism, Dethrone God (The Neo-Marxist mantra). Boxer tells him that he isnt who he wants, its Ronald.Roland asks Ronald if he remembers what happened in Fallujah. Ronald tells him that he remembers everything now.Outside of the atrium, Cyndi is staring out into the L.A. skyline and she spots the glowing, floating ice-cream truck and a man armed with a rocket launcher on top of it. Martin fires the rocket towards the Mega-Zeppelin. Onboard the Mega-Zeppelin, Boxer puts down his gun and assumes the Messiah pose, and his tattoo of Jesus Christ on his back begins to bleed through his shirt. The Mega-Zeppelin explodes, killing everyone onboard. Martin watches the Mega-Zeppelin fall down onto the streets. He assumes the Messiah poses and drops himself off the ice-cream truck, killing himself.Inside the ice-cream truck, Roland repeatingly says I forgive you, which Roland keeps responding Friendly-Fire (Its Pilot Abilene talking through Ronald, telling him that all is forgiven between the two of them and what happened in Fallujah). Roland finally puts down his gun and gives in.Revelation 21
And God wiped the tears from his eyes, so the new Messiah could see out to the New Jerusalem....His name was Officer Roland Taverner of Hermosa Beach, California; my best friend. He is a pimp...and pimps dont commit suicide.THE END | comedy, boring, neo noir, murder, stupid, allegory, cult, alternate reality, violence, flashback, absurd, psychedelic, satire, alternate history, sci-fi | train | imdb | The music, while not perfect (I'm pretty sure Black Rebel Motorcycle Club won't have the kind of comeback that allows them to host LA's 4th of July weekend party next year...) creates some of the movie's more memorable moments, such as JT's Killers dance number and the captivating three-way dance toward the end.The deliberately exaggerated performances are, for the most part, very good, with Johnson capturing the action man (playing an action man - going through a crisis - playing an action man) role very well.
For all its mystery, intrigue, and action, it feels a bit soulless, and goes out with a whimper as opposed to the bang it so desires.Southland Tales is an ambitious film, but a messy one, and while it may not work on the kind of level it's aspiring to, in a movie climate where so many films play it safe, at least Kelly tries.
Unfortunately, to make the actions in that alternate world make sense, you basically have to either watch the movie multiple times, or at least know what you're dealing with.There are at least 4 layers to everything that's going on: 1) political/social commentary on contemporary American society and the apocalyptic undercurrent therein; 2) sarcastic/caustic pop culture references (Philip K.
for instance, the Rock was Sean William Scott's protector in "The Rundown" and plays a similar role here); 3) a self-consciousness or self-referentialism: actors cast against type, some similar themes to Donnie Darko, actions that play out in the film are largely based off of the AWFUL screenplay written by one of the characters (as seen in the graphic novel prequels); 4) the actual plot of the movie, which has deep ties to the Book of Revelation, and makes much more sense if the graphic novels are read first.These layers are pretty consummately intertwined.
Its imagery was provocative, and because Richard Kelly has created such a densely layered world for himself, putting in the time actually is incredibly rewarding.It should also be said that this film, like Blade Runner or There Will Be Blood, does not let its plot set specifications on its scope, or what it's about.
He could have had somebody like Will Smith play the part of Boxer Santeros, but instead he went with a less-talented Dwayne Johnson, because he wanted the story to tell itself instead of relying on an in-depth performance.The movie is a little slow at times, and even though it's a hell of a lot shorter than the version shown at Cannes, it could definitely have used another twenty minutes of trimming.
There are so many characters with their own agendas and so much who-is-doing-what-to-who moments that you should value every image and second of footage that you can, because these are all the clues Kelly has left behind for the people who will spend years figuring this movie out, just as they did with his brilliant "Donnie Darko."A part of the film I particularly enjoyed - and which were commonly shown throughout - were the futuristic television broadcasts, there to give you a little hint of what was going on in the world.
It's also very beautifully portrayed because, as you will notice as you watch the film, nearly every single camera shot features an American flag, showing how America wants Americans to think that it's the best country of all, especially in a terrorist world such as the one in this film...and in our world today.I don't understand everything that I saw in "Southland Tales;" in fact, there is probably a lot about it that I have no idea about, and that anyone who simply goes out and sees it won't be able to pick out on his own.
Anyone who has "gotten" ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, PRIMER, or, yes, the original cut of DONNIE DARKO on the first viewing, gotten them enough to figure out the broad outline of the plot, should be able to do the same here (as did my companion at the theater).There is a big difference, though, between the movie half of SOUTHLAND TALES and these other flicks.
Well I enjoyed the visuals, the tone, the soundtrack and the way the film was made (but couldn't understand why as I didn't really understand the movie itself).Like when I watched Magnolia I was confused and disappointed, but just like Magnolia I watched it the next time it was on T.V. with little or no expectations and better equipped to understand the story.This is not a film that can be summarized clearly in a paragraph (without begging more questions then answers).
SOUTHLAND TALES, richard kelly's much-maligned, oft-questioned, studio-crippled but still hotly-anticipated follow-up to DONNIE DARKO is guilty of most of the accusations that critics have hurled at it.indeed, it's a mess - but it's one of the most beautiful, most engaging, most daring messes i've seen in awhile - especially considering the fact that this is a big-studio film with such an abundance of marquee stars.
"Southland Tales," the latest film by "Donnie Darko"'s Richard Kelly, is like the movie equivalent of one of those whistles that only dogs can hear; it is pitched so far out of ordinary human range that most viewers will be left scratching their heads, wondering where the hell the joke is and why they just don't get it.The movie, made in 2006 and released in 2007, takes place in Los Angeles in the not-too-distant future (July 2008), three years after a series of nuclear explosions have all but obliterated Texas and placed the rest of the country on a state of high terror alert.
The movie features Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock) as a conservative movie star and future son-in-law to a Republican vice-Presidential candidate who becomes a pawn in the life-or-death match between the two clashing ideologies - the outcome of which might well spell the demise of the human race as we know it.Despite the seriousness and topicality of the subject matter, "Southland Tales" is basically played for laughs, turning the end of the world into an absurd, over-the-top, dystopic farce that thinks it's being hip and knowing about life in a post-9/11/Homeland Security/ Patriot Act world, but which is actually only cheesy, smart-alecky and incoherent.
As a result, we quickly lose interest and focus, while the enterprise itself spins ever increasingly out of the filmmaker's control.Janeane Garofalo, Sarah Michelle Gellar, John Larroquette, Jon Lovitz, Mandy Moore, Amy Poehler, Miranda Richardson, Seann William Scott, Wallace Shawn and Justin Timberlake are just some of the actors who might want to seriously consider getting this piece of cinematic excrescence expunged from their resumes.The greatest offense wrought by this eclectic and unholy mixture of sophomoric satire, comic book realism, grunge chic and apocalyptic paranoia is that it runs for an interminable two hours and twenty-four minutes, making this hands-down the most unendurable and unwatchable movie travesty of the past several years..
The most pretentious movie i have ever had the misfortune to experience, Sarah Michelle Gellar is her usual wooden self over pronouncing every single word to such an extent that it just sounds as if shes reading instead of acting (in saying that everyone in the movie puts in a terrible performance which has to be the fault of the director) and the Rock in a dramatic role don't make me laugh, the dialogue sounds as if it has been written by your 85 year old granny trying to sound "with it".Richard Kelly has let himself down with this overdone piece of rubbish such a far cry from the genius that was Donnie Darko..
the score is very reminiscent of Vangelis' opus from Blade Runner- in a botched attempt to honor the great film - the dialog is trite- -the science is poor and tries to just on the bandwagon of preposterousness that was Buckaroo Bonzai- -the directing of the actors was just half-witted- look at anyone's hand- Boxer has this 'twitch' where he taps his fingers when needing to make an important decision - which in turn makes the actor's performances unbearablei'm reporting this as i am watching the movie and i want to rip my eyes outi don't think i can go onthis is SO BAD i don't think its even worth a bad dare0 i would much rather have a Paris Hilton marathon than see this again-artistic sniper.
Though their movies tend to alienate a large portion of viewers, they still create their art, with their audience in mind, knowing full- well that at the end of the day, a connection needs to be made between the film and the people.Richard Kelly's DONNIE DARKO, while clearly the work of a not-yet-matured filmmaker, gave us the promise of a budding artist whose intentions might have been similar to those aforementioned filmmakers.
Richard Kelly has already succeeded as an indie cult film director with Donnie Darko, but I think Southland Tales- by accident rather than intelligent design- will be considered his masterpiece...
Even the casting, which, whilst may at first appear strange, is actually, by and large, inspired, with Gellar, Timberlake and, in probably his best movie role to date, Dwayne Johnson (AKA, wrestler, 'The Rock') giving terrifically crafted performances, perfectly suited to the weirdly tongue in cheek tone of the film.Overall then, I'd say this film is a success and a definite step in the right direction for Kelly.
This film has one of the most offbeat ideas I've ever come across.They are so unique in a way that they make Donnie Darko look cheap.But it has the same problems like any other film with outstanding ideas.It lacks a definite focus.I got a chance to get a look at the film at the Cannes festival where it was premiering to a bunch of critics who pretty much didn't like it.And there's no surprise to that.Although,you have to admire Kelly's attempt on something way out of anyones imagination.The film is given a very different approach and it will go down in history as the most offbeat/outstanding failures.He has it all,a mind blowing story,that we hardly get, watching the film the first time, great characters,excellent writing,sets,music,cinematography and perhaps a decent directing.Kelly surpasses any one's expectation when you go into details about this film.But he leaves a chilling disappointment when you actually watch the entire film ,which is longer than it needs to be.He misses his audience from the very beginning.It seems like he is lost in a cloud of ideas and never gave a hard thought on how to put them on screen,and most importantly ,how will people interpret those issues he is trying to depict.The story,I don't know how to put it,is kind of out of my reach.It requires repeated viewing to fully understand the plot,but if you do get it, it could turn out to be a cult classic.The sad thing is that I didn't quite get it.Okay,here goes....The film is set in the year 2008,about the downfall of the American society,the economy,and major environmental disaster which is taking place.The whole world is at the brink of destruction,war ,poverty and all those issues are getting more and more serious,and in between these events, a number of Characters are having problems of their own.A Boxer is an action star who seems to be amnesiac and somehow he meets this porn star Krysta ,who is starting her own reality show.David Clark ,who is a police officer with a secret to a conspiracy within the government.And all their stories intervene and chaos begins and confusion reigns.Trust me ,I didn't get what was going on the first 30 minutes,then it kind of made sense and I knew what Kelly's intentions were.He was trying his ass out to bring us something new but loses everything and never achieves what he could achieve.I would say this film had massive expectations from audiences ,me personally.Donnie Darko was a film unlike anything I've seen before and it was unique in a number of ways.Here he tried but fails miserably,and in total embarrassment.Kelly somehow may have been affected by the failure of Domino ,which he wrote.But I have to say, you guys should check this film out.For his first film's sake.I mean there is a lot to watch here,the sets are highly creative and a splendid Cinematography in aid.There are some wonderful comic moments and a number of interesting dramatic and exciting moments,even when ideas were floating all over the film.The films main problem is that it doesn't decide what to do.How to present it's story,it's full of confusion and hardly will there be a positive reaction to Kelly's execution.I really found the film somewhat frustrating at time and also somewhat astonishing.It had its moments but it never tries to be the next big thing.For one thing,the characters were underdeveloped,and I had no idea what Kelly was trying to prove.There are hardly any explanations,but I believe if you watch it several times,there is a great chance that you might actually get it.And then you can call it classic.Performances are okay.The Rock underplays his part,Gellar is fine as a porn star turned reality TV host.And as usual Sean Willaim Scott ain't funny.And the rest of the cast is quite comme si comme sa!Overall,a film that should join "I heart Huckabees",or "Life Aquatic" as being different and unique on the surface but from the inside it's all shallow and bland.And yes utterly confusing.An interesting disappointment ,I guess.OR,Maybe because it was only half complete and everything was jumbled,and mismashed.That's why I didn't get it.Or maybe something else..
The musical sequence with Justin Timberlake is a direct homage to "The Big Lebowski" and works so well, I was dumbfounded at how the movie packs so much and provides the viewer with a plentiful supply of genres and imagery, but yet people look past this and insist on calling it an ugly mess Along with a huge cast of other wacky characters including Officer Roland Taverner (Sean William Scott) this movie may not satisfy the needs of someone who needs a direct answer to every question, but heavily appeals to those who are open to question and give their own meaning without even having read the prequel comics, as I have not..
An oddly beautiful big old mess of a film that just so happens to be a masterpiece of ideas, visions and social commentary, Southland Tales remains to this day a decade on from its initial release, a barely spoken about oddity that marked what appears to be at present time the beginning of the end of the short but unique career of Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly, who on the back of his beloved cult debut seemingly had Hollywood right where he wanted it only to be shunned from the industry limelight after this opus of a future America was quite literally booed out of the cinema.Premiering to a disastrous reception at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 where it was ridiculed by a hate mongering audience, Kelly's film was originally intended as a near 3 hour journey to the depths and underbelly of a United States where oil has all but disappeared, Karl Marx loving underground movements exist to overthrow the government, a drug known as Fluid Karma is taking over the streets, oh and there's a rip in the time space continuum and vehicle advertisements have taken on a whole new level of odd.Accompanied by a prequel-set graphic novel and armed with more ideas than even the eventually shorter 138 minute released version of the film can handle, there's little denying Southland Tale's bizarre narrative and attitude towards its themes are often off-putting but when one allows themselves to be taken into this vision of the Los Angeles landscape there's both artistic merits, darkly humorous observations of human nature and dare I say it emotional payoffs that rewards repeat viewings.Kelly's grand vision attracted a name cast including Sean William Scott (in one of his better big screen turns), Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, Amy Poehler, filmmaker Kevin Smith, Justin Timberlake (who delivers the films best singular scene with a rendition The Killers track All These Things That I've Done) and in a turn that at the time suggested a much more interesting actor than his now become, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in one of his first truly hefty turns as the amnesia suffering celebrity actor Boxer Santoros.
Kelly seems to be trying to call attention to the hypocrisy and absurdity of Hollywood, popular culture and our political system, yet there's not even cheese appeal in this movie, and the poorly done narration/screen console is amateurish, preachy and annoying.Southland takes had an all-star cast, yet none involved wanted their names associated with this movie, and I think that's very telling.Most frustrating of all, once or twice in the course of 3 hours of tortuous viewing, you can catch fleeting glimpses of the beauty inherent in DD, which makes the entire experience all the more frustrating.These echoes of what could have been are the only reason I've allotted this monstrosity 2 stars, rather than the negative it deserves.A fine examples of what happens when you give a gifted yet arrogant auteur unbridled freedom over a huge project, with a heavy dose of liberal self-righteousness thrown in.Half an hour into the movie, I wanted to walk out- 3 hours later I was left numb and addled.
He offers us Southland Tales, not so much a film as a random collection of oddball characters in search of a comprehensible storyline.It's usual in reviews like this to give a rough idea of the plot and I will try, God know I will, but I'm not making any promises.
Quite Bad. I can't properly describe how hard it was to watch this movie.I really liked Director Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko...As for Southland Tales...
Now I know it would make some people puke to even think of watching Southland Tales twice, but unfortunately sometimes you just have to accept that good art is bigger than you are and you have to view it two or more times before you can begin to understand it.The Rock, or should I say Dwayne Johnson, gives probably the best performance of his career as Boxer Santaros, and the rest of the ensemble cast gives excellent performances as well. |
tt0489099 | Jumper | Shy teen David Rice (Max Theriot) has a crush on pretty Millie (AnnaSophia Robb), who dreams of travelling the world. When he surprises her with a small gift, a snow globe of the Eiffel Tower, teasing bully Mark (Jesse James) grabs it and throws it out onto the icy surface of the river. Determined, David ventures out on the ice and retrieves it, waving ... then falls through the ice and is swept away from the opening by the swift current. He is certain to die in the freezing water, without air ... and suddenly finds himself lying prone in the library between the bookcases, in a huge gush of gallons of water, gasping and alive.He trudges home, soaking wet, where his father (Michael Rooker) chews him out. David enters his room, putting a chain on the door ... but when his angry father bursts it open, there is only a swirl of wind - David has vanished. He finds himself in the damp aisle of the darkened library, and realises he has teleported there yet again. It dawns on him that he finally has a way to change his life, to escape his situation, the same way his mother abandoned the family when he was five. He teleports home and retrieves a small stash of money and a few belongings. But before he leaves town, he stops outside Millie's house. Millie is not consoled by her mother's arms; she is sure that David is dead. She hears a noise outside, steps cautiously out into the yard ... and finds the snowglobe sitting on the swingset. From this she knows he is alive, but he does not respond to her calls.The next day he is on a bus to the city, where he rents a cheap room. He practices teleporting in the park, learning how to control his power. Then he cases a bank, and robs it by teleporting directly in to the vault in the middle of the night. He laughs as he realises his bag isn't big enough to take away all the money ... teleports back to his shabby hotel for another bag ... and repeats this until his room is awash in money and he lies on a bed of it. However, the mysterious Roland (Samuel L. Jackson) appears at the bank investigation, claiming to be from the NSA, remarkably unsurprised by this locked door robbery. It is evident that he knows about teleport abilities, and is part of a powerful group that wants to find this bank robber.Years have gone by, and David (Hayden Christenson) has an expensive city apartment, papered with pictures of his world travels, and a small vault room full of money. He enjoys the pleasures of life wherever they are: surfing in Fiji, lunching atop the Sphinx in Egypt, picking up a girl in a British pub. He phases from one spot to another in his home, rather than walking even two paces, and disregards the troubles of ordinary people shown on television trapped in rising floodwaters.His peace is disturbed by the arrival of Roland, whose electrical weapon and wires prevent David from teleporting. We learn that Roland's mission in life is to destroy jumpers (people who teleport), for "only God should have the power to be everywhere." Desperate, David manages somehow to get away, teleporting back to his boyhood bedroom. His father is alerted to his presence, and comes to the bedroom door, begging him to stay. David teleports away as his father forces the door open.His idyllic lifestyle disrupted, he decides to see his lost love, Millie (Rachel Bilson). He finds her still in the same town, working at a bar. His old nemesis Mark (Teddy Dunn) manages to start a fight once again ... and in a rush David teleports with him into a bank vault, then leaves him there.Returning to the bar, he asks Millie to go with him to Rome. She is shocked, but as it's her lifelong dream she can only accept. When they get to Rome, he enjoys her delight as he shows her around the ancient city, but is balked when they find the Coliseum closed. Rather than take "no" for an answer and return another day, he goes around the corner ... and when she catches up, he is holding a gate open to admit her. He continues to open doors from the inside as they pursue their private tour ... until they try to go down to the floor of the stadium. Suddenly he is surprised to meet another jumper, Griffin (Jamie Bell), who informs him that he's not the only one and that there is a whole group of people like Roland, paladins, who want to kill jumpers ... and two of them suddenly turn up. Griffin is prepared to fight their methods, and eventually subdues the attackers and teleports away. David follows Griffin's teleport to his lair, asking questions. He is bewildered, and Griffin's brief explanations (such as explaining he will drop a paladin into some sharks) do nothing to enlighten him. Griffin explains that David cannot afford to have a girlfriend, family, or friends ... that they are all dead, that the paladins will kill them to get to him.David returns to Millie and agrees to leave, and they get away from officials inside the Coliseum - only to be detained outside. David doesn't jump - he tells Millie to go back to the hotel, but she refuses. Hours later, David is still being questioned by the police, who are holding him and his passport until some other authorities arrive. Suddenly, a woman (Diane Lane) appears, telling him to get out and abandon his girl, telling him how many minutes he has to escape. He recognises her from his childhood pictures - she is his mother!! He finds Millie and takes her to the airport, then explains sorrowfully that he cannot go back home with her.In the meantime, Roland has been brought in to talk to Mark, whom David left in a bank vault. Mark, exhausted from repeatedly telling his story to disbelieving officials, explains who David is, where they are from, everything he knows. Seizing this opportunity, Roland visits David's father.David returns to ask Griffin more questions, and this time the risk to his family sinks in. He teleports to his childhood home, and finds his father on the floor. Crying, he teleports his father to a hospital emergency room, trying to get help for him. He teleports to see Mark in jail, asking what he told Roland. Mark says he told him everything.David realises that Millie will be in danger as soon as she gets off the plane in the USA, but when he asks Griffin for help, Griffin refuses. David follows Griffin through jumps, trying to convince him. Griffin swipes a car and they ride together, Griffin teleporting the car through traffic as it suits him. They exchange some bits of information: the paladins killed Griffin's parents when he was five, and David's mother left when he was five. David asks about teleporting the car, and Griffin laughingly tells of a jumper who tried to teleport a building - he died in the attempt. Finally, Griffin agrees to help David for a "limited engagement" - the many drawings of Roland in Griffin's home make it clear that he has a grudge against this paladin.The arrive in the USA - and Millie's flight already arrived an hour before. He teleports to her apartment, hoping to get her out quickly - but Roland and his attack squad arrive before he can begin to explain. He manages to teleport her to Griffin's lair - and Griffin chews him out for it, because Roland can directly follow his teleport! Griffin prepares to abandon his home, but when Roland appears an epic battle begins. At one point Griffin teleports a bus at Roland, who manages to dive underneath it as it bounces. David is trapped, webbed up in a corner of the room by Roland's electrical wiring to be disposed of later. As Millie frees David, her anger at the situation and fear of his strange power are evident. She demands that he just take her home, and leave her alone. Naturally, she is soon captured and held hostage.Griffin plans to take a bomb to Millie's apartment to kill Roland ... however, this will involve killing everyone else there, including Millie. David doesn't want that, so they two of them teleport around the world, fighting over the bomb, then over the detonator, falling from the Empire State Building and appearing in a war zone, where David finally traps Griffin in some fallen power lines as effective as Roland's traps.David returns to Millie's apartment, knowing he's walking into the lion's den. They use electric wires all around him to tie him down, anchoring them to the walls. David has Millie move close to him, and, remembering Griffin's story, David doesn't try to move the whole building - just the parts attached to the anchor wires. As he uses his power, the building begins to rip apart, and the roof shatters as the apartment disappears out from under it.David teleports Roland to a cave and leaves him there, saying he should be grateful he didn't drop him at the sharks. David vanishes, and Roland walks to the cave opening - finding himself up an isolated cliff in the Grand Canyon.It is winter, and we see David walk up to an expensive home and knock. A teenage girl (Kirsten Stewart) answers the door, followed moments later by David's mom, who sends her daughter to her room. David is there to find out what it all means, and why she left him as a child. She explains that she is a paladin, and when he made his first teleport at age 5 she could not kill him, so she left him because she loved him. He thinks she should do more - and she explains that she is, right now, because she's giving him a head start. He realises he will not get more from her.He leaves the house, and Millie meets him outside. He asks where she wants to go, and she says, "Surprise Me." They teleport away. | action, murder, flashback | train | imdb | Instead of taking time to develop anything in the movie, Jumper just whizzes by at an incredible speed, setting up characters, ideas and plot points without expanding or resolving or developing them.
The whole thing is made to kick start a franchise of films where the story would be explained in more detail, but come on man, when you pay to see a film, you expect to see a clearly defined beginning, a middle and a satisfying end- something that Jumper isn't too concerned with.Another problem that ties in with the films lack of depth, are the actors.
Only Jamie Bell gives it some effort- his cynical Irish jumper would have made a much better lead character than Anakin.However, while the film is pretty shallow there are some glimmers of goodness.
The action sequences are fun, fast and frequent, the visual effects are cool and there's never a dull moment due to the films super fast pace.It might sound like Im being too harsh on the film but its hard not to be when the movies concept is so great and the end product is as underdeveloped as this.
I saw this film last night, and i must say i was pleasantly surprised, I have been reading lots of comments on IMDb to get an idea of what to expect, lots of people were negative about the acting performance of Hayden Christensen, well i don't agree, I think he handled the character in an interesting fashion, considering his character left home at the age of 16 or so, raised himself and used his abilities to support himself in a wild and fun manner.
So he is not your average run of the mill kid, nobody knows what he can do and he can basically do and go where he wants, creating an aloof type of character, so under these circumstance i think his performance was okay, maybe not worthy of an academy award but totally interesting to watch, I enjoyed his intensity.
I think that a lot of people who comment on IMDb have no idea of what goes into making a movie, but just like to be critical as possible.
It's a fun concept and with and imagination like mine the possibilities of such a power are unlimited.I did feel that you never really connected with the characters on an emotional level and the plot was very straight forward and basic.
You go to a movie like this to be entertained for a bit, not for the intellectual stimulation, and both are valid forms of entertainment (unlike what other reviewers may imply).Besides, Samuel Jackson is great and I always like his roles and having Rachel Bilson for eye candy doesn't hurt either..
Stunning effects, swooping camera angles, and an interesting concept more than make up for the film's defects - namely Hayden Christensen - reprising the gloomy, wounded, misunderstood, petulant anti-hero role he played so ineffectively in the Star Wars prequels.The other performances were sound (Samuel L Jackson's hair included) with Jamie Bell particularly outstanding as the nervy Griffin.
The end seemed more like a beginning to me that he was able finally to come to grips with his purpose.I think they picked the right people for the parts, it was certainly believable to me and seemed more like a preview of what is yet to come, perhaps if there is a sequel to come, more of the why's will shine through and will give a clearer definition, but this movie as is, certainly was not what many would expect but it did make a point of what happens when you just go out there and live without a care..
I will say this: some of the action scenes at the end are the best of the movie and worth hanging around for, especially since the film is less than an hour-and-a-half.
As "Spiderman," Parker's creed is "With great power, comes great responsibility." With Rice, it's more like "get everything you can, and screw 'em!" I make the Spiderman analogy because Rice has super powers with the teleportation thing.This is not a "superhero" movie, though, because the lead character is not a "hero," in any sense of the word.
He's a "paladin," as is someone else in the film, which is a surprise.Since none of the characters were anyone you could root for, I tried to just sat back and enjoy the special-effects and the scenery, which were the positive points of the movie.
We get quick tours of the world, from the Grand Canyon to Rome, and the special-effects of the teleporters "jumping" from one location to another was cool.There was a love interest but little chemistry between David and "Millie" (Rachel Belson), a pretty but another annoying character.So there you have it: the good and the bad.
Millie (Rachel Bilson) acts and reacts like a normal girl whose not a comic book fan or someone who doesn't entertain the idea that teleportation is possibility.
Griffin (Jamie Bell) is a bit a dick and David Rice (Hayden Christensen) doesn't even seem to realize what's happening to him, he lives in his bubble and doing his own thing - like most people would in his case.The film does have its faults and for me there two main problems: The first, I've never read the book but from what I understand in the movie, a Jumper can withstand a large amount of electricity - higher than normal people do.
But some of the hits David got in the action sequences should have killed him if he's physically like any human, which seem to be the case and would have been a great weakness to have for the character, a regular guy who can teleport.
The second problems is the ending of the film, it's not the best, I could have come up with something better.Anyway, I liked Jumper when it came out, even though I always knew that there wouldn't be a sequel.
Okay, here it is.....The truth about "jumper"Jumper is not really a film at all, though you could be forgiven for thinking differently after watching the intense trailers.You see it starts like a real movie with real actors and a real story.
In fact the start gave me a deep feeling of "hell yeah, I'm gonna enjoy this" But then comes Christensen, sporting a monotonous voice that could put David Duchovny to shame and looking nothing at all like his younger and better acted character from the first scene.
Well i did't get one so neither do you.The "making of" documentary holds a lot more plot than the movie itself but still didn't give any answers as to why an angry, white haired Sam Jackson is chasing a super serious and ultra talentless Christensen over all the world vaguely yelling something about god.
It offers no explanation for Christensen's powers or why he is still employed in the film industry and not doing voice-overs for the robots.and above all it does not in any way explain why people spent money on this utter whiff of fart called Jumper.CONCLUSION: Jumper is not a movie but a boring dry piece of dog turd, cleverly disguised with expensive special effects..
All in all a very rushed script and any promise that the movie had was killed off by the scripwriters focusing too much attention on making the movie feel like something taken out of a Michael Bay diary.Special effects are really cool (i.e. the very impressive London bus scene), but it is unable to cover the skin-deep script, which really could have been much more inventive, but seemed to only scratch any surface of the possibility set out by the basic plot..
its difficult to not fall asleep in cinema,and when i walked out of the cinema, i'm sure my hard earned money and my time were wasted.maybe many persons were interested by the trials, actually i just wanted to see Hayden Christensen on a big screen.
Some scenes are not really necessary, and incredibly bad, you don't really care that much about it's characters, the end , just like the movie itself, is poor.The acting is also very bad, Christensen can hold being the main character, he's not good enough, Jackson, like I said, doesn't save the movie, but he's OK.
The rules for your standard action-fantasy are fairly simple: take a hero with superhuman ability, construct a snappy little storyline around him with the relevant moral issues, throw in a pretty girl, an interesting nemesis, perhaps a sidekick of some variety, and there you have it.Using this vague format, it is easy to see why Jumper fails to the extreme despite the hype and promising trailers.The plot, in a nutshell, is riddled with loose ends and lacks a satisfying conclusion.
like many, I'd watched the trailer and gone oooh, only to find the jumping effects tiresome, the characters wooden and dull and a complete lack of good or bad, the main character being someone who I would've rather punched than watched, Hayden Christenson is the Keanu Reeves for the next generation.
The script appeared written by 10 year olds with H.C spending a lot of his time either looking petulant and mute or at times when urgent communication was needed he'd just look around like a startled chimp!!Adding to this I found the film just sped through his life and they lost a lot of good opportunities to give some ideas of jumping from the past ala highlander and the like..and regarding the whole trapping process..what did they do before electricity????
Unfortunately, having seen the previews, read some reviews and then inevitably seeing the film itself, I can honestly say that my eyes have clouded my judgment and as a warning to all who are thinking of (pun intended) jumping to see this cinematic fart, you'll see what I mean.Oh, and did I mention I want my money back?.
Hayden, Jamie, Rachel, and the rest of the cast did a fair job in creating the identities of their characters.Jumper lacked certain qualities at some points but it didn't have a massive affect on the overall performance of the movie.
The changes throughout the movie most likely will disappoint a few viewers who have read the book, but the changes were in some way, understandable.The changes were to create a more action packed plot.Jumper is a good movie to watch if you're ever interested into these kinds of movies..
When a film provides an interesting plot, cool special effects, and an all-star cast I automatically have high expectations, as any self-respecting movie goer should.
His job is to travel the globe and kill "Jumpers" like David because quote "only God should have his power." Granted, Roland's silver hair makes him look like a larger version of Sisqo, he makes up for it by carrying a large knife.Now, at this point, I was pretty excited for the direction this film was going in.
However, despite a strong start, the film quickly runs off track.The story turns out average at best, there is no character development whatsoever, the on screen romance of Christensen and Bilson is far fetched, and a few of the scenes were so incredibly stupid it was laughable.
The world of the Jumpers and the Paladins has enormous potential, maybe next time the acting and story will measure up to the visual effects..
Their head honcho is an obviously cash-strapped Samuel L Jackson with one of his more out-there looks yet, a cropped albino haircut while the story also takes in for no other reason I can think of than the Transatlantic take, an uneasy alliance with another "jumper", a rebellious young Londoner, played in modern-day "Artful Dodger" style by Jamie Bell.There's a sub Darth Vader twist at the conclusion too, involving Christiansen's long lost Paladin mother and certainly plenty room for a sequel (which I see from IMDb notes is currently in production).
The special effects are great but the whole jumping thing gets really old really fast.So this film turns out to be a huge let-down, lackluster, disappointing action film by Doug Liman.
One thing I can't complain about are the special effects, they're indeed very well done.Jumper isn't the type of action film that relies on its stars, none of them are really mentioned in the trailer and it becomes more evident when you realise that a major star like Diane Lane, who usually headlines a film, is taking a smaller secondary role.
One might think that Samuel Jackson's track record might help get people to see it, since he's starred in a lot of big film, yet he still has to prove himself as a box office draw on his own, as recent high-profile attempts like Snakes on a Plane and Black Snake Moan have failed to bring in the audiences expected.
This is again one of those movies where i think a little tweaking of the plot,a little more thought put into character development,a little more responsive acting by the actors could have made this movie better.My imagination went wild hearing the concept of the story.I began to fantasize a lonely hero with the ability to transport himself anywhere puts to use his gift to rescue the world.I know it sounds cliché but when you throw in the fact that the guy could "jump anywhere" opens a Pandora's box of exciting possibilities Sadly the writers couldn't do much justice to a potential story.I didn't understand whether the film tried too hard or was a half hearted effort.The most obvious flaw was the mediocre acting.( There's laughing in my head).It made Hayden look like a complete confused fool.Poor Millie had nothing else to do but being pushed around by revengeful Palladins and love hungry jumpers.Also the storyline seemed like being taken out from a daytime action from cartoon network.No character development,no stress on the story and the concept,and no concern whatsoever of audience's expectations makes this one a mediocre movie.It could have been but was simply not impressive.
People seem to like to ding Hayden Christensen, but he and his character are a decent match, though as lazy as they make him out to be in the movie, he'd be a blimp in no time..
This idea of teleporting or translocation for a movie has been around a long time and could have looked at the immense ramifications, consequences, insights the use of a power like this might have.
After seeing it I'm quite sad to say i was not very happy with it, it was empty and had very little back story, Hayden Christensen was very wooden and it felt like everything was rushed which frustrated me a little, after about 10 Minutes the story was in full flow and because of that it was just to fast, i found my self asking why does Rowland want David dead and also where is the back story for those people, the high points are Jamie bell and Sam Jackson for me, if it wasn't for the them i doubt i would of even gave it 5 out of 10 bell wasn't introduced till maybe a little to late but he added a lot and i just enjoyed Jackson's part even though with the lack of his back story he did a good job with the role, despite all of this i would recommend you to see this purely to make your own mind up i have a feeling this film is going to be very Marmite for the causal viewer your either going to love it or hate it,.
(I liked the Billy Elliot guy, and Samuel L Jackson, but skywalker was kind of average I think, just a pretty face) It's a pity because the idea was there, the story was there, but the film didn't rise.
Extremely boring special effects, a bad script combined with even worse acting makes it one of the worst movies of the year so far.
The storyline was awful, it was basically a cops and robbers superhero film, with no actual story.The only reason this film didn't get 1/10 is because of rachel bilson, and it did show the colosseum in a lot of its glory.The love story between the two characters was pretty poor, i think the director didn't know whether to make this a romantic film, an action film, or a superhero movie, none of which it did well.To some up jumper it was basically one group of people trying to stop another group of people from just teleporting around the world...
The young actors are really convincing (Well, Hayden Christensen was a lot more convincing than Rachel Bilson, but at least I spent a good evening because of both of them), action scenes every minute and a really great bad guy (Samuel L.
Their job is to kill all "jumpers" because "only God can be in all places at the same time." Or something like that.Doug Liman, director of adrenaline-pumping movies such as "The Bourne Identity" and "Mr.
And so goes the notion of watching Jackson kick Hayden Christensen's rear.Now here we get to see what could have happened, since the two team up again in director Doug Liman's Jumper, a movie so filled with X-Men's Nightcrawler-styled effects of teleportation, that it doesn't look special anymore.
I loved the idea of having Hayden Christensen playing the main character who is a jumper.
The visual effects were not bad, but the story...went so fast..and the acting...was just less than expected...you feel like there was no purpose for this movie.
I certainly hope this fad is short lived, because I miss good action movies.I understand the idea is to make you feel like part of the action but I think it goes way too far and makes the film unwatchable.Someone needs to show Doug Liman how to shoot smooth at least some of the time..
The truth is, most of us would probably be just like Hayden Christensen's Jumper character and use our powers for selfish gain. |
tt0349205 | Cheaper by the Dozen | The Baker Family,Is A Happy And Large Family With 12 Children.Who Resides In Midland,Indiana. One Day Tom Baker Gets An Offer For His Dream Job:Become The Coach Of The Stallions. Tom Returns Home With The New Job And Promotion In The Urban Near-North Chicago Suburb Of Evanston,Illinois With Educatiion Advantages And A New Vehicle,Although Kate Approves His Children Overhear And Object To His Proposed Actions In A Family Conference. Even Though The Children Vote About What They Would Rather Do, Tom Decides To Accept The Job And Move To The City, Many Miles Away From Their Current Countryside Home. One Day, Aspiring Author,Kate Baker Receives A Call, Telling Her That Her New Book Is Perfect And She Should Go On A Promotion Tour, So She Makes The Decision To Leave,And Leaves Her Husbanc Alone With The 12 Children.Problems Soon Erupt,But Everything Comes To A Hault When,After Being Grounded,The Baker Kids Sneak Out And Wreck Their Friend's Birthday Party.Kate Ends The Book Tour And Returns Home,Angry At Tom For Not Telling Her That He Could Not Handle It. The State Of The Family's Conditiion Seriously Comes To Light After Kate Discovers A Disturbing Note On Mark's Bed And Mark Has Gone Missing. The Family Begins Searching,But After Calling The Police,Tom Realizes That Mark's Favorite Place Has Always Been The Midland House,And Frantically Makes His Way To The Railway Station. He Soon Finds Mark. On A Train Heading Towards Midland. They Ride The Train Together To Midland And Are Greeted By The Family At The Railway Station The Next Morning. They Apologize To Each Other And Tom Decides To Quit His Football Career To Find A Job Which Would Provide More Time For Him To Spend With His Family. While They Return To The City And Begin To Adjust To Their New Life, Kate's Book Is Published And Stays At Number 1 On The Best Seller's List For 12 Months. | prank, flashback | train | imdb | null |
tt0083959 | Forbidden World | In the distant future, a genetic research station is located on the remote desert planet of Xarbia, and a research team has created an experimental lifeform they have designated "Subject 20". This lifeform was built out of the synthetic DNA strain, "Proto B", and was intended to stave off a galaxy-wide food crisis. However, Subject 20 mutates rapidly and uncontrollably and has killed all of the laboratory subject animals before cocooning itself within an examination booth. After Subject 20 hatches from its cocoon, it begins killing the personnel at the station, starting with the lab tech charged with cleansing the subject lab of the dead animal test subjects.Professional troubleshooter Mike Colby (Jesse Vint), accompanied by his robot pilot and assistant SAM-104 (Don Olivera), are called in to investigate the problem. After Colby settles in, his decision to terminate Subject 20 to prevent further deaths is met with research-minded secrecy and resistance. The staff of the station includes the head of research, Dr. Gordon Hauser (Linden Chiles), his assistant Barbara Glaser (June Chadwick), lab assistant Tracy Baxter (Dawn Dunlap), the station head of security Earl Richards (Scott Paulin), mechanic and tech expert Brian Beale (Raymond Oliver), maintenance worker Jimmy Swift (Michael Bowen) and Dr. Cal Timbergen (Fox Harris), the chief of bacteriology.As Subject 20 continues to unleash a storm of gory fatalities that decimates most of the station crew (first starting with Jimmy, and later Earl), the lid on the deception is finally withdrawn: Subject 20's genetic design incorporates human DNA. Furthermore, Cal discovers that its method of killing is most horrifying: this beast injects its prey with the Proto B DNA strain which then proceeds to remove all genetic differences within specific cells. The result is a terrifying death as the victim's living body slowly erodes into gelatinous pile of pure protein which subject 20 then uses for food.After Tracy and Colby have an encounter with the growing and mutating Subject 20 mutant, Colby, Hauser, Beale and SAM-104 venture out into the planet's desert landscape to find the mutant, which leads them back to the facility after the mutant kills Hauser and damages SAM-104.Tracy and Barbara confront the mutant in the control center to try to communicate with it, only for the creature to kill Barbara as well. Beale is next to go when he attempts to fix the communication equipment when the mutant electricutes him on a circut pannel, before it injurs Cal.After its final mutation, the creature evolves into a huge insect-like being with a large mouth full of sharp teeth which chases and terrorizes Tracy as she runs through the facility. Colby, SAM-104 and the injured Cal take refuge in the lab where Cal (who had been coughing throughout the movie) reveals that he has terminal lung cancer and that it can kill the mutant. Cal makes Colby cut into his chest to remove a large baseball-sized tumor along his right lung and above the liver, but Cal dies during the crude surgery. Tracy then runs in being chased by the creature, which then destroys SAM-104 after it shoots a laser gun at it, and then stabs it in one of its eyes with a scalpel. Colby manages to get close enough to feed the mutant Cal's tumor and as a result, the creature's body genetically self-destructs from within as it collapses to the floor, leaving Mike Colby and Tracy as the only survivors. | grindhouse film, cult, violence, tragedy, suspenseful, sci-fi | train | imdb | 'Forbidden World' is a quickly produced Roger Corman low-budget b-grade fable that's all in for exciting and junky exploitation.
Still need to get my hands on the other Corman produced Sci-fi / horror cult fave 'Galaxy of Terror (1981)'.The story centres on intergalactic trouble-shooter Mike Colbey being sent to a barren world were a group of scientists in remote station are researching genetic research without restrictions.
Did I mention that this film has two very sexy(June Chadwick and Dawn Dunlap) female scientists in it, hey, that ups the score right there!
Yet another cheap 'n cheesy early 80's "Alien" rip-off produced by Roger "King of the B's" Corman!
The cool-looking monster on the VHS cover is mankind's own little mistake-creation, spawned on a spaceship where the crew was actually trying to discover new types of food sources.
Following good old Roger Corman traditions, there's some great sleaze and nudity to enjoy and also the dialogs are imbecilic but fun.
It's your basic Alien ripoff, with a bunch of scientists hiding out in a remote space station on Xarba, where a troubleshooter Jesse Vint comes to save the day.
"Forbidden World" is a cult-trash produced by Roger Corman using the success of the 1979 "Alien".
The hot Dawn Dunlap and June Chadwick make the difference and worthwhile watching this gore, gross and erotic low-budget film.
It contains nudity,gore, a cheesy monster and everything that a person who is in favour of b-grade movies requires to be entertained by a movie.It's indeed a rip off of Alien, but it's much better than Alien, Alien is a very boring film in my opinion, but I think that Mutant is just fantastically good!
This movie is less notorious than Corman's previous space film "Galaxy of Terror" (where a female character is raped by a huge, slimy space worm and Erin "Happy Days" Moran's head explodes), but it's about the same quality.Corman probably should have, at least, stuck to ripping off EITHER "Star Wars" or "Alien", but instead he wastes most of his meager budget in a pointless and risible spaceship battle scene at the beginning before settling into a fairly creative "Alien"-type story where a space crew in a remote outpost are menaced by a horrible creature.
But the twist is it's not an alien, but a spontaneously mutating monster they created in a misbegotten experiment to deal with a food shortage back on Earth.Jesse Vint is kind of an odd leading man for one of these kind of movies as he's mostly famous for 70's "hicksploitation" films like "Macon County Line" and "Black Oak Conspiracy".
The "Forbidden World" of the title is really just a remote research outpost, where scientists are conducting experiments in creating a new life form from re-engineered DNA(or some such thing!) Of course, things go disastrously wrong, and a space marshal is called in to clean up the mess, and destroy the "mutant" monster.Incredibly mundane and unappealing film has practically nothing to recommend it, other than two beautiful leading ladies(Dawn Dunlap & June Chadwick.) Pity they are stuck in the middle of this gross, ugly and derivative film.
In the distant future, a federation marshal arrives at a research lab on a remote planet where a genetic experiment has gotten lose and begins feeding on the dwindling scientific group.So, what do you get when you have an "Alien" ripoff written by Jim Wynorski, produced by Roger Corman, and with effects from John Carl Buechler?
Mike Colby(Jesse Vint)is an intergalactic mercenary who is sent by The Man to desert planet called Xarbia.A group of scientists working there created slimy alien named Subject 20.Of course the creature escapes and all hell breaks loose..."Forbidden World" by Allan Holzman is a guilty pleasure of mine.It's a chock full of gore,slime and sleazy nudity.The special effects are cheap and gooey,the script is very silly and there is plenty of naked female flesh provided by June Chadwick and Dawn Dunlap.The acting is generally decent and the climax is insanely yucky.A must-see,if you enjoyed "Galaxy of Terror","Humanoids from the Deep" or "Inseminoid".8 slimy aliens out of 10..
Forbidden World (1982)** (out of 4) Made on the re-modeled sets from GALAXY OF TERROR, this sci-fi/horror flick isn't nearly as good but it does offer up plenty of gore and nudity.
As you can tell, this is yet another ALIEN clone and while it's certainly far from a good movie it's still pretty hard to resist with its short 77-minute running time and the amount of sleaze on hand.
The story itself is one we've seen countless times and it's clear the producer (Roger Corman) wasn't overly interested in anything but the gore and nudity..
This shameless Alien rip-off is packed to the brim with gore and nudity and never pretends to be more than just an hour and seventeen minutes of pure escapism.For a low-budget movie, the research station set doesn't look bad at all.
The catchy synth soundtrack is also worth mentioning.If you're looking for a serious sci-fi horror movie, steer well clear of this film, but if you're in the mood for a bit of trashy fun, you could do a lot worse than Forbidden World!.
I love Roger Corman's movies they are my favorite Sci-fi trash movies,with a beauty girls on cast,yes it's a rip off Alien,but who cares,the good things are to be copied of course and this enjoyable movie has all ellements to hold you until the end, a bit bloody to my taste indeed,but has a several sexy scenes in the station with gorgeous Dawn Dunlap and June Chadwick, a nice view of the heaven that pay every cent which l'd spent to get the DVD,gore and nasty in most of time it's amused me all the time.....thanks Corman for your holy existence!!Resume:First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6.
"Forbidden World" is a movie made for all the people who watched "Alien" and thought, 'man, what this movie could really do with is more sex and less scares'.
I guess.It begins with some ridiculous "Star Wars"-esque space ship battle sequences, which turn out to be so out of place that it is not a surprise to read that Corman recycled this footage from some other movie.
But the movie soon settles down into "Alien" territory.People forget that one of the things that made "Alien" unique was that despite its science fiction setting it didn't have the hammy dialogue and acting that sci-fi is known for.
"Forbidden World" copies that, with naturalistic acting and characters who, for the most part, feel like real people......Until the sex starts.
It all seems oddly coercive.The "monster" in this movie spends most of the run time just looking like a pile of mud.
According to the book that comes with the Shout Factory release of the film, Holzman shot 94 camera set-ups in one day to achieve the frenetic editing style of this sequence.In the Wikipedia setup for this film, they report that this film was panned by critics as a "cheap, exploitive imitation Alien with sex, nudity, uneven editing, cheap special effects and an audio track that some found unpleasant." This sounds like a beacon for me screaming, "SEE THIS FILM NOW." I wouldn't say the music is bad
it's just a strange bit of electronic music that often feels like it doesn't fit the film.
Another a sleazy monster movie featuring plenty of sex scenes, women showering together and a toothy Giger-esque little buddy killing scientists.Read more at bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/06/30/forbidden-world-1982/.
There's just something special about some of these early 80's Corman "cult classics." This is maybe the least impressive of the ones I've seen ("Galaxy of Terror" and "Humanoids From the Deep" being tops) but it still has it's moments and is entertaining enough.It's clearly self-aware, but not in a tongue-in-cheek campy way.
A couple's moans while having sex, a crewman watching on security cam while playing with a fancy light up yo-yo thing that makes a zing sound and a guy sitting on his bed playing a translucent space sax.It could have used some more scares and more effective kill scenes.
A Marshall in the Alliance Mike Colby (Jesse Vint) is pulled out of stasis by his long-suffering Cylon partner SAM-104 (voiced by Don Olivera) to have a space battle before whizzing off through a effects shot to the planet Xarbia, where genetic researchers are creating a new kind of life form that gets loose and starts eating everyone.
Corman's didn't learn his lesson there either; when he remade it as Dead Space in the 1990's, the only improvement was this time the monster looked better.
Countless cheap (and expensive) films have copied Alien, and this may well be the best.Although a sequel to Roger Corman's earlier Galaxy of Terror, which was more of a Star Trek rip-off than Alien, Forbidden World has nothing to do with Galaxy of Terror except they share sets and are clearly set in the same universe as one another.It is full of gore, clever special effects, good performances, fitting mood-setting music, sex and screaming.
These are the only redeeming scenes in the film.The rest of the movie is spent in a space station where an illegal lab experiment has gone awry and is killing off the crew one by one.
The Wrestling Movie") does a decent job working in confined quarters; genre buffs will know that this typically cheap Roger Corman production re-uses sets from "Galaxy of Terror" as well as special effects shots from "Battle Beyond the Stars".
Roger Corman produced this film and although his movies almost always made money*, they always were made with minuscule budgets.
This one, however, is pretty much like most of Corman's films--super-cheap, kind of cheesy and a bit dumb...but also almost entertaining enough to keep your interest.
After all, if the story (a re-working of ALIEN) doesn't keep your interest, the film tossed in quite a bit of gratuitous nudity to keep your interest!When the film begins, there is a really crappy space battle that looked very, very dated for the early 80s.
Otherwise, not a film most folks would want to watch and would do a lot better just watching ALIEN.By the way, 're-working' is also occasionally a nice way to say 'blatant ripoff'.*Corman's only money-losing film (out of over 400 credits) was reportedly "The Intruder" (starring William Shatner).
The monster itself looks totally silly.The film has dated badly which isn't surprising since it's such a ripoff and has nothing original.This is a companion piece to two other Roger Corman flicks: Galaxy of Terror and Battle Beyond the Stars..
From legendary B-movie producer Roger Corman, Forbidden World is a cheap, cheesy and sleazy Alien rip-off that makes up for its low production values by chucking in as much gloopy gore and female nudity as possible.The film opens with intergalactic trouble-shooter Mike (Jesse Vint) being woken from cryogenic sleep by his loyal robot SAM-104 (who looks like a bargain basement stormtrooper) to help defend against an enemy attack; after a terrible space dog-fight that makes use of footage from Corman's Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), a victorious Mike receives orders to visit the planet Xarbia, where there has been an accident in a high security laboratory.On arrival, Mike is told that the result of a genetic experiment is on the loose, the creature continuously mutating as it grows.
The bigger it gets, the meaner and more ravenous it becomes, with humans on the menu.The directorial debut of film editor Allan Holzman, Forbidden World is tacky and tasteless trash that doesn't have any pretensions: it's aim is to please its target audience of B-movie fans, and that it most certainly does.
Once Mike has set foot on Xarbia, its non-stop gooey effects and gratuitous T&A from the lab's two female scientists (played by June Chadwick and Dawn Dunlap), both of whom have rocking bodies and absolutely no qualms about getting naked.After a whole load of messy gore (the victims slowly turning into a mushy mess), some nookie, and the welcome sight of Chadwick and Dunlap in the shower together, the film ends in splattery style with Mike having to remove a cancerous tumour from a fully conscious man without anaesthetic in order to feed the growth to the monster.
Almost perfect: It has space ships, laser battles, a cool drooling grinning skulled alien, abundant gratuitous female nudity, an excellent early electronica musical score, buckets of gore, slimy alien killings, voyeurism, stuff exploding, girls sunbathing naked in space, is over quickly (77 minutes: perfect for limited attention spans) and the hero is actually the movie's brilliant dork character, whom the surviving female hottie (Dawn Dunlap, who gets naked a lot in her movies) was secretly really in love with all the time.
The real movie is about the geek and how he beats this transmogrifying alien mass of goo and teeth.Also known as MUTANT, director Allan Holzman's FORBIDDEN WORLD is of course the 3rd of the Big Three Alien Sleaze Epics from the very early 1980's which exploited the ideas Dan O'Bannon and Ridley Scott cooked up for ALIEN.
All three were released in the US by Roger Corman's New World Films and make a sort of unofficial Trio -- The first was Norman "Warm & Fuzzy" Warren's deceptively cheesy looking HORROR PLANET (or INSEMINOID) in 1980, then Bob Clark's GALAXY OF TERROR (or MIND WARP: AN INFINITY OF TERROR) in 1981, then Holzman's FORBIDDEN WORLD in 1982.
It is a difficult movie to watch.Contrastingly, FORBIDDEN WORLD exists as a Sadean fantasy, with the alien more or less leaving it's grubby mitts off the ladies, who both disrobe twice and engage in relations with the manbeef action star lead, and THEN take a shower together.
One of the interesting aspects of the film is how it repeatedly disrobes it's women and then places them in harm's way, with this grinning, drooling, slimy alien just a tentacle slither away, and as with GALAXY OF TERROR much of what we now know as Hentai Anime and it's unsavory sexual violence was given root in what we see in these films: Slimy, tubular, disgusting aliens having their way with or just simply ripping apart aggressively gorgeous, sexy women in states of undress or nudity.On that level of thinking, FORBIDDEN WORLD is probably the most exploitative of the trio, using it's subject matter literally where GALAXY OF TERROR and HORROR PLANET both had sub-textural meaning to what was happening on camera.
Allan Holzman stuck with the basics: Slimy alien running loose on isolated space station with nubile females showering together while scruffy 2 day growth faced action types search for it with flashlights and ineffective weapons.
Forbidden World is set sometime in the distant future as the galaxy is on the brink of starvation, on an isolated desert planet called Xarbia a team of genetic scientists have tried to create a new form of food that grows at an incredible rate.
Soon the decision becomes irrelevant as it hatches anyway & kills unsuspecting crew-member Jimmy (Michael Bowen), now with a slimy genetic mutant with lots of sharp teeth & powerful tentacles slithering around no one is safe as it sees us humans as a nice source of food...Co-edited & directed by Allan Holzman Forbidden World is a decent enough Alien (1979) rip-off, the way the alien looks, the way it goes through different stages of appearance plus the overall look & feel of the film will remind you of Alien.
It's far from a masterpiece, it's a bit slow & dull at times but it doesn't try to be anything other than a 'slimy alien on the loose killing people' sci-fi horror film very much in the mould of Alien.Director Holzman doesn't do anything special & the film has a number of flaws, first the alien creature is very static, fake looking & hardly moves.
There's a fair amount of nudity as well which I ain't complaining about.Technically Forbidden World is alright, the production design has dated the film badly & the sets remind of Alien.
The acting was OK but nothing special.Forbidden World is an Alien rip-off & nothing more, it's as simple & straight forward as that.
Produced by king of the cheapies Roger Corman who also produced another early 80's sci-fi horror Galaxy of Terror (1981) which is a better film than Forbidden World in my opinion....
How could you not like a movie in which the monster is frequently called a "dingwhopper", and which packs these fantastic lines: Barbara : "I hear you're the best troubleshooter in the federation.
Subject Twenty, a metamorphic mutant(whose metabolism is rising at an astonishing rate) accidentally created through genetic engineering(what else?)while scientists were attempting to develop a new food source in a laboratory isolated on a planet, gets loose and goes on a violent rampage in a space station.
Jesse Vint is Space Commander Mike Colby, sent to the station to help kill the damned monster, black, slimy, with slobbery teeth, continuously growing.
Forbidden World (or Mutant if you own the German version) is clearly an Alien rip-off.
I won't spoil it, but it will be something very unrealistic and daft.Forbidden World is really a movie for fans of horror/Alien-like movies only.
Once again, Roger Corman and his "New World Pictures" sought to cash in on the craze of good Science Fiction (Star Trek, Star Wars and Alien) by producing a bad ripoff of someone else's better idea.
Which is what you do if you can't come up with a good idea of your own.The basic plot line is that there is a "food shortage", and a group of ethically challenged scientists decide to create a human-alien hybrid which proceeds to get out and try to kill them all.
Cliché Characters are us....But the monster, a poor cousin to the one in alien, is what ruins this movie. |
tt0046534 | The War of the Worlds | The film begins with a voice (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) telling the audience that greedy eyes are watching the blue planet. They envy our water, clean air and plenty of resources. The race of beings watching the blue planet had considered moving to another planet in the Solar System but were unable because every other planet is uninhabitable. Also, it tells us that there has been a WWI and a WWII, but that there is going to be another kind of war, The War of the Worlds. At a time when the Earth and Mars were closest to each other in orbit, the Mars beings begin to attack.A strange fireball streaks across the southern California skies and lands in a gully in the San Gabriel mountains east of Los Angeles. Firemen quickly extinguish the fire that has broken out, but authorities are puzzled by the long, cylindrical object that fell to earth and started the fire. The object attracts tourists--and also the attention of Dr. Clayton Forester (Gene Barry) of the Pacific Technical Institute. While everyone else regards the object as anything from a tourist attraction to a potential treasure trove, Forester knows that something is wrong: the object did not come down like an ordinary meteor, and was much more lightweight than any meteor ever reported. What's more, the object is not only hot, but also radioactive.Forester stays in the nearby town at the home of Pastor Matthew Collins (Lewis Martin) and his niece, Sylvia van Buren (Ann Robinson). Three men are left in the surroundings of the object when a hidden lid on the cylinder unscrews, and a long-necked probe rises out. The three try to approach the probe, declaring their friendly intentions--and the probe spits out a heat ray that incinerates the men and starts another fire. At the same time, power and telephone service fails in town, and everyone at the social discovers that his watch has stopped. Forester determines that the watches have been somehow magnetized, and also notes that someone's pocket compass points not to the north, but to the meteorite. Forester returns to the site with the sheriff and another deputy. They find the ashes of the three men, and then the probe attacks again, killing the deputy as he tries to drive away. Forester then determines that they are dealing with something from another planet and need to call in the military, especially as another fireball lands nearby as he is talking to the sheriff. While everyone waits for the soldiers to arrive, Forester appears on a radio program and deals with the increasing speculation on the otherworldly origin of the cylinders. A consensus arises that the cylinders come from Mars, now at its closest approach to Earth.Marines from El Toro Marine Base roll in and surround the site, and an Air Force plane drops a flare on it from above. The long-necked probe fires its heat ray at the plane, and then sweeps the area, destroying a radio truck. The Marine colonel calls for reinforcements, and the 6th Army Command arrives, with artillery and tanks. Major General Mann, the commander, tells Forester that other objects like the one they are surrounding have landed in cities all over the world, and that all communication fails after that. Then the probe rises again, and we now see that it is part of a swan-like magnetically levitating low-altitude craft. Two other such craft rise out of the cylinder to join it. The officers give the order to prepare to fire, but Matthew Collins objects, saying that no one has tried to offer them peace before. Disregarding his own safety, he walks toward the three metal swans, reciting the 23rd psalm--and before his niece Sylvia's horrified eyes, the lead swan burns him to death. At once General Mann (Les Tremayne) and Marine Colonel Heffner (Vernon Rich) give the order to fire.The soldiers unleash a barrage of artillery and missile fire--and none of it is effective. The swans possess a magnetic force shield that deflects any bombardment. The swans quietly take the measure of their opponents and then start to return fire, with heat rays and meson-disrupting energy bursts that disintegrate anything they touch. Forester urges Mann to inform Washington that conventional military forces would be outmatched. Mann leaves, and Heffner fights a holding action before finally ordering a complete retreat--and being disintegrated in mid-order.Forester takes Sylvia with him in an Army plane. Flying low to avoid the Air Force jets flying in to try their hand, he clips some trees and crash-lands. He and Sylvia barely have time to escape before a squadron of swans surround the plane. General Mann returns to the city, where skeptical reporters cannot believe his reassurances--and of course he knows better, because nothing has proved effective.Alone in the brush, Forester and Sylvia take shelter in an abandoned farmhouse. There Sylvia confesses her fears and her deep sense of loss following her uncle's death. In the middle of this tender conversation, another cylinder crashes into the side of the house. Hours later, Forester wakes up, and a terrified Sylvia tells him that the house is surrounded. Forester works diligently to clear a way out, while also trying to observe as much as he can. The Martians lower a different kind of probe, an eye-like camera; Forester, at first taking this for yet another weapon, chops the camera head from its extender, which swiftly withdraws. A Martian crewman enters the house and touches Sylvia on the shoulder; Forester blinds it with a flashlight and then throws an axe at it, putting it to flight. When Forester realizes that he is holding a scarf now stained with Martian blood, Sylvia loses all control, and Forester has to shout at her to calm down. They then escape, just before the Martians burn down the ruins of the house.As more cylinders come down all over the earth, the Martians' goal becomes painfully clear: to drive all of humanity before them and eventually to kill us all. In Washington, the Secretary of Defense prepares to order the dropping of an atomic bomb on the Los Angeles-area nest. Forester and Sylvia finally arrive at Pacific Tech and turn over the alien camera and the blood-stained scarf. The blood turns out to be anemic, and the camera yields little insight other than that the Martians perceive color a lot differently from humans and that their ability to see is hampered by bright light. At the time, Pacific Tech officials think all this is a moot point, because the atom bomb is going to stop them anyway. But even the atom bomb proves ineffective against the Martians' magnetic force fields.General Mann, clearly frustrated, orders an evacuation of Los Angeles. Forester tells his colleagues that now the anemic blood is important, because only biological weapons will stop the Martians now. The plan is to take as many lab instruments as possible into the mountains and set up another laboratory. But that plan comes to nothing, as looters seize the Pacific Tech vehicles and scatter or beat up all the personnel, including Forester, the pathologist who found out about the anemia, Dr. Dupre (Ann Codee), and Sylvia. As the swans arrive and start systematically burning every building in sight, Forester rushes about, going from church to church, hoping to find Sylvia waiting there, as she once waited after running away as a child. He finds church pastors everywhere praying for deliverance, comfort, or both, and at one church he even finds two of his colleagues. At last he finds Sylvia--and as the two rush toward one another, a nearby swan burns out a stained-glass window, frightening everyone inside.But the attacking swan abruptly heels over, fires only two more seemingly half-hearted bursts, and then crashes into a building and falls to the street. Dead silence descends. Inside the church, Forester leads the people out into the street to see what has happened. They find the downed swan, and as they watch, a door opens and a Martian arm appears, trying to move out. Another swan crashes on the other side of the street and, as Forester watches, the Martian arm turns a mottled gray and falls still. Forester touches it and pronounces it dead.And in fact, this story is repeating itself everywhere. The Martians had very underdeveloped immune systems, and as soon as they were exposed to Earth's atmosphere, they became infected with germs that a humans have long since developed immunity to, but which proved uniformly fatal to Martians. The metal swans stop and fall where they are, and the invasion is over even more swiftly than it began. | good versus evil, realism, cult, murder | train | imdb | To be an effective thriller, a sci-fi film absolutely must impart to the viewer a sense of --- coldness, either the physical coldness of outer space or other worlds, or the emotional coldness of science.Cedric Hardwicke's opening narrative in "The War Of The Worlds" is brutally cold, and the added images uninviting.
But even in this second half, suspense filters through, as we watch the heartless "swans" eject their heat rays on a helpless Los Angeles.For sci-fi films made before "2001: A Space Odyssey", "The War Of The Worlds" is one of my three favorites, along with "Robinson Crusoe On Mars" and "Forbidden Planet"..
So many scenes in this film are strong: the army fighting the Martian space ship while a man of God tries to make peace with the strangers, the old farmhouse, and the ending as the aliens attack Los Angelos.
But despite a first-rate script, solid direction from Haskin, and good acting, The War of the Worlds owes its greatest debt to producer George Pal. Pal knew how to put films like this together and was a driving force in the film's innovative and unique special effects.
From the moments the first Martian pod lands and the three poor guys get toasted by the infamous heat ray, to the final thirty seconds where it looks like it's all over for humanity, this is how to do an Alien Invasion film!
George Pal redeems himself after the appalling special effects from "When Worlds Collide" by giving us one of the best science fiction movies from the 1950's.
Gene Barry over emotes in the lead now and then but the martian invasion is handled very well and the tension rises to the final scenes where the surviving populace huddle in the church as the buildings crash and burn around them.'War of the Worlds' deserves its place as both a highly regarded novel and a well-remembered movie.
Producer George Pal and director Byron Haskin certainly reached a creative plateau back in 1953 that is seldom attained even now in the current age of CGI effects and ear-splitting soundtracks.I was lucky to attend the 50th anniversary screening in Hollywood recently, with Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, other actors and production people from the film, and 'Mr. Sci-Fi' Forrest J.
To see it on a full size theater screen for the first time, and with these people there, was the thrill of a lifetime, for sure!The Martians and their war machines in this movie are still some of the best and most memorable designs in the history of science fiction films.
War of the Worlds is the only movie I can watch again and again, never get tired of, and always find something new every time I see it.The special effects are brilliant.
Martians invade Earth with total destructive powers, seemingly unstoppable, mankind must find a way to beat them before all is Lost.In spite of the uproar and considerable success of Orson Welles' 1938 radio adaptation of the H.G Wells novel, War Of The Worlds was a topic that directors were staying well away from.
Enter producer George Pal, noted for puppetoon shorts, he managed to sway the big wigs at Paramount that it could indeed be done, and thus the chain of big colour spaceships blasting, sci-fi creatures lurking and blockbuster bums on seats movies began.Directed by Byron Haskin, this version of the source moves the location from Edwardian England to 20th Century America, and this works a treat because the watching American public were genuinely unnerved at the sight of contemporary America being reduced to rubble by an invading force.
But War Of The Worlds 1953 still stands proud as a brave and hugely enjoyable picture thats importance has never been (nor should it be)understated, and even allowing for nostalgic fervour from this particular viewer, I heartily recommend this film to anyone interested in template movies for the sci-fi genre.
The George Pal-Byron Haskin production of War Of the Worlds is none too faithful to the H.G. Wells novel it's based on, yet it's an excellent movie in its own right.
The destroyed urbanizations , the deserted towns with the inhabitants getting away and the large lethal rays which emerge from aircrafts and the martians themselves, come joined and brought to life in astounding special effects and exciting spotlights .It is based on H.G.Wells novel that stays as landmark in the sci-fi history .
It's an overwhelming movie but there's also a sub-plot of the wonderful couple : Gene Barry and Robinson developing a agreeable love story.The picture deals about the survival of human being , the basic issue results to be humanity fighting an extraordinary event : a terrible martian invasion .
The story is very scary, with the indestructible Martians invaders destroying everything and everybody; the heroine screams in danger situations and looks for the arms of the hero, as usual in the movies of those years; and my only restriction refers to the religious connotation of the end of the film.
However, I can still enjoy the story with the re-make which came out in 2005, which I recently watched and enjoyed.For its day - over 50 years ago - I still think this 1953 movie had amazing special-effects.
H G Wells is rightly regarded as the creator of modern science fiction because unlike Jules Verne he was the man who introduced the concept of subtext to the genre , his novels FIRST MEN ON THE MOON and THE TIME MACHINE are really about evolution and class distinctions while WAR OF THE WORLDS is about European imperialism.The film version of WOTW is more simplified and far less interesting than the novel but still contains a subtext , though it's no longer about about European colonialism but about communist aggression .
Battles between the Martians and the army, Martian death rays frying huge numbers of people, the destruction of Los Angeles, there had been little like it before, and all this on a moderate budget, which is why the cast is strictly B Movie, although they are adequate to the film's needs.Of course to a modern audiences many aspects are dated and may even seem laughable.
All true WOTW fans know that the sounds of the "cobra" and the weapons fire are sounds you never forget..like the antenna sounds of "Them".Try to look past the re-locating and re-dating, kick back and enjoy a film that was king for 20-30 years, not topped until "2001", "Star Wars", "Close Encounters" and "Alien" came along..
The special effects are outstanding, especially the design of the Martian spaceship.****** The War of the Worlds (7/29/53) George Pal : Byron Haskin ~ Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne.
Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry), aided by Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson), urgently work to find a way to defeat the invaders as the armies of the countries across the globe fall to the technologically superior Martian's war machines.In "War of the Worlds", director Byron Haskin gives a heavy nod to family and religion.
Through the use of special effects, which were state of the art for its time, the viewer comes to realize the awesome, unstoppable power of the Martian war machine..
I believe this movie won a Special Effects Academy Award.A great science fiction film faithfully depicted.
H.G. Wells wrote in 1898 a novel called The War of the Worlds.In 1953 they made a movie of that book.It tells about the Marsians invading the Earth.Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) and Sylvia van Buren (Ann Robinson) are two people trying to survive those angry aliens.None of the human arms seems to work for those creatures from outer space.Byron Haskin directed this thrilling sci-fi movie.Gene Barry and Ann Robinson make a terrific couple in the lead.All the other actors are great too.I could mention Lewis Martin as Pastor Dr.Matthew Collins, who's brilliant as the man of religion.Wells was an amazing writer and this movie is wonderfully made of his classic book.There are many great scenes.When the troops start to evacuate the town the people go nuts.Clayton runs in the empty streets looking for his gal.Then the Marsians come destroying the streets and it all starts to seem like the world is coming to an end.I recommend you look up in the skies every now and then....
Based on H.G. Wells's bestselling novel, which I have also read and come to enjoy."The War of the Worlds" is perhaps, even today, one of the best science-fiction movies.
You really want the army to blast these Martian creatures to kingdom come.The character the audience usually follows (especially after the war begins) is Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) who is not just the routine superfluous character (with boring personal problems) of recent horror films, but a scientist who is trying to solve the mystery of how the people of Earth can fight back before they're annihilated.
Wandering through an empty, alien-haunted wilderness with the fading reminders of human civilization would have given it a wonderful surreal touch, but it would not have been really possible given the time - and the depicted feel - of this film.Still a great sci-fi movie - a classic, and destined to remain that way.
I saw this movie as a kid in 1956 and it has left an indelible mark on the memories of my childhood.Perhaps,I am romanticizing but I think the latest version does not compare to the standard set by it.The present version revolves totally around the lead actor and thus limits characterization.Also,the ending is far too abrupt.In the earlier version,I remember scientists pondering over the invasion and at the end a fairly clear rationale for the Martians'failure.Spielberg's version depends far too much on special effects at the cost of the story.I don't think proper justice has been done to H.G.Wells seminal work.The 1953 version,I think will continue to remain the novel's definitive cinematic interpretation for the future..
The War of the Worlds is an excellent science fiction motion picture that though even at this date in history provides for an emotional as well as intellectual experience.This film had much going for it due in principal to the machines,and ray guns,not unlike what even today might excite our imagination even if you will the special effects made this a very interesting film to watch.I believe the film actually won a Oscar for its special effects.The acting is worthy of note because it is not overly slick and though this is a motion picture we are not smirking as to who do they think there fooling.It is in a manner of speaking done well,however there is more to this picture than just the capable acting and the special effects,it is a story however stretched that happens on a summer night when meteor like events come crashing down to the Earth.They don't really crash however because as we are going to learn they somehow might call this a rough landing.These events unknown initially are occurring all over the globe and both local as well as military personnel are in a hurry to oversee this unbelievable event.That event is that these are in fact the equivalent of flying saucers and a question as to mans place in the universe is made real through the picture.I don't want to take this so seriously however Iam usually not pleased when there is such firepower made available which provides for an absolutely devastating realization that the end of the world may very well be at hand.Though this is simply an interesting observation the human attempts to defeat these martians is almost meaningless.We could not penetrate there defensive shields and as smart as some of the thinking is the martians moved to quickly for an adequate counter to be developed.There machines and weapons were clearly something that was beyond this worlds ability to understand and quickly there was the end of time approaching the human race,at least here on earth.This idea of gallant in defeat is in fact unacceptable, yet it is frequently employed as a underpinning to some such set of circumstances.This is not meant to sound dubious but the rub provides a glimpse in another psychology which does not include a meaningless effort.However this is what I believe is a double edged sword and that is why I really care for this picture.It is why these pictures of another era stand up so well over time and why even today they are still so very popular.If you recall there is the religious influence had in this film which provides for a deeply felt conviction as to who we are and indeed what we in fact believe in.It is usually hard at times to determine just how we separate the wheat from the chaff however this picture provides for morality that wins the day and the salvation of the world.When the Martians lose there grip and there machines falter,it occurs as they are but a moment from putting an end to our place in the sun.The blessing brought upon the human race caused steeple bells to ring across the earth as a real injustice was attempting to lay claim to our home.This victory had is not a victory as such but a miracle not of science but of faith.This type of underpinning is worthy of long standing value and as well the solution that the picture offers is worthy as a real intelligent alternative to meaningless effort, worthless and without resolution.The fact that the martians could not breathe our air without themselves dying as a result is not the only accomplishment but one of greater value is that they were in fact the disease to begin with as they sought to conquer in order to survive.That apparently is not the best answer other wise they would of prevailed and still the picture claimed we were the world who was dirty.Ann Robinson who plays a interest of Gene Barry is very moved by her uncle(the priest)who in his very faith sought the martians out claiming that they might be nearer the creator and should be communicated with-I felt that scene was excellent and why you want so much for all the bluster to knock there block off.A loving tribute to the cloth is had in this picture and very deserved,that is because we are humbled by the darkness and made to plead in the last places left on earth which are protected by our Father who art in Heaven.There is good reason to like this film and good reason why this film is still so very respected.This though is only the movie and the ways and the hows are part of the motion picture industry,not necessarily evident but not needing to be as we have a witness that is unflinching in his dare to the night.This is not about boasting or showing off because the near death experience is a bit much and as well there is clearly shown that though we were given a reprieve as to judgment the promise is that we have work to do!There may be some ability to define love or romance however that is not what here is most important and that is salvation communicated through the merciful pleadings addressed to Our Father Who Art in Heaven.What we have is the humbling characteristic of mercy and that is why we can love.It is also not stated outright but in a manner of speaking man is put in his place with a lesson not soon to be forgotten.A very commendable attitude is had by this picture as a result of this victory..
I recently purchased the "Special Edition" DVD of the original "War of the Worlds" and with the remixed surround soundtrack and crystal clear picture it is STILL one of, if not THE best sci-fi martian invasion movie ever made.
Scientists quickly predict that unless a way of stopping the Martian attack is found they will have taken over the entire Earth in just six days times...Directed by Byron Haskin The War of the Worlds is surely the Grandfather of all alien invasion films.
Looking at "The War of the Worlds" now, it's clear that many alien invasion stories owe a big debt to this smashing H.G. Wells adaptation.The action is reset in (then) present day California, where intelligent Martian monsters land their enormous, strikingly designed vehicles.
The War of the Worlds was one of the first movies that actually gave me the creeps the first time I watched it.From the excellent special effects to the eerily futuristic-looking spaceships (which many refer to as Swan-like), this "Doomsday" film isn't the result of a wayward planet or asteroid, but from intelligent beings from another planet.
Whenever you see the name George Pal on a movie you know you are in for a special effects extravaganza and that is exactly what you get in this milestone in Science Fiction cinema history.The story needs little introduction;Martians invade Earth , emerge from their ships and set about destroying anything that stands in their way [including people] only to be killed by an invisible foe.The acting is a little hammy and you will have to hit the volume control when Ann Robinson [playing Sylvia Van Buren] starts to scream,but the special effects dominate the film!
10 years after the end of World War II, the people of Earth find themselves confronted by an even bigger enemy: the Martians.The movie is based on the novel with the same title written by H.
Aliens land, blow up various cities, are nuked (to no avail), but are defeated by a simple thing: A common cold (just like in the novel.)This movie has great Special effects for the time, and it's update of the 1898 wells story was great. |
tt1798603 | Bad Santa 2 | The movie begins with Willie Soke (Billy Bob Thornton) working as a valet driver at a country club. He gets distracted when he sees a woman breast-feeding her baby, causing him to crash into a stand and knock someone over. Willie gets fired on the spot after arguing with his superiors.Willie's voice-over catches us up on the last few years of his life. He was not killed by the police at the end of the first 'Bad Santa' movie, but made a complete recovery and after his time in prison, he thought he got his happy ending by being with Sue, but his screw-ups caught up to him before she left him. He prepares to kill himself by sticking his head in the oven. When that doesn't work, he tries to hang himself. His suicide attempt is interrupted by Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly), now 21 years old and dumber than ever, still following Willie around even though he no longer believes he's Santa Claus. He even works at a sandwich shop now to fulfill his passion for making people sandwiches. Willy drops from the ceiling as he tries to stop his suicide.Thurman mentions that now that he's 21, he thinks Willie is going to "pop his cherry". Willie corrects him saying he would get it done by someone else. Willie calls Opal the prostitute (Octavia Spencer) to do the job, even though she isn't very willing. Thurman runs out of the motel room in a panic.Willie gets an unexpected visit from his old partner Marcus (Tony Cox), also fresh out of prison. He mentions there's a job that needs to be worked on for $2 million in Chicago. Willie isn't very willing to join Marcus since he tried to kill him on their last job 12 years earlier, but Marcus has apologized for that.Willie and Marcus arrive in Chicago for Willie to discover that Marcus wants to rob Giving Way, a charity foundation. To make matters worse for Willie, not only does Marcus expect him to put on a Santa suit once more, he discovers that one of the people working on the charity is his horrible mother, Sunny (Kathy Bates), who constantly refers to Willie as "shit stick". Willie punches her in the face and storms out, telling Marcus he has absolutely no intention of working with his mother.Marcus and Sunny later meet with Willie in her apartment to discuss the whole deal with their plan. Sunny claims she's got Parkinson's and has a really bad cough. Willie still refuses to work with her until Marcus tries to talk him into it. Willie finally decides that he'll do the job, but once it's over, he and Marcus are cutting Sunny off.Willie puts on the Santa suit to go out and collect money for charity. Another Santa comes by and thinks Willie is operating on his turf. Although he calmly tries to get Willie to leave, Willie accuses the man of being a pervert and starts beating the crap out of him in front of a crowd before Willie gets arrested. Meanwhile, Marcus is crawling through a vent to locate the safe when he comes across the charity's manager, Regent Hastings (Ryan Hansen), is having an affair with his assistant and is also embezzling money from the charity already. Marcus nearly gets found out when Sunny calls him and his ringtone goes off.After Willie gets bailed out, he must go to an AA meeting with Diane (Christina Hendricks), Regent's wife. Afterwards, she talks about her struggle with alcohol addiction and how it led her to do dirty things. Willie thinks she's asking for it and tries to put the moves on her, but she is disgusted and kicks him out of the car. Moments later, Diane drives up to him and admits she does want sex since she and Regent haven't been intimate in over a decade. Willie then does it with Diane behind a dumpster in an alley. They don't know they're being followed by Dorfman (Jeff Skowron), a Giving Way security guard who Regent hired to take pictures of the two.Marcus tries to get a key to the charity's safe by attempting to seduce Gina (Jenny Zigrino), another security guard. After taking her out for a fancy dinner, Marcus tries to go to bed with her, but she turns him down because of his height.Willie meets up with Diane and they do it on some Christmas trees. He asks that she call him Santa like Sue did, so she does.Willie reluctantly starts to bond with Sunny as she tries to get close to him again. He notices how bad her cough is, so he steals some medicine from a pharmacy for her. Sunny later gives Willie a gun in case Marcus tries to double-cross him again.Sunny later gets Willie to have sex with Gina for the keys since he has a thing for big fat girls. Gina is satisfied and Willie takes her keys. Marcus becomes upset after learning this and tries to attack Willie, but Willie manages to slam him onto a table.Thurman has traveled all the way from Arizona to Chicago to be with Willie after learning that he went there himself. Willie is utterly displeased to see this and tries to leave Thurman somewhere alone before feeling guilty and deciding to drop Thurman off at a shelter full of degenerates to get him out of his hair. Thurman later goes by the charity and sees the children singing. He manages to get the director to let him sing as well, and she gives him a Santa suit to put on, which excites him.Willie, Marcus, and Sunny prepare for the robbery as the charity is holding its event where the children are singing. Sunny takes out the lights while Willie and Marcus try to open the safe. Willie stops and sees Thurman getting up to sing in his Santa suit. Willie is surprised to see that Thurman has a lovely voice, and it even moves him to tears. When Willie and Marcus finally open the safe, Marcus reveals he really was trying to double-cross Willie. Willie gets his gun and gets the money out of there before the guards come after them.Willie and Marcus bring the money outside, but Sunny reveals that she was going to take the money all for herself. She shoots Marcus in the chest and runs him over with her van as she tries to get away. Willie goes after her and chases her into SantaCon. Willie manages to find her, and Sunny ends up shooting Willie as well. He grabs her bag and lets all the money fly out. Sunny tries to shoot Willie again, but Thurman shows up and jumps in, getting himself shot in the butt. The cops arrive and arrest Sunny while the medics take Willie and Thurman away.Willie wakes up in the hospital getting a handjob from Diane, meaning he finally got his "happy ending". His voice-over reveals that he tipped the cops off about Sunny, meaning he managed to avoid jail time once again. Regent's embezzlement scheme was discovered and he was booted from the charity. He has decided to keep Thurman around as company since he has decided his new family is way better than his old one. Willie now works as a janitor in the hospital, and he finds Marcus's room. He considers smothering him to death, but Willie gets his revenge by teabagging a helpless Marcus and posting pictures on Instagram. | violence | train | imdb | I never ever tried to write movie review but for this movie I made exception.As for me it was hilarious the jokes the acting all original.people have to judge the movie by the current age and content standard we are watching over the cinema or TV.Now days its very difficult to find such a movie where you will laugh like a kid.
Bad Santa 2 is a film to me to watch with your friends and have a big laugh.Years after the events of the first Bad Santa(2003), down on his luck Willie(Billy Bob Thornton) is pulled back for another heist by his former partner Marcus(Tony Cox) and his estranged mother(Kathy Bates).
It's an idea that should have really been acted upon then or just left in the past because Bad Santa 2, a sequel that comes thirteen years after the original, is not a very good film at all.Willie Soke (Billy Bob Thornton) is still living a life fuelled by whiskey and greed, a lifestyle that leaves him contemplating suicide, until his old friend, Marcus (Tony Cox), resurfaces after spending ten years in prison.
With Willie's mum, Sunny (Kathy Bates), and Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly) joining the duo in Chicago, things start to become a little more tricky for Willie and Marcus.There is just so much wrong with Bad Santa 2 as both a comedy and a sequel.
I mean, seriously, the jokes in this are as if they're just having a competition to see who can say the most controversial thing, including one about abortion that just leaves a bad taste in the mouth.It's a level of writing that comes as no surprise seeing as both the writers of the first film don't have any involvement with this sequel.
Billy Bob Thornton just snoozes his way through proceedings, Kathy Bates wastes both her talent and time in a turgid role and Christina Hendricks, what the hell were you even thinking?!
It worked because he was a kid before and it was funny to watch Billy Bob Thornton react to his mannerisms however, it's fair to say Kelly just doesn't sell the character very well now at an older age.Did I laugh?
Showing that lightning often doesn't strike twice, especially when it comes to unexpected hit comedies (The Hangover series, Nutty Professor etc.), Bad Santa 2 is a pale imitation of the cult 2003 hit that saw Xmas painted blacker than black thanks to Billy Bob Thornton's alcoholic Santa/petty thief Willie Soke and his partnership with dwarf acquaintance Marcus Skidmore.Giving Thornton his best role in a number years and taking the idea of Xmas movies to a whole new smut filled level, Terry Zwigoff's original film was one of those experiences you find yourself enjoying more than you know you should and with side characters like the lovable Thurman Murman along for the ride, Bad Santa has found itself a nice long shelf life as fans continue to come back to it all these years later.With Mean Girls director Mark Waters now at the helm, Bad Santa 2 seemed poised to at least be a respectable follow up to its original incarnation, especially with the cast all returning including the now non-acting Brett Kelly as Thurman and the addition of Kathy Bates going into beast mode as Willie's estranged mother who just so happens to be the criminals new contact for a planned charity robbery but Bad Santa 2 feels like an event too long between drinks and the cast seem to know it.Looking bored and injecting nothing into their respective roles, Thornton and Cox spit out dialogue without an ounce of charisma while Kelly should've stayed away from an acting return with his pointless reiteration of Thurman (a character that adds nothing to proceedings) who now just annoys rather than brings smiles and the whole Bad Santa lifeblood of smutty jokes, horny Saint Nick's and holiday thieving feels outdated in today's climate portrayed as it is here.This is a shame for all involved, as it does feel as though another Bad Santa done well, could've fitted in nicely with the festive season now upon us but even die-hard fans of Willie and Marcus will be finding themselves returning to the original in years to come and forgetting this sequel even happened.There are glimmers of a funny black comedy here, small bits of dialogue are too outrageous not to laugh at while the very idea of this "bad" Santa is still funny but with a rather uninspired plot, tiresome performance's and an over reliance on filthy words and scenarios the whole idea of this project feels forced whereas the first Bad Santa journey felt like a breathe of booze filled fresh air in a sub-genre of Xmas tales that had grown rather stale.1 ½ non-desirable bunkbed buddies out of 5.
Strained black comedy sequel reunites—for no reason that really makes any sense—Willie, the world's most vile Santa and his feisty, foulmouthed dwarf sidekick Marcus for yet another score, this time at a Chicago charity event on Christmas Eve. That darn kid returns, only this time he's a man (sort of), and as what is supposed to be an added bonus: Willie's equally crass mother (Bates, though even she is helpless against this flimsy material).
The innocence of him as a child is what made his character so funny in the first movie, and now it just feels annoying because the audience is left saying "grow up already." While his character would have been funny as a little cameo, it just is not funny having him through the duration of the film.The reason the first Bad Santa worked so well is because the film contrasted pure arrogance and wrath with innocence which made for some truly awkward scenarios to play out.
Christina Hendricks is alright, but her character doesn't add too much to the film.The biggest question about Bad Santa 2 is if it is in fact funny?
A lot of the jokes here are focused more on being offensive and vulgar which isn't necessarily a bad thing considering the type of movie this is, but at times it certainly feels like they are trying too hard to be so and jokes fall flat because of this.
Overall, Bad Santa 2 isn't going to achieve the cult classic status that the first film did, but as far as sequels go, it's honestly better than it should have been.
While it isn't the first dark Christmas movie, it made the idea of an alcoholic, high libido Santa more mainstream then it would have been before.Most importantly, it made Billy Bob Thornton a big star who still acquires some big roles (most notably, his Golden Globe winning performance in the Fargo TV series).
Marcus meets with Willie to apologize for trying to kill him before (see Bad Santa) and offers him a big heist in Chicago.Willie agrees and finds out that he and Marcus will be robbing a charity on Christmas Eve. Part of this means two things; that Willie will have to put on the Santa suit once again and he'll have to work with one of the employees on the inside, his mother Sunny Soke (played by Kathy Bates).
I love that they bring back the original cast like Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, and Brett Kelly as Thurman.
Bad Santa 2 is just horrible when it comes to boring plot, annoying humor, and redundant concept like the first movie.
She just laughs at him and resumes calling him her pet name for him – "Shit Stick" (which she crudely explains later in the movie).Marcus (after apologizing again for trying to kill Willie the last time they worked together) gets him to agree to do the job, by guaranteeing a large haul of cash and promising that the two of them will cut Sunny out at the end.
The three stars look about as unhappy with being in this movie as their characters are with their lives – or most Movie Fans are likely to be with this sequel, while Hansen and Skowron make poor substitutes for the foils played by the late actors Bernie Mac and John Ritter in the first film.
It is nothing more than the bad-boy snack boredom killer that "Bad Santa" was supposed to have been.Even if I discount the original--decide not to judge "BS2" by the standard of "BS"--it *still* simply fails to rise to the level of a film worth watching, if you expect movies to be more than boredom killers.
I have found a special place in my black heart for these films and when it is released on bluray I will celebrate the holiday cheer of both Bad Santa movies all year round..
The original "Bad Santa" found just the right tone for its vulgar humor, but this sequel feels like a fail attempt to recapture faded glory.
Billy Bob Thornton reprises what feels like his signature role, a poor excuse for a human named Willie Stoke, lowlife alcoholic dirtbag safecracker who masquerades as a department store Santa to rob malls blind, along with his flippant midget partner Marcus (ebony Oompa Loompa Tony Cox).
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Feeling low and with no hope at Christmas, undesirable Willie Soke (Billy Bob Thornton) attempts suicide, only for naïve innocent Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly) to wonder back into his life.
The former child is now 21, and uneasy about his first sexual encounter, but Willie cheaply tries to see that off, and dashes off to meet up with recently released old pal Marcus (Tony Cox.) Even though Marcus tried to kill him last time, he wants Willie's help to rob a charity function in Chicago, hosted by husband and wife team Regent (Ryan Hansen) and Christina Hastings (Christina Hendricks.) Reuniting with his abusive mother Sunny (Kathy Bates), they attempt to pull off the caper...but it doesn't go to plan.At a time when sequels to films from fifteen or even twenty years ago are popping up, this thirteen years late sequel to the festive black comedy Bad Santa is, in all honesty, positively recent.
Well then, you have seen Bad Santa 2.Synopsis: Fueled by cheap whiskey, greed and hatred, Willie teams up once again with his angry little sidekick, Marcus, to knock off a Chicago charity on Christmas Eve. Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Tony Cox Director: Mark WatersWhat I said above I was serious about.
Bad Santa 2 is another sequel which in Hollywood takes original cult classic or well original films, and releasing over 10 years.
Bad Santa 2 came out 13 years after the original, released in 2003 and quite a bit has changed since.This film seems to step up in the vulgar, shock value and overall disgusting behavior compared to the original.
Better grouping of characters as well.Billy Bob Thornton is his same self which is great as the role of Bad Santa, same with Tony Cox. Kathy Bates as the mother is decent.
The sequel tries to recapture what worked before with only a few elements coming out good.Billy Bob Thornton returns as the sex-addicted alcky, Willie Soke.
In the sequel to this classic comedy, Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) is just as broke and drunk as he ever was, and this time he's saddled with a twenty-one year old Thurman Merman (Brett Kelly), who just won't leave him alone.
'BAD SANTA 2': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five) A sequel to the 2003 dark comedy Christmas movie hit 'BAD SANTA'; once again starring Billy Bob Thornton, as the foul mouthed antihero conman/thief Willie Soke.
Tony Cox and Brett Kelly also reprise their roles, from the original movie, and Kathy Bates and Christina Hendricks join the cast.
I really like the original 'BAD SANTA', and I consider it a Christmas movie classic; so I had really high hopes for this sequel.
Much like an underwhelming Christmas gift that you feign gratitude for, so is "Bad Santa 2." The belated sequel to 2003's surprisingly great (and now bonafide classic) dark-horse black comedy brings most of its priniciple cast back for another round of boozing and belittling but with none of the creative team that made the original film in tow.
Bad Santa 2 (2016)** (out of 4)After spending years in prison, Marcus (Tony Cox) gets in contact with Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) and talks him into traveling to Chicago for one last job.
Once there Willie's mom (Kathy Bates) is brought on board and soon the three are trying to rob a charity at Christmas time.The original BAD SANTA is a movie I watch repeatedly and it's a movie that I will always love.
BAD SANTA 2 took years to get to us so I had hoped that they actually took their time to come up with something good but sadly the end result here is a major disappointment.I'm not going to sit here and say that the film is awful because it isn't.
It just didn't seem like he was giving it his all and his character here isn't nearly as entertaining as it was the first time around.BAD SANTA 2 is certainly a very disappointing film but if you're a fan of the original then you might want to check it out for what laughs it does have..
I'm sure I've seen the 1st one but don't remember it, not that you need to see the 1st one to get the sequel, but it does make a lot of references to the original.So Billy Bob Thornton plays Bad Santa one more time in order to rob a charity run by the beautiful Christina Hendrix (Always worth the ticket price).Tony cox returns as Bad Santa's elf and partner in crime.
I don't know about you but I didn't find it funny at all.Other than that, Bad Santa 2 was just as hilarious as the 1st.After all the bad reviews I read for it, I wasn't expecting to like this movie at all but I did.It's almost the same as the 1st with Willie & Marcus back together again, Thurman Merman returns as well, Willie's mother is involved now, You know there's going to be a double cross or 2 & there's a ton of rude, lewd, crude humor so if you're not into that sort of thing then Bad Santa 2 isn't for you.I'm pretty sure I only saw the regular version so I can't wait to get a look at the unrated edition.This movie would have been perfect if not for the scene of Willie punching his mother in the face.If they would have cut the punch out then this movie would've been great & I would've given it a higher rating.I hope there will be a part 3 in the near future & we won't have to wait as long as we did for the sequel.
Billy Bob Thornton was great as the "done with it all" character, Willy was funny, Thurman was perfect and the story made some sense.
Bad Santa 2 is definitely not as good as the original in fact the first time I watched it I really disliked it it was not funny,over the top with the crude humor and Billy Bob Thornton seemed like he didn't want to be in the movie like he didn't commit to the role this time around but with a second viewing I was wrong he was decent as Willie Soke not as good as in the original of course in that he was hilarious and you couldn't help but laugh at every filthy word that came out of his mouth.
They also introduce Willie's mother in this who is played by Kathy Bates and she was pretty good in this actually but the best thing about this movie in my opinion was Thurman Merman he was just as funny as ever to me and he talked more which is good that's what I wanted to see because in the first one it took him awhile to say anything I mean it still was good and when he did talk it was funny but here it seems like they developed his character a bit more.
Loved the original & still will so this was great news!Well after seeing the film tonight, I can safely say it was an hilarious sequel to the 2004 original, though not as good some ways or more than a few, it was really funny & had in some places!The cast was great (the female actresses were hot AF!!) along with Billy Bob Thornton who was great as always as Wullie along with Brett Kelly as Thurman & Marcus who surprisingly returns in this film also!The film had some great laughs in it!
Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) teams up with Marcus (Tony Cox) and his mother (Kathy Bates) to rob a crooked charity in Chicago on Christmas Eve. Brett Kelly is back.
If you've never seen either, see the original, and if you only thought it was fun for that one time watching it, you should probably leave it at that.I definitely hope that in another 13 years, we don't get yet another Bad Santa.
The first Bad Santa set a movie trend years ago, and introduced most of the world to Billy Bob Thornton.
Much like Marcus he does nothing for the run time (even less than Marcus), he only seems to be here again to offer redemption for Willie's character right at the end.The best thing about this movie has to be Kathy Bates as Willie's old mum Sunny.
Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Christina Henricks and Kathy Bates star in this 2016 comedy sequel.
Though not as good as the original, this isn't a bad sequel and it's nice to see Thornton, Cox and Kelly reprise their roles. |
tt1568322 | Batman: Arkham City | === Characters ===
Arkham City features a large ensemble cast of characters from the history of Batman' comics. Returning characters from Arkham Asylum include Batman (Kevin Conroy), the Joker (Mark Hamill)—in what Hamill stated would be his final time voicing the character; (he subsequently reprised the role in Arkham City's successor Batman: Arkham Knight)—Warden-turned-Mayor Quincy Sharp (Tom Kane), police Commissioner James Gordon (David Kaye), and reporter Jack Ryder (James Horan). Returning villains include the Riddler (Wally Wingert), Victor Zsasz (Danny Jacobs), Bane (Fred Tatasciore), and Poison Ivy (Tasia Valenza). Joker's sidekick Harley Quinn also returns, voiced by Tara Strong, who replaces Arleen Sorkin. Batman's supporting cast introduces Catwoman (Grey DeLisle), Robin (Troy Baker), and Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth (Martin Jarvis), who provides radio support alongside the returning Oracle (Kimberly Brooks). Nightwing appears as a playable character outside of the main story via challenge maps.
Other characters marking their debut in the series include the manipulative warden of Arkham City, Hugo Strange (Corey Burton), Two-Face (also voiced by Baker), and the Penguin (Nolan North). Stana Katic lends her voice as Talia al Ghul, and Maurice LaMarche voices both Mr. Freeze and Calendar Man. Other characters include the zombie Solomon Grundy (also voiced by Tatasciore), the shapeshifter Clayface (Rick D. Wasserman), the League of Assassins's leader, Ra's al Ghul (Dee Bradley Baker), the mind-controlling Mad Hatter (Peter MacNicol), and the assassin Deadshot (Chris Cox), who has infiltrated Arkham City to kill several high-profile character targets. The villain Hush (also voiced by Conroy), the mysterious Azrael (Khary Payton), and reporter Vicki Vale (also voiced by DeLisle) also appear. Black Mask (also voiced by North), Killer Croc (Steven Blum), and Freeze's wife, Nora Fries, make cameo appearances in the game.
=== Setting ===
The events of Arkham City are set one year after Batman: Arkham Asylum. Quincy Sharp, the asylum's erstwhile director, has taken sole credit for halting the Joker's armed siege, using this distinction to become mayor of Gotham City. Declaring both the asylum and Blackgate Penitentiary no longer suitable to contain the city's detainees, Sharp's administration orders both facilities closed and he purchases Gotham's most notorious slums, converting them into an immense prison enclosure known as Arkham City. This facility is subsequently placed in the care of psychiatrist Hugo Strange—who is secretly manipulating Sharp—and monitored by a rogue private military firm, TYGER Security. Strange permits the inmates to do as they please, so long as they do not attempt to escape. A wary Batman maintains his own vigil over the new project, concerned that the chaotic situation there will get out of hand. Meanwhile, the Joker is suffering from a potentially fatal disease caused by his previous consumption of the Titan formula, an unstable steroid serum which turns men into maddened monsters.
=== Plot ===
At a press conference held by Bruce Wayne to declare his opposition to Arkham City, TYGER mercenaries arrest and imprison him in Arkham City. Hugo Strange discloses his knowledge of Wayne's dual identity as Batman before releasing him into the prison's criminal populace. While Strange prepares to commence "Protocol 10", Wayne obtains his equipment via airdrop from Alfred Pennyworth, allowing him to become Batman. He first saves Catwoman from being executed by Two-Face, who hopes to gain respect by murdering her. After Joker attempts to assassinate Catwoman, Batman tracks him to his hideout in the Sionis Steelmill, believing Joker may know the truth behind Protocol 10.
There, Batman learns that the unstable properties of the Titan formula are mutating in Joker's blood, gradually killing him. Joker captures Batman and performs a blood transfusion on him, infecting him with the same fatal disease. Joker also reveals that Gotham hospitals have been poisoned with his infected blood. Desperate to save himself and innocent citizens, Batman seeks out Mr. Freeze, who had been developing a cure but has since been kidnapped by the Penguin.
Tracking Penguin to the Cyrus Pinkney National History Institute, Batman defeats his forces, his imprisoned monster Solomon Grundy, and ultimately the Penguin himself, before liberating Mr. Freeze. Freeze tells Batman that he has already developed the cure, but its instability renders it useless. Batman deduces that the restorative properties of Ra's al Ghul's blood can complete the cure and tracks one of his assassins to his underground lair, leading Batman into a confrontation with Ra's and his daughter Talia, Batman's former lover. With Ra's al Ghul's blood, Freeze is able to develop an antidote, but it is stolen by Harley Quinn before Batman can use it.
When he returns to the Joker, Batman finds him restored to health. While the two fight, Strange activates Protocol 10, which is revealed to be a scheme to wipe out the entire population of Arkham City and destroy the criminal element of Gotham. The TYGER troops begin executing inmates as Strange launches missile strikes on Arkham's denizens from his base in Wonder Tower. A missile hits the steelmill, burying Batman under rubble. Before Joker can take advantage of the situation, Talia arrives and offers him immortality in exchange for sparing Batman's life. After escaping with the help of Catwoman, Batman is convinced by Alfred to end Protocol 10 before pursuing Talia and Joker.
Batman infiltrates Wonder Tower and disables Protocol 10. Ra's al Ghul is revealed to be the true mastermind behind Arkham City and mortally wounds Strange for failing to defeat Batman. With his dying breath, Strange activates "Protocol 11", the self-destruction of Wonder Tower. Batman and Ra's escape, but Ra's commits suicide rather than risk capture. Joker contacts Batman, threatening to kill Talia unless Batman meets him at the Monarch Theater. Once Batman arrives, Joker demands the cure but is stabbed and apparently killed by Talia while distracted. Talia admits to stealing the cure from Quinn, when she is killed by a second Joker, still stricken with the disease. The healthy Joker that Talia stabbed then reanimates into the shapeshifting Clayface, who is revealed to have been masquerading as a healthy Joker all along at the ailing villain's request.
Batman defeats Clayface despite Joker blowing up the theater floor. Batman drinks a portion of the antidote, and destroys Ra's' rejuvenating Lazarus Pit before the Joker can use it. As Batman debates curing his foe, Joker attacks him, causing the antidote vial to inadvertently smash. Batman admits that in spite of everything Joker had done, he would have saved him. After Joker finally succumbs to his illness and dies, Batman carries his body out of Arkham City. As Commissioner Gordon asks what happened, Batman places Joker's body on the hood of a police car and leaves in silence. | gothic, violence, plot twist, insanity, romantic, revenge | train | wikipedia | Then, in 2009, against all odds,Rocksteady released "Arkham Asylum." Instead of being a tie-in to existing movies or comics, it took place in the developers' own unique version of Batman's universe.
Turns out to make players feel more like they were in Batman's shoes, it just took a good combination of stealth game play and brute combat, with a healthy dollop of fan service thrown on for good measure.
Batman, naturally suspicious, finds a way inside to investigate, and he finds a gang war being being waged by some of his most notable arch-enemies.Those who have played "Arkham Asylum" will be familiar with the basic game play, divided between two main components: free-flow combat and stealth, or "predator", tactics, enabling Batman to take out throngs of thugs head-on and pick out armed enemies from the shadows with equal ease.
There are also new types of enemies that must be "stunned" first using specific combos, which keeps fights from being identical button-mashers, but sadly also slows the pace a little.Predator tactics come into play when Bats enters an area being guarded by armed foes.
Most of the key locations you'd expect in Gotham City can be found walled off in Arkham, and Batman fans will definitely be in awe.
Another great performance comes from Nolan North, who voices my all-time favorite Batman villain, the Penguin.
Chances are, between the main story line, the Easter eggs scattered throughout the city, and side missions, if you've got favorite Batman characters, they're in this game, and they're done justice.The storyline is from TAS writer Paul Dinni, and ranks alongside of some of my favorite Batman comics.
Like in "Arkham Asylum", fantastic use is made of the characters in the "Game Over" screens, now with a larger cast of enemies to taunt you, your taunter usually being determined by whose henchman defeats you.
Unlike "Arkham Asylum", a fantastic game up until its anti-climatic ending, "Arkham City" only ever gets better as you progress through it.
Batman Arkham City took everything that was great about it's near perfect predecessor and improved it beyond belief.
Batman must enter the city and find out Strange's real plan, along with stopping his old foes from killing each other.This is the basic plot of the story, but there are a number of sidequests you can take throughout the game.
With all these sidequests combined with the main story you're looking at many hours of gameplay and with new game plus you can replay the game with all the gadgets from your first game and keep any riddler secrets you've found.The challenge areas are the same as the first game, but there are a lot more to be played and with all the new combat and silent predator moves in this game you will have a blast taking down nameless thugs with an even greater sense of being Batman.
With downloadable characters like Robin and Nightwing you have a lot more reason to play the challenge maps then in the first game.I could go forever on how awesome this game is.
With a great plot with a lot of twists and faster combat this game has exceeded all expectations and is without a doubt one of the best games of the year, if not all time.
If you thought Batman Arkham Asylum was one of the greatest games ever then you are highly mistaken!This game is very dark and very intense, a lot of the features from the first game that made it so good appear in this game also, plus the new plot line, new twisted characters and intensity make it one of the best games i have ever played!This game is clearly 10/10!
I couldn't help but spin the camera angle around Batman a few times before finally starting out my first mission.This was only a fraction of what took my breath away in this game.
There's a lot of thinking and strategy needed for many parts of the game and there were definitely a few moments where I had to stop for a few moments to figure out just what to do.The detail was out of this world, from the dark and perfectly toned scenery to just the simple things like thugs talking about the villains while you fly overhead.
The first time i played Batman Arkham Asylum i could not wait for the sequel.
And after playing Batman Arkham City, i can safely say that it is the best superhero game ever.
The voices for the characters were well suited (Mark Hamill giving another astounding performance as the joker.) But i have to say, the thing i loved most about the game was the additional things, the side missions were great and the Riddler trophies, though challenging, were fun to do.
Batman Arkham City Is The Best Game out There.
And as always their first Batman Arkham Asylum video game which i played was just amazing.
But Rocksteady did a good job on this again in bringing it back.If you are a fan of Batman Arkham Asylum which is the first game that i played and enjoyed forever, Then you are definitely going to love Batman Arkham City.
Also this game has great new free flowing combat that Batman can use and can attack his enemies more faster.
Each boss fight will be difficult so it will be harder to beat them in time.Also this game does have new enemies including Harley Quinn, The Joker, The Penguin, Mr Freeze, Clayface, And of course Solomon Grundy.
It's one of the best superhero games of all time!Taking place after the events of Arkham Asylum, the action takes you to a super-prison located in the middle of Gotham's slums.
This game dominated the superhero videogame genre for the better and much more great things were to come like the Injustice series and Spider-Man PS4!Batman Arkham City has fantastic gameplay, great themes, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill knock it out of the park as Batman and Joker, additional content was a welcome addition, the boss fight with Mr Freeze was so well done and Paul Dini's writing really makes the game addictive.Arkham City is wonderful and still holds up to this day.
Great story (maybe a bit rushed here and there), great side missions, amazing game play, open world, very good graphics (even for this day standards), and a tons of (did i say a Tons?) of Riddle trophies.
If you like Batman, then play this game..
It's somehow much more fun to beat up criminals as Animated Series or Dark Knight Returns.You've gotta hand it to the studio for putting together a blockbuster Batman game; the voice talent is top-shelf, the story's ambitious, and the gameplay is addictive.
I also love its art-- although Arkham Knight obviously has better graphics, its Batman/Bruce Wayne facial profile is better than any other game.
The addition and bonus play as Catwoman is just the icing on the cake.If it has any flaws, it's that it emphasizes Joker and Harley Quinn for the ten billionth time (Dr. Strange and Penguin were funner to me), and it seems to end abruptly even though you still have quite a bit of story and side missions to cover even after the credits roll, which is odd.But I love it..
Batman: Arkham City is one of the best open-world video games I've ever played and experienced.
It's right up there with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Grand Theft Auto III, IV & V, Red Dead Redemption and even The Mass Effect Trilogy.Arkham City has so many sub-missions and side stories that it shows Batman and other comic characters are ideal for the world of video games, to explore their own lore and make experiences larger than life.
As if one ticking clock wasn't enough, the voice of the installation's director(and this whole idea makes sense as a twisted psychological experiment), Hugo Strange(Burton, calculated), ominously threatens that within a number of hours, Protocol 10 will commence.I will be covering the Game of the Year edition, complete with all DLC, including the meh, set-after-this Harley Quinn's Revenge(hence why I am not reviewing that one separately).
Essentially, it boils down to being able to play as Catwoman(also available in the main story; caltrops, bolas) who can climb on ceilings, Robin(bullet shield) and Nightwing(wrist darts) in the 31 (evenly divided between the only two game-play types, which I will define shortly) challenge-maps and 15 -campaigns(made up of a few of former levels, with modifiers that have to be used before the end of it, some of them positive, such as more power, others negative, like less health; you can also customize your own).
Why not placing GPS-y stuff on tall buildings, switching between fast/tough armor, maybe stealthing into a base(and once cleared, maybe 2/3 less rifles, or the like, in the rest of this, because it was a gun-runner) belonging to one of the dozen or so villains, since they're not doing anything here other than showing up and giving you someone to punch.Story here is mainly to work in all of the familiar faces, and the poor writers bend logic and coincidence far past their breaking points in order to put them all in there, give them *something* to do(in the first, our nemesis was pulling off a clever plan, and we were at his mercy
here, you forget that it's a bad guy who's in charge; there is escalation, and it feels excessive).
The story is slightly better than Arkham Asylum, if there is any nitpick against it - I'd say at the end there are too many twists.The challenges would be worth the price of this game alone.
Which might tell you the gameplay is exactly the same as Arkham Asylum, only if 2 people are about to hit you and you block - you block both of their attacks.So if you think Superhero games aren't worth it - check this one out.
The story is great, the game offers an even bigger open world environment (and meeting Bane Zsasz and The Riddler to name a few), The gameplay is perfect for a beat-em-up and if you can find the spot - you will find a lot of depth to Batman.
Using her whip, she jumps around like a cat, which surely comes to no surprise, and a sequence of well-timed jumps will make her move smoothly across walls and obstacles.Read more: http://gamingirl.com/xbox-360/xbox-360-news/batman-arkham-city/.
The challenges try to give meaning to the pointless gadgets and try to find clever uses for them which are hardly necessary in incapacitating the various enemies making your efforts feel pointless and or unnecessary.The majority of voices for the characters and villains used where plain awful no Oscars, or any actual judges of them so they sounded equally as bad to the point of mute.
Joker has big plans for Armageddon in Gotham, so Batman heads over the wall to bust some heads.I liked Arkham Asylum quite a lot, but they should have went in a new direction for a sequel.
There is a lot about Arkham City that makes it a great video game, but I've been there and done that with Arkham Asylum and the sequel should have given us something different.There are 71 trophies but I only unlocked 50% as you need to invest about 100 hours in reaching the Platinum and one particular trophy requires a YEAR'S worth of playtime.
We would have waited for this if it was the third Arkham game.The plot is that you play as Robin fighting through the Harley Quinn Steel Mill because she has planned to trap and kill Batman.
The gameplay is fun - I mean it's exactly the same as a regular Arkham game and the story isn't bad.
Arkham City is perfect for Batman Fans and DC fans and marvel fans might like it to.
And Wally Wingert's Riddler significantly steps up his ongoing rivalry with the Darkknight Detective.It was hard to believe that Rocksteady and Warner Brothers could have developed a Batman game that was darker than 'Arkham Asylum', but they really do succeed here.The cut scenes and cinematics are amazing, particularly the opening sequences, which send the player crashing headlong into the game play...happily so!
Batman Arkham City came out and I had to wait awhile to get the game because there were a lot of people inside the store.
Going to the courthouse twice.I just thought that with Arkham City the size it was that a villain wouldn't be foolish to go back to a place after Batman finds them the first time.
Therefore a sequel was inevitable.Now then Batman Arkham City takes place one year after the events after Asylum.
It contains the heroes and villains that we all know and love like Joker, Mr Freeze, Catwoman and even some that we honestly don't care about such Calendar man (luckily he doesn't have a huge part in the game).
You suit up and start to investigate through Arkham City, discovering something about Protocol 10, which is also conducted by Strange.The engine is the same, just like in the Arkham Asylum, Batman is a little bit upgraded, he has some new weapons and some new martial arts moves and techniques, it reminds you on MMA for some reason.
Batman looks terrific, you can also choose different "skins" (or costumes) to play the game and you can also glide a little longer than in the "Asylum", which is cool.
The gameplay is very similar just like Asylum, only this time, it's a more open world and Batman gadget's for example...
Having really enjoyed Arkham Asylum I (like everyone) was looking forward to this game and I picked it up a few months after release and got back into the world without a hitch.
Perhaps felt this way because my previous game was Skyrim (where I don't think the quests ever stop) but with Batman I started collecting Riddler trophies and solving the really easy puzzles before asking myself why I was doing it – I wasn't really enjoying it, it was just something to do – and sadly this is a lot of the story mode once the story is finished.
However, the story itself is what I was here for and it did deliver and it gave me a good chunk of time all of which i enjoyed.Graphically the game looks great throughout – the cut scenes are the best, but to be honest the rest of the game matches it.
I enjoyed the sequel to the great Batman game Arkham Asylum.
The story is top notch and once again Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as the Joker are great.
Batman Arkham City is a great Game better then Arkham Ayslam much bigger and a lot more villains Joker is again the main Villain Again Voiced again by the Brilliet Mark Hamill the other villains that appear are the Penguin.The Riddler.TwoFace.Poison Ivy.Mr Freeze among others all look good and are voiced well The Story Mode is Excellent but to short and has a surprise ending but there is plenty more to do besides the story mode you have side Missons you can play 4 Levels as Catwomen Riddler Challages and much moreyou start with all the Gadgets you had in Arkham Ayslam and there are a few new Gadgets to get in this game Ice Grenades and Jammer and othersI have to say the Graphics for this game are amazing i would recommend this to anyone 9/10.
I loved Batman Arkham Asylum, my favorite game on PS3.
I just got Arkham City yesterday and only had a chance to play story mode (up to when Batman encounters Bane and agrees to destroy the Titan stuff from the last game) and one of the challenge maps.
I think this is one of the best games in the entire Arkham franchise, the characters were memorable like Two-Face and Mr Freeze, the story was amazing and the Catwoman DLC was one of the best DLC characters in the franchise.
Rocksteady's 2011 game " Batman: Arkham City " is one of- if not , THE - greatest games ever made.
But the Arkham games aren't just known for their gameplay , the stories which they tell are original and often some of the best Batman stories ever told.
In this story , Batman is thrown into Arkham City ; a cornered off super-prison right in the heart of Gotham ; by Hugo Strange and is forced to fight for his life in the hellish prison.
It also makes sense you could link this game to that , as Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill return to yet again brilliantly play the roles of Batman and the Joker.
Batman Arkham City is a Phenomenal sequel to one of my absolute favorite games.
The Predator game-play is more challenging, There is so much more to do this time around and it features a much deeper storyline that the origin Arkham.
The game play is very much the same as Asylum with an open world twist this time around.
It came from pretty much no where and blew people away with it's dark tone, great story and characters and real feeling of "being Batman".So now here is the sequel...and it's a disappointment.
Where as 'Asylum' was one, organic game play and story experience.
Batman Arkham city gameEveryone who likes batman should play this game.
Of course, Hugo Strange plays a large part in the plot; one of my favourite angles on Batman is how he may have been the reason for so many weird criminals popping up throughout Gotham, and Strange touches on this several times in the game, which I really enjoyed.
Arkham City makes Arkham Asylum look like the video game version of Spider-Man the Movie.
You actually feel like your the Batman even more so this time around because you have an entire city to explore. |
tt0462362 | The Insatiable | On his way home from his drab, run-of-the-mill job, drab run-of-the-mill Harry Balbo (Sean Patrick Flanery) is stopped on the corner by a homeless man and asked whether he can spare any change so that he can get something to eat. Harry isn't carrying any change, but he does stop at a convenience store to buy him a hotdog. When he gets back to the corner, the man is nowhere to be seen until the headlights of a passing car show him having his blood drained by a beautiful girl with fangs. She then rips off his head and leaps through a window three stories high. Of course, nobody believes his story--not LAPD Detective Michael Loper (Boyd Kestner), not coworker Chet (Josh Hopkins), and not even Javier (Jon Huertas), the other jerk he works with. The only one who gives some credence to his story is Ronnie Klein (Brad Rowe), the convenience store clerk, but Ronnie has problems of his own. His new chick is so hot for sex that she's draining him of all his energy.The next night, when Harry has trouble sleeping, he wanders out to the crime scene where he sees the chalk outline of the headless victim drawn on the sidewalk and has a feeling that Ronnie might be in danger. He climbs up the fire escape outside Ronnie's apartment and peeks in the bedroom window to see Ronnie having his blood drained by the same girl that ripped off the head of the homeless man. Unfortunately, Harry knocks over a flowerpot, which alerts the girl to his presence. She tears past him, gashing his cheek on the way. The next day, when Harry hears that Ronnie has been found dead, he becomes certain that the girl is a vampire. Searching the internet, he finds a website all about vampires, sends mail to the owner, who calls himself Nightstalker, and asks what to do. Nightstalker says that the only thing he can do is to find the vampire, stake her, and cut off her head. Harry refuses to do that on grounds that it's murder.Turns out that Nightstalker lives in the same apartment building where Harry lives and works part-time doing maintenance, as he finds out when Strickland (Michael Biehn) in 3D calls him to fix a stopped up toilet. Strickland, an L4 quadriplegic, works out of his apartment tracking vampires. He is currently following the whereabouts of nine of them, including the one in Los Angeles. She set up housekeeping in L.A. about two months ago, Strickland explains and shows Harry the map he has made of her known killings and the areas where he thinks she might be resting during the daytime. By searching the tax records for delinquent payments, he has located 12 possible abandoned buildings she could be calling home.Harry decides to try and find the vampire before she finds him. The next day, he calls in sick. Then, armed with the map and an armload of wirecutters, crowbars, sledgehammers, stakes, and a big cleaver, he begins searching through the selected buildings. In the last one, he comes upon the vampire, asleep on the floor. Just as he's about to pound the stake through her chest, she wakes up and pleads with him not to kill her. "I have to eat to live, just like you," she says pitifully, and Harry can't kill her. Instead, he comes up with a plan. He steals a load of steel pipes from his company and builds a cage in the basement of his apartment building. That night, he goes out looking for her. When she sees him, she starts chasing him. Harry runs back into his apartment building, leading her down to the basement and straight into the cage. Before she realizes what's happening, Harry slams the cage shut and locks it.At first, the vampire is enraged. When she calms down, she introduces herself as Tatiana (Charlotte Ayanna) and tries to sweet talk Harry into letting her go free. When Harry refuses, she tells him that he must either feed her or kill her. Harry agrees to feed her. The next day, he brings home a rabbit. She begrudgingly accepts it but suggests that Harry bring home an enemy or, at least, someone he doesn't like. The only person who fits that bill is Javy, the jerk at work that hounds him relentlessly, but Harry refuses.When Strickland finds out that Harry has encaged the vampire rather than killing her, he is livid. He tells Harry the story of how he was paralyzed at 18 years of age when his army troop came upon a village in Vietnam where every man, woman, and child had been wiped out by two vampires...a male and his concubine. It took all their firepower and then a flamethrower to destroy the male, but then his girlfriend showed up and single-handedly wiped out every one of the soldiers in Strickland's unit...with the exception of Strickland. Him she batted just once, breaking his spine. He lay there, pretending to be dead, until a reinforcement troop found him and took him to a hospital after wiping out the female vamp with napalm. Strickland suggests that Harry kill Tatiana now before she overpowers him. He recommends that Harry find himself a new girlfriend. Harry tries to kiss Cindi (Amanda Noret), a girl who lives down the hallway from him, when she brings him a dish of lasagna, but Cindi rebuffs him.Tatiana is having a hard time living on rabbit blood and keeps requesting that Harry bring home Javier for her because she needs human blood. One day, a meter reader comes down in the basement and finds Tatiana in the cage. She begs him to let her out, but he offers only to get the police, so she grabs him through the bars and feeds on him, leaving the body for Harry to dispose of. Realizing that rabbits aren't going to do it for Tatiana, Harry goes online and buys her a pint of human blood and brings it to her on a plate with a red rose, but she tosses it across the room, refusing to drink it because it's dead blood.Poor Harry. He's falling in love with Tatiana. She haunts his dreams and offers to love him back in ways that he can only imagine. Meanwhile, he's making mistakes at work, sending out the wrong flanges, and his theft of the steel pipes has caught up with him. When Chet informs him that Mr Henderson from the main office is coming to see him and Javy starts taunting Harry about how he's going to lose his job, Harry has had it. He confesses to Javy about the insatiable girl he has in his basement and how she needs more lovers than just him. Javier, who thinks of himself as a "sexual Tyrannosaurus" is more than happy to meet Tatiana and eagerly arrives at Harry's apartment decked out with his bag of love toys. At the last minute, however, Harry has a change of heart and tries to talk Javy out of going into the basement. Javy slugs Harry, knocking him out, and grabs the keys.When Javy sees Tatiana, he is aroused and willing to help her satisfy her "appetite". She asks him to get the key on the wall so that he can open the cage. When he comes closer, she begins caressing his arm (the one not holding the keys) until she can control herself no longer and bites down. Harry stumbles down the stairs and tries to pull Javy away from Tatiana, but she rips off his arm, pulls his entire body into the cage, and proceeds to drain him dry.Meanwhile, the body of the meter reader has been uncovered in a plastic bag in the dump, and Detective Loper and his partner have been able to identify the fingerprints on the bag as belonging to Harry Balbo. From the meter reader's meter, they have gotten the address of the last place he visited...Harry's apartment building. After the detectives visit Harry's workplace looking for him, Chet gives Harry a call and warns him that the cops are on the way. Knowing that it's all over, Harry calls Strickland to say goodbye. Then he offers himself to Tatiana, along with the key to her cage. Tatiana is reluctant but finally agrees to turn him. After the deed is done, Harry goes upstairs, knocks on Cindi's door, hands her a rose, and asks to be fed. She invites him in. In the final scene, Strickland waits in his wheelchair facing the front door, a loaded rifle in his hand. "Come on, you motherf****rs," he shouts. "I know you're out there, so come and get me. Come on!" | murder | train | imdb | null |
tt1603314 | Killjoy 3 | Some time passes and Killjoy is once again called, this time through a blood pact. Immediately he resorts to using the blood spilled by his summoner to create three underlings, which he dubs new evil clowns, Punchy, Freakshow and Batty Boop. However the man does not name a victim for Killjoy, leaving the scene without doing so. This causes Killjoy and his posse to vanish and return to their world.
Meanwhile, a college student named Sandy is watching over her professor's house while he is gone from town, along with her friends Rojer, Erica and Zilla. While fetching the morning newspaper, Rojer finds a sack on the professor's doorstep. He carries it into the house, however Sandy protests against opening it. They decide to uncover the contents that night when Erica and Zilla return, and doing so, they find an ornate mirror which they hang on the professor's wall. That night Zilla inspects the mirror on his own, whereby he is transported to Killjoy's world. Killjoy stages a boxing match between Zilla and Punchy which nearly kills Zilla, however his friends discover his physical body and successfully resuscitate him, rescuing his consciousness from Killjoy's world. Furthermore, a barrier has been placed over the house, trapping the group indoors.
Erica is the next to fall victim to the mirror, and soon enough Killjoy makes his presence known by communicating with the three students through the mirror, beckoning them to join him in his world. He reveals his plan to dine on Erica, and invites the group to his feast. The professor (the man who summoned Killjoy earlier in the film) returns home and is quickly informed of the situation, however he is not surprised, having summoned Killjoy in the first place. Sandy, Rojer, Zilla and the professor enter Killjoy's world through the mirror, and each person faces a different demon. Zilla manages to convince Punchy not to be Killjoy's slave, the professor escapes Freakshow and Rojer is seduced by Batty Boop, while Sandy leads Killjoy on long enough for Boop to jealously confront him. Killjoy berates her for ironically coming onto another man, and then destroys her. The group then fails to save Erica at the dinner, before Killjoy's posse slices her apart on a silver platter; it is revealed that Erica was pregnant, and Killjoy's magic causes her fetus's umbilical cord to almost strangle Zilla. A battle ensues wherein Freakshow is vanquished with salt (which repels evil spirits) by Zilla, Rojer is killed during the encounter by having his head whacked off with a giant mallet by Killjoy and Zilla suggests Punchy take this opportunity to strike back against Killjoy, who slays him for his insolence.
Having allowed the deaths of Erica and Rojer as distractions, the professor finally enacts his plan to say the name Killjoy originally went by in antiquity, in an effort to subdue him. He also reveals himself to be the father of Michael, whose soul Killjoy exploited before destroying. The professor chose not to name a victim while initially summoning Killjoy because the target of his revenge was ultimately Killjoy himself. The clown applauds the professor for his deviousness in using both himself and the students alike to achieve his revenge. Killjoy proclaims that the souls he consumes become a part of him, and the spirit of Michael appears, consoling his father. With the professor's guard down, Killjoy slays him as well by smashing him with the giant mallet. The two survivors, Sandy and Zilla, resort to laughter to quell the clown, but Zilla is killed when Killjoy taunts them while actually trying to be humorous. Sandy continues to laugh at Killjoy while shouting his original name, which incapacitates him long enough for her to return to the mirror and be transported to her world. Killjoy then explodes in a fit of innards. The Magic mirror disappeared from the wall. Sandy is shown to be committed for insanity, having not stopped laughing since the ordeal, and under the suspicion of murdering her friends and the professor. | cult, revenge | train | wikipedia | Decent.
Killjoy 3 is a worthwhile view if you're a fan of clown-related horror films.
Killjoy is wacky, uses a lot of tricks and has many one liners, similar to Freddy Krueger at his silliest.
There are also 3 other bad clowns that are pretty fun, too.
However, all this wackiness among the characters makes very little of the film scary.
It will remind you greatly of the Joker from Batman joking around with his goons.The "normal" characters are pretty boring, though, as are most scenes that don't take place in the clown world.
The film starts to get dumb at the end when the characters try to defeat Killjoy...
though the final scene is a nice touch.
Not as great as It or Killer Klowns from Outer Space, but satisfying..
By far the best of the series and that's saying a lot.
I hated the first two Killjoy movies, and was expecting Kiljoy 3 to be even worse.
So imagine my surprise when I found it to be the best of the series by a significant margin, and that it was reasonably good.
It is not perfect, the human acting is rather poor with the characters clichéd and the dialogue rather cheesy.
The effects are also on the cheap side, the film drags at times, and apart from the nice final scene some of the second half is rather dumb and unsatisfying, a longer length might have helped.
However, the camera work is better than the amateurish mobile-phone-shot-like camera work of especially the second film, and the make-up for Killjoy and Batty Boop is quite good I thought.
The story is not exceptional as such but it is much less derivative and I think less predictable than the previous two, and Killjoy is at his least annoying here, actually having some witty one-liners and some signs of a menacing presence.
Batty Boop is the character who steals the film though, in fact all the minions are welcome touches.
All in all, I was surprised by this.
It is not a great movie, but considering the awfulness of the first two movies it is saying a lot when I say this was the best of the series.
5/10 Bethany Cox. Campy Fun. Does anyone NOT know that this is a low low low budget horror movie?
OK good, that's out of the way.
Now having said that, if you're still interested, you'll find that this film is a weird, campy, good time.
The clown characters are charming in their own demented way and Trent Haaga is perfect as the lead demon clown, Killjoy.
If you're looking for a bloody slasher type movie, this isn't it.
There are funny gruesome killings but they are almost secondary to the set-up.
This has a heavy fantasy element to it.
I guess the best way to describe it would be horror/fantasy/comedy.
I think it would have played out even better with a longer running time but they did the best they could with the budget they had, I'm not complaining.
It has many faults but it's mindlessly fascinating and I enjoyed it.
Looking forward to part four..
Can't keep this clown down.
What essentially hurt the Killjoy movies was the first 2.
Part 1 was awful and 2 wasn't much better.
Killjoy 3 turns this around and does what the franchise should have done with to begin with.
Gone is the urban setting.
Gone is the shoestring budget.
Gone is the horrid script.
Gone is the annoying main character.
This one actually makes Killjoy ghoulishly demonic and semi menacing.
The story evolves around Killjoy being resurrected once again but not told the victim he is to kill.
So in turn he and his newly formed minions are trapped in a mirror which serves as a portal to their world.
The mirror gets delivered to a house a group of kids are house sitting and as you can guess they get sucked into Killjoy's world.
Full moon seemed to set out and make a decent Killjoy movie which they did.
Is it great?
No but its entertaining.
Killjoy's minions are also a welcome addition (especially Batty Boop) and add some to the movie.
Granted this is for fans of the genre or fans of full moon but it works in its own way.
Hopefully these movies keep going this route.
It seems Killjoy can't be kept down..
Demons, Clowns and College Girls...Oh My!.
When Band first announced that a third entry into the Killjoy franchise would be going into production I was a bit dumbstruck, why make Killjoy 3 when a new Trancers or Subspecies would have been guaranteed money in the bank?
A new Puppet Master or Demonic Toys I can see as puppets have always been Full Moon's true cash cow but Killjoy?
Boy was I wrong!
Killjoy 3 was no masterpiece of horror, that's for sure, but I'll be damned if it wasn't creepy, sexy fun!
Not only was Trent Haaga's Killjoy in rare form but the additional demonic clowns created by writer/director John Lechago (Blood Gnome & Bio-Slime) were genius!
This time around we get a lumbering Emmett Kelly style clown dubbed "Punchy the clown," a scary mime and his parasitic sibling dubbed "Freakshow" and, last but certainly not least, a scorching hot succubus clown covered head to toe in body paint named "Batty Boop." Each clown brings its own distinctive look and abilities to the film but the most impressive power wielded by any of them was Batty Boop's amazing ability to cause my pants to spontaneously tent.It's obvious Lechago was working on a low budget which is no surprise but he still managed to do a damn good job creating a wickedly entertaining sequel.
The way Killjoy 3 is written one needn't watch the first two films in order to get their bearings as everything you really need to know about the character is made available to you in this installment.
The dialog, outside of a few flat performances, was believable, the CG was fun and appropriate and the special effects make-up and gore were gruesome; this was an enjoyable B-movie romp with more positive than negative to look forward to.If you're a fan of the first two Killjoy films, you'll want to grab this as it's the best of the series.
If you've never seen a Killjoy film but you're interested in checking this out, be sure to rent..
An example of how to revitalize a movie franchise..
Killjoy 3 is in my top 10 horror film lists for many reasons.
John LeChago is the first reason, Written and Directed, he brought a whole new aesthetic to the Killjoy universe it desperately needed.New characters like Punchy the Hobo Clown (The Behemoth) Played by Al "Mr. Outrageous" Burke, a dimwitted juggernaut who loves bunnies and speaks "carnie." A comic relief and bad-ass brawler also, this is what you do to make your movies better, create fun characters!Freakshow the Mime played by Tai Chan Ngo, another creative character(s), he also has an undeveloped twin attached at his side!
His twin can launch at his victim and drain them of blood, it's bloody horrifying, and he never says a word so you never know what he's thinking!Batty Boop (The Succubus) played by Victoria De Mare, the sexiest demon in movies I've ever seen.
Absolutely loved her in this movie, silly and sassy, great character!
Wish she had more to do in the movie.Killjoy (The Demon Clown) played by Trent Haaga, his performance in this movie made it a success, perfectly cast for this role, especially since he was in the last movie and it was way below par.
The small bits and jabs by Killjoy are great!The combination of the Writing, Directing, and cast made this movie a glowing example of how to do it better!
And with the low budget no less, creativity is the key, and actors who can sell the characters on screen!.
Maybe if you watch enough movies with one specific character in it, you get accustomed to them and the character.
But I do believe (and I guess many on imdb feel the same), these kept getting better - haven't seen Part 4 and 5.
But since they got some money (the first one obviously had no budget and no real sets), they actually did something.I wouldn't call the movies particularly good, but casting Killjoy was pretty sweet.
So from part 2 and on it's the same guy behind the mask/make-up.
And he is quite charismatic.
He's funny and has gravitas, which shine through.
Some of the jokes have been overused (though most of them were in part 2), but with the addition of some "Puppets" (same studio that did Puppetmaster so there you go) this gets even weirder ...
and I guess funnier.
More budget, more imagination and still a lot of death.
Do not watch this garbage, you will thank me!
I promise!.
This is hands down the absolute worst movie I have EVER seen in my entire life.
I can't even fathom how the other person that reviewed this could possibly have anything good to say.
I went into this expecting a short, bloody, funny, cheesy, horror film with some entertaining blood and guts.
What I got instead can be described as "Stephen King's IT: The after school special.
If the horrible acting in the first 10 minutes doesn't convince you this movie is the worst thing you'll ever watch...
just wait.
Honestly, I think this movie would entertain a 3 year old, and they would not be scared.
Pitiful and just God awful.
Please save yourself and do not watch this video.
It has nothing to offer.
NOT funny, NOT scary, NOT Gory, zip, zilch, nada, Nothing, The end..
Yet another solid and amusing entry.
House-sitting for a professor, a group of friends receive a magical mirror containing Killjoy and his brethren of demonic clowns inside who lure them within to torture and kill them forcing them to find a way of stopping the creatures from satisfying their urges.This one here was quite the enjoyable and impressive entry in the series.
One of the better features here is the fact that this one carries on the series' utterly funny and twisted mangling of the traditional clown torments that are featured throughout here.
There's plenty of utterly demented clown puns and sight-gags that are present which are just the right side of morbid to be hilarious while managing to go for a rather frantic series of encounters which are truly demented and somewhat chilling as well, from the one-sided boxing match between the clown and one of the group, the spiraling stairway that keeps twirling around in on itself and the whole dinner basting sequence that features the clowns lavishing her with all sorts of broth and vegetables in preparation for a feast makes this seem like a truly demented and disjointed killer clown effort.
Likewise, the finale in their dimension where it goes for the seduction of the group by the two clowns, the different brawling tactics over the dinner preparations of their friend while the whole affair descends into a massive fight with their super-powerful weapons being utilized in a demented yet rather silly manner.
With all these providing this one with some solid and rather fun gore effects for the different kills, these here make this one quite an entertaining blast that works well in holding off the few minor flaws here.
The biggest issue with the film is that it really doesn't seem to have any kind of coherent plot line present, tending to go bouncing around from scene to scene without much connection between them.
Once the mirror arrives and the kids are aware of the creatures within it, they don't tend to do anything which really sets it up from the beginning of how the film begins bouncing around without any sense of coherence and it's quite a goofy set-up to have this carry on throughout the whole film.
The other rather big problem with this one is the rather obvious goofy and cheesy time throughout here, from the outrageous creatures, the set-up in the clown's dimension and the wacky action that ensues here doesn't really have a universal appeal in which will allow everyone to get into it easily.
It's mostly for the fans of these particularly goofy and cheesy types of efforts only who will get these types of efforts.
These here are what hold it back.Rated Unrated/R: Extreme Graphic Language, Graphic Violence and Brief Nudity..
the 3rd one is better then the 1st one.
The first movie of Killjoy is very scary.
This is scarier.
This not has scary has Killjoy 2.
This is scarier then A Nightmare on elm street and that is not easy to do.
This has great story line.
It also has great acting.
It also has great special effects.
This is scarier then The silence of the lambs could ever be.
This is scarier then Friday the 13th V a new beginning.
And that is not easy to do.
This is scarier then Halloween resurrection could ever be.
This is very scary.
This is very scary.
If it does not scary you no movie will.
4.8 is a good ratting.
But this is such a great movie that 4.8 is underrating it.
It is a great movie..
It is a great movie..
For what it's worth.
I have to say, I am judging this movie based off what it is.
Five years ago when "Hustle and Flow" came to theaters people spoke highly of it....why?
Because it was a movie about a low-life pimp that had dreams of becoming a famous rapper, with key songs like "Whip that trick" and "Hard out here for a Pimp"......so taking all things into consideration, it was a good movie because when you are telling a story like this, they did the very best they could, and Terrance Howard's performance was captivating.....moving now to a smaller scale...a much smaller scale.Killjoy 3 was a third installment to an extremely sup-bar horror series made by one of the most industrial sup-bar production companies of all time.
It's no secret, Full Moon's Charlie Band is more of a good business man than a good filmmaker.
His budgets are usually 100K, and they usually make 10 times that....smart guy.
It was also a movie that did not feature a single name actor.
Yes I know Darrow Ingus has worked in movies for decades, yes I know Spiral Jackson is a young and up and coming actor, yes I also know Trent Hagga is an established writer....but I only know that after looking every single one of them up on multiple sites, and if I wasn't reading their names off the stationary as we speak, then I still wouldn't know how to spell them!
To make a long story short, for as many strikes as this movie already had against it, it was good.The story was eh...the duologue was pure, but the execution by directed John Lechago was well done.The make-up, I give an A+ obviously the best feature in the movie was the work done on Freakshow, Batty, Punch, and the name character himself.
The blood on Zilla after he gets beat up by Punchy is also very well done, as he is on the floor coughing up blood.The acting, the best performance obviously goes to the name character, Trent Hagga returned as Killjoy only to improve upon the character, in a lot of ways he reminded me of the Dark Knight's Joker.
The Proffesor holds his own as well, with a high authoritative presence, you can tell we are looking at a seasoned actor.
I must say, out of all the characters in the movie, Zilla is the only one I actually wanted to see stay alive, of course we all knew it would be Sandy.
Spiral Jackson really made me like this character as I could see him coming back for a fourth installment: Killjoy 4, Zilla Revenge!.
Better than part 1, slightly worse than part 2.
I liked the movie.
Trent Haaga and Victoria DeMare obviously were having fun with their roles and they were the best actors of the bunch in my opinion.I do wish there had been a larger body count and some gore.
What there was, was passable.
I do understand this is a low budget flick so I forgive the non-gore, although Killjoy's make up was pretty cool.
Another plus: the image/colors looked really, REALLY good on my HDTV.
Some scenes reminded me a lot of Nightmare on Elm Street, but I can forgive that too.Kudos for getting Mr. Haaga back!
I've watched all 3 films now, my favorite still part 2, followed by this sequel and in last place the first one.I would definitely watch part 4 if there is another sequel :-).
Just keep laughing.
This movie has the the makings of a 1980's cult movie.
The colors were exceptional.
4 kids house sit for a professor when they get a mirror, a portal between 2 worlds delivered at their door.
The other world had a Forbidden Zone quality to it.
The professor shows up and they form a rescue party to go into the mirror to save a student being basted for supper.Far better than the first two.
Good cult film.Parental Guide: Corny dialogue, sex, nudity, f-bomb. |
tt2537176 | I Spit on Your Grave 2 | Katie Carter (Dallender) is an aspiring model from Missouri who works as a waitress in a New York City restaurant. Desperate to update her modeling portfolio, she answers an advertisement offering a free photography session. She then meets three Bulgarian brothers, photographer Ivan (Absolom) and his assistants Nikolai, known as "Nicky" (Aleksiev), and Georgy (Baharov), who becomes infatuated with Katie. She leaves the photo shoot after disagreeing with Ivan about a topless shot. Georgy later arrives at Katie's apartment and apologizes regarding the incident. Katie accepts his apology and is given a flash drive containing her photos. Before leaving, Georgy states that she can keep the pictures for her privacy, upload, or use the photos as she chooses.
Later that night, Katie wakes up to find Georgy filming her and shoots him with an electroshock gun. Although Katie tries to escape, Georgy binds, gags, and sodomizes her. Katie's neighbor, Jayson, arrives and tries to stop the rape but Georgy stabs and kills him. Georgy panics and calls both his brothers. Nikolai and Ivan later arrive and clean up all evidence of the crime. Ivan then force-feeds Katie ketamine, rendering her unconscious.
Katie wakes and finds herself naked and handcuffed to a pipe in an old basement. The brothers relentlessly rape and torture her. She overpowers Georgy and escapes, but discovers that she is now in an unknown city. When she approaches Bulgarian police, she is taken into safe custody by Detective Kiril (Zlaterev), who informs her that she has been abducted to Bulgaria. After an interview, Detective Kiril hands her over to Ana (Stockley), who claims to be from a rape crisis center but is really Nikolai and Georgy's mother. Katie is returned to the basement and Valko (Silverleaf), a friend of the family's father, electroshocks her genitals then brutally rapes her, leaving her bloodied. Ivan then beats her.
Katie is then placed in a box with her crucifix necklace and Valko's electroshock gun and buried alive. The ground beneath the makeshift coffin breaks and she falls into the sewer system below. Naked and hungry, Katie steals from a nearby church and is soon caught by priest Father Dimov (Pelka), who recognizes her as a rape survivor. He gives her food, clothing, and a Bible. Katie approaches the U.S. Embassy, but leaves before going inside. Back at the church, Dimov offers support. As Katie goes back to the sewers, she leaves her Bible open for Dimov to read. After reading the passage "vengeance is mine", Dimov realizes that Katie seeks revenge against her rapists.
Katie first steals money from Ana's house and buys clothes, weapons, and supplies. She lures Georgy into the sewers, captures him and hangs him by his arms on the wall. She tortures him with a large switchblade and smears fecal matter into his wounds to cause infection, then leaves him to a slow and painful death. Meanwhile, Dimov has contacted Kiril, who realizes that Katie is still in trouble. Both men aim to stop Katie from committing crimes to her rapists and to persuade her that she would have legal justice. At a nightclub, Katie laces Nikolai's drink with ecstasy. He runs to the bathroom where she drowns him in an unflushed toilet. The next day, Valko sees Katie during a church service and chases after her into the basement where Katie strikes him with a rock. When he regains consciousness, he is strapped to a metal bed frame. Katie electroshocks his genitals with a stun stick, puts a large plumber's snake into his mouth, turns it on and it snakes its way down into his throat. She then attaches electrical cables to the bed and rooter and electrocutes him.
Ana finds her house has been burgled. Later, Katie pushes Ana into the sewers and binds her in a box and forces her to watch Georgy die. Ivan realizes that Katie has escaped; she captures him, ties him to a table and tortures him by crushing his testicles before killing him. Kiril hears Ivan and Ana's screams and follows them to the sewers. During the torture, Ivan reveals that Ana is his stepmother, who herself was raped by her future husband, Ivan's father. Nikolai and Georgy were products of Ana's rapes. Katie understands Ana's sadistic nature and begins to torture Ana and Ivan, but at that moment Kiril arrives and holds his gun up to Katie. Ivan grabs and begins to strangle Katie, but Kiril shoots Ivan in the head, allowing Katie to escape. Ana, the sole survivor is arrested by Kiril for her part in her family's crimes. Katie arrives at the U.S. Embassy and the film ends. | violence, revenge, sadist | train | wikipedia | There are intense scenes of torture and mutilation but because the woman doing these things was raped by the people she is doing this to it makes it hard to feel sorry for them.
"I Spit on Your Grave 2" is a rough movie about torture and revenge and not for everyone since sensitive viewers will certainly be shocked with the violence.
Movies about revenge are usually attractive, maybe because many people do not believe in justice any more, and "I Spit on Your Grave 2" is no exception.The storyline is the same of the original movie and its remake, i.e., woman is abused and tortured by many men and succeeds to escape from her captivity and kills them one by one.
An American wannabe model is raped, shipped to Europe and degraded until she escapes and plots her revenge.Writers Thomas Fenton and Neil Elman offer a solid script, the claustrophobic NY apartment and then the European setting adds an air of danger for Katie's ordeals, it's pity the unsavoury Euro angle has be been done so many times already.
Nevertheless, it feels more realistic than many of the films of its saturated genre and the cop and the priest play against expectations adding some surprise.Jemma Dallender is first rate as Katie and gives a great performance but her character is not as liable as it's former lead Sarah Butler's Jennifer Hills.
The supporting cast are all excellent notable are Mary Stockley, Joe Absolom who pulls off a good accent as Ivan and Valentine Pelka as Father Dimov.It's a film of two halves, the first being the horrific abuse of Katie, the second revenge kills on her captors.
Jackson's score also adds to the unnerving edgy scenes.With the pro-woman, feminist, revenge angles already debated highlighted and explored with the 1978 version, this offering would have been a equal if not a better re-imagining than the 2010 remake but despite some great acting it's now left slightly redundant with even less to say.
I saw the remake of "I Spit on your grave" and although some scenes were pretty tough to watch, overall it was a pretty good revenge film.When I saw "I Spit on your grave 2" was out, I thought I would give it a go.
I guess it's like that with all those gory torture movies now, the victim part is always diffcult to watch but the revenge part is at least as brutal if not more but you can manage to watch it because you want them to suffer as much as possible.
It was one of the best horror sadistic movies i have ever seen...it reminded me a lot ,hostel etc.....i was very happy that an innocent angel looking girl took this kind of revenge...not boring at all....i would definitely see this again!The plot is already described by the above reviews.A who wants to be a model but currently works as a waitress goes in a casting from perverted and sick Bulgarian scams.She is beer raped a lot of times and then she is kidnapped and find herself in Bulgaria Then all the revenge starts!this is a very intense movie,with a lot of violent scenes and could be shocking for some viewers who are not into this type of movies..
All three films are torture/revenge movies about a young woman who is brutally raped and left for dead (by four men) and then she hunts them down, one by one, and gets her gruesome revenge.
Definitely not an enjoyable film going experience (in any way) but it delivers the gore, disturbing terror and grindhouse style revenge thrills that viewers of these types of movies expect.The story revolves around an aspiring model named Katie (Jemma Dallender, who gives an amazing performance) working as a waitress in New York.
Of course you know what happens next.The original 1978 film is one of the most controversial films of all time and has been criticized both for exploiting rape and man hating (due to the evil characterisations of it's male characters and the excessive torture scenes of them, some involving their genitalia).
I basically felt the same things about it as I did the first two films; I felt miserable the first half of the movie but did get a decent amount of gratification from Katie's brutal revenge in the second (and the death scenes are once again extremely creative and grotesquely imaginative).
Once again I don't think this movie (like the others) is telling anyone how to feel about Katie's actions (whether they're right or wrong) but it does make a compelling and disturbingly entertaining flick.
Not a great film but a more than decent example of the 'torture porn' genre (just like it's two predecessors).Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQkUJbRVsoM.
I came into this one with pretty low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised by it being good.The plot emulses into two acts, which is right for a rape horror like this; in the first act, the female protagonist is the vulnerable virgin character.
the original "I Spit on Your Grave", but it's still strong horror.I felt like the initial remake of I Spit on Your Grave didn't feel right, placed in modern southern US, it was out of touch - but for this one Bulgaria was a good choice.
Sure, one of the scenes will make you squirm but the rest aren't very memorable.If you like this kind of movies, you will enjoy I Spit on Your Grave 2.
I went for this movie because its original & 2010 version, i actually thought that it will be like its predecessors but when i watched this till end i rate it better than both previous versions.The main character, well i can said that did excellent job, there so much inhumanity that no one can survive but after all a movie is a movie.The revenge scenes the way they filmed that really get the hell out of me after each death scene i thought that cruelty at extreme but next scene make me wrong and the last scene of Ivan's death crossed all limits, it was the most brutal scene you will ever see.All the actors did great job specially Georgy.
"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but RATHER give place unto wrath: for it is written, VENGEANCE IS MINE; I WILL REPAY, saith the Lord" - Romans 12:19 (KJV)Meir Zarchi's original 1978 "I Spit on Your Grave" is one of the most visceral - not to mention highly controversial - horror films in the history of the medium.
That movie was so good - I thought it had better acting and production values, but it was very much a product of our current generation's obsession with the likes of the "Saw"-/"Hostel"-inspired "torture-porn" sub-genre of horror and while I liked it, I still prefer the original - that they just HAD to produce a sequel, 2013's "I Spit on Your Grave 2," which was directed by Steven R.
So she responds to an ad placed on a tear-off flier offering free photos, and from then on she embarks onto an indescribable nightmare scenario of rape, torture, kidnapping, exploitation, degradation, and humiliation as she is ripped away from everything and everyone she knows and thus descends into the fifth circle of Hell.Beaten, battered, bruised and left for dead, she eventually comes back from the brink with a wicked vengeance against her attackers, which may ultimately, in the end, claim not only her sanity but also her soul.Now here is a movie that, very much like its predecessors, is not for the faint of heart.
What makes it better than the 2010 "I Spit on Your Grave" and probably the most enjoyable - read: watchable - film in the franchise is the performance of Jemma Dallender as Katie Carter.
Quite frankly, I'm not sure that I want to know what Dallender did to prepare herself for this role, but she gives a performance here that makes her worth keeping an eye on in the future.Unlike her predecessors (yes, even the daring Camille Keaton from the 1978 original), we believe more in her quest for retribution because we actually get to see the steps she takes to make the wrong things right (i.e., stalking her prey while they, of course, remain oblivious to the fact that they're being targeting for systematic, bloody vengeance).
For his 2010 remake of Meir Zarchi's 70s rape/revenge classic I Spit On Your Grave, director Steven R.Monroe's aim was clearly to surpass the original movie in terms of nastiness; many might argue that he succeeded.
For this sequel, he attempts to outdo his own remake, but in doing so, frequently verges on parody, the excessive sadism and violence perpetrated by ridiculous eastern European, Hostel-style stereotypes, and the plot taking several preposterous turns in order to prolong its protagonist's unimaginable suffering.Monroe also makes the mistake of concentrating far more on the rape than on the revenge, with the latter half of the film feeling very rushed and consequently less satisfying, the sense of disappointment exacerbated by the lame manner in which several of the villains meet their fate (only Ivan's 'balls in a clamp' treatment seems truly befitting of his heinous crime).From a technical point of view, Monroe's film is very impressive, with slick direction and editing, decent make-up effects work, and a bold and convincing central performance by Jemma Dallender—making it even more of a shame that in trying so hard to shock, the film fails to work in other departments..
watched I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 2 ...compare to its prequel this flick is more brutal more gruesome more violent more eww more plight-full n more entertaining(if you like this genre)...this movie completes everything that its prequel lacked..well not everything exactly..it too has some loose ends...BUT do/should we even care about that?..in front of this girl(Jemma Dallender)'s acting..she did a tremendous job..for a moment you'll wonder if she is being violated for real!(I'm not being an assh*le BUT it has one of the best woman abusive scenes I've ever watched in a film_of- course)..above that she is beautiful..you feel sorry for her(movie's job done here)....this revenge film has a cheesy twist n they kinda turns it in another SAW in the end(though)..its not very good BUT its a nice film..if you like sick things(kidding) its _WORTH A WATCH_.
the movie was OK, same type of sequel (2010), but this time more brutal (both protagonist and the avenge), some scenes are not understandable, how he has been shifted with full laws city of New york to Bulgaria, why she didn't go to the embassy directly without seeking any one help (so called independent US girls), she should be aware and inform authorities about the photo shots immediately since it was somehow bad or creepy, over all this is film, nothing mentioned about the other female who intend to help Kattie but brought her again in hell place, and what was her background or she is psycho, Kattie acting was good, so others negative,.
However, if like me you enjoy watching evil people suffer, and are looking for a slight addition to the overall story - I would definitely recommend this film.
What we can learn from this movie (warning: there could be some irony in my review): - Bulgaria is a tiny suburb of New York where everyone knows everybody and everybody is a white-slaver and a rapist.raped women have good chances to get a leading position in their family later, then of course good experiences should happen to everyone - Bad people fearing of their lifes are always looking for shelter at very dark places where they can be welcomed by the one they are running away from.
Everybody knowing the priest's concerns of this message gets supernatural powers and instinctivly finds of all places in Bulgaria or at least the city this move takes place, the one cellar where the raped protagonist is just killing it's tormentors.Sorry, but this movie is an insult of any viewer with an IQ of 10+.
How Ana (Mary Stockley) was connected with the police and take the girl from the police just like that ≈≈Everything else was all pretty good and interesting to watch If you are a fun of vengeance satisfactionAll in all, "I Spit on Your Grave 2" is a good movie!.
It's basically the same story as 'I Spit On Your Grave' (1) and about a hundred other similar revenge movies.The girl certainly gets badly abused.
If you have watched the 2010 re-make of the 1978 "I Spit On Your Grave" movie, and if you enjoyed it, then you would most definitely want to check out this sequel.
And when she takes a chance at a flier with a studio offering a free photo shoot, Katie is in for more than she ever thought possible.I am not going to give away any more of the story with a summary, because this movie needs to be seen.
But the story is enjoyable and does differ in an aspect which makes it unique and interesting.The torture scenes in this sequel weren't quite as brutal and visual as they were in the 2010 movie.
It's always difficult to review movies like "I Spit on your Grave 2", the so-called Rape & Revenge subcategory of exploitation cinema.
The special effects in the film aren't all that bad and if you like watching torture then there's going to be a lot of it here for you.
Revenge is best served cold, not rushed.I know what a lot of people are thinking right now, "Matt, why in the hell would you even watch this movie?
I just watch a lot of things that are either good or bad, but with "I Spit on Your Grave 2" I knew off the bat that I was going to hate it, but for reasons of what brought myself into watching it sadly can't be answered, or maybe I'm just a fool for watching movies like this.Okay, all that aside now.
The first half of the movie is engaging and gruelling.Once the deamonising of the attackers is done and we get on to the revenge section the film takes a serious dive.Although this is a horror and shouldn't be taken too serious, the story becomes too loose with reality, cheapening the events of what came before.Our heroine pops up all over the place dispatching bad guys like a Terminator.
Although it is a sequel, it isn't related to the first movie except for the fact that they are thrillers and centers on the revenge of a raped young woman.
"I Spit on You Grave 2" is quite possibly the best "rape/revenge" film ever.
The film suffered a remake back in 2010 and was, IMO, a failure since it bowed to political correctness by ratcheting DOWN the violence again the woman (one of the male attackers supposedly did something "off screen" so when she extracts revenge on him we're left to wonder "What did that guy do?") and ratcheting UP the violence against men (elaborate SAW- style traps and tortures).
It invited the viewer to just sort of accept the "rape" part and revel in the "revenge" part.And now comes "I Spit on Your Grave 2" a sequel which I suspect will be labeled by many as "wholly unnecessary." In this film, Jemma Dallender gives one of the bravest performances I've ever seen as Katie, a waitress who is also an aspiring model in NYC.
The rape scene is a hard watch, butt like I say, after seeing that you want to see these men get loads of torture, the revenge seemed to last about half hour?
The original film as well as the newer iteration show you a plausible scenario, the kind you've likely seen understated on a crime show and allows to feel the terror and pain of this poor woman as she is victimized, I'd never in my life wanted to jump into a TV screen and help someone so bad in all my years...
A sequel to a remake of a video nasty doesn't sound like it's going to be a classic, and the straight-to-DVD I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 2 is about as good as you'd expect it to be, i.e. not very.
In a brutal and horrific rape scene that can be compared to the one in Irreversible, we see that this movie really wants to stand out from the remake and the original.
The original I Spit was a grindhouse movie, which promised rape and revenge.
I have seen Irreversible, Last House, The ORIGINAL I Spit On your Grave and The Accused and all of them are far better films with a rape as a major plot line in them than this.
(At some point, I even thought the priest was going to rape her!!:((() I had to look away a few times, as the sheer violence and cruelty of the revenges was not something I could watch without a problem, but, all in all, I would say these are movies to keep you on your toes, maybe even biting your nails, but never pushing the "stop" button..
Of course with many horror films and having seen the first "I spit on your Grave" I figured there would be rape scenes and there was in this one as well.
The story line is pretty good (apart from the rapes and violence obviously), and I was going in to this movie thinking how can it be as good as the 2010 remake of the first, but this film actually holds its own in comparison.
It was due to this that I was often left wishing that Katie had done more to torture and deliver justice to her attackers.So whilst the first half is mental torture to watch and does it's job to disturb (whilst many recent horrors don't), the movie then fails to deliver what we all anticipated in the second halfYet still a very good rape-revenge horror film, although definitely inferior to the 2010 remake. |
tt0113101 | Four Rooms | The film begins with Ted the Bellhop (Tim Roth) in a room filled with hotel memorabilia, talking to Sam the Bellhop (Marc Lawrence) about what a bellhop is. It's New Year's Eve."The Missing Ingredient" begins with a bunch of women (including Madonna and Lili Taylor) converging in the Honeymoon Suite, where there's a huge cauldron in the room's center. The women send Ted to get a bunch of ingredients, mostly from the kitchen. With the ingredients in hand, the women, some of them topless, enact a ritual. They are witches. One says they intend to reverse the spell that turned their goddess Diana into stone in this very room 40 years ago.The witches dance around, then they begin putting ingredients into the huge cauldron. Alas, Eva (Ione Skye) was required to get the key ingredient: fresh semen, but instead of keeping the sample, she swallows it. Ted returns to the room. A witch gives him a $50 tip, telling him that he has to make Eva smile. The witches leave Ted alone with Eva, whom Ted tries to entertain by acting silly. Eva says it doesn't matter if she smiles or not, and explains that she and her friends are a coven, as well as the situation with Diana. After Ted resists Eva's advances, she casts a spell on him, causing him to be swept away with her. Ted kisses Eva.Later, we see them kissing some more. Ted leaves the suite as the witches plus one more return. Eva says she's a woman now, telling them that she and Ted did it in the cauldron. The witches continue the ritual. Diana rises from the cauldron in physical form.The second segment is "The Wrong Man." Ted walks into a darkened room 404. The light comes on. A man (David Proval) points a gun in Ted's face. A woman (Jennifer Beals) is tied to a chair and gagged behind the man. The man swallows some pills. He accuses Ted of being the woman's beau. She is the man's wife. Ted says there's a mistake. The man hits Ted in the face with the gun, knocking him down. The man pulls Ted up and says he demands an apology. He puts the gun down and has Ted mouth an apology for saying he f---ed another man. The man tells Ted not to move a nose hair, picking up the gun. The man dances over to the bathroom. The woman mumbles at Ted and he pulls the gag from her mouth. She tells him to untie her. He argues that they're complete strangers, and she says, "it's where we end up that counts." They realize the man is coming back, and Ted puts the gag back into her mouth.The man catches Ted doing this and points the gun at him. He tells Ted to "nibble" on his wife. The man calls Ted "Theodore." Ted corrects him, telling him to call him "Ted." The man says his name is Siegfried. He agrees to call Ted by his chosen name. He then kisses Ted, twitches, says "my heart," and collapses. He tells Ted to get his nitro pills in the bathroom. Ted enters the bathroom and searches the medicine cabinet. He sees the window and worms his body halfway through it. Ted notices a man halfway out of the window above his window. Ted asks the man to call the police. The man twitches and vomits, just missing Ted, who jumps back into the bathroom.Ted exits the bathroom, finding the woman and Siegfried on the floor. He picks the woman up and ungags her. She yells at him to get the nitro pills. Suddenly, Siegfried stands up. He tells them it was a test, saying he's happy because he knows the woman loves him now. The woman takes a wry attitude, accusing Ted of having sex with her. Ted asks what he ever did to her and Siegfried. The woman mentions that Ted has "a huge cock." Ted denies this. Siegfried tells Ted to show him his cock. The woman does, too. Siegfried tells her to stop talking about Ted's cock. The woman then says countless synonyms for the phallus, driving Siegfried into a fit. Ted sees an opportunity and hurries out of the room.The third segment, "The Misbehavers," starts with Ted answering a call at the front desk. A man (Antonio Banderas) orders a bottle of champagne. His wife (Tamlyn Tomita) combs her and the man's son Juancho's (Danny Verduzco) hair, trying to get the right look. The man takes over combing Juancho's hair, while the wife goes to work on their daughter Sarah's (Lana McKissack) hair. The man and wife finish the kids' hair. The kids go into the other room to watch television. The wife asks the man if they're going to have fun tonight. The man mentions that they could leave the kids in the room with the television set.The man tells the kids that he and his wife are going to leave them alone and to be in bed before midnight. He tells them, "Don't misbehave." Juancho opens a window, saying it stinks in the room. The man comes back in, saying, "Behave." Ted arrives with the champagne. The man gives Ted $500 to check up on the kids every thirty minutes. The man and his wife leave. Ted and Sarah argue a bit as to when the kids should call him. Ted says to call only when necessary, and if the kids are good, he'll bring them some milk and cookies. He leaves. Sarah tells Juancho that his feet stink.Juancho turns on a station on the TV with a half-naked female dancer (Salma Hayek) dancing. Sarah calls Ted on the phone, telling him to turn "the nudie station" off. The kids keep complaining about the bad smell in the room. Sarah finds a syringe in a drawer and calls Ted to mention it to him. Ted tells her not to bother him again unless it's an emergency. Juancho shakes the champagne bottle until it blows its cork. He drinks some champagne.The kids use a framed picture in the room as a target to throw the syringe at. Ted comes back with milk and saltines, telling the kids that they're going to bed. The kids dislike the saltines. Ted has the kids lie down and tells them to close their eyes. He pulls out some mentholatum ointment. He dabs the ointment over their eyes, telling them not to open them or it will burn. Ted exits the room. Fireworks go off outside the room's window.Sarah walks with her eyes closed to the bathroom and rinses them off. She opens her eyes. She turns on the TV and drinks some champagne. Juancho steps to the bathroom and washes his face off, too. Vexed by the bad smell in the room, the kids get off of the bed. Sarah pulls the bed's top mattress aside and they find a dead woman stuffed in its bottom mattress. Sarah calls Ted, who becomes livid. Sarah tells Ted to get his ass to the room.A discombobulated Ted sees the man walk into the hotel, carrying the passed-out wife. Ted runs to the elevator and goes upstairs. He rushes into the room to find Sarah drinking and Juancho smoking. Ted slaps the cigarette out of Juancho's mouth. Sarah moves the bed's top mattress aside and reveals the dead woman. Ted vomits. He knocks the champagne bottle out of Sarah's hand. Champagne spills from the bottle, and some of it moves toward the lit cigarette on the floor. Ted calls the police, saying there's a "dead whore" in the room. Sarah tells Ted not to call her a dead whore. Ted does it again, so Sarah stabs him in the leg with the syringe.Ted screams, dropping the telephone. He steps on the TV's remote, accidentally changing the TV to the station with the dancing woman. The man gets to the room's door, carrying his wife. Flames erupt around the room due to the champagne catching fire. Ted grabs the dead woman's leg and yanks the syringe out of his thigh. The man walks in to see Ted standing with his hand on the dead woman's leg, along with the syringe in his other hand, Juancho smoking, Sarah holding the champagne bottle, the "nudie station" on the TV, and the room on fire. The man asks, "Did they misbehave?"The last segment is "The Man From Hollywood." Ted knocks on a penthouse door. The formerly tied-up woman from the second segment opens the door and announces that the bellhop is here. Mens' voices shout in appreciation and Ted steps into the penthouse. The actor Chester Rush (Quentin Tarantino) struts over to Ted and offers him some Cristal that Ted refuses at first, but later drinks. Chester invites Ted in and introduces him to his friends: the woman whose name is Angela, Norman (Paul Calderon), and Leo (Bruce Willis).Chester notices a bottle of Cristal has gone flat and goes off on a tirade against his friends for leaving it open. He opens another bottle of the champagne. Chester talks about his movies. Ted shows Chester and Norman the objects he's been asked to bring to the room, which include a block of wood and a sharp hatchet. Leo argues in a bedroom with his wife over the phone, and it ends badly. Leo has a temper tantrum, yelling and cursing.Leo asks Ted if he's seen a TV episode called "The Man From Rio" starring Peter Lorre and Steve McQueen. In the episode, Lorre makes a bet with McQueen that McQueen can't light his cigarette lighter ten times in a row. If McQueen lights his lighter ten times in a row, McQueen gets Lorre's car. If he doesn't, Lorre gets to chop off McQueen's pinky. Leo says Norman has bet his pinky that he can light his cigarette lighter ten times in a row. Either Norman will do it, thus winning Chester's 1964 Chevy Chevelle or not, getting his finger cut off, as in Lorre and McQueen's bet. Ted tells the guys that they're drunk. Norman says they'd probably chicken out if they weren't intoxicated. Chester says in the event that Norman loses his finger, after they put it on ice, it can hopefully be reattached.Chester says the men want Ted to be the finger-cutter, since he's a neutral stranger. Ted says, "I've gotta get out of here" and runs to the door. Chester offers Ted $100 to sit and listen to what he has to say. Ted sits down. Chester stacks a thousand dollars on the counter, and persuasively asks Ted if he'll want to remember for the rest of his life that he refused it for a second's work. Ted agrees to be the finger-cutter.The men get into their positions. Norman gets his thumb on his lighter and flicks it once. It doesn't light, and Ted instantly drives the hatchet through Norman's pinky, severing it. Norman screams in agony. Ted scoops up his money and sashays off, getting onto an elevator. Leo and Chester scramble to get the shrieking Norman and his severed pinky into the elevator. | cult, comedy, psychedelic, satire | train | imdb | Consisting of four 20-minute segments, each assembled by a different director's hands, it takes us through the various happenings inside separate rooms of the same hotel on New Year's Eve, as experienced by Ted, the only bellhop still left standing for the night shift.
It's almost as though Alexandre Rockwell isn't sure whether he wants us to be in on the whole set-up with Sigfried and Angela, or confused and in the dark like Ted, and in the end tries to accommodate both perspectives, which doesn't really wash.It's once we reach the second half that the true quality really starts to seep its way in, and the film suddenly becomes very rewarding.
'The Man from Hollywood', meanwhile, is equally brilliant - Tarantino's vibrant, well-scripted take on Roald Dahl's chilling short story, 'the Man from the South', which pits Ted in the same room as cocky Hollywood director Chester Rush (and it's always a treat to see Quentin himself tackle such a winking, self-depreciating role).
It is hard not to come away with the impression that all four directors had a slightly different take on Ted's disposition - he goes from being timid and impressionable to obtuse and jumpy, then highly-strung and a little devious, and finally composed and relatively rational - but Roth does well in single-handedly bridging these gaps and, with the many mishaps his character has to endure over the course of the night, ensures that all changes in temper seem understandable.
He retains his good-natured lovability for the entire running time, and, for anyone who can really relate to poor Ted (like yours truly), he'll have you rooting for him to the very satisfying end.To my knowledge, there was never any other film quite like 'Four Rooms' and, judging by just how unwelcome this one was made to feel when it arrived, there probably won't be another for quite some time.
It remains an ambitious and not entirely successful little sleeper, but has a good deal going for it nonetheless, and I urge all fans of Tarantino, Rodriguez and Roth in particular not to be put off by the bad press and to give it a chance.
I was impressed that Tarantino built up his suspense "before" the contest began and then did not try to extend the suspense but ended things on the first attempt.The best bit in the whole film might be Roth's phone call to his boss.
Just some half-baked jokes and a pair of topless women (If I wanted that, I'd skip renting a movie and go out instead.)Second episode is a hair better, but you'll find yourself crying "Why doesn't Ted the Bellboy do [insert plot resolution here] and get the bloody hell out of there!" When it finally does end, you're disheartened to find that it had no reason to exist.
My heart leapt as soon as I heard his trademark dialogue coming from the lips of Marisa Tomei as "Four Rooms" segued from "The Misbehavers" to "The Man From Hollywood." I wasn't sure if his take on Ted the Bellhop's misadventures was going to be any good, but I knew that if he wrote it and helmed it, it wasn't going to be all bad.What a pleasant surprise (still just talking about the fourth segment here).
It's low-rent Tarantino, don't get me wrong, but it's also the best part of "Four Rooms."All in all, the first film I've ever seen that starts out with a loathsome, horrifying badness, gets incrementally better with each passing fifteen minutes, and ends as good as one would like.
Four Rooms was concocted like one of those many, many collaborative efforts from directors in the 60's and 70's (i.e. The Witches, Ro.Go.PaG, Boccaccio '70, etc), except this would revolve around a bell-hop on New Years Eve. It disqualifies itself as being any kind of masterpiece or classic in independent film-making, and sometimes the filmmakers (Alison Anders, Robert Rodriguez, and Alexandre Rockwell, and Quentin Tarantino, the last two also serving as executive producer) look like they're relishing too much in their (limited) clout and exuberance to concentrate.
But what I found in it was a bizarre little comedy that wasn't so bad after all."Four Rooms" is an anthology film with four 'episodes' about a fading hotel on News Years Eve, and with a quirky bellhop named Ted (Tim Roth) and his misadventures on this one crazy night.
Like many I got suckered into watching this film from the list of stars and director/writers (esp Tarantino) that participated in this exercise.I had no idea that it was *this* bad.
The third plot was a shaggy dog story that could have worked had it been better executed and the fourth one, Tarantino's, to be fair actually sustained about 5 minutes of interest - unfortunately at the very end of the movie after 90+ minutes of endless torture.Those last 2 plots might have been worthwhile except for the smarmy self-indulgent performances of the stars.
(3/10)Segment#3: The MisbehaversBelieve what others have written, this IS the reason to watch this movie, brilliant non-stop hilarity as Tim Roth's Ted the Bellboy is left in charge of two brat-ish troublesome kids.
Tarantino's segment is good enough, lots of experiments with primary colours and long stedicam tracking shots, but you can't help thinking the film is just pandering to Tarantino's ego (he play's the biggest star in Hollywood).
(8/10)To finish, Four Rooms would have been better if they had scraped the first two monstrosities (Anders and Rockwell where riding the coattails of Rodriguez and Tarantino anyway and have no where near as much talent) and kept the film as an hour-long TV special.
The plot is basically of a bellboy(played by the always good, Tim Roth) who has to take care of a hotel for the night on New Years Eve. He gets involved in some strange and off-color characters and slowly is driven insane by it all.
Normally this cinematic approach would work well, most noticeably the brilliant Peter Greenway film, THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE, AND HER LOVER, which the movie strongly reminded me of for some reason and Tim Roth was also in it.The second story was very perverse but didn't offer any way to involve the viewer in actually finding it interesting which it should have been.
The feeling is one of 'anything for a laugh', yet the writing is wincingly unfunny, and the four different directors are simply not in sync (not with each other nor with the material), particularly Quentin Tarantino, who stars in and directed the final segment and appears to be winging it.
Antonio Banderas is surprisingly good, and the whole segment has a great way of piling on the complications to create a chaotic ending.The fourth segment will make you puke, watching Tarantino thinking he can act.
It was really one of the worst things I've seen today.The third story was a little bit better, this time it was directed by someone who does know a little about film-making.
The other really annoying facet of the movie, and it would have been funnier played straight, was bellhop's Tim Roth dancing around all the time and playing the fool,like the "rubbber-band man" from the recent Staples commercials.
I think in summary this movie is a level above most comedies its a bit black, but look at the cast, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth and Madonna - with all the other glitz and glamour of Hollywood appearing at different periods.
Tim Roth is downright atrocious as Ted the bellboy, who ties together four different segments set at the same hotel on New Year's Eve, but the role itself is unplayable because it's more a combination of flails and ticks than an actual character.
1st room just painful to watch 2nd room again nothing interesting very bad 3rd room had some funny moments and 4th room is the only room you feel directors work , the ending shot was very good but that's it .
the only thing that was really really good in the movie was the music and Tim Roths overacting if you like him you gonna enjoy it .
He took this unexpected fame and influence and used it unite a group of indie up-and-comers - Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell and Robert Rodruguez - for an offbeat anthology film about a young bellhop named Ted (Tim Roth) and his encounters with the various oddballs staying at his hotel.The result was Four Rooms, and there's a reason Tarantino chooses to forget his own segment behind the camera when his trailers announce the new film as the nth of his career.
He ends up being involved in four different stories as the night goes on, every one of which is like a single short film.The first room ("MISSING INGREDIENT") starring Madonna is an part-erotic story about a coven of witches trying to resurrect a goddess.
Directed by Quentin Tarantino, and starring himself and Bruce Willis tells a story about a crazy bet, our Ted gets involved in.
Strong 9/10As you can see, the further into the film, the room is better, but it's still hard to give an overall grade for a movie that included amazing Tarantino short, great Rodriguez one and two very decent, and even bad (the 1st one) ones.
And the pervasive language is the worse in the first two episodes I have to say.Two good things that connect all four rooms, are the music and Tim Roth, in a very weird but great performance.I hate to say but the overall grade has to be 6+Rent it, for the third and fourth room!.
Ted the Bellhop (Tim Roth) is Working overtime in a old-fashioned L.A. Hotel in New Year's Eve. He meets all of sorts odd-balls in that unforgettable, strangle night for better or worse.This is actually a compilation of four short films are linked by the point of view of Ted. This could have been first-rate but sadly it's not.
Ted has to check every half-hour in their room if they don 't misbehaved but there's strange smell in that room that becomes stronger by the minute.The fourth story "The Man from Hollywood" is actually pretty good.
Ted is called for the biggest suite in the hotel to served some strange people (Jennifer Beals, Paul Calderon and uncredited Bruce Willis) and a hot tempered Hollywood director (Tarantino) but they dare Ted to play a dangerous game for quick cash.Roth's performance is different in all four tales but he's way over the top in the first two stories.
Fourth story is fun to watch Tarantino, who was on top of the world for film-making in the 1990's and it ends with a great gag."Four Rooms" is a curio to say the least.
i like strange movies, and in the case of four rooms, it's both good and bad.The scene before the beginning credits was funny, and a great way to start off a film like this.But then we go to our first room.
Antonio Bandera's final line was just amazing.The following part where Ted calls his supervisor is almost just as funny, featuring a wonderful cameo with the great, but always underrated, Kathy Griffin.The final room was a perfect way to end this movie.
Allison Anders is known mostly for her television work, Quentin Tarantino tends to recycle the same violent and absurdist formula over and over - but he does it well enough, Rodrigues has made some of the most brilliant action/comedies I have seen, and Alexandre Frank is more of a writer than a director - and has made about as many films as Tarantino makes in a couple of years over the last twenty years.Remarkably, Tim Roth, and the nicely focused setting and theme, allow this odd little film to hold together nicely.
The directing and writing are solid, and Tarantino's piece is better-scripted than some of his more popular works.The cinematography is all fairly good, and emphasizes Roth's weirdness very well.Roth's performance is way over-the-top, which seems very appropriate by the time you get about halfway through the film.
More of a slapschtick homage to The Keystone Cops, this over-the-top episode was directed by SIN CITY director Robert Rodriguez who loves to direct Antonio Banderas (they worked together on El Mariachi and Desperado.) Probably one of the more laugh-out-loud endings of the four.The final short is "The Man From Hollywood" directed by and starring Quentin Tarantino (KILL BILL).
But i can't simply because of the first two segments.Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez are the two reasons that this movie is even worth watching.Robert Rodriguez throws his stylistic direction around very nicely, the cuts are clean and the comedy is good amongst the characters.Now Mr. Tarantino does another one of his classic dialouge driven pieces and it's great.
Four Rooms is a quite unusual dark comedy: it features Tim Roth as Ted the bellhop, who has to work at New Year's Eve. The movie chronicles his experiences in four particular rooms...The first two episodes (written and directed by Allison Anders and Alexandre Rockwell), in which the protagonist is involved in a bizarre ritual and subsequently held hostage by a psycho, are decently acted by Lili Taylor and Jennifer Beals, but apart from that there's no particular reason to watch them, in fact after the first viewing they're totally skippable; the other two, on the other hand, are good: in "The Misbehavers" (by Robert Rodriguez), the absolute best of the four stories, Ted has to deal with Antonio Banderas'nightmarish children, while in "The Man from Hollywood" (by Quentin Tarantino) he helps Chester Rusch (QT himself, who's enjoyable, but outacted by everyone else in the room) with a macabre bet...Rodriguez and Tarantino's segments are stuffed with black humor, extreme characters and ace acting (Tim Roth is terrific as the increasingly hysterical Ted) which make Four Rooms a very interesting film.
1}everyone badmouths the first segment....i'll join them...it sux...its totally boring and just does not go with the rest of the film 2}everyone also badmouths the second segment also...i wont join them...i think that the wrong man was the 2nd best in the movie, it has plenty of twists and turns and never a moment of boredom 3}the best by far just blows the others away with the comedy...the ending made me laugh till my sides hurt 4} this one was pretty good, the ending was best, but this one cant top numbers 2 and 3 the end.
This film is so diverse and comic at the same time that it makes it a great movie to watch especially for all the Tarantino and Rodriguez fans such as myself.
Of course you must also admire the fantastic cast such as Madonna, Banderas, Bruce Willis, Tarantino, etc as a true masterpiece.What is the most intriguing fact is the comments i've heard of this film as being a waste of time and a total disaster, can't truly be justified when you admire the coming together most of all of two demented, twisted but very imaginative minds such as the ones of Tarantino and Rodriguez in such an epic described as "the man from hollywood" and "the misbehavers".This film is a beauty of directing, screen play and acting and shouldn't be judged only on superficial simplicity as it is more complex than you think if you really wanna get the full gist of it..
This flick is a composite of 4 different stories, directed by 4 different directors, taking place in 4 different hotel rooms (hence the title) in a hotel on New Years Eve, where apparently the only help is a harried bellboy, played masterfully by Tim Roth.
Antonio Banderas is terrific as the father of the two little 'misbehaviors'.The Man from Hollywood, while better than the first two stories, is probably the most disappointing, only because it's from Quentin Tarantino who I expected more from.
20 out of 10.All in all, watching "four rooms" is watching four movies from four very different directors, sewn together by Roth's over-the-top performance as Ted the bellhop.
It is New Years Eve and Ted, The Bellhop (Tim Roth of Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction,) is left alone in this hotel that , on this particular night, is filled with some interesting characters.
Upon viewing, i realised that it was an amazing film, which has now become one of my favourite movies of all time.Let me first say that Tim Roth is the actors equivalent to God. Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and now Four Rooms.
This was the best segment in the movie, although it ends abruptly.The second story, written and directed by Alexandre Rockwell, has Ted the bellhop delivering ice to the wrong room and being accused by the husband of having an affair with his wife (Jennifer Beals).
It's like a more adult version of the kind of humor Rodriguez used in the Spy Kids movies.Quentin Tarantino writes, directs, and acts in the last story and this is probably why most people even watched this.
Such is the case with Four Rooms.The film opens with Ted the Bellhop (Tim Roth) taking over the job of bellboy in an almost whimsical hotel on New Years Eve. The cartoonish opening credits cue in, and it all goes downhill from there.
I personally think that Rodriguez should have just made the entire film himself.The final segment titled 'The Man From Hollywood,' was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, the genius behind such movies as Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Kill Bill.
Tim Roth is simply magnificent as Ted and is the best thing about the film.
I've watched this movie for the third time recently (with a few years in between), and I still like it as much as the first time I saw it.It's about a bell-boy (Tim Roth) in a hotel who's about to have the craziest New Year's Eve of his life as he gets involved in four different stories all taking place that very same night.
We all agree that although some of the segments can be lacking from time to time Tim Roth makes every bit of this movie worth watching. |
tt1586752 | Machine Gun Preacher | Although the film centers on Childers, it starts off with a scene in South Sudan, where the LRA are attacking a village. This opening scene is placed into context later in the film. Sam Childers (Gerard Butler) is an alcoholic drug-using biker from Pennsylvania. On his release from prison, he finds that his wife (Michelle Monaghan) has given up her job as a stripper, because she has since accepted Christ as her savior. Initially infuriated by his wife's decision, he returns to his routine of partying and using drugs like heroin with his fellow biker friend Donnie (Michael Shannon). One night while on a bender with Donnie, he almost kills a vagrant. He is shaken by the experience, and the day after allows his wife to persuade him to go to church with her, where he is eventually baptized and offered salvation.
Sam soon finds a stable job as a construction worker and later starts his own construction company. Later, on a missionary trip to Uganda to build homes for refugees, he asks one of the SPLA soldiers watching over them to take him on a trip to the north, to Sudan. The soldier warns him that it is a war zone, but upon Sam's insistence they go. They arrive at a medical tent in Sudan. As the soldier moves off to talk to some people, Sam is roped in by a female doctor to help lift a lipless Sudanese woman onto the examination table. That night as they lay on their beds at the relief station, they hear noises outside, and when they look out, Sam and the soldier see large numbers of Sudanese children swarming around to sleep outside the building.
The soldier explains that their parents send them to sleep over here because it is safer than staying in their own village. Sam wakes up the children and gets as many as he can fit to sleep in their room for the night. The next day Sam and the soldier follow the children back to their village only to find that the LRA has burnt it down and killed their parents. One of the children runs after his dog and is killed by a hidden landmine. Sam cradles the dead child and cries, the experience traumatizes and changes Sam. After returning home, Sam has a "vision from God" and decides to build an orphanage for the children of South Sudan, as well as a church in his own neighborhood that will be "open to all" without judgement. After its completion he begins preaching at his church, and helps his old friend Donnie get sober and find God as well. He soon returns to Africa and despite vocal opposition, builds the orphanage. One night after it is built, the LRA attack it and burn it to the ground. Sam then phones home, telling his wife what has happened and that he is giving up. She reminds him that the orphans have been through worse but they have not given up, and that he should not give up and tells him to rebuild the orphanage.
After the orphanage has been rebuilt, he and his friends from the SPLA are attacked on the road by the LRA, they manage to chase off the small force of the LRA that attacked them. They search the area and discover a large group of Sudanese children hiding in a ditch not far from the road. Since they can not take all the children in one trip, Sam chooses to take the ones who need medical attention along with a few others on their first trip back to the orphanage. However, upon returning to the spot as quickly as he could, he finds that the LRA killed and burnt those he had left behind. This causes Childers to lead armed raids to rescue children from the LRA.
He returns home to the U.S. disgruntled and exasperated about the lack of money for the project. He also feels disconnected from his community; he is disgusted by the excess displayed and petty "problems" of his family and friends, as well as their apparent apathy toward the children of Sudan. Meanwhile his friend Donnie breaks his sobriety and ends up dying from an overdose, this pushes Sam further into negativity and despair. He sells his business and boards a plane for Sudan. His faith and mission is revitalised when an orphan boy tells his personal story to Sam. The boy tells him that if he allows hatred to fester in his heart, his fight against injustice fails. Sam also rekindles his emotional attachment with his family over the phone. The next day he engages with the camp actively. Later he goes out with SPLA and rescues a caravan full of children who were kidnapped by LRA. The end credits include black and white pictures of the real Sam Childers, his wife, daughter, and his orphanage in Sudan. The pictures are followed by a short black and white home video clip of Sam talking about his work, while the credits roll on the left side of the screen. | murder | train | wikipedia | This is a movie with a solid pedigree of cast behind it, it is based on the life of Sam Childers (Gerard Butler), who without giving much away, has a criminal past, finds God and embarks on undertaking missionary work in civil war-torn Sudan, leaving his loyal, loving wife Lynn Childers (Michelle Monaghan) and his young daughter Paige (Madeline Carrol) back home in Penslyvania.
Further, he fights whenever necessary and becomes a legend known as The Machine Gun Preacher."Machine Gun Preacher" is a film tailored to Gerard Buttler about the fantastic but unfortunately not well known biography of Sam Childers, an addicted troublemaker drug-dealer biker that changes totally his life and becomes the only hope for thousand of orphans in Africa.
Gerard Butler's performance is Oscar worthy and Michelle Monaghan and Michael Shannon were also great even though their roles were short but then again the story is about Sam Childers.
It's one of the best movies I've seen in years.Very well developed characters and storyline and amazing acting/plot.I was a little upset in the beginning and thought the movie will turn out to be cheesy, but it really takes hold on you after a few initial disappointments and doesn't let go until the end.Buttler fits the unstable "born again, dead again" character extremely well and delivers an extremely believable performance.What really makes this movie stand out is its non-stop change of pace.
This film is based on the true story of Sam Childers a former gang biker who finds god, becomes a pastor and has dedicated his life and all his resources ever since to rescuing and protecting orphans in Sudan, Africa.
Sam Childers (Butler) is not an ordinary preacher; he carries a machine gun and kills LRA rebels in self-defense looking at it as helping God's children.
The real life Sam Childers at the beginning of the movie is an ex-con, druggie, gun-loving drug dealer, thug, lousy dad, worse husband, and overall man of failed character.
When he finds God, he loses the drug labels but the only other thing that really changes is his postal address.Sam Childers sees himself as a modern day crusader working to make a better life for the war orphans in Sudan.
Michelle Monaghan plays Lynn, his incredibly supportive wife who actually helped Sam find God, rather than continue his criminal, drug-addled ways with friend Donnie (Michael Shannon).While I found the story of the Sudanese children to be heart-breaking, the choppy and fragmented manner in which it's presented was quite annoying.
The movie stars Gerald Butler and his life transformation from a pitiless biker to a church builder avenger.A lot of criticism of this movie comes from people crying out against white superiority or religious propaganda, in my opinion this movie does neither and anyone that have read books and documentaries about Africa knows that the situation over there does require occidental involvement in any form to help those countries until they can manage their own states by themselves, of course dependency on foreign aid is another issue but let's no get into that.My problem with the movie that is said to be based on a 'true' story comes from the script itself.
I did not believe Gerard Butler's transformation from a ruthless bandit that forces his wife to go back to stripping instead of working in a mall, not saying that this is impossible in real life, but that the way they presented it was lacking realism.The rest of the movie sends a good message about people implicating in Africa's civil wars, and especially Sudan although the situation has since changed with South Sudan's new sovereign state.
A good way to this at home is perhaps to visit and give support to African based groups advocating for a united Africa with real bureaucracies, laws, corruption-free police.For a movie that talks about Africa The Machine Gun Preacher is less than stellar compared to many others, not because of it's message but because of it's content and I didn't think it portrayed white superiority in any kind and I don't think supporting white Christian churches for their actions in Africa is a bad message anyone saying the contrary should ask themselves what are they doing that those churches aren't..
People who don't understand philosophy, can easily find this movie inspiring because they think that religion is necessary to do good, and that's just deceptiveness of the filmmakers here.Childer's could have been a Jew, or a Buddhist monk, the religion does not matter---yet the film tries to make it seem like Christianity is the only way.No one seems to be aware that belief-without-evidence is the very source of the problem with Africa.
It's partially his wife's fault because when he wanted to quite (like any person with a brain would after watching their mission burn down and be thrown into a war zone), his idiotic wife tells him to stay there, waste more money and possibly die.In short, it was a movie about a bunch of people with a messiah complex that would rather play savior then actually think for themselves.
Now Kony and his cronies are evil, turning boys into armed soldiers and selling girls into sex slavery.Childers in no time returns to his violent instincts becomes a commander in the Sudan People's Liberation Army fighting against Kony's faction, hence the title Machine Gun Preacher.
Childers is less a preacher and just another guy spraying bullets with a gun and worse still just looks like another white man from the western world here to rescue the black folks of Africa.The film turns into a violent graphic novel rather than a man fighting his conscience.
Religion and violence are far more synonymous than most people of faith would care to admit, and with Machine Gun Preacher Gerard Butler's criminal-turned-man-of-god certainly embraces that twisted mantra with a fervor.
Directed by Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace), Machine Gun Preacher chronicles select chapters from the life of Sam Childers (Butler) and his crusades against the genocide in Sudan by constructing an orphanage for the casualties of the conflict – the ones who are still alive.
"Machine Gun Preacher" tries to tap into the sympathy of the audience with a real life story, but the movie ended up being entertaining for what it was, but it was a mediocre experience at best.The story is about Sam Childers, a reformed criminal and substance abuser, who finds God, builds a church and then goes to Sudan to help the needy in a war-torn country.Personally, I found the story a bit too sappy and too much of a goodie-two-shoes, but then again, I don't buy into the whole Christian concept.
excellent movie,packed with excitement,keeps you on the edge of your seat!!!!I had seen some press about what was going on in this country and with these people,but did not realize to this extent the pain and suffering going on,Its been a long time since i was on the edge of my seat watching a movie,but this one definitely did the trick,one of the things i liked about the movie is number one,it is based on a true story and number two the excitement level is through the roof,i would say it would be tough to find another movie out their right now that even compares,hold on to your seat on this one folks,its a real nail biter!!!.
Sporting a talented leading man with chops and charm far beyond his most well known work, Gerard Butler can't work his way past a series of unfortunate hurdles Machine Gun Preacher lays out.Along with Butler, a memorable performance from Michael Shannon (unsurprisingly), and an inspirational story are wasted on an effort that has major issues in tone, plot, and overall message.
(There's no need for remorse here, just because it's about Africa doesn't mean it's a good flick, or that it needs to be seen.)Gerard Butler plays Sam Childers, a former drug dealer getting out of prison in the Machine Gun Preacher's opening scene.
From the first line, where Butler groans a force expletive at the guard, it's obvious that Machine Gun Preacher has no idea what it's trying to say, nor how to execute it if it did.After returning home to his wife (Michelle Monaghan) and child (Madeline Carroll), Childers is ready to return to his old ways, since prison didn't change a thing about the man.
But that good hearing is eventually turned into a disappointment because Machine Gun Preacher is too emotionally vacant to bring Sam Childers' story into the big screen.I think the main problem is mainly in the script.
Machine Gun Preacher is the true story of a modern day hero with a troubled past, who was transformed by Jesus and then devoted his life to defending children who cannot defend themselves from the evil lurking to capture them.Check out my full review here: http://reelstorymovies.blogspot.com/2012/04/machine-gun-preacher.htmlI thoroughly enjoyed this film except for one thing: I have no idea how Hollywood can portray Christians as so old-fashioned that they would show them as stuck in some time from 30 years or more ago and haven't changed with old hymns from the turn of the century, a church built decades ago that hasn't been renovated since its construction.
Here he finds terrible acts of evil committed against helpless children by a wicked terrorist group.The film pits Sam's character against the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony and the war atrocities he commits against the people of the Southern Sudan.
The story is not only about the children being rescued and delivered, but it's a story of Childers journey with God, his struggles against evil, and finding the true love that God has to offer.Psalm 68:5 describes God as "Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation."The fight Childers faces in his journey is described in Romans 12:21, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."Some closing facts and figures from the film:Amnesty International estimates that Kony and the LRA are responsible for over 400,000 murders and 40,000 child abductions.These children are tortured, raped, sold into sex slavery, and forced to take part in ritualized killing by LRA commanders.To this day, Sam Childers fights for the children of Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda.As a side note, even though this could be considered a "Christian" film, it is not suitable for children.
One Man's Heart and the Violence Around Him. Machine Gun Preacher is based on a true story of Sam Childers when he became a born-again Christian and goes to Sudan, Africa to save children from an evil rebel army.
MGP is a terrific plot, that is a good watch in some respects - the story is earnest, necessary, and vital - but the delivery is way too melodramatic - it's kind of preachy in a revival sense, and we get little or no real maturity - it opts instead for action and heightened emotions at every step.The plot of the true story of Sam Childers, the ex-biker criminal and,frankly, low-life, who finds Jesus and then Africa is gripping in so many ways - but with a full throttled approach at every step we're not really getting insights to the real man, we just the highlights, and that's pretty crude film- making.I wouldn't want to put people off watching this - it tries to highlight earnestly the horrific mess that Sudan is in - but it does so as an all out action film and that really doesn't do more than entertain - and that's the biggest fault of all..
The acting was on the whole poor, though this was due to the atrocious script, such that every scene seemed forced and none of the characters (apart from maybe the daughter) seemed to have any emotions.Gerard Butler was inappropriate for the role of Sam Childers, it felt like we were following an action hero on his quest to rid the world of an opposing faction, which definitely made this film less believable than Aristocats.I see this movie appealing to the American Deep South and that's about it.
Former addicted gang biker with a prison track record Sam Childers (Gerard Butler) after almost killing a man manages to find god, thus changing his life and remolding the future of his family.
Here movie tells the realty of life,when a man realizes his purpose he or she truly rises in all manner.Machine Gun Preacher is the inspirational true story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing criminal who undergoes an astonishing transformation and finds an unexpected calling as the savior of hundreds of kidnapped and orphaned children of Sudan etc.Sam Childers after being released from jail for being a thug,goes for earning in these country,but being good in his real profession ie.
Machine Gun Preacher starts with Gerard Butler (playing Sam Childers, the man whom this story is tenuously based), he's just been released from prison (gets his family back far too early in this one, thus removing any genuine Butler based motivation from the movie), he's a man on the edge.
He not only wants Jesus to fill his every inch of being, he wants to put Jesus into other people too.Cut to war torn Sudan, where Childers is now working construction (one of this movies many flaws is that it is unable to link sequences with any sense of grace or artistry, leaving it as clunky as Marley's chains) and witnessing the injustice and genocide that sweep the country, he decides to build a massive church in the middle of the war zone (because that'll be a huge bloody help) and can henceforth spread his message from the lord (delivered personally at the back of a car park according to Childers) to these heathens and hopefully end the war in the process.OK, so it's an orphanage as well, but to be honest, you can't let the emotional elements detract you from the fact that this is one of the most disgustingly propaganda-like movies that I have seen in years.
This was better than I anticipated and a thought-provoking story.During the ending credits, the real "Sam Childers" is seen asks us - the audience - (paraphrasing) "If a family members of your would be kidnapped by killers and/or terrorists and I told you I could get them back, would it matter how I do it?" For about everyone, including non-violent people, the answer would be "no." I was pleased to see a film expose the genocide that has been going on for years now in Sudan, something most of the world doesn't seem to care much about.
Sam Childers' journey is not without fault, the elements of Christianity portrayed in the film are very stereotypical and at times a little cringe-worthy ( not sure why in America they have to use the song 'Amazing Grace' to identify that we are in a church scene.Butler is a simmering testosterone-fuelled maniac, his character remains the same, much throughout, despite the apparent change in his faith and turn to God. I felt this was not explained very well, though no doubt the film makers would have wanted to proceed to the 'money shots' of the action sequences.Characters are a bit one dimensional, his wife is the typical rock at home, we never see her story developed which is a shame because evidently she is a strong woman.
Everything, from the action scenes to the relationships between the characters are portrayed as they are in real life.This movie will touch your heart and you will feel all the emotions of the characters (the interpretations of the actors are also a plus for this film)I don't understand why this movie has such a low score (maybe because of the violence, or because it represents the story of a preacher..).
MACHINE GUN PREACHER tells the true-life story of Sam Childers, a biker turned born-again Christian who travelled to Africa to set up a church, save the children and kill a whole bunch of rebel terrorists in the process.It's a film you have to watch with a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek - after all, this is another spin on Hollywood's favoured 'white saviour' sub-genre - but the narrative is engaging enough for it to work as a movie.
But, as he encounters opposition in Africa and the pressures at home he can't forget, he finds himself locked in a battle that will change him forever.Telling one of those 'unbelievably true life' stories, Machine Gun Preacher is interesting, as it makes reference to Joseph Kony, the African warlord who was the subject of an internet only film that went viral last year and was made at the risk of the lives of the film makers.
Inspired by a preacher working in Sudan, Sam decides to go to Africa and help those in need.From the looks of it, Machine Gun Preacher would seem like a perfect feel-good film, starring a man with a criminal past, who almost over night turns things around and goes to Africa to help orphans.
Directed by Marc Forster, who also did powerful dramas like The Kite Runner and the last Bond film Quantum of Solace, Machine Gun Preacher found itself in good hands at straddling conflicting ideologies and values in which a man of God takes, finding himself having to fight fire with fire in order to protect lives and the changes he tries to bring about through opportunities provided.As with all big screen biographies, there is that dramatic license being taken, with the trailer touting this like an all out action film, and like a character said in the film, made Sam Childers (Gerard Butler) seem like a one man Rambo in Africa.
What makes this movie more inspiring, is that it is based on the true story of Sam Childers.Gerard Butler does an amazing job in this role as Childers,giving a solid performance as a man who is both conflicted and compassionate. |
tt0493464 | Wanted | A young man named Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) works at a dead-end job with an overbearing boss. He takes anti-depressants when he feels stressed out. His live-in girlfriend is sleeping with his best friend. He speaks of how his father left when he was just one week old. He wonders if maybe when he was born his father looked into his eyes and saw a failure.Elsewhere, a man called "Mr. X" (David O'Hara) meets with a ballistics expert to find out who made a particular bullet for a "competitor". She observes that the bullet is "clean", i.e., not traceable to a particular gun. (As becomes clear later, this is because it is the last stage of a multi-stage bullet.) Suddenly, a sniper shoots the ballistics expert in the head from a nearby building. Mr. X leaps through the window and shoots his opponents in mid-flight, killing them. He lands on the building and begins talking to a man on a cell phone, unaware that he is standing on a marked spot. He notices it as the man, named Cross fires a multi-stage bullet from across town, killing Mr. X by going through the back of his head and out through his forehead (the flight of the bullet is shown in slow-motion, backward).One night at a pharmacy, Gibson meets a mysterious woman who tells him his father was an elite assassin who had been killed the day before. Gibson replies that his father abandoned him a week after his birth. At that moment, Cross appears, gun in hand. The woman opens fire on Cross. Gibson and the woman escape from the resulting shoot-out and have a wild car chase in the streets of Chicago. The woman brings Gibson to the headquarters of The Fraternity, a thousand-year-old secret society of assassins. The group's leader, Sloan (Morgan Freeman), formally introduces Gibson to Fox (Angelina Jolie), the woman from the night before, and invites him to follow in his father's footsteps as an assassin. Sloan tests Gibson by making him shoot the wings off a fly. When Gibson refuses, a gun is put to his head, triggering a panic attack. Gibson somehow manages to shoot the wings off several flies. Sloan says that he was able to do that because his heart beats 400 times a second when he's stressed. When Sloan asks him whether he want to know how to control it, he runs away in fear. Gibson wakes up the next day hoping everything was a dream, but discovers his father's gun (which he stashes in the toilet tank), and that he has $3.6 million in his bank account. At work, Gibson tells off his boss, bashes his duplicitous friend with a computer keyboard (forming the words "FUCK YOU" with the f, u, c, k, y, o letters and a tooth that pops out of his friend's mouth), and storms out. Gibson then sees pictures of himself and Fox on the front page of several newspapers as wanted fugitives for the pharmacy shooting. Then he notices Fox, who has been waiting outside, and she gives him a ride back to the Fraternity headquarters - an unassuming textile mill.Sometime later when his training is complete, Gibson is given orders to kill people from the Loom of Fate, a loom that gives the names of the targets through a binary code hidden in weaving errors of the fabric. While on his first assignment, Gibson has second thoughts and hesitates killing his target. In a flashback we learn that he told Fox it isn't right to kill people without knowing anything about them or why they deserve to die. Fox then relates a childhood story, about a judge handling a sensitive case, and the defendant had ordered him assassinated. A hired killer held the young girl at knifepoint as they waited for her father to return home. The killer then set fire to the father as the young girl watched, and then branded his initials into her neck. Fox explained that the man who killed the judge had been targeted by the Fraternity several weeks prior to the events of the story, but their assassin had failed to carry out his duty. Fox then tells Gibson The Fraternity's idea, "Kill one and maybe save thousands". As she prepares to leave, he notices initials branded on her neck and realizes the story was about her. Back to present we see Gibson bends a bullet trajectory to kill the target a moment after this recollection.Whenever Sloan orders Gibson to kill a person, Gibson would ask whether the target is Cross as he cannot wait to have revenge. At one time, Sloan grants his wish as the next target is Cross. Fox feels that it is too early but Sloan gives her another order where the target is Gibson.Gibson and Fox travel to the Fraternity's original base of operations in Europe. The two easily capture Pekwarsky and force him to take them to Cross. The meeting leads to a confrontation between Gibson and Cross on a moving train. Fox steals a car and crashes it into the train, eventually causing the train to derail when it reaches a bridge over a deep ravine (killing all innocent passengers). Gibson is about to fall into the ravine before Cross catches his hand, saving his life. Gibson unhesitatingly shoots him. Before Cross dies, he tells Gibson that he is his real father and that the Fraternity had been lying to him. Fox confirms the truth and explains that Gibson was recruited because he was the only person that Cross wouldn't kill. Fox then tells Gibson about the kill order on him and raises her weapon to shoot him. Gibson, however, shoots the glass underneath him and plunges into the river below.Gibson awakes in an apartment across the street from his former apartment. He finds Pekwarsky there. Upon inspecting the apartment, he discovers it belonged to his father, who had been monitoring him his whole life. Pekwarsky hands Gibson a loom weaving and tells him to decode it. Gibson is shocked to discover Sloan's name in the weaving. Pekwarsky explains that after Sloan discovered that he was the next target stated by the Loom of Fate, he started manufacturing his own targets and after discovering this Cross goes rogue and Sloan turns the Fraternity against him. Since then Sloan has used false kill orders to direct the Fraternity as mere contract killers. Gibson realizes that Cross had never actually tried to kill him in their previous confrontations; he had been assassinating Fraternity members to keep them away from Gibson. Pekwarsky departs after giving Gibson plane tickets, stating that his father wished him a life free of violence. While exploring the apartment further, Gibson discovers a secret room containing all of his father's weapons and maps. He even finds a supply of the Exterminator's mini-bombs, realizing that the Exterminator had been working with his father. Gibson then devises a plan to take out Sloan and the Fraternity. Upon entering Sloan's office, he finds himself surrounded by Fox and her fellow master assassins. Gibson tells them that Sloan is killing for profit by providing his killers with fraudulent kill orders. He then attempts to kill Sloan, but is disarmed by Fox.Fox asks Sloan if this is true. Sloan then reveals that all of their names had come up in the weaving, and that he had merely acted to protect them. He then goes on to explain that if they truly believe in the code then they should take their lives right where they stand. Otherwise, they should kill Gibson. The other assassins decide to kill Gibson, but Fox turns on her fellow assassins. She "curves" a bullet to kill the assassins who had been standing in a circle, then throws her gun to Gibson before stepping back into the bullet's trajectory. Sloan escapes. Gibson, penniless once more, does not know what to do with himself. While Gibson provides a voice-over, the audience sees a young man sitting in front of a computer in a cubicle much like Gibson did at the beginning of the film. The man types the name "Wesley Gibson" into Google and searches for it but does not have any results, as in the beginning of the film. Sloan appears and points a gun at the man's head. At that moment, the man turns around and is revealed to be a decoy and looks down. Sloan also looks down and realizes he is standing on a marked spot. He then looks up and says, "Oh, fuck", before Gibson, who is actually miles away, shoots him in the head from the comfort of his own apartment, from the same window his father killed Mr. X at the beginning of the movie. It is also shown that the same bullet passed through an energy drink his former best friend was holding as his unfaithful girlfriend looks on in shock, and passed through a donut his former boss was about to eat mere moments before it killed Sloan.The movie ends with Gibson breaking the fourth wall, addressing the audience and giving an overview of his last six weeks as an assassin saying, "This is me taking back control of my life. What the fuck have you done lately?" | murder, cult, violence, plot twist, flashback, psychedelic, action, revenge | train | imdb | It's got plenty of violence and stylized action with a dose of sexuality and a decent plot...Wesley Gibson is a miserable account manager with a dead-end life until he is approached by the beautiful Fox, who informs him that his father was a master assassin who had been murdered days before.
The reason for that is all those negative comments.People don't like the idea of a man making a giant leap across buildings, about the "plot of the world" and the ridicule in the movie.But at the same time I guess they DID like Trinity's jump in Matrix, destiny (sadame) in any Japanese movie or comedy of Mr and Mrs Smith.COME ON PEOPLE!
For the first half hour Wanted felt like a trailer.Adapted from a graphic novel the film never seems to settle,the actors seem ill at ease with the material and the impatience on the directors part leaves us with a messy hackneyed film of action set pieces and sci fi mumbo jumbo inbetween.
The film tries far too hard to be cool which is a shame because im sure it could have been a better film if things would have just been done with a little less haste.James McAvoy,so convincing in Last King Of Scotland is hard to like in this role.Morgan Freeman seems totally non interested but to be fair hes given virtually nothing to do and just serves as filler between action scenes.Angelina Jolie is the real star of this film,she has astounding presence as an actress and suits the action genre,its just a shame we cant find a truly memorable action film for her to star in.In summary Wanted is a fast paced but legless action film that promises much but delivers very little.It leaves you wanting..
I like the fact that some of the characters are played by different actors than your normal action movie types, though to be honest I am not sure about McAvoy's American accent, though he handles everything else well.
James McAvoy (Wesley) brings a dorky, dark humor to the movie, Angelina Jolie brings a cocky, bad ass tone, and Morgan Freeman, well, what movie isn't he perfect in.
Which suited me just fine.The only gripe I can have with this movie is that near the end there were bits that seemed predictable, not the whole thing ...but little parts here or there.Timur Bekmambetov did an amazing job directing this, and I am looking forward to more product from him in the future..
Unlike Crank, or Shoot'em up however it can't find a post modern humor to it, it just plays the action too straight and too improbable, and the word that spring to mind is bathos.However, philosophy is great only if really tight and not pop dollops of pseudo meaning - there is not enough explanation, it's all very mysterious, but simply not mystic enough.I would have liked less bullets and knives and more creativity in the action scenes - and finally at the end of the day the film can't cram in all we need to know in the time continuum provided.Good, if violent, entertainment, but a good film...
That said, I can only say that it's good, not great.James McAvoy, who I've been a fan of since "Rory O'Shea Was Here", does an acceptable job as the movie's main character.
And Common, a guy who has more on screen gravitas than most actors, is sadly underused.The action scenes, which are vital for a film like this are very good.
Based on a six-issue comic series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones, Wanted provides the appropriate thrills, action and engagement needed for a strong summer movie extravaganza.Wanted focuses on Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), a nobody in a minor, dead-end job with an overbearing boss and a best friend who is getting horizontal with Wesley's girlfriend during lunch breaks.
Sloan informs Wesley that he has the same potential to be a superb assassin as his father, and thus leads to Wesley standing up to his boss, his girlfriend, his friend and beginning his training to become a member of the Fraternity.Wanted exudes much of the same energy as The Matrix, as well as sharing a similar visual flair, without necessarily ripping off the former film.
The film is also helped along by some very strong visual effects that blend rather seamlessly with the surrounding live-action material.Wanted, much like the early summer success Iron Man, also understands that to really get into a story, we have to be involved in the characters, and with Wanted, our entry point is Wesley.
By letting us feel sympathy for Wesley, we have a rooting interest in what happens later, and therefore are involved in the film's action.James McAvoy gives us a vulnerable character in the form of Wesley at the beginning of Wanted, who then transforms into an assassin, but we never lose our identification with him.
A few punches in the face and some exercise and you will be James Bond perfect because your absentee father was and we all know DNA is much more important than practice or discipline.This movie gets all of its charm from the conceit that we know it is all part of the Matrix era bullet time slickness of action and the understanding that it all comes from a comic book anyway so if you have to pick someone up all you have to do is skid sideways right into the person at high speed with the door open and scoop 'em up.
And there can never be too many times two evenly matched assassins demonstrate the fact by their bullets crashing into each other harmlessly in mid flight.Angelina Jolie has said that sure she is carrying guns in this movie but she condones what happens to the characters so she could get behind the movie.
Yes the storyline and action is OTT that's the point of the story, we lead sad, depressing boring lives most of the time and we would kill for a chance to do something amazing, anyone who likes over thought, over talked movies probs should give this a miss, it is a proper popcorn movie which , if you are like me will want to see it all over again.
Yes, siree, I can!The film starts with a Matrix like scene, continues with the average man learning he is extraordinary, then switches to the group of highly trained assassins that only take "good" missions assigned to them by "fate" and continues to ridiculous gun scenes, one in which a bullet has a circular trajectory and kills everyone including the shooter.
"Wanted" is a mixture of these three great movies and HITS AS HARD AS THESE if not more.The movie is thrilling, action-packed, great cinematography, highly interesting and unpredictable story with many twists, great acting, strong message in the end, inspiring ...
A life totally different from the one he is living now: the life of an assassin.When I saw the trailers for this film I was thinking it was going to be a brainless action film with lots of collateral damage, a flimsy story and some nice looking scenery, but overall a good sense of amusement.
The story has a good cast, with names like Terence Stamp, Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie; a very high-budget; and is full of action.
Apart from director Timur Bekmambetov's similarly hyperkinetic Nightwatch series, the film plunders from works as diverse as Fight Club's satirical critique of the soulless corporate world, complete with a nihilistic Norton style voice-over, to The Matrix's immersion into a new world (Jolie and Freeman's characters scream parallels to Trinity and Morpheus) and hyper-stylized, adrenaline pumping action sequences.
The recurring theme of the emasculated man "finding himself" through violence veers into uncertain ethical territory even for an unabashed action film, and the numerous staggering gaps in logic (the exploding rats were just too much), gargantuan plot holes and underdeveloped concepts (a bit of exposition on the assassin cult's mystical abilities, especially the much hyped "curving bullets" would have done wonders) strain credibility several shades too far, even where next to none was expected in the first place.
The genius unorthodox casting of James McAvoy proves the spark of life which keeps the film afloat, his substantial charisma, perfect comic delivery and entirely credible shift from timid corporate drone to hardboiled action hero making for a supremely engaging lead.
If you have been waiting for Angelina Jolie to come out with a new action packed movie this is.
Other times, as in this instance, I find just one thing: garbage, as we Americans say.This is pure garbage, sad to say, despite the "stylish" action scenes, which are somewhat of a ripoff from the Matrix movies where the film-makers are obsessed over showing slow-motion shots of bullets flying through the air and then smashing into someone's forehead.
Then you hire a star with a spotty commercial track record (did you know Angelina Jolie has been lining up the box-office bomb regularly throughout her career - Sky Captain anyone?) who has given up on even trying to act and partner her up with the latest "British discovery" who turns out to be a poor actor with no discernible charisma (ala Colin Farrell but even blander).Stir the pot, add a humongous ad campaign to fool as many people as possible into seeing this turkey on opening day and you've got Wanted.Think about the great movie that could have been made with all that money!.
I think this is that kind of movie that gives everyone that exitment,to see a movie without a problem.it is present that kind of real action you are looking for.Without mentioning the great performance of actors in this movie.Angelina Jolie will not disapoint you she still got the class.It maybe should give us a little bit more of the story..
problem is, after that, movie just goes down all the way you can imagine - in the end its you actually don't know what to do - laugh at the incredibly weak plot, full of clichés and poorly connected threads, or cry because you know it was a lot of money invested in this piece of junk and still it failed.if you are a fan of special effects - then you might want to see this in a cinema, but if you want some more from a movie - do yourself a favor, wait for a DVD release.
Two scenes in this movie are worth watching, (1) a car chase early in the film, and (2) a pyrotechnic-filled montage towards the very end.
The problem with action flicks, is that for every good Lethal Weapon, Batman, Enter the Dragon, T2, Assassins, and Die Hard, you get 500 utterly god-awful crap-sandwiches like Wanted.
I watched the trailer and went to the theater excepting to see a good action movie filled with great special effects.That's what I got, but this movie is innovating because, the story has actually some really nice twists!
The humor (sort of reminded me of "Shoot 'em Up") has a great timing, and it keeps the main focus on the action and the story.The actors did a real good job, but that's what I was expecting from them.
A nerdy cubicle worker is recruited by ultra sexy Angelina Jolie and becomes a super assassin.Thankfully, this film is saved by doses of humor that make the predictable plot and thin story bearable.James McAvoy is surprisingly good, speaking with a perfect American accent.
Another thing that happens is during shootouts, they prevent themselves from being shot by shooting the bullet that is coming towards them.If you like seeing slow motion close-ups of people being shot in the head, then "Wanted" is the movie for you..
Towards the end, although we know exactly what's going on, the film has lost it's focus just as a film - that is, as a story cinematically told - and we end up not giving a dam'.Finally, there's the acting - the nerd is a wimp, the supporting characters get hammy or wooden, and the actors who actually know what acting is don't have anything much to do here - including Angelina Jolie, who is almost completely wasted (anybody who thinks this movie is 'sexy' obviously hasn't reached puberty).Not a total loss as a dumb action movie - but blockbuster?
I thought Angelina did a great job in her role, the action genre is most definitely for her because she does shine as a kick ass type and not to mention her body was SICK in this movie!
Don't be fooled by the trailer, this is one of the dumbest summer movies to come out in a long time.Take a little Matrix, add a heaping spoonful of Fight Club, take a pinch of Minority Report, and add a ton of very bad acting and pointlessly gratuitous violence and you have "Wanted." It was so ridiculously bad that I was actually embarrassed for the actors, who are great in other films.
The head of the organization, Sloan (Morgan Freeman) has him trained to be like his dad and he progresses well, until an apparent assassination attempt on him draws him to a man named Pekwarsky (Terrence Stamp) who casts a different light on things.Wanted is adapted from a 'graphic novel', as is becoming quite the craze at the moment, and seems to rely more on the flashiness and style of this than anything deeper.
A grown up comic book of a movie, with gratuitous sex, violence and swearing by the bucketload, this truly feels like a big case of style over substance, with a messy, convoluted, possibly over-ambitious plot (that, as others have noted, does bear similarities with The Matrix), with thin characterization and a deadly lack of substance.
I've not heard of director Timur Bekmambetov before, but I bet he had some sort of past as a music video director or something along those lines, because that's the impression his film gives off.Cast wise, a wide range of famous name actors, from Jolie to Freeman, fail to make anything out of such uninspiring and flat characters and when talents like this can't save anything, you know you're in trouble.It's not awful.
But after watching Wanted for what must be the 5th or 6th time now, I suddenly felt like writing something anyway, so here I go.Let me begin by saying, this is one strange film.
This movie gives no excuse or a very very poor one for the insane far fetched insulting stunts.As well as the ridiculous action which is fairly unoriginal and has been seen before and in better quality and context the story line is so bad it looks like the audience is at wimbeldon as they are all shaking their heads in time at the plot?.
http://eattheblinds.blogspot.comI detested the trailers and I'm not a fan of gene-pool lottery winner Angelina Jolie, so one movie I never thought I'd sit down to watch was Timur Bekmambetov's action orgy Wanted.
Once Wanted screams aloud that its a thrill ride, it does something few action films ever have the smarts to do - it winks at the audience.This wink let's us know this isn't the real world, but that this is a movie...and a very silly movie at that.
Wanted is one of the best action movies I've seen for several years.
Wanted will blow you away with its unbelievably slick action sequences and satisfactorily unique story loosely based on a Mark Millar comic.James McAvoy (Atonement, Last King of Scotland) pulls it off as Wesley Gibson, an anxiety-ridden cubicle drone with a boring billings job.
Though I was bit disappointed with Morgan Freeman as he did not have much moments but Wanted is more about actions scenes and special effects.
Like so many modern Hollywood moves "wanted" looks and sounds great but is a poorly conceived and written and is ultimately not a good movie.
From the opening scene you think you are watching something like the "Matrix" but the movie never gets around to explaining how these assassins attain superpowers.
Too many "WTF?" moments in both the action and the plot to enjoy this movie unless you really relate to a frustrated nobody stuck in a dead-end job and you want to fantasize about becoming an assassin.
I was a bit apprehensive about this film from the previews and commercials, what with the bending bullets and all, but I figured with all of the action movies trying to outdo each other...maybe there would be a good story backing it.
Aside from the absurd story backing why the frat was assassinating people, all of the stunts were merely an attempt to outdo movies like crank with time/space bending cg that makes anyone who has any inkling of what physics are want to cry.
The film borrows heavily from things like Bulletproof Monk (I don't actually think there's a single original idea in the whole movie) and viewers are expecting to suspend way too much belief.The film has too much action (yes, you read that right!
Except thats not the case, the man he kills IS his father and the guy in charge of the assassins (Morgan Freeman in possibly his worst movie role ever) has started to create targets for his own profit.The film is truly awful, ignore the plot because it's nonexistent.
In fact, the same sequence from the first bit just happens all over again.It should be called Plot Wanted.Just goes to show, cool looking trailers do not a good film make..
James McAvoy is perfect as Wesley and many other A-list actors manage to appear in this flick, including Angelina Jolie as the sexy Fox and Morgan Freeman as the plotting Sloan.
I liked it a lot, although you have to understand that it's what I call an over-the-top action movie, where everything is taken to the extreme (see "Shoot 'Em Up").
Does Hollywood, or at least the film's writers/director really believe that because someone is at a movie that they are as big of a loser as our little character Wesley here? |
tt0082511 | Hell Night | The film opens with a girl starts to scream hysterically looking upwards to the camera. During a massive college party, Peter Bennett, the president of the Alpha Sigma Rho fraternity, decides to make four pledges: Marti, Jeff, Seth, and Denise told to stay at the historic Garth Manor until dawn on hell night as part of their initiation. Peter and a group of others, along with his friends Scott and May, bring everyone together and tells them about the sordid history of the estate as they walk while he leads them. Peter explains in a long monologue that 12 years prior, the owner and great-grandson of the founder and gold prospector, Raymond Garth, strangled his wife Lillian to death and then proceeded to murder three of his children (Morris, Suzanne, and Margaret) due to their severe deformities. After the carnage, Raymond hanged himself. However, the police never found the body of the youngest Garth child, 14-year-old Andrew. Legend has it, Andrew witnessed the murder of his entire family and may still be living within Garth Manor.After the pledges get set up in the house, Scott and May assist Peter in attempting to scare them with mechanical devices and sound effects until they are quickly murdered one by one by unseen assailants. May gets violently dragged into a pit and decapitated. Scott has his neck broken on the roof by a large, bare-handed man. Peter discovers Scott's body hanging from a wire and runs to escape without telling the pledges, but is attacked by an unknown assailant. He escapes, but gets lost in a garden labyrinth (a la The Shining) and runs into yet another assailant who impales him with a scythe. The audience realizes that there are two killers.Meanwhile, Marti, Jeff, Seth and Denise discover the sound devices and bogus effects throughout the house set to scare them. After Seth and Denise have a sensual moment together, Seth excuses himself to go to the restroom, and a large, deformed hand covers Denise's mouth. Seth returns to discover May's severed head in the bed and runs away hysterically freaked out. As Jeff confronts Seth, they quickly decide to escape and seek help as Jeff and Marti stay behind. Seth tries to climb the spiked iron gate, but stabs his arm on a spike and falls down. Jeff suggests that he take off his boots and try again. Seth agrees and manages to scale the gate. But he promises to return. Seth runs back to the frat house at the university, pounding on the door for help around but no one is there.Jeff and Marti search the house and discover Scott's hanging body with a rope outside a window. Jeff decides to go outside to look for the others and discovers Peter's corpse. As he runs away in horror, the camera focuses on Peter's hand. the gate keys grasped tightly. Jeff informs Marti that the others have been killed so they decide that it must be Andrew Garth, but are unsure.Jeff and Marti lie in wait in a bedroom armed with a pitchfork, a mysterious shape comes up from the floor under a large rug to attack them. Jeff impales it with the pitchfork and it falls into the hole in the floor. Angry at the death of his friends, Jeff decides to go after it. Marti follows. As they walk through an underground tunnel under the house, they discover dead bodies posed at a table with rats crawling on them. They discover Denise's fresh corpse among the bodies. Suddenly, they see a disfigured man heading towards them. After a chase down the tunnels, Jeff fights him but is knocked down a stone flight of stairs, and injured. He and Marti escape through a hidden exit.Meanwhile, Seth arrives at a local police station. After being disgruntled with the police who think he is pulling another Alpha Sigma Rho prank (out of his anger) Seth steals a shotgun from an abandoned office and tries to find any remaining pledges at the frat house. Finding no one except some drunken revellers who leave, he then suddenly carjacks a man without hurting him in the parking lot and manages to return to Garth Manor as a promise to his friends. Seth sees a figure run past him at the front gate of the Garth Manor as he arrives back. Following along the gated fence, Seth finds a bent out bar of the fence where the figure sliped through and enters the manor grounds.Suddenly, Seth gets attacked by a man, and after a long scuffle, he shoots him to death with the stolen police shotgun. Obviously, Seth doesn't realize that there's another killer in the house when he enters and calls out for Jeff and Marti. As they tell Seth the others are dead, an arm suddenly grabs him from out of the shadows and quickly drags him away. A gunshot is heard and only the shotgun appears sliding across the floor. As Marti decides to go for the gun, the other killer leaps out to grab her. Marti escapes as he chases them upstairs to the bedroom. The Garth killer then kills Jeff by throwing him out a window after he helps Marti out safely.Marti makes her way through the garden labyrinth and discovers Peter's dead body. As his body falls on top of her, she sees the keys and has to pry them from his hands. She makes her way to the gate (unaware about the secret opening in the fence a few hundred yards down from the front gate), opens it and hot wires the stolen car Seth had left by the front gate. Driving away, a hideous face appears from the roof as the killer has leaped onto the car. Marti screams as the glass shatters and a large hand tries to grasp her throat. As she tries to escape, Marti backs into the front gate, bending it. As the car skids, Marti fights off the assailant and punches down on the accelerator as she speeds towards the gate, the killer looks in horror as the gate violently impales him. He spews blood, writhes in agony and dies. A stunned Marti shouts out and hits her head on the steering wheel sounding the horn as it fades out and the battery on the car dies as well.In the morning, the body is still on the car. Marti awakens slowly to the light of dawn and manages to get out of the car. It is assumed she's the only survivor. She walks toward the camera in a daze as the end credits roll. | cult, horror, murder, prank | train | imdb | When the seemingly innocent rite of passage turns deadly, these college students will do anything to survive Hell Night." Hell Night is a fun way to waste a couple of hours, a definite popcorn flick which isn't a bad thing, the cast are clearly having fun with they're roles, Suki Goodwin, as Denise, is a scream; providing the film's main comedy moments without really grating.
Linda Blair is also as effortlessly likable as you'd imagine, as the slightly tomboyish girl (with the handy mechanic skills).Hell Night never fails to be entertaining,It's the fun early 80's slasher flick - designed for retro thrills, fun scares and popcorn munching.
It takes itself seriously enough to stop from descending into self-parody funny to talk about innocence in a film where a bunch of people get carved up in creative ways, but HELL NIGHT is a perfect twilight genre example of the slasher flick before it descended into self parody and rapidly shrinking budgets..
Hell Night, much like Friday the 13th and Halloween, is a horror movie that has, for me, stood the test of time.From the creepy setting to the scary villains, and horny, screaming college kids, this one has it all.
In fact, most of the characters didn't even realize a psychopath was on the loose until late in the film, when it was really too late.The setting was really milked for all it was worth by the director, with scenes not only throughout the creepy mansion, but a number of them below the house and within the extensive grounds.
The whole film has a fun, festive tone, and there are some pretty spooky scenes and the atmosphere was perfect in a classic, haunted-house horror kind of way.
Back to 'Hell Night'...I thought everybody gave really good performances throughout...Linda Blair and Vincet Van Patten standout the most.
While the other fraternity members are playing pranks to increase the eeriness, the real killer comes to interfere
Of course, you can't really refer to this 'Hell Night' as being a good film.
Linda Blair stars as one of four college pledges who must spend the night in the creepy old mansion(reputed to be haunted, with a murderous history) in order to join the sorority and fraternity.
Seniors plan to pull pranks on them for fun, but discover to their dismay that "reputed" turns out to mean "factual"...Surprisingly effective thriller may not be original, but has good performances and direction, which create characters you come to care about, and a genuinely spooky atmosphere, especially when it moves underground.
It does provide for some interesting conversation after the movie is over but I think the film would have been more enjoyable if questions had been answered.Hell Night is a little slow moving and doesn't keep it's pace going once things start to happen and Linda Blair's acting is atrocious, but that aside Hell Night is a nice addition to the 80's slasher flicks.
What then follows is the usual slasher sort of stuff, with the kids inside getting sliced and diced along with the ones outside, who were just trying to make their new frat-mate's stay a little scarier.Linda Blair, now all grown up since her role in The Exorcist, takes the lead role and does pretty much what you would expect the heroine to do.
"Hell Night" has the key elements for a slasher film : Horny teens, a stalker (at times I thought it was something like an ape), gore, and a scary score.
"Hell Night" is one of the most impressive slashers of the time period.**SPOILERS**Participating in a fraternity initiation, Marti, (Linda Blair) Seth, (Vincent Van Patten) Denise Dunsmore, (Suki Goodwin) and Jeff Reed, (Peter Barton) are gathered together by fraternity leader Peter Bennett, (Kevin Brophy) for it's annual ritual.
Going through the house, they all start to realize that the story involving a serial killer who had murdered his family is real and they try to leave before anything happens to them.The Good News: This one is a really interesting slasher.
Another film to appear just after the dawn of the slasher frenzy with producer Irwin Yablins himself taking part after producing the film that pretty much signalled the birth of the afforementioned genre.Anyone with a likeness to horror should not be scratching their heads to work out the identity of this masterpiece.Linda Blair had become a firm association with exploitation horror (and sleazy action films)after her successful potrayal as a bile vomiting head turning demon chick in "The Exorcist" so it's very neat to see her here playing a voluptuous well to do "Innocent" fraternity pledger facing her initiation night in a haunted house.Along with her for the ride are all the other cliched types...The Horny anything goes foreign girl,the tough as nuts jock,and of course,the well to do "Innocent" guy of the situation,One from the misunderstood side of the tracks..(A neat little exchange of dialogue on the issues of misunderstood upbringings takes place,before the slaughter with the two well two do's.)What unravels during the course of the pledgers indoctrination makes for some geniuinely scary and atmospheric thrills haunted house/slasher style..A mysterious presence who may be the topic of myth is also in the wailing halled mansion too,with murder on it's mind.Although some of the suspense scenes are so long and anti climatic, There is a decent amount to recommend about Hell Night.The murder scenes do not look as poorly done as previously indicated and there are some pretty neat little action/battle scenes between the two male heroes and the mysterious presence.Of course the horror film cliches are ever present,the heroine who falls down for no good reason during a chase,a seemingly invincible killer with no explanation as to why a pointblank shotgun wound does not effect the killer slightly and why the silly twits in mention always roam off alone and act surprised when their is no response to "Who's there?" But these are standard puns for horror films and anyone who watches these films and picks the absolute dirt out of them does not appreciate the films face value..."TOTAL UNREALISTIC CHEAP MINDLESS FUN" and for the most part....That kinda fun is cool...There is one scene in this film that made me JUMP out of my chair,hopefully upon seeing the scene,you'll guess which one it was too.
Could be too that faces like Linda Blair and Vince Van Patten were noticeable faces in genre films and guest-filled shows like The Love Boat back then, and there's a fondness that I know I have for those fun times.Like Hell Night or don't, but it definitely deserves its respected place in the history of thrillers..
The movie has been done before and yes done better but it is Linda Blair that makes this horror/slasher movie work.College kids must stay a night in a haunted house.
What starts out as a prank turns into full horror as the legend of the house being haunted by a killer comes true.Some nice camera work as well as lighting and acting make this an above average horror/slasher flick.
Even thought it's rated R (presumably for a little gore and an incredibly chaste sex scene), Hell Night is great entertainment for the family during the Halloween season.
Linda Blair leads an appealing cast of sorority and fraternity pledges who are forced to stay the night in the spooky Garth Manor, which was the scene of several unsolved murders years before.
An all-grown-up Linda Blair leads the cast with her charming girl-next-door presence, while pretty-boy Peter Barton ("Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter") plays her good-guy boyfriend.
The film had its share of gore, but it wasn't gratuitous, like some modern "horror" movies, i.e. Hostel, which is more like torture porn and not a true horror flick.What happened to good old fashioned scary movies, like The Thing, Halloween, The Shining, Hell Night, etc.?
Marti (Linda Blair!), the chubby, innocent one, Jeff (Peter Barton) the gentlemen, Seth (Vincent Van Patten) the fun one, and Denise (Suki Goodwin) the sexy British one, all want to join Alpha Sigma Rho fraternity and its sister sorority, but they first must spend the night at an old mansion while three tricksters (Kevin Brophy, Jimmy Sturtevant, Jenny Neumann) scare them silly.
However soon a crazy murderous ape-like mutant comes to crash the party.From the director of Bad Bad Boys, Erotikus, Good Hot Stuff, and Wet Shorts comes HELL NIGHT!It's one of those super fun horror movies.
One of the most beautifully photographed horror films of the 1980's is HELL NIGHT, an under-rated, atmospheric thriller starring Linda Blair and a cast of characters light years more interesting than the cardboard dolts of the SCREAM and I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER variety.
(Not that that's a BAD thing, but it's just not too scary.) I honestly thought the script was well-constructed and funny and character exposition was given in an unobtrusive but helpful way (i.e. Linda Blair working as a mechanic.) There is absolutely nothing new or groundbreaking in HELL NIGHT, but it's a sterling example of how to polish up an old apple and make it look appealing and new-- and taste good.
Linda Blair stars in this, and Hell Night was a very good slasher film.
A fine, actually scary little B flick with a fab B cast: Linda Blair, Peter Barton and Vince Van Patten, all battling a creepy, grotesque mutant out for blood in the film's obligatory old dark house setting.
Four students have to spend the night in the dark old mansion called Garth Manor only to be murdered by a deformed killer.Tom DeSimone's "Hell Night" is a surprisingly decent horror film.There is a little bit of gore and a nice amount of atmosphere,unfortunately the film is too darkly lit to be completely enjoyable.Still "Hell Night" offers some shocking scenes that will make you jump,but overall isn't scary.The acting is actually decent and the direction by Tom DeSimone is well-handled.The film has a dark,almost Gothic feel,which I liked.So if you like low-budget slasher films you can't go wrong with "Hell Night".8 out of 10.Highly recommended..
But surprise, surprise..."Hell Night" is one of the best slasher films to come out of the 80s, along with "Friday the 13th," "Prom Night," "Terror Train," "He Knows You're Alone" and "Halloween II." The plot is simple: Alpha Sigma Rho is having a blast with their new pledges.
Underneath the mansion, there is a disfigured maniac who doesn't enjoy having unwelcome guests in his house.Like I said before, "Hell Night" could have been your average slasher film.
The killer was weird and creepy, and although "Hell Night" was a slasher movie, it had the elements of a wonderful haunted house tale, like the 1958 schlock classic "The House on Haunted Hill." Garth Manor reminded me very much of that house, only "House on Haunted Hill" didn't have the scares that this movie did.
"Hell Night" is a nifty little haunted house-style/slasher romp that puts movies like "Graduation Day" and "Girl's Nite Out" to shame.
"Hell Night" from 1981 has all of the elements of a horror movie from the 80's it's got a house with a past, teens and college students with raging hormones who want sex, and murder one by one with like one character living.
Hell Night is a decent early 80's slasher, starring a mechanically inclined Linda Blair.Each year the local fraternity and sorority hold a Devil's Night bash together; using it as an oppourtunity to haze their pledges.They demand that they stay overnight in an abandoned mansion, where a man went mad; killing his wife- and two of three of his deformed children- before hanging himself.
Although not nearly as effective as Carpenter's classic, this routine shocker, directed by Tom DeSimone, still manages to deliver a few classy moments and a couple of decent scares, particularly in its final frantic moments, and is worth persevering with to the end.A rather chubby Linda Blair plays Marti Gaines, one of four college pledges who must spend the night in deserted Garth Manor, rumoured to be the stomping ground of Andrew, a deformed freak who, twelve years earlier, witnessed the slaughter of his family by his father.With the gates locked behind them, the foursome make their way to the manor house, where they encounter a variety of scary practical jokes that are being orchestrated (via remote control) by fraternity head Peter and his pals, who are hiding in the manor grounds.The spooky fun stops for everyone, however, when Andrew proves to be not only very real, but also rather insane.
After murdering the jokers lurking outside his house, the twisted maniac heads inside to continue the killing...For much of its running time, Hell Night offers very little in the way of originality and decent scares, with its teens indulging in the usual and predictable shenanigans before the deaths begin: the promiscuous characters (Vincent Van Patten as surf dude Seth and Suki Goodwin as party girl Denise) drink alcohol, do drugs, and have casual sex, whilst virginal Marti and good guy Jeff (Peter Barton) look for a place to sleep (but not together, of course).
The freaky killer is also rather unoriginal, lacking the inventiveness of a Freddy or a Jason: his victims are dispatched via decapitation, hanging and stabbing, and most of the death scenes are fairly bloodless when compared with other slashers of the day.Fortunately, however, it is worth tolerating the clichéd antics and rather humdrum murders for the exciting finalé, which features a thrilling chase through underground caverns, several solid 'jump scares', and a very satisfying ending in which Marti finishes off the bad guy in spectacular fashion.For maximum enjoyment, viewers are advised not to think too hard about the storyline, since it features several glaring plot holes, some unbelievable contrivances, and plain confusing moments that might ruin the fun if considered for too long (how did Andrew remain in the manor house for twelve years without food, light, and heat?
There's your set up for HELL NIGHT, a derivative but still enjoyable early 80s slasher romp that featured such then-young talent as "Exorcist" vet Linda Blair (who never looked hotter than she does here), Peter Barton (a blink-and-you-missed-him teen heart throb of the era, best known for the "Powers Of Matthew Starr" TV series) and Vincent Van Patten (the "I hear it's raining cats and dogs in Idaho" guy from "Rock N Roll High School").
I'm not going to talk about the story because I'm sure the concept was devised in about two minutes, but the thing that makes Hell Night stand out is that it's actually scary, everything that a horror movie should be.
It didn't bring anything new or set standards but it surely followed the basic rules imposed by Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Friday the 13th (among the most popular slashers).Decent amount of gore, dark settings, creepy music, scary killer (s), and a good lead character (Linda Blair).
Linda Blair goes from demonically possessed pre-teen to screaming coed in this fart better than usual slasher film from 1981 - the golden year of the slasher sub-genre.Blair is Marti, a smart sorority girl forced to spend the night in a spooky mansion right out of Scooby Doo with three other sorority and fraternity pledges.
Like being in something called "Hell Night" was going to give you a good reputation!The movie has no nudity, very little swearing and next to no violence, blood or gore---how did this get an R rating?
HELL NIGHT (1981) **½ Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Peter Barton, Kevin Brophy, Suki Goodwin.
Linda Blair stars as a sorority pledge who, along with three others (Van Patten, Barton and Goodwin) must spend the night in Garth Manor, an old abandoned house, as a part of her initiation.
Says one half-man, half-monster is killing the kids, seemed like two
So how good could this movie be if even the description is bad?Acting: 4/10 Story: 4/10 Atmosphere: 7/10 Cinematography: 6/10 Character Development: 0/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 3/10 Nudity/Sexuality: 0/10 Violence/Gore: 5/10 Music: 5/10 Direction: 3/10Cheesiness: 2/10 Crappiness: 7/10Overall: 3/10Another one for just horror buffs and completists, and even that might be a stretch.
HELL NIGHT is a run-of-the-mill slasher flick from the early 1980s, notable only for the casting of THE EXORCIST's Linda Blair as a college student who decides to spend the night in a haunted mansion along with some of her equally unaware companions.
Four teens are going to sleep in a manor with terrific stories about it.Yeah,very original for the time.The acting is good,except Linda Blair.I especially liked the Vincent Van Patten performance,and Suki Goodwin is good in her role of bad girl.There isn't much blood and the murders aren't original.The special effects are poor and we didn't see breast and there the scenes in bed are very innocent.The setting is amazing and one of the best settings in the horror story!!I give it a 5 and not a 6 or a 7 because the killer back story isn't clear and that's upsets me.Megamagdaleno's mark:5'2SPOILERSThe favorite kill:Peter,who is cornered and pierced by a scythe.Then,the Peter's flashlight falls into the floor as we hear the killer's grunts.
By her side is Dick Van Patten's handsome son, Vincent; and Peter Barton, who would later go on to become one of Jason's most memorable victims in Friday the 13th Part 4.With top-notch gore effects, a thrilling score, and one of the most haunting mansions ever seen on film - Hell Night is a roller-coaster of horror that should have been one of '81's biggest terror hits.As it, its all but forgotten...
This movie was a fun horror film It is nothing amazing, but it is really entertaining and worth a look especially if you are a Linda Blair fan(like me).
And, on a personal level, I always enjoy Linda Blair in just about anything she does.While it will never be known as a great movie, you could do far worse with a teen slasher than watching Hell Night..
Hell Night it is very creepy, the atmosphere is amazing and the house "GARTH MANOR" is like a separate character in itself. |
tt2692250 | Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb | In this third film of the 'Night at the Museum', the opening scene is in Egypt, 1938. A team of archaeologists are digging into a tomb to look for a valuable artefact. A young boy falls through a hole that leads his father and the others to what they came for - the Tablet of Ahkmenrah. Several local men see the Tablet and say "The end will come". The Tablet is later kept hidden for centuries.We move to the present day in New York City where a big event is going on at the Museum of Natural History. Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) is overseeing the event while Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais) is in attendance. Larry gathers the favorite exhibits, including Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Attila The Hun (Patrick Gallagher), Sacajawea (Mizuo Peck), Dexter the monkey, and Rexy the T-Rex skeleton. Elsewhere, Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan) are watching a funny cat video on YouTube. Larry even meets a caveman named Laa (also Ben Stiller in a dual role), who was modeled to look like Larry as a joke.What nobody notices is that the Tablet is starting to corrode, causing all the exhibits to act wild and cause chaos during the event. The exhibits attack guests and rum amok all over the place. Dexter slaps Larry a few times. Everyone later calms down, uncertain of what happened until they look at the Tablet and notice the corrosion.Larry goes home to find his son Nicky (Skyler Gisondo) throwing a party where he's acting as the DJ. Larry sends all the kids out. Now that Nick's done with high school, he has pursued other interests and is looking to become a DJ full time. It's also clear that the relationship with his father has strained a bit.On his quest to find answers, Larry discovers a picture of the boy and his father during the expedition. He learns that the boy is C.J. Fredericks, better known to Larry as Cecil Fredericks (Dick Van Dyke), the former museum security guard that tried to steal the Tablet for himself. Larry finds Cecil in a retirement home along with his elderly cohorts Gus (Mickey Rooney) and Reginald (Bill Cobbs). Larry explains to Cecil what's happening, and he recalls hearing "The end will come". He suggests that they find Ahkmenrah's parents, who are all the way in the British Museum of Natural History. Larry later goes to McPhee, who is in the process of being fired, and convinces him to call the British Museum and allow Larry to travel there with Ahkmenrah. McPhee gets on the phone and makes it happen.Larry and Nick travel to London to get to the British Museum. They meet the security guard of that museum, Tilly (Rebel Wilson), an obese but cheerful young lady who is eccentric and thinks being an American security guard would be cooler than where she's at. When Larry gets into the museum, he sees that Laa, Teddy, Sacajawea, Attila, Dexter, Jed, and Octavius all sneaked into the crate to join in the adventure. Since the Tablet now brings the British exhibits to life, the gang first encounters a triceratops skeleton that chases after them. They are saved by Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens), who punches the triceratops in the nose. Unfortunately, the gang has also lost Jed and Octavius, who have fallen through the ventilation chambers.The gang goes off to find Jed and Octavius, when they come across a multi-headed snake exhibit that comes to life and attacks. Meanwhile, Jed and Octavius land on a Pompeii exhibit just as it erupts. The gang fights off the snake monster while Dexter finds Jed and Octavius. Larry defeats the snake with a defibrillator while Dexter pees on the lava to save Jed and Octavius.The gang finds the tombs of Ahkmenrah's parents, Merenkahre (Ben Kingsley) and Shepseheret (Anjali Jay). Merenkahre is at first hesitant to reveal the truth behind the Tablet, but he eventually admits that it was a gift made for his son when he was a baby. It needs moonlight to retain its magic. Then, Lancelot reveals his true intention to steal the Tablet as he holds Nick with a knife to his neck. Larry surrenders the Tablet, and Lancelot runs off with it to find Guinevere (King Arthur's lady) and win her over. The Tablet continues to corrode, causing Teddy's arms to freeze up and Ahkmenrah to age.The gang races to find Lancelot, but are cornered by lion statues. Larry distracts them with a flashlight like in the cat video. Tilly then locks Larry and Laa in the security room. There, Larry starts to think about his relationship with Nick. Laa points to his head and Larry thinks he means he needs to open his mind to Nick's interests, but Laa just smashes the glass with his head and breaks Larry out.Lancelot has made his way to a local theater showing a Camelot production starring Hugh Jackman as King Arthur and Alice Eve as Guinevere. The knight runs onstage with the Tablet and tries to convince Alice to join him, though she insists that she's just an actress. Larry and the gang catch up to them and chase Lancelot to the roof where he takes a torch and the Tablet. Larry follows him (after telling Hugh how amazing he is) and corners Lancelot on the roof. However, the Tablet's magic is now almost completely gone. Teddy, Sacajawea, Ahkmenrah, Dexter, Jed and Octavius all freeze up. Larry convinces Lancelot (whose nose has melted a bit because of the torch) to give him back to Tablet to save his friends. He lets the moonlight hit it, restoring the Tablet's golden look and bringing everyone back to life.Larry returns the Tablet to Merenkahre and decides that it and Ahkmenrah should stay there at the British Museum. The other exhibits decide to go back with Larry, knowing that even though they won't come back to life anymore, they'll still have had their adventures with Larry. Larry returns to New York and bonds with Nick.Three years later, a British History event is happening at the Museum of Natural History. Tilly shows up to McPhee's office with a box. McPhee says that Larry left the museum and went on to become a teacher. Tilly opens the box and takes out the Tablet. She brings McPhee to show all the exhibits come to life, including some new light displays. McPhee has a big smile on his face as the exhibits play music and party together. Outside, Larry watches and smiles.de | whimsical, historical | train | imdb | It is however regarded as a nice family film to sit down and enjoy, so was the second instalment, and this one isn't any different.We all know the premise; a special Egyptian tablet makes it possible for all the exhibits in the museum to come to life at night.
Of course another thing we enjoy with these movies is the actual museum coming to life and they do some really cool stuff with that idea and it's awesome to see these historical figures interact with statues and even paintings!They brought us some new characters too which included Lancelot who steals so many scenes and has some great lines, I love that character; also we get Ben Kingsley as King Merenkahre who surprisingly didn't actually have much screen time for a big-name actor.
In the end Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb was a fun ride just like the first two, it has some awesome surprises I wasn't expecting and all round a good family film..
In this installment, the tablet that keeps the exhibits alive at night is starting to lose its power and the only way to prevent the magic from disappearing is going to the British museum which would be able to restore the power of the tablet back to its glory, I will say while in some ways it closes one chapter being Larry daily but leaves the story to continue with another..
Good Fun. In the third instalment of the Night at the Museum movies, the tablet that brings the museum exhibits to life is losing it's power and to fix it, Ben Stiller and the gang have to go visit the only person who knows how to fix it, at the London's British Museum.This movie was definitely more entertaining than I thought it would be.
At the heart of the franchise is Ben Stiller, a comic actor with deceptively understated style, and this time he gets to plays two very contrasting roles, particularly funny when his characters interact.If there are weaknesses in this outing, they are that perhaps too many of the original characters are involved (meaning that screen time is spread rather thinly between them), there could have been more original museum characters (the main one is Dan Stevens as Sir Lancelot), and it would have been good to have more female roles (Australian Rebel Wilson as the BM security guard is effectively the only substantive one).
Secret of the Tomb delivers adequately in the way a third film should, with heart, care and laughter.Larry the night guard is still living the dream caring for the exhibits, and familiar characters, that come alive at night at the Museum of Natural History, thanks to the Tablet of Ahkmenrah.
Motivated to save his friends, he ventures on a quest to discover more about the Tablet which brings him to the Museum of London as a last ditch effort to restore the Tablet and preserve his waxy, plastic and ancient companions.With its third and final installment, director Shawn Levy returns to the magic that existed in the original Night at the Museum which ultimately captivated film-goers.
Screenwriters David Guion and Michael Handelman smartly bring back beloved characters from the first film and don't muddy up the premise or story too much with over-complications.Fans of the franchise will be pleasantly surprised by the heartfelt and sentimental Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.
A fun and entertaining finale, I would recommend Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb to anyone looking for a good family film.
-Secret of the Tomb is the third and final installment of the Night At The Museum series, and this time the tablet's power is running out and the gang must go to the British Natural History Museum to try to find answers and save the gang!
The movie looks like it runs out of fuel and try to squeeze everything necessary to keep it alive and worth to watch, with the help of good special effect and cameo!The storyline is waayyy too simple, for a franchise which made a big bucks with its first installment, it feels that they have lack of ideas, no surprise, no twists, just plain.
Museum night guard Ben Stiller's relationship with his now teenage son is emphasized, and it doesn't feel real at all.My two favorite scenes involved Luke Wilson as a miniature cowboy and Steve Coogan as a miniature Roman soldier.
Still about the actors, this film retained almost all of the previous cast, notably Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais and Dick Van Dyke, who makes a brief cameo such as Hugh Jackman, in the role of himself.
This, the concluding chapter of the series, is also very enjoyable.In SECRET OF THE TOMB Larry Daley and his friends (and also his son) have to go to the British Museum for re-charging the tablet because it became green after years and all the exhibits behave very strange.
The cast is as always full of famous faces: in small cameos Dick van Dyke, Bill Cobbs and Mickey Rooney (in his final movie), Hugh Jackman as himself, Robin Williams (in his final live action performance) and Ben Kingsley as Akmenrah's dad.
But I have to agree with some other reviewers including TheLittleSongbird that Rebel Wilson is very annoying at times.However, while not perfect like his two predecessors, it's still very worth watching also for Robin Williams' final bow.
It will be hard to imagine a fourth Night At The Museum film without Robin Williams playing Teddy Roosevelt so I'm betting this film will end the series with
When the tablet of Ahkmenrah begins to lose its magical ability to bring museum exhibits to life, night-watchman Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) takes a trip to the London Museum of Natural History in the hope of finding out how to restore the artefact to full power.The first Night at the Museum movie was a very enjoyable family fantasy that proved entertaining throughout thanks to a highly original concept, the introduction of lots of memorable characters, and loads of great special effects; the second movie was more of the same, but in my opinion made up for any lack of originality by featuring the lovely Amy Adams in very tight trousers.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, the third film in the series, offers absolutely nothing new, delivers precious few genuinely funny moments, and this time around, there are no shots of Ms Adams' delightful derrière to compensate.A monkey peeing on diminutive characters Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan) provides the biggest laugh, which speaks volumes about the film as a whole..
Overall rating: 2.5 stars Cinematic value: 2 stars Family value: 3 stars The success of the Museum of Natural History in New York and this film series has come to rely on the magic that comes about every night.
The last night at the museum has its own moments just like the previous two installments, the Egyptian theme and the tomb at the very beginning of the film might bring audiences the feeling of getting back to the first two Mummy films, but soon after that, everything ruins thanks to the easy, lazy story line without a proper exploration on each characters development and to build a logic connection and memory among themselves.
'Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb (2014)' follows its own established formula almost verbatim, but does cap off the series rather nicely by providing an apt and definitive end in a way which feels respectful and even slightly resonant (though its final dance number does take away from the surprisingly melancholic mood).
But i would not recommend this to you if you don't like non fiction movies, or if you don't like the characters, or any of the things i said about people who would watch this but the opposite of what i said about it.When the exhibits at New York's Natural History Museum start behaving strangely, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) -- now the director of nighttime operations -- must find out the cause.
He learns that the Tablet, which magically brings Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams), Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and the other exhibits to life at night, has started to decay.
Of course, another thing we enjoy with these movies is the actual museum coming to life and they do some really cool stuff with that idea and it's awesome to see these historical figures interact with statues and even paintings!To make it even worse they recast the son, Nick, into this new actor who looks nothing like the other boy who probably would be of a somewhat comparable age so it's beyond me why they did it, but the far worse offense than simple recasting was to change the entire personality of the boy.
This movie is about an tablet tomb that start dying because of it using too much of its magic,and the gang has to try and find out how to heal it.the actors did very well acting too i don't know how they made the dinosaurs came to life but it was cool.I liked how the movie was educational and funny at the same time and also how it brought excitement and how it kids and adults can learn a little history the actors did very well acting they did not mess up at all i like all the parts of the movie.I would recommend this to 10-35 years of age because of how much you can learn and cause of some content.
The little monkey I think that makes for some funny scenes try this one you'll like it ..p.s the first "Nicky," was played by a talented little kid in previous "Night At The Museum," but Skyler is certainly good as a high school senior and this whole movie keeps you guessing in a positive way.
Apart from the lead performance from Ben Stiller and the addition of Lancelot, other positive things about this sequel are the returning characters: Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan) who are perhaps my favorite of the franchise, and the cameos from Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Bill Cobbs who return from the first film.
Ben Stiller with his serious/Intense comedy has always worked magic in the 3 parts of Night at the Museum,This Was also a farewell for Robin Williams ,may he rest in peace.Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan and the whole cast are so funny ,, more lines were given to Ricky Gervais this time ,, also Hugh Jackman's appearance was a really Hilarious scene :Dgosh ,, also Rebel Wilson as the guard in London museum,, so was Hilarious :D :DThe writers did a good job, the production was perfect with a new set in London..
Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney (in his final film) make nice small appearances, but other than Stevens the best performance comes from Robin Williams in a performance that's funny and somewhat moving.
With laughs, excitement and heart felt moments Night at the Museum 3 Secrets of the Tomb is a great movie to lose your self in.
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB review by Mike Smith Larry leaves New York City and travels to London to embark on another epic quest to save the Tablet of Ahkmenrah before the magic that brings the museum to life is gone forever.Night at the Museum 3 is an awesome way to cap off the trilogy.
It is a good send of to a legendary career.With laughs, excitement and heart felt moments Night at the Museum 3 Secrets of the Tomb is a great movie to lose your self in, have a fun viewing exercise and never underestimate a sequel.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is a farewell that pretty much like the previous movies; harmless and family friendly.
It is with great sorrow we have to say good bye to this series of films and characters that me and the kids have come to love, maybe it continues at another time and place, but for now it seems this is the last Night at the Museum or should we say the last night at the Museum of Natural History in New York.Sadly this visit is not as good as I had hoped it to be, it is a nice finish to the movies and a good last visit by Robin Williams and Mickey Rooney, but the film is not as inventive as the previous was, not as fun and not as interesting.There is still a lot of fun scenes, some new fun characters and a whole new place to explore, but it just isn't enough.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb continues with the adventures of Larry Daley(Ben Stiller) who is the night guard at the Museum of Natural History & the various exhibits that come to life at night in the museum including, Teddy Roosevelt(Robin Williams), Jedediah(Owen Wilson), Octavius(Steve Coogan), Ahkmenrah(Rami Malek), Attila the Hun(Patrick Gallagher), Sacajawea(Mizuo Peck) & Dexter(Crystal the Monkey).
I loved the new characters in this movie, especially, Sir Lancelot(Dan Stevens), Tilly(Rebel Wilson) & Laaa(Ben Stiller).
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is worth a watch if you're a fan of the previous movies of the franchise..
"Night of the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" is the 3rd and last entry in the "Night of the Museum" series, that began in 2006, with all 3 films with Ben Stiller in the lead, as "Larry", the night watchman for the Museum of Natural History in New York, whose exhibits, including a number of historical figures, such as President Theodore Roosevelt, played by the now late Robin Williams, come to life at night, due to the magic tablet of Ahkmenrah.
What's so unexpected is that there's actually a zany spark of life to Secret Of The Tomb, one which makes the film a joy to watch - even if its plot is decidedly undercooked.Larry (Ben Stiller), the night watchman at one of New York's finest museums, has been privy to its biggest secret for years.
With that in mind, I managed to avoid extreme disappointment like I should, and the movie did surprise me a bit with a whole new set and characters which took place in the London's museum background, and some decent scenes with good and awe special effects.
Like I expected, jokes fell flat, watching Ben Stiller acting is like watching my chair all day, the old characters except for Robin Williams don't even have a single remarkable quote, they just run around screaming and being useless for 98 minutes, the Pharaoh's story and secrets is beyond lame and has nothing to do with the reason why the tablet are causing problems.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the TombTrapped in a museum that comes to life is only pleasurable if that museum is in Amsterdam's red-light district.Sadly, the lively gallery in this comedy is found in London, England.When the enchanted Egyptian tablet that brings New York's Museum of Natural History to life every night goes on the fritz, Larry (Ben Stiller), his son and some exhibits (Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Rami Malek) go to the British Museum to speak to it's architect (Ben Kingsley).But a sentient wax statue of Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens) steals the tablet to impress King Arthur.With a bevy of old and new characters to distract from the schmaltzy father/son moments, this final instalment of the amiable and awkwardly educational series is a fitting, and often funny, bookend to this middling franchise.Incidentally, if you ever want to make-out with celebrities just take the tablet to a Madame Tussauds.
I don't usually find myself to be a fan of family films like this one; although I have seen the first two in the series I wasn't expecting much from based on how much I disliked the second.I watched this at the cinema with some friends and it kept up with all the same characters from the first two films (Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams etc).
This one has museum night security guard Larry Daley (once again played by Ben Stiller) trying to keep the magical tablet from corroding and losing it's special powers.
He joins forces with his exhibit buddies there, who travel by crate, and new museum characters; including a neanderthal that looks just like him (Stiller), another night security guard (Wilson) and Sir Lancelot (Stevens).I was not a big fan of the original 2006 film and I especially didn't care for it's 2009 sequel.
This by the way, is the final movie in the Night of the museum series because it is a trilogy and every trilogy must come to an end..
For the final night, the final movie and the film ended...so so.The story is about Museum guard Larry Daley played by Ben Stiller, heads from New York City to London in order to save the magic that brings the displays to life, as the tablet is losing its power.A quick recap of the other two Museums films and then I will talk about the third one: The first Night at the Museum film I thought was pretty good and solid family film.
The movie looks really good has well like the all movie has that Christmas with that light blue color to it.Now let's talk about the ending to this movie and this isn't a big spoiler because you know this is the last movie and all the character's have to say their goodbye's and the scene with Robin Williams and Ben Stiller wrap up moment almost had me in tears.
Night at the Museum:Secret of the tomb is an okay movie, neither good nor bad, it definitely wouldn't defeat its previous installments but if u want to the another adventure of Larry and Gang, go for it. |
tt0041268 | Criss Cross | Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) comes back to his Los Angeles home to see his Mother, Father and brother after a few years of drifting around the country following his divorce from Anna (Yvonne De Carlo). He goes into the Round Up, the dancing hall restaurant where he and Anna spent many hours where he bumps into local police detective Lt. Pete Ramirez (Stephen McNally) who asks if he has seen Anna. Steve tells Pete that he hasn't come to find Anna but only to see how things have changed in his absence. He gets his old job back driving for Horton's armored car service but seems to be going through the motions, until he bumps into Anna accidentally and they start seeing each other again. They reminisce about their earlier days, even discussing the reason that they got divorced. In Steve's absence Anna has gotten involved with Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea), a serpentine gangster whose hold on Anna (she admits) is his money. Initially Steve and Anna decide to stay away from each other but are drawn together in a very easy way. They begin a clandestine affair, and Steve is convinced that Anna will return to him. Even after she marries Slim, Anna continues her affair with Steve allowing him to rest on the idea that someday they will be together. Slim catches them together, and to cover, Steve makes up a story that includes robbing the armored car service he drives for. Slim shoots down Steve's idea because he believes that armored car services cannot be robbed successfully. Convincing Slim that as the inside man at the armored car service and as the driver of the delivery car Steve can divert the guards and ensure that Slim and his gang can escape with the money. Steve and Slim form an uneasy and untrusting collaboration, even using their own aggression over Anna as a front to shield their plans from the local flat foot, Lt. Pete Ramirez. Steve and Anna plan from the beginning to double cross Slim and escape with the money to a happier life together, but it seems that in this case lovers make strange bedfellows. | tragedy, revenge, murder | train | imdb | null |
tt1229340 | Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues | In the opening shot, a voice-over narrator (Bill Kurtis) tries to continue the legend of Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) by reintroducing Ron as he is frantically swimming away from a shark. Instead, however, the narrator decides to cut to New York City in what is now 1980, where Ron and his wife Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) are walking together down the street. A guy on the street hollers at Veronica to tell her she's got a nice ass. Veronica asks Ron if he's going to say something about it, but Ron acknowledges that Veronica's ass attracts other men.The two are doing the news at the World Broadcast news station. After their broadcast is over, they are called up to meet with their boss Mack Tannen (Harrison Ford). Mack promotes Veronica to full time anchorwoman, and he fires Ron, calling him the worst anchorman he's ever seen. Ron questions what it is that he's done wrong, and we see a number of things in a montage: yelling the news because the teleprompter text was in all caps, cursing on live television and sneezing on the camera lens, among other things. This pisses Ron off all the way back home, where his and Veronica's son Walter (Judah Nelson) can hear his parents arguing. Ron snaps at the boy, telling him he will never achieve his dream of being an astronaut or cowboy and instead ought to aim for working in fast food or in porn. Ron also gives Veronica an ultimatum - either she chooses him, or her job.Six months later, a disgraced and divorced Ron is working as an announcer at Sea World in San Diego. He's holding a glass of scotch, totally drunk, and he starts weeping in front of the crowd at how low he's sunk. He then makes crude comments toward the female commentators, and then starts mocking the dolphins as they do their show. The crowd boos him and he is later fired. He gets dumped in his dressing room by security where his trusty and beloved dog Baxter is sitting. Ron decides to hang himself from the fluorescent light, but his weight causes the light to break. Seconds later, a man named Freddie Shapp (Dylan Baker) enters. He pulls Ron back up and later takes him to a diner to discuss with him a job offer in the city. The Global News Network station is set to have a 24-hour news program, which Ron thinks is a stupid idea. Freddie then shows him an envelope with what would be his weekly salary, causing Ron to exclaim, "By the hymen of Olivia Newton-John!" Ron accepts the offer and tells Freddie he's got the perfect news team for the job.Ron first goes to pick up former co-worker and sportscaster Champion "Champ" Kind (David Koechner), who was fired from his news team for being a racist misogynist. He now owns a fried chicken joint called "Whammy! Chicken", though Ron points out that the chicken is really bat meat. Ron tells Champ about the new job offer, and Champ is on board.Next, Ron and Champ pick up their old field reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), who has done well for himself photographing kittens. He likes the idea of live nude strip clubs in New York City, and he joins the two.Ron, Champ, and Brian head off to find weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell). Brian informs Ron and Champ that Brick died. They go to his funeral, where their old boss Ed Harken (Fred Willard) and old colleague Garth Holliday (Chris Parnell) are present. Next up to say a few words is... Brick, who is very much alive. He starts yelling and crying to the heavens until his three friends have to remind him that he is alive.On the road to the Big Apple, the gang starts reminiscing about funny stories from their past. Brick tells stories about a dream he had, which none of the others get. Brian then points out that nobody is driving the RV, but Ron thinks that because it is set on cruise control, the RV will drive itself. The RV then steers itself off the road, causing the gang to fly around, while Ron's very misplaced items (a deep fry oil cooker, a terrarium of scorpions, and a bag of bowling balls) fly all over the place and injure them all.The gang makes it to New York and to the GNN station. Freddie shows them around where they find all the regular newscasters, including their top prime time star, Jack Lime (James Marsden). The guys are mesmerized by his good looks, though he makes mean comments to Ron about him staring at him. Jack plays it off as a joke, but he obviously doesn't like Ron. Freddie then takes the guys to meet their new boss Linda Jackson (Meagan Good). The guys are surprised to see that she's an African-American woman who is in charge, but she makes it clear that she will not take any crap from them. She sends them out, annoyed with their childishness and sexism. Freddie tells the guys that they have an apartment booked on the upper east side and that they're in charge of the graveyard shift (2-5am), which they're none too pleased with. As they're leaving, Brick spots a woman, Chani Lastnamé (Kristen Wiig), staring at the phone as it rings. Her boss (June Diane Raphael) is annoyed with Chani's incompetence and answers the phone herself. Chani proves to be just as dimwitted and awkward as Brick, which creates a mutual attraction between the two.Ron goes to visit Veronica to patch things up with her, only to discover that she is now seeing a psychologist named Gary (Greg Kinnear). Ron is annoyed with Gary, and he throws a punch at him, but Gary dodges it, leading Ron to assume that Gary has mind powers. Ron holds a gift meant for Veronica, but, due to his newfound jealousy, he gives it to Walter. It's lingerie for Veronica, but he makes Walter think it's a superhero cape. Ron leaves after making insulting comments to both Veronica and Gary.The gang meets GNN owner Kench Appleby (Josh Lawson), who has a thick Australian accent that makes it hard for them to understand. Jack then proceeds to coolly do the news. Later, Ron makes a comment that Jack isn't so great, which Brick says out loud, angering Jack. He and Ron form a challenge - if Ron and his team fail to beat Jack's ratings, they will leave the city, but if they succeed, Jack has to legally change his name to Jack Lame. He accepts the challenge.The guys have a hard time finding things to report on during their time slot. Ron says that they ought to report on things that people want to hear as opposed to what they need to hear. Freddie likes the idea, and the gang agrees to go through with it. On their way out, Brick runs into Chani again. They have another awkward exchange interrupted when Chani's boss comes in with phone messages from a week ago that Chani decided to mail to her. This turns into a screaming match when Brick yells at the woman to leave Chani alone because they thinks she's going to set Chani on fire. Chani is actually canned, but she doesn't care as she agrees to go on a date with Brick.On their first night broadcasting the news, which the narrator describes as becoming history in the making, Ron kicks it off by addressing how great America is. This gets people's attention from all around the city. Champ does a piece on a number of home-runs while repeating his catchphrase, "WHAMMY!" Brick reports on how windy it is outside, and Brian does a piece on the best vaginas in the world. Linda sees this one and immediately rushes off to the station, fuming at the gang's broadcast. Ron threatens to hit her if she were a man, and she challenges him to go ahead and do it. He then hesitates to do so, and then gets kneed in the nuts by her, sending him to the floor squealing like a child, and he and the guys are fired.Kench meets with Linda and Freddie to tell them that Ron's team pulled in higher ratings than Jack has. Linda regrettably tells Kench that she fired them. Freddie goes to the guys' apartment and tells them that they are rehired. During their run, they become celebrities, endorsing several products (Brick does a butter commercial at one point) and bringing in great ratings. Jack even goes through with the name change, which he is ashamed to say on live TV.Linda, turned on by Ron's new celebrity status, tries to make a pass at him, telling him to make weird animal noises. He is unsure of how to go about this and he thinks he's been raped, though he is not too bothered by it. Brick tells the guys he's going on a date with Chani, even though he has no idea what a date entails. Brian offers some help by pulling some condoms out of his "jimmy closet". Brick later goes out with Chani to a laundromat. They stand in front of a soda machine and drink can after can of soda. Chani asks Brick if he's ever kissed anybody, to which he says only people on TV and his Planet of the Apes toys. The two share their first kiss, which gets weird, though nobody seems mind it.Meanwhile, Ron and Linda have dinner together, where Ron loudly tells everybody that he's going to have sex with a black woman for the first time. They go back to his place and finally do it, and this scene is intercut with random footage of Jackie Robinson, the Kirk/Uhura kiss from "Star Trek", and a clip of "Diff'rent Strokes".Kench finds out that Ron and Brian want to do a story called "Death From Above", which is a report on the failing Koala Airlines business. He tells Linda about it and wants her to see to it that she can get Ron to pull the story, suggesting they try out some synergy.Linda takes Ron to dinner with her family. He makes a terrible impression by explicitly discussing his and Linda's sex life, along with using stereotypical jive talk. To top it off, he calls them all "pipe-hitting bitches", leading Linda's father to kick him in the head. On their cab ride home, Linda informs Ron that they're going to pull the "Death From Above" story, and suggests synergy to Ron.What follows is Ron trying to spend time with Walter. He curses in front of him and tells him that the only thing he should be afraid of is voodoo, and that he should never go to Haiti. Veronica hears of this and is pissed at Ron since Walter can't sleep after that. She also reminds Ron that Walter has a science fair the next day, and she wants him to attend.Ron gets tense over what's been going on, especially as Jack reports that Veronica is set to interview a foreign dignitary over talks of world peace. He also tells Brian that they want to pull the "Death From Above" story. Ron starts taking out his frustrations on them, eventually yelling at Brick. This sends the others over the edge, and Brian punches Ron in the face. He, Champ, and Brick then leave Ron alone.When Ron has nothing to report, he gets word of a car chase going on. Despite this not being actual news, he goes on air to do this story, just as Veronica is set to do her big interview. The narrator says car chases would become a big deal in the 80's. The ratings for GNN start climbing as Ron does his story, playing on the excitement of the chase as it develops. This also disrupts Veronica's interview as WBC shows more interest in the car chase. By the time the chase ends, Ron has delivered a new ratings high for the station, leading to a big celebration. Unfortunately, he misses Walter's science fair, leaving the boy disappointed.A celebration is held for Ron as he plays the flute while skating to a crowd. His old friends refuse to continue watching him bask in his glory, and they leave. When nobody is looking, Jack tosses a cable onto the skating rink, causing Ron to trip and fall hard on the ice. The narrator likens this to the story of Icarus flying too close to the sun. As a result, Ron becomes blind.Once again without a job and without any purpose, Ron relocates to a lighthouse. Champ, Brian, and Brick come to visit him to try and help him out. He only talks about how his blindness has left him unable to perform any tasks that really don't require vision (he claims to have drank half a bottle of ketchup thinking it was liquor, and he tried masturbating his shin). The guys leave when they realize Ron is hopeless. Not long after, Veronica arrives to get Ron back on his feet. He continues to be unable to perform most simple tasks and only ends up getting frustrated. One day, while on the beach, Walter spots a baby shark trapped in a net. He and Ron set it free, and Walter names it Doby. This gives Ron a new lease on life, allowing him to enjoy time with Veronica and Walter. He helps raise Doby like a pet, even feeding him from a bottle. She also claims to have left Gary because he is too emotionally stable, and it's annoying to her. When Doby becomes a full grown shark, the family releases him into the ocean. Ron even sings a little song for him.Their joy is cut short when Ron discovers a message from the doctor saying that he left multiple messages to try and tell him that they can give him his sight back. Veronica had been deleting the messages so that Ron could continue spending time with her and Walter. She apologizes for being selfish, but Ron angrily leaves. He tries driving but then crashes the car. He undergoes the procedure and regains his sight, allowing him to return to GNN.While Ron is set to do his first big news report since his absence, Veronica goes to visit him and tell him that Walter is going to have a piano recital, and that he wrote a piece for his dad. She also meets Linda, and the two exchange calm yet fiery words to each other, which turns Ron on. Freddie comes in to tell Ron that a TV actress found out about her husband cheating, severed his penis in his sleep, and is involved in a car chase. Veronica understands that Ron would rather do a big news story, so she leaves him to it.Ron prepares to do the news, but he has a change of heart just as he begins. He addresses the audience by saying he's gained a new perspective after his recent experiences, as well as acknowledging how much he needs his friends. Kench is angry at him for not doing the story, and Ron leaves, but not before telling everybody that Koala Airlines "is a shitty airline". He apologizes to his friends, with Brick giving a well-spoken lecture to Ron on how his hubris got the better of him. He then adds that he's wearing two pairs of pants. The guys cover for Ron as he runs to Walter's recital.Unable to hail a cab, Ron runs off to the recital. He is ambushed in the park by Jack and his team. They're brandishing axes, ready to get Ron back for humiliating Jack. Just then, Brian, Champ, and Brick arrive to back Ron up with their own weapons (Brick has his trident again). Suddenly, a whole bunch of other news teams arrive, ready to engage in yet another epic news team brawl. There's the BBC news network (led by Sacha Baron Cohen), the MTV news network (led by Kanye West), the entertainment news network (with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler), the apologetic Canadian news team (with Jim Carrey and Marion Cotillard), the history news channel (led by Liam Neeson) and the ghost of Stonewall Jackson (John C. Reilly), and one other news station (led by Will Smith). To top it all off, Mack Tannen reappears to take the form of a were-hyena. The faux Greek goddess Altrusia (Kirsten Dunst) allows for the brawl to start. Heads get bashed, the Canadians hit people with hockey pucks, and Stonewall Jackson steals someone's soul. Brick kills the MTV news team with a futuristic weapon. Baron Cohen hurls his axe at Ron, but it is stopped by Gary, who turns out to really have mind powers, telepathically stopping the axe from hitting Ron, allowing him to run to Walter's recital. Will Smith then calls in a jet to shoot at everybody else.Ron and his friends continue to run but are once again cornered by Jack and his team. Out of nowhere, a group of bikers ride in, led by Ron's rival from the first film, Wes Mantooth (Vince Vaughn). His team empties their gas tanks around Jack's team's feet, and he threatens to drop his cigarette to kill them all. Although Jack points out that this would kill Wes as well, he says that everything he's done in his life would be enough for him to burn in Hell, so he has no fear of burning on Earth. Jack calls off the fight, leading Brick to celebrate with a sparkler. He drops it on the gas, killing Jack, Wes, and both their respective teams. Ron and his guys rush to Walter's recital just as he finishes (they get a little burnt), but quick enough to make Walter think they were there the whole time. Ron runs onstage and holds his boy up proudly.The narrator announces that Ron's leave from GNN brought in their highest ratings. Ron and Veronica also reconciled, and they attend Brick and Chani's wedding on the beach. Walter then spots Doby swimming in the ocean. Ron runs out to sea to embrace the shark, thinking he fondly remembers him. Actually, Doby tries to attack Ron. Ron swims away in a panic, and he is saved by none other than Baxter. The brave little dog bites Doby in the side and banishes him. Ron hugs Baxter, even though the dog barks that he wonders why he still maintains their friendship. Everybody else cheers for the two.After the credits is an outtake of the gang going to plan their first broadcast. Brick crawls under the table to eat a cookie from the floor. He looks at the camera and waves at the audience. | paranormal, absurd, entertaining, flashback | train | imdb | Of all the things I expected to feel when I walked out of the cinema after seeing this film, disgusted that I paid money to watch it was not one of them.
The words escape me when it comes to reviewing this movie...before I start, you should know, i'm a massive comedy fan, and enjoyed the first anchorman quite a lot, and also that this is my first review because the disappointment and anger this movie caused made me have to write a review...this movie was the biggest waste of my time and money, and had I not been with company,I would've left half way through.
The 'plot' was just...insane, I literally couldn't believe what I was watching, the movie was mainly just shouting and stupid noises, the same joke drawn out 100 times, no plot, no substance, no nothing.
When I checked IMDb, I was honestly expecting to see somewhere between 3-4, I nearly fell out my seat when I saw 7.2, this movie probably would've made more sense if you cut up the scenes into a complete random order.
Personally loved the film and cant understand why anybody didn't enjoy the original wouldn't like it too (unless you seem to think a movie called Anchorman 2, yes thats 2, needed to be something completely new and off the wall).
An offer from a start-up 24-hour news channel prompts him to get back in the news business, and he sets out to reassemble his old team: reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), sports anchor Champ Kind (David Koechner) and weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell).Ferrell and his co-writer (and frequent collaborator) Adam McKay -- who also directs the movie -- don't just recycle old jokes from the first film.
(Hint: it doesn't go smoothly.) There's also a great subplot this time around for Carell, as his dimwitted character finds love with an equally brainless co-worker (Kristen Wiig).Ferrell and McKay also find much to parody when it comes to Ron's new medium.
They probably think that they are so funny that whatever comes out of the mouths just HAS to be funny.Kristen Wiig was totally unfunny...she did what seemed to be a SNL character, that, unfortunately, had not yet been fully developed.Steve Carell gibberish was worse that ever...I guess he felt that it would be hilarious if he really went over the top.Overall, it felt like this movie was thrown together without a real working script.
By way of example, the mahoosive news reader fight scene from Anchorman is repeated here; the first time around it was funny and surprising, this time it's lazy and stuffed full of tedious cameos by Will Ferrell's showbiz mates.
So much wrong with this film: sidelining Veronica Corningstone; not enough Baxter; a subplot in which Brick gets a girlfriend, no laughs there, it's just odd and creepy; pointless roles for Harrison Ford and Greg Kinnear; a recurring thread of racial humour that is cringeworthy at best and at worst offensive.
The idea sounds ludicrous to Ron, but perfectly normal and sane to us.Aside from the jokes and scenarios you can imagine after seeing the first film, the sequel offers a biting satire of today's version of the "news".
Poor Christina Applegate doesn't have much to do this time around except react to what Will Ferrell's character does to her, and the attempt to give Meagan Good's producer a meaty role falls a bit short.For its' minor drawbacks, "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" is still the year's funniest film.
fondly, either walk into this movie with VERY LOW expectations or watch a bunch of Ron Burgundy Dodge Durango commercials and wait for this movie to come out on DVD so you can skip everything except for the last ten minutes.
I'm going to start out by saying this: I like Will Ferrell, I like most of his movies and I like the original Anchorman.At times, I was just straight up embarrassed for many of the actors in this film.
What to expect more from a comedy than sincere laughter from the beginning to the end??Yet, Ferrell and his crew (and what a crew!!!) deliver above and beyond pure fun, a strong reflexion on today's news channels mediocrity.Haters, when they try to massively smash down a movie of that kind (I couldn't figure out why), just look ridiculous and lose all credibility.If you liked the first Anchorman, are a Ferrell fan, or if you just wanna relax and have a great time, go for it!Hope you'll enjoy it as much as I just did!!.
The script was awful and the humor seemed to be reaching and contrived.I cant really put it into words other than it was disappointing and really its just not a good movie and maybe the worst I have ever seen.The best scenes were the trailers.
The highly anticipated sequel to the cult phenomenon, Anchorman, is finally here after a nine year hiatus and see's Will Ferrell reprise his most memorable role as eccentric newscaster, Ron Burgundy.
And yes, with salon quality hair!The film is everything you'd expect from the comedy pairing of Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, and although not as good as the first film, it certainly has its moments with a fresh new storyline and an abundance of hilarious jokes.
The film is just as silly as you'd hope, with Steve Carell saying 'There's little rhyme or reason to this world and that's what makes it so funny.'.
With perms, a werewolf, ice skating jazz flute, a pet shark and Harrison Ford the film truly is, in the words of Carell and Paul Rudd, 'absurd', 'ridiculous' and 'inexplicable', that won't leave fans disappointed as one of the best comedies of the year.We pick up the story years on from the first film where, after hitting rock bottom and with the seventies over, the legendary news team reunite to take on New York City and the worlds first twenty four hour news network.Despite the film dragging in parts, the thing that really makes this movie is of course, what can only be described as, a truly flawless cast and the extraordinary characters they portray.
This storyline isn't without humor featuring a date at a vending machine, but that's definitely not for everyone!Harrison Ford's appearance in the film takes the concept of a deadpan performance to a whole new level of supremacy, which is sure to make you laugh, and adds to the weight of the already marvelous cast.
Christina Applegate, who plays ambitious news anchor Veronica Corningstone, recalls the first cut being 'over three hours long' and the films director, Adam McKay, has expressed his intention of releasing a second cut of Anchorman 2, featuring 'the same plot and storyline but with entirely different jokes.'.When asked if another Anchorman film was in the pipeline Ferrell concluded that following The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter there'd be 'at least fourteen' Anchorman films!
OK I know it is supposed to be slapstick comedy and with all the press Ron Burgundy was getting with him showing up on Live news sets, etc I started to question, just how good this movie is going to be.
What is really sad was that not only is it just a dull watch, but the fact that the writers sort of listened to the audience after the first movie and gave Brick way more screen time in this movie, which just makes you stop caring what silliness will come out of his mouth.
I was a big fan of Carrell's character but I really couldn't tell you what funny line or action he did in this movie that had me laughing as much as the first movie.The movie simply made no sense at all.
I don't know what the writers were thinking but movie audiences expect more than this senseless crap.Either Will Ferrell was desperately seeking a big blockbuster but got lazy on it and came up with this crap, or he is a genius who has proved that as long as you put a few big names on a movie that made no sense whatsoever, you can still earn millions of dollars..
Christina Applegate , Paul Rudd, and David Koechner provided good performances and some fleeting humor in their roles, but Will Farrell was just simply stupid and irritating, like fingernails scratching on the blackboard, and it would have been better to caste Mr. Beans as Brick Tamland rather than Steve Carell.
Of-course, you need to leave your logics behind to watch those scenes but they were all scripted funny unlike those spoof movies whether laughter is forced by weirdest actions and not script.
Also I should point out that I thought the first one was great that being said the seams to me that this movie dose what a lot of bad sequels do it takes the things that were funny in the first, and just crammed the sequel full of the with no though for story or plot.
Rarely is a sequel to a popular comedy ever as good as the first one but you expect to get a least a few laughs
not the case with Anchorman 2.
I'm a huge Will Ferrell and especially Steve Carell fan and feel this movie was an embarrassment to their career.
The movie just had a great feel and flow - not much plot (so little as to almost be sarcastic), writing so clever and unpredictable that I simply cannot comprehend the genius it took to come up with it, and lines delivered mostly completely deadpan without actors trying to ham it up.This movie showed right from the opening credits that it was not going to be that.
I hope Adam McKay makes plenty, because he deserves it for the great movies he's written over the years, but this is not one of them.Nothing can ever ruin the first Anchorman for me but this came damn close.
They didn't find it amusing either.If you liked first Anchorman because Ron was funny, a ladies man with a hilarious puns and comments, don't watch this.
Unless you were around for the politically ugly 70's and even more ugly 80's & the malignant TV News transition from actual news to "entertainment" for ADD retards you just won't "get" Anchorman 2, the first one had some good scenes as does this POS.If you have half a brain get just watch "Network" a much funnier, less pretentious, more "on-target" movie, the absolute decline in Network News is not just a recent thing, it started when the Oil Companies and US Conglomerates started taking over the TV Networks & the whole entertainment business to use as a tax shelter to hide their obscene profits from the phony 1972 Oil Crisis, this was the start of the war on the middle class & working poor God-forbid they actually pay taxes based on a clandestine windfall profits GE has not paid a single dollar in corporate taxes for over 30 years despite making $Billions in profit while our middle class has been bled dry supporting 2 bogus wars at one $ Trillion a year for 9 years, wonder why Obama the Oreo kept these horror shows going ??
Having not even seen the first movie, I was eager to see the sequel with everybody banging on about how good the first one was.There were admittedly a couple of humorous moments, but for the most part it was just awful.
Steve Carrel's character pi$$ed me off to no end - he is simply a woeful actor, and the movie might have redeemed itself a couple of stars if he didn't exist (if you found any of his lines funny I despair for you).
I think that the movie could have been a real hit in my point of view if the level of comedy were raised with a more "normal" acting and true jokes...Sorry!.
The gags were not funny, the situation comedy not even the slightest bit in the realm of possibilities for people with IQs above 50, and in the whole movie there were maybe 2 lines that were slightly amusing.
Whoever made this film obviously thinks that something being in bad taste and stupid is automatically funny, and sometimes it is, but in this case it was just painful to watch and actually insulting to the audience.
While the 1st movie may have had more consistent laughs from start to finish, the sequel has a few scenes that just blow the comedy level through the roof.
The surprise cameos in here are devastatingly funny.)Ferrell, playing arguably one of his best characters, nails his job, as does Paul Rudd, David Koechner, and Steve Carell.
Overall the first one was pretty good and was very funny at certain moments, not the same could be said for the second.I'll start off by saying the movie is way too long, beating its predecessor by nearly 30 mins.
Now don't get me wrong, there are certainly funny jokes and I laughed my ass off during the scene when Ron visited his new girlfriend's family.
But you really start wondering, because this is a travesty for the legend of the original cult movie Anchorman.The rating on this film here on IMDb is completely impossible to understand as well.
I can't deny laughing a few times but I was wanting to leave about 30 minutes into the movie.
I actually dozed off a couple of times, and the only thing preventing my from sleeping through the entire movie is my concern about snoring too loud (although I don't think it would have bothered the other 8 people in the theater).
This movie is like porn for the Anchorman fan, it's Ron Burgundy porn, can I give it any higher praise?
Easily one of the best comedies in an EXTREMELY long time (no I didn't forget about "This is the End", I still love that movie).
I knew the movie wasn't going to be great when I rented it, but I said, "What the hell, I have nothing else to do today, why not rent Anchorman 2 and kill some time".
This time I hated them, and the actors looked ashamed the entire movie.I thought it was going to take off when the plot of irreverent news stories dominating the 24-hour news cycle was introduced, but the movie was never about the plot, or anything really.I was bored and almost walked out, but I'm glad I at least stayed for the cameo bomb at the end of the movie, it's the only thing that saved this from a zero, but it even fell flat.This is definitely a "watch when it comes on FX" sort of movie.
Some may like the original or the sequel better, but pretty much everyone will agree that both are great.The movie starts off a little rough.
But Steve Carell was very efficient with the screen time he received.That is until...the last 10-15 minutes of the movie which while I can understand why they included it, it really was unnecessary and just did not fit the film at all.
Like I said, I laughed a few times but if you're a fan of the original, do yourself a favour and watch that again as it will be a much more satisfying experience..
I really enjoyed the first Anchorman movie but this sequel never should have been made.
I love the original as do most people and this could have been one of those rare sequels that was as funny as the first, the cast is good and they had all the ingredients to make it great.
I've seen a lot of bad movies, but none stand out as much as Anchorman 2, probably because the first one was so good so I was expecting so much, and for that I can only blame myself.
However, that movie became more funny to me over time..
Anchorman is one of my favorite "so stupid, it's funny" movies, and I went to see the sequel expecting more of the same slapstick and sex jokes.
There is definitely a lot more of the same lowbrow humor, and like the first movie (and, well, most things Will Ferrell does), the jokes are hit or miss.
I'm sick of seeing people put 'I loved the first movie, but not this one!' and I actually saw someone put that they're not going to see the film because of bad reviews.
Just like The Hangover movie where the original was much, much better than the sequel, Anchorman 2 failed to live up to its hype..
Anchorman 2: the Legend Continues is a fantastic movie with a great and hilarious storyline that will keep you laughing from start to finish.Will Ferrell,Christina Applegate,Steve Carell,Paul Rudd and David Koechner are all back for this sequel that has been highly anticipated since the movies release in 2004,and after this long wait and all the promoting the cast have been doing,I was very nervous about this film, and I can honestly say I wasn't a bit disappointed.The new members of the cast,including a tone of outstanding cameos,are all great, the best newcomer for me would have to be Kristen Wiig,she did a great and very funny job a Bricks love interest,who is just as stupid as he is.There is also an outstanding scene that is similar to the News Channel fight in the first Anchorman,but it's much bigger and much better,and filled with some outstanding and unexpected actors.If you're a fan of the first Anchorman and had high hopes for this sequel,trust me, you won't be disappointed,the first one is certainly better but this one is just as good and one of the most pleasing comedy sequels to date.
The movie kept me laughing for nearly the entire film, never leaving a dull moment.
Coming from a die hard Anchorman fan, if you liked the first film even a little or have any interest in Will Ferrell at all, this movie will speak wonders to you. |
tt0018737 | Die Büchse der Pandora | Pandoras Box leaps into the story of Lulu (Louise Brooks), a vivacious and alluring young woman. Lulu supports herself in a the apartment where we first meet her, funished nicely, including a painting of her as well as a large menorah. In the very first act what at first seems to be a pathetic beggar comes to the door, but it turns out that he's actually her conniving old pimp Schigolch (Carl Goetz) who's got plenty of money - and as the story plays out he helps himself to her money from the many companions she keeps. She is very cozy with him, though perhaps he would prefer more, and she refers to him as her first "patron". It is Lulu and her 'patron' who are behind the scenes in this movie. At the start Lulu's lover is the prestigious Dr. Ludwig Schoen (Fritz Kortner). Dr. Schoen comes to break their relationship, already scandalous, as he is engaged to be married to a woman who we soon meet, the minister of the Interior Herr von Zarnikos' daughter Charlotte Marie Adelaide. But Lulu won't be so easily dismissed. This is facilitated by Schigolgh's timely introduction of Lulu her to Rodrigo Quast (Carl Raschig) a variety acrobat that wants to put Lulu in one of his shows, and Lulu frankly admires his muscles.Lulu had become close friends with Dr. Schoen's son Alwa. In a possessive form of jealousy Dr. Schoen advises Alwa not to let Lulu do her trapeze act, but instead to put her in Alwas' revue.At the revue we find everyone glamorously dressed for the lavish dance variety show. There is a hustle and bustle backstage and when Lulu catches a glimpse of Dr. Schoens fiancée Charlotte, Lulu refuses to go on. This frustrates Dr. Schoen and he rushes her into an empty prop room where she plays a temper tantrum as she throws herself onto a bedded area against the prop shelves. She kicks her legs about, pulls and tugs at Dr. Schoen in a teasing manner that causes him to succumb to her after she sexily bites at his finger. They kiss and embrace and then the door opens allowing the director, Alwa and Charlotte to glimpse Dr. Schoens infidelity. This pleases Lulu as she smiles mischievously to everyone. She stands curtly and prances out of the room with a smug sense of satisfaction. She goes on with the performance while they are left to sort out the emotions they all are suffering over Lulu.The events of Dr. Schoens life are traumatically altered as he realizes that he is doomed to be in love with Lulu, which will in some way lead to his downfall. At their wedding reception Lulu is radiant in her white dress and her friends Schigolch and Rodrigo are in attendance. They both get quite intoxicated and Schigolch is determined to place a rose on the brides bed. In doing this it leads to a private party in the bedroom. Dr. Schoen enters the room to find Lulu his wife sitting in the lap of the debauched Schigolch with a Drunken Rodrigo nearby. This is too much for Dr. Schoen to allow. He silently has a mental snap, reaches for his hand gun and points it at Schigolch and Rodrigo but Lulu protests that he cannot shoot Schigologh - he's her father! Schifolch and Rodrigo scramble out of the room and into the continuing party in the adjoining room. Dr. Schoens threatens both Rodrigo and Schigolch by waving the firearm at them through the living room reception party until they exit the party. This shocks the guests and they all decide to leave. While this is going on, his son Alwa declares his love to Lulu and invites her to go with him on his train trip. He cradles his head on her lap and appears in ecstasy as she sits caressing him tenderly. Dr. Schoen goes back to the room and quickly warns his son not to miss his train. After Alwa leaves the room Dr. Schoen deliberately moves towards Lulu with an insane look in his eyes. She realizes he is not of right mind. For the first time she realizes that her behavior has gone too far as he jams the handgun into her delicate hand. He orders her to kill herself. This leads to a struggle which ends in Dr. Schoen being shot in the belly by his own weapon. As he slowly dies Alwa returns and as his father clutches his son in his last breaths he warns Alwa about Lulu and that he will be next.Lulu is charged by the courts and the prosecutor wants the death penalty. During the trial the prosecutor likens Lulu to the Greek Goddess Pandora an expert at flattery who opened the box given to her by the Gods and let evil loose upon the world. While the defense portrays Lulu as innocent, the prosecutor sees her as Pandora, and accuses her of leading Dr. Schoen to his demise. The trial ends up with Lulu getting a minimal prison sentence of five years, however her friends have other plans and they create a ruse by pulling the fire alarm, which provides them the chance to break Lulu free from her captivity.Lulu returns home to the scene of her crime as a fugitive. Alwa returns and wonders how she could feel comfortable in the place his fathers blood was shed. She picks up the phone ready to turn herself in until Alwa takes over the call to stop her from giving her location up. He pretends to the state prosecutor that he has not seen her and Lulu takes this as a sign that she is still in control of his affections. He succumbs to her feminine power, she leaves him under complete control within her arms. She agrees to go with him as they hug romantically.On the ship ride Lulu is greeted by a nefarious gentleman who works behind the scenes to use her vulnerability of having a bounty on her head to sell her to an Egyptian who owns a place in Cairo where discriminating customers will take pleasure in Lulus company. Meanwhile Rodrigo is trying to drum up capital for another show and he tries to strong arm it out of Lulu. In her dismay over his domineering threats, she reverts to Schigolch for help who in his sleazy manner sits her on his lap telling her to cry it all away. Then he has an idea and they use Alwa to cheat at cards in the ships casino. Alwa is ultimately caught at the table and then pandemonium occurs as they try and get off the ship and escape the detectives searching for the fugitive Lulu.
During the chaos onboard the ship they manage to sneak off in a row boat. It is Christmas time and a tall, handsome man in a long trench coat travels the foggy night. He comes upon a large group of towns people outside by the decorated Christmas tree drinking hot cider in celebration of the season. He meets a young woman and they share glances. Lulu, Schigolch, and Alwa are held up in a drafty room with only a bottle of whisky, some dried bread, and a candle. Lulu sits and does her make-up. Later she is being talked up by a man on the street and when he leaves, Schigolch tells Lulu that it is a shame; because he may have provided them some money. He is slyly conferring to Lulu that it is time for her to take on some customers for their survival on the streets. This is not a good time to be walking the streets as there have been several girls and women that have been killed by an unknown assailant who is known in history as Jack the Ripper. The tall handsome man that shared in cider with the young woman in the Christmas gathering meets Lulu and she immediately takes a liking to him. As she leads him to the room upstairs he holds a knife behind his back. He is the killer and she is unaware. He clenches the knife tightly overcome with an insatiable need to stab her dead, but her kindness overcomes his desire to kill. His maniacal episode passes. He drops the blade and continues up the stairs to be with Lulu. In the room they share an intimacy without words. It is a real affection, but as they embrace, a knife is on the table glimmering in the light. This sets off the chain of circumstances that ignite the killer within the seemingly gentle man. He reaches for it and as he kisses Lulu he stabs her to death.The ripper leaves the room and passes Alwa outside in the doorway. He continues to walk off into the foggy night, while Alwa presses his head to the wall upset that Lulu must resort to selling herself for their survival, and for the situation he finds himself in as a result of his love for Lulu. Schigolch sits in a local tavern as he watches the marching band go by in the street; he finally gets to eat a Christmas pudding. As Lulu lay dead alone in the drafty room; Alwas lost in his obsession over Lulu as he despairingly walks off on the streets alone, cold in the dark. --By Joseph A. Perez | cult, avant garde, murder, violence, plot twist | train | imdb | Lulu, the protagonist of _Pandora's box_ portrayed by Louise Brooks, lives beyond the constraints of time.
For his movie "Die Büchse Der Pandora (Panodra's Box)", G.W. Pabst took together the tragedies "Der Erdgeist" and "Die Büchse Der Pandora", forming the famous Lulu-diptych written by German dramatist Frank Wedekind (1864-1918), an important ancestor of literary expressionism, who wrote amongst other works "Frühlings Erwachen" that caused many scandals.What is congenial about this movie, is not only the fact, that Louise Brooks is doubtless the best Lulu ever seen (in theater as well as on the screen), but how G.W. Pabst managed to amalgamate this two literary masterpieces of the time of sexual liberation in Europe.It is a real pity, that not more of Pabst work can be reached in the US and that most of his work is not available at all on DVD..
I had heard "Pandora's Box" called a German Expressionist film, the class to which such great and outlandish films as Wiene's "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", and Lang's "Metropolis" and the sadly dated but very interesting "Nosferatu" by Walter Murnau, I expected it to have the same elements-- extremely stylized acting and direction, bizarre artificial sets, and a general atmosphere of utter surreality.
W. Pabst's "Pandora's Box", particularly with Louise Brook's celebrated performance as the cheerful, childlike, tragic femme fatale Lulu.
This dancer/chorus girl turned film star was one of those rare creatures who probably couldn't have told you what she was doing, even if she thought long and hard about it (and Brooks was an intelligent, articulate woman.)Like a great natural athlete, she simply could do it, and do it better than almost anyone else.
Pabst' film, based on two German stage plays, is also a fascinating look at male sexual obsession, at men unable to control their lust who want to destroy the object of that lust before she destroys them.
Newlinsky) in the beginning of Lulu's downfall."Die Büchse der Pandora" is a tragic masterpiece by Georg Wilhelm Pabst with the beautiful and talented Louise Brooks in the lead role.
Hollywood probably took this up from Dietrich's persona in another German film, Blue Angel from the following year, the heartless diva who presents herself in a way that will satisfy her capricious whims.This is different though, and it is more stunning for this, the trick being that we see the world from the eyes of an innocent woman as she becomes shaped into a femme fatale.
Dual worlds linked by the turning of karmic wheels; from inside a cheerful, innocent woman who we know to be basically good and trying to live life, but who at the same time appears provocative, alluring, exuding sex, and therefore by her very nature, by the fact that she is the person she was born to be, seems to lull men into the kind of stupor where they can dream only her, a dream so intoxicating that in turn traps her in her image.
It also suffers because the relationship between Lulu (Louise Brooks) and the two main male characters (Fritz Kortner as the elder Schon, the press baron, and Franz Lederer, as his son) lacks real feeling.
Dietrich (who was enraged by the refusal) was also too well known in Germany, whereas Pabst and Nero-Film could engineer a massive publicity campaign on Brooks' behalf because she was said to be a great American star (who hardly anyone had heard of in Europe) and was the Acme edition of a stateside flapper.
It is often called intoxicating and shimmering, and people get this impression of it because of its light.A colourful cast of decadent misfits accompany showgirl and prostitute Lulu (Louise Brooks, who has an incredibly charismatic presence, was forever nicknamed Lulu after this role) in her major misadventure, her love for a married man, which is what opens pandora's box in this tale.
One of the last great silent films this is a German movie that is surprisingly short on cinematic expressionism and long on the glamorous, sultry, hypnotic beauty of Louise Brooks.
Anyway, this film is done at a time in Germany before Hitler's rise to power and the second World War. The film itself is always worth viewing because the story of Pandora's Box is about Louise Brooks' character and the fate that awaits her.
No. Louise Brooks is not a Pabst invention, and neither is her performance in Pandora's Box. What Pabst did, quite simply, was find his 'Lulu'.
that is, for this act.From then on we see Lulu trying to escape trouble and capture from the authorities for a crime she actually didn't commit (it's one of those scenes that sounds far more simple than it looks), and either getting by fine like at a gambling joint with her fellow travelers, Rodrigo the theater promoter and Alwa, or not as it turns out at Christmas-time.
Pabst doesn't ever paint much of a happy time for Lulu, and it's just the way it should be in such waters: Lulu is a free spirit, at least in theory, and she loves (or thrives on) drawing in men into her grasp, except for those few that she actually doesn't really want at all, and ultimately she becomes a prostitute in spite of her aim early on to be a dancer and performer on stage.The story itself, while strong and potent with the kind of depth and misery that reminds one of other German expressionist films of the time, isn't even the best thing about the movie.
But it's Pabst as a director of movement in cinema, how he portrays his actors on screen and gets body language and movement in a frame, the lighting and the smoke and fog, the sets expressing place and class, and how he casts it that makes it so great a film.
It's a signal of what makes a movie amazing when one can see a filmmaker elevating a torrid drama into real depth, pain and anguish and lust, not to mention the dangerous exuberance of the period, and that it works even today.There is Gunther Krampf's cinematography as one piece of what makes it work, and how the rhythm of the shots in the editing is done in classical structure of scenes (sometimes a scene will pick up the intensity, such as the Jack the Ripper scene near the very end, and it becomes exciting much like, or more-so, a modern melodrama today), and, depending on which music you listen to with the film on the Criterion DVD (I picked improv piano, which turned out well) it provides a perfect kick with the material.
Another star or actress would have made it interesting, but Brooks, who would only go on to star in a few other movies worth mentioning (also directed by Pabst), is fearless with the character, and makes her as recognizable in the history of German film as Dietrich in The Blue Angel.
I had tried twice before to watch this movie and frankly found it boring,so much so that I had never made it to the end.I had even bought it on DVD and sold it.Recently however,I decided to give it one more try and bought the new special edition DVD.I started to watch the film,found it to be dragging slightly but was determined to watch the film the whole way through.I made the right choice,this is a very good movie,not perfect but well worth viewing.It is the story of Lulu,on the face of it a lady very easy to understand.She is a kept woman,a woman of low virtue...or so it seems.As we get to know the character of Lulu we learn that she is actually quite complex.She is a user,she is used,manipulative,teasing,spoilt,child like but paradoxically all woman.The story does drag a little at times but it also shows the life of a woman that you just have to know what her outcome will be.It is in general a fine film.The cast is fine with Franz Kortner showing the intensity he needs to as Dr. Schon.The fact that in real life he couldn't stand his leading lady makes his performance more interesting.Franz Lederer deals with the character of Alwa in a competent way as he becomes obsessed with Lulu.Carl Goetz has a ball as Schigolch although we are never too sure just what part he has played in Lulu's life.She even describes him as her father at one point.Alice Roberts makes an impact in every scene she is in as the lesbian costume designer Countess Geschwitz.As Jack the Ripper Gustav Diesel shows a man struggling with his insane desires with eye popping conviction.This film is considered to be director G W Pabst's most famous work and he does deserve enormous credit.But this is where we come to Louise Brooks who plays Lulu.She IS the movie and it would barely register without her presence.She is convincing in every scene and the very fact the Louise Brooks herself thought she couldn't act probably helped her here as she is just playing herself.She obviously does herself an injustice as she is fantastic in this role and deserves to be part of cinema legend.Undeniably beautiful,the camera adores her and she is simply wonderful.Pabst once told her that she would end up like Lulu and to a degree he was right as her career nosedived and she became a virtual recluse.Whether she hated Hollywood or Hollywood hated her is debatable.But she had the role of her life here and totally made the role her own.We can ask for no more than that..
I'm really not a big fan of German expressionism in film, nor silent movies for that matter, so I regard PANDORA'S BOX as an interesting but highly flawed study of female perversity embodied by Lulu, as played by LOUISE BROOKS.
She seems to be a woman without a conscience--and rather than compare her to Greta Garbo or any other screen greats I would say her Lulu character resembles Rita Hayworth's amoral nature in GILDA--a woman of mystery with loose morals.The story is just plain awful, heavy-handed stuff about an amoral girl during the Jazz age in Europe who seems to attract men like moths around a light.
The film follows the exploits of Lulu, a showgirl (and most likely "a woman of the streets") whose beauty and sexuality captivates the men (and a few women) in Berlin, while at the same time brings down the men who become so attached to her, including her husband (who broke off his engagement to marry Lulu only to shot accidentally on their wedding night), his son (who fell so madly in love with Lulu that he lost his fortune, and nearly his life, gambling), and Countess Geshwitz(harboring her lesbian feelings for Lulu, while trying to save her financially).
Of course, a silent film, poetic like this one, is closer to ballet than films would become later, so it is a fine movie in a sense anyway.However, Louise Brooks plays Lulu as literally wholesome.
Brooks is exactly the same from beginning to end, and her portrayal is more like some child-whore Alain Robbe-Grillet would possibly imagine among the many in his novels.Well, everyone seems to think she's wonderful in the part, comments astonished me by saying she was the greatest actress who ever lived, beyond Garbo and Dietrich.I suppose this may be true (except that she is beyond Garbo and Dietrich, which is just ridiculous.) Nevertheless, I see that she plays only a waif, never a prostitute of any kind, and it is not convincing: the Countess says something about 'spending your whole life in cabarets' as means of defending Lulu.
With touches of 'The Little Match Girl.'It has not been my experience that it is innocence in women that 'drives men mad.'Only toward the end does Pabst's poetics really fully open, with a taste of Christmas Cake, with the extravagantly handsome Francis Lederer walking away from the scene (he seems not to know that Lulu has been killed, only that she has been with another man).
The content, based upon the plays by Wedekind, deserves a certain amount of attention, but, when I was viewing the film, hopefully like many other of its buffs, my principal focus was drawn upon the character of Lulu and the performance by Louise Brooks - one word must be said before further analysis - magical!
Things I love about this film:Louise Brooks gives an extraordinary performance, as unaffected and natural as any I've ever seen.
Lulu is an incredible character, played magnificently by Louise Brooks, who is also one of the most beautiful, pure looking, actress that ever lived.
A real femme fatale so to speak and man, married or not, would do anything for her, even acts of violence.As it always goes with characters like Lulu in movies, her character does not end up well.
By her own admission Louise Brooks didn't really know what she was doing, but she and Pabst put it all on the screen, whatever it was.The story is melodramatic, flirts with the ludicrous, creeps to a crawl in spots, but Brooks's Lulu remains fresh and refreshing to the "bitter" end.Pabst's film-making was brilliant, in its own way, of course.
Lulu too appears ultra modern and Pabst's selection of an American (flapper) actress to star in a German expressionist film was a very good move.
The story follows the life of a high class prostitute named Lulu (Louise Brooks) through her beginnings in German high society, through her tragic marriage to a prominent doctor (Fritz Kortner) and finally her inevitable decline to the streets of London and her ultimate tragic ending.
Based on the play "Lulu" about a prostitute in the days of Jack the Ripper, this film is an attempt to show the prostitute as a victim of those who are using her.I have to admit that I found Louise Brookes's performance very lacklustre, and her sexuality little more than that of a sack of unwashed potatoes.
I thought that the ending when Lulu (Brook's character) is to be murdered by Jack the Ripper(?), would recover the film's plot.
So, too, Lulu who makes her way through Pandora's Box as a modern woman who uses her sexuality to make a place for herself while ignoring the possible consequences of her actions.
W. Pabst carefully builds up the atmosphere or simply invites us to dwell, like the male characters in the film, on Ms. Brooks' luminous beauty.
G.W. Pabst's classic, Pandora's Box (1929) is a must-see for Louise Brooks who plays the title role to ravishing perfection.
It really did.I also found that Louise Brooks' character of "Lulu", the low-life hooker (who radiated nothing but the purest, sweetest innocence imaginable) to be such a preposterous contradiction that she soon came across to me like the parody of a pathetic clown.Louise Brooks (who actually had quite a likable screen presence) was one of those unfortunate actresses who I think the movie industry really wasted by casting her in tiresome junk like 1929's "Pandora's Box".Is it any wonder - In 1938 - Louise Brooks (who was so fed up with being a film actress) retired from the business (at the age of 32) - Never to return?.
Both told a story of a care-free, and careless, woman brought down by a society that had different plans for her, and Brooks was the perfect face to channel such a dangerous force of nature.Here she plays Lulu, a young dancer and aspiring performer engaging in an affair with the soon-to-be-married newspaper publisher Dr. Ludwig Schon (Fritz Kortner).
The rise and inevitable fall of an amoral but naive young woman (Louise Brooks) whose insouciant eroticism inspires lust and violence in those around her."Pandora's Box" had previously been adapted for the screen by Arzén von Cserépy in 1921 in Germany under the same title, with Danish actress Asta Nielsen in the role of Lulu.
Georg Wilhelm Pabst's 1929 classic silent film 'Die Büchse der Pandora' and Louise Brooks' remarkable performance as Lulu will always be out there to reminds us this..
Pandora's Box is a 1929 German silent film about the life of Lulu, a beautiful, lively, gregarious but opportunistic and manipulative woman who gets everything she wants with her seductive charms.
Watching an older Louise Brooks talk about this movie (and her own career) I get the hint that even while she may have been as talented as she obviously points at, her fate, as Lulu's, was pre-ordained, but crucial only as to serve as a step to the modernization of woman in general.As an end-note, I saw this movie last Wednesday evening at the Film Forum, and I have to note Steven Sterner's fantastic, kinetic score playing live to the action in PANDORA'S BOX.
I'm not sure I'd have liked "Pandora's Box" any better with any other star.But I didn't much like the film, and I'm uncertain how much of that is down to its style -- 'German expressionism' -- and how much results from the nihilistic nature of the Lulu story: realistically, neither this nor the opera were ever going to be a pleasant watch.
Pandora's Box. I found this German made silent film listed in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, the title didn't suggest anything to me automatically, apart from possibly the famous mythological story being involved, but I watched out of curiosity.
In the Pabst's film, which is a perfect modern realization of the ancient Pandora's myth, Louise Brooks plays Lulu as "a beautiful evil", "all-gifted" perfect woman-child desirable by every man (and woman), and unaware of the disastrous effects of her sex appeal.
Louise Brooks' performance under G.W. Pabst's inspiring directing makes the film a real cinematic treasure and perhaps the sexiest movie ever made.
Pabst's silent film masterpiece and morality conundrum, Pandora's Box. For over eight decades, film reviewers have written reams about the sordid tale of sad wanton Lulu, living her life of hedonism, which spirals towards its inevitable tragic end. |
tt0039535 | King-Size Canary | An unnamed alley cat searches for food in some garbage cans late at night. Unable to find anything worth his while (the bones he finds are stolen by other alley cats before he can take a bite) he spots a refrigerator inside a house and heads for it. He sneaks onto the property only to wake a sleeping bulldog. The bulldog chases the cat up to the side of the house. The cat quickly pulls out some sleeping pills, putting the dog into a deep sleep.
Once inside the cat searches for food in the kitchen, but comes up empty. His luck finally changes when he finds a can of cat food. He quickly opens the can and out of the can pops a mouse who is plopped down onto a dinner plate. The cat is about to dig in with a fork but the mouse puts a quick stop to that. He says that the cat can't eat him because he has already seen the cartoon they are in and that he winds up saving the cat's life later. The feline understands but wants some food as he is starving. The mouse points into the other room and tells him that there is a huge, fat, tasty canary in there. The cat charges out into the other room and stuffs the unseen canary into a sack heading back to the kitchen.
The bird is emptied from the sack, to be revealed as scrawny and little. The bird tells the cat, "Well, I've been sick..." Disgusted with the tiny creature at first but still desperate, the cat gets a (literal) brainstorm when he sees a bottle of Jumbo-Gro plant growth formula on the shelf. Quickly he pours some of the formula into the bird and sure enough, the canary grows rapidly in size. But before the cat can take a bite, the bird is already over 10 feet tall. The canary takes advantage of his new height and beats up on the cat. The cat turns the tables on the bird and drinks the Jumbo-Gro formula himself, doubling in size until he is much bigger than the bird. He tosses the potion out of the window only for it to land in the bulldog's mouth. While the now giant-sized cat chases the slightly smaller canary through the side of the house, the bulldog guzzles down the formula. After a quick run around the block, the cat and canary wind up back outside of the house, where a now gigantic bulldog appears before them. The cat runs away in fear as the bulldog tosses the bottle of plant growth food down the chimney, where it rolls out of the fireplace and straight to the mouse inside the house. The dog leaps over the house and chases the cat into the city.
The mouse in the house takes a few sips of plant food, instantly ballooning to gigantic size. The dog chases the cat to the city, only for the now gargantuan mouse to show up and scare the bulldog away with a simple "Boo!". The mouse who is as tall as a 20 story building and just as fat, reminds the cat that he told him he would save his life. The cat thanks him as the mouse hands him the bottle back and waddles off. The cat, rubs his enormous belly realizing he still is hungry, sees the huge mouse stomping off and gets another idea. He suddenly drinks more of the formula and grows even bigger and fatter than the mouse. The cat who is by now 100 stories tall, chases the giant but smaller mouse through the city and across the country, passing the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and the mountains.
The giant mouse hides in a railroad tunnel, losing the cat for a moment. The mouse drinks the potion when the cat isn't paying attention and becomes even bigger than the already huge cat. The mouse starts to beat up on the cat only for the cat to take the potion back and drink it, becoming bigger than the mouse. The mouse takes it back and drinks more to become bigger still. They continue getting bigger and bigger, fatter and fatter until they suddenly both come to a stop at the same exact size. They shake the now empty bottle of Jumbo-Gro and tell the audience at home that they have to end the cartoon, as they've run out of the formula. They wave goodbye to the audience before the camera pulls back, revealing that they have outgrown the Earth itself and are standing atop the globe. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | A Must-Be-Seen-To-Be-Believed Masterpiece.
Of Tex Avery's three masterpieces, "King-Size Canary" is the best of the lot.
(In case you're wondering, the other two are "Who Killed Who?" and "Red Hot Riding Hood," both 1943.) This has to be seen to be believed, let alone appreciated.
I once tried to describe it to a friend, one who admitted affection for Chuck Jones' Bugs/Daffy/Elmer hunting trilogy from Warner Bros., and failed miserably to do it justice.
The insanity builds from a merely amusing opening to a mind-boggling yet inevitable finale, an image that will stay with you for some time after the fade-out..
Absolute genius!.
Tex Avery, IMHO, is probably hands-down the best at his craft.
Current stuff -- just that, stuff.
The closest I've seen of recent work would have to be the four Roger Rabbit/Baby Herman cartoons (including the short that opened the film, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?").This simple premise -- starving cat & undersized intended snack -- is complicated by a miraculous growth fertilizer and spirals rapidly out of control to a completely ridiculous conclusion.I was lucky enough to own the box-set of laserdiscs which included every cartoon Tex Avery made for MGM, and I would have paid three times what I did for it.
Although this particular cartoon wasn't my favorite (I might have to lean toward one of the two versions of "Northwest Hounded Police" in which double-takes and eyeball gags are elevated to an art form), it was certainly in the upper levels.
Another high-ranking short: "Bad Luck Blackie", in which a black cat simply struts in front of a surprisingly vicious bulldog to bring him instant -- and potentially lethal -- bad luck.Try to see these shorts unedited, not the hacked 'politically correct' versions being shown on some cable cartoon shows.
Absolutely the best animation for sheer hilarity that has ever been committed to celluloid..
Pullin' out that bottle of Whup-ass.
Whatever Tex Avery was smoking when he came up with this one should be instantly legalized and doled out to the creatively bankrupt.
The Classic Avery 'toon, the one he could never quite top, and a joy to behold.
Bird, Cat, Dog, and Mouse - in that order - drink from an unassuming-looking bottle of Jumbo-Grow plant food.
I won't give away the ending, but I wouldn't mind a sequel if only to find out what could possibly happen next..
The quintessential Tex Avery cartoon..
While I do not personally think this is Avery's best cartoon (that honor goes to The Legend of Rockabye Point) and this one is also not among my personal favorites, this is the ultimate in Tex Avery cartoons.
Everything Avery strived to do is here-he loved taking a quasi-normal situation, tossing in a random, improbable element or three and then piling sight gag after sight gag, each one more outlandish than the ones before.
The jokes are all sight gags.
What dialogue there is is generally there as necessary for set-up and only one or two lines are even mildly funny.
Just sight gags, as far as the eye can see, fast enough to register, but so fast that you almost don't have time to breathe because you're laughing so hard.
This one makes you want to do things like hang spoons from your nose!
Wildly silly and unforgettable, truly a masterpiece.
This is a great cartoon!
It worked 55 years ago and it works today.
Most highly recommended..
Tex Avery's animal magic.
'King Size Canary' is one of MGM and Tex Avery's better animation shorts, and concentrates on what might happen if a hungry cat goes in search of food and finds a way to make everything larger!
Of course this being cartoon fun you just know that whatever the cat makes larger will end up being too large, and that the gag will progress on and on to its inevitable conclusion.
The main characters - cat, dog, bird and mouse - are funny and watchable; the animation is well drawn, and the cartoon is a diverting few minutes.Although MGM's cartoons, Hanna and Barbera aside, are not known as much as the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies of Warner Bros., or the shorts made by Walt Disney, they are not at all bad and can still be appreciated today by any generation..
A king-sized delight.
Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did.
Have yet to see a "bad" Tex Avery cartoon, of the ones seen so far (which has been a vast majority) his weakest have still been decent.
'King-Size Canary' is often considered one of his greatest, have to completely agree with this.
One of my favourites of his along with 'Red Hot Riding Hood', 'Who Killed Who?', 'Rock-a-Bye Bear' and 'The Legend of Rockabye Point', most of his Droopy cartoons and the likes of 'Magical Maestro', 'A Wild Hare' and 'Symphony in Slang' are up there too.Every single one of the characters are great fun and the cartoon makes imaginative use of them.
The voice work is impeccable if not quite as big a tour-De-force as 'Red Hot Riding Hood'.Can't say anything bad about Avery's direction.
He does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour style all over it as can be expected.Once again there is nothing sadistic or repetitious, instead it's imaginative, wonderfully wild, deliciously deranged, violent but imaginatively so, shockingly racy, red hot sexy and hilarious throughout from start to finish.
The sight gags throughout are an absolute joy and are immaculate in timing.It is no surprise either that the animation is superb, being rich in colour and detail.
The character designs are unique, Avery always did have creative character designs, and suitably fluid.
The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed.Overall, simply amazing and one of my favourites.
10/10 Bethany Cox. Ten Upsmanship.
An alley cat is starving and does all he can to find food.
Eventually, he breaks into a house and ransacks the contents of the kitchen.
He finds a can of cat food, but upon opening it, he finds a mouse who talks him into letting him go, and tells him to eat the canary in the next room.
Well, now comes the kicker.
The cat finds a bottle of some growth substance.
He pours it down the throat of the canary and the thing becomes enormous.
Now the cat must drink the stuff and get bigger, followed by a dog, and finally the mouse.
You get the point.
I won't talk about the ending, but it's pretty much what you would expect from what has happened.
We never really question the fact that such a substance exists.
Tex Avery handles the expressions and the craziness just fine..
KING-SIZE CANARY (Tex Avery, 1947) ****.
This has always been a favorite cartoon of mine but it was only several years later that I became aware of its reputation as not only one of Avery's greatest cartoons, but the fact that it also exemplifies the delirious heights of invention to which the field could aspire during its heyday.
A measure of the cartoon's standing is the fact that it ranked tenth in a 1994 poll compiling the 50 greatest cartoons ever, and was even picked by noted biographer/historian Simon Louvish as being one of the ten best films of all time for the influential "Sight & Sound" poll of 2002!
The plot sees a ravenous cat finding only a sickly canary to feed on; noticing a bottle of "Jumbo Gro" (intended for the artificial growth of flowers), it forces a couple of gulps down the bird's throat resulting in the latter towering above the feline itself!
At this, the cat drinks from the bottle itself (so that the size of its meal can become, once again, manageable) but carelessly throws away the recipient which is then picked up by a mouse and, subsequently, a vicious-looking bulldog (with, every time one takes a sip from it, expanding to an outrageous size)!
Soon, they're chasing each other and leaping over the tallest buildings; eventually, the "stuff" runs out leaving the cat and the mouse at an equivalent dimension
except that they're so big now the two of them are literally standing on top of the world!.
Too big to fail?.
"King-Size Canary" is certainly among the most famous cartoons by Tex Avery and also among the most famous from the 1940s.
This one here is about a starving cat who finds a growth elixir and gives it to the chicken he is about to eat.
Unfortunately, it grows a bit more then expected.
So the cat takes some as well and relations are fine again?
Things become even more mayhem when a dog and mouse come into play, also with altered sizes.
The joke is very much the same for these 7 minutes and it's not too groundbreaking in any way in my opinion, but still it was a decent watch.
Nonetheless I must say that Avery cartoons lack something in terms of heart and recognition value compared to Disney's and Warner Bros's finest.
All in all, recommended, but not a must-see by any means..
It's Tex Avery at MGM!
What more could you want?!.
The Tex Avery cartoons at MGM are among the very best cartoon shorts ever made.
Their insane sensibilities, irreverent attitude and silliness make them all timeless classics and KING-SIZE CANARY is certainly no exception.The film starts with a hungry cat looking for something to eat in the alley.
He looks through binoculars at a house and spots a "Coldernell" refrigerator and figures he can get something to eat there.
When he catches the mouse in the house, it tells him he'd read the script and the cat was supposed to eat the canary in the next room!
But, when the cat sees that the bird is minuscule, he gets an idea and feeds it "Jumbo Gro" liquid.
Now the canary is huge....so huge that the tables are now turned!
Well, somehow the dog and mouse get involved and this Jumbo Gro is an amazing product--you take a swallow and almost instantly become huge--leading to a rather cute ending.The bottom line is that this cartoon isn't exactly "high art" but it's doggone funny.
You'll laugh and have a great time, so give it a try today! |
tt0409847 | Cowboys & Aliens | In 1873 New Mexico Territory, an unnamed loner (Daniel Craig) awakens injured in the desert with no memory and with a strange metal object on his wrist. He wanders into the town of Absolution, where preacher Meacham treats his wound. Sheriff Taggart recognizes the stranger as wanted outlaw Jake Lonergan and attempts to arrest him. Jake beats up the posse sent to take him in and nearly escapes, but a woman named Ella Swenson (Olivia Wilde) knocks him out. Taggart prepares to transport both Jake and volatile drunk Percy Dolarhyde to Santa Fe for trial.
Percy's father, Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), a ruthless cattle baron, demands Percy be released. He also demands Jake be released to him, since Jake had stolen gold from him. During the standoff, alien spacecraft begin attacking the town. Percy, the sheriff and other townsfolk are abducted by long, whip-like feelers hanging from the bottom of the ships. Jake's bracelet activates and becomes a weapon; he shoots down a ship, ending the attack.
Dolarhyde, Ella, and other townsfolk form a posse to track an injured alien that escaped from the downed ship. Meanwhile, Jake travels to an abandoned cabin and, in a flashback, recalls returning to it with stolen gold and then being abducted, along with a woman named Alice, by the aliens. His memories returning, Jake joins up with the posse. During the evening, the group comes upon a capsized paddle wheel steamboat that the aliens apparently dumped hundreds of miles from any rivers capable of holding it. They camp in it, and during the night the alien they were tracking kills Meacham, who sacrifices himself to save Emmett, Taggart's grandson.
By morning, most of the posse has deserted, and those remaining are attacked by Jake's former gang. Jake, who had stolen the gang's loot after their last heist, attempts to retake control but it is foiled. The aliens begin attacking them again and Ella is captured. Jake jumps aboard the ship and attacks the alien pilot, causing the ship to crash. The alien survived the crash, suddenly comes out of the water and attacked Ella, fatally wounding her. The alien itself is killed by Jake with his wrist-blaster .
The remaining posse is captured by Chiricahua Apache Native Americans, who blame them for the alien attacks. After Ella's corpse is dumped on a fire by a Chiricahua warrior, she is resurrected and emerges from the fire. Ella reveals herself to be from another alien race, who had travelled to Earth to help resist the invaders after they destroyed her home world. The aliens, who are mining gold and abducting people to conduct experiments to find humans' weaknesses, are far stronger and more durable than humans, and have superior weaponry, but are not invulnerable. They can be stabbed and shot to death, but only Jake's gauntlet weapon or a well-aimed shot with a rifle can kill them with a single blast. Ella tells them that the aliens which previously attacked them are just scouts.
She also claims Jake holds the secret to the aliens' whereabouts and argues they must defeat the aliens before the invaders exterminate all life on earth. After taking medicine offered by the Apaches' medicine man, Jake recalls that Alice was euthanized after she was used in an alien experiment, but he had escaped, inadvertently stealing the gauntlet-like alien weapon encasing his wrist. He then also remembers the location of the aliens' base of operations.
Armed with this knowledge, the group, now led by Dolarhyde, prepares to attack the aliens' grounded mother ship. Meanwhile, Jake returns to his old gang and persuades them to join the fight. After the humans maneuver the aliens into a ground battle, Jake and Ella board the ship and free the captives, but Jake is captured. Dolarhyde rescues him and both men escape the ship after killing the alien responsible for Alice's death. As the remaining aliens are taking off in their damaged craft, Ella sacrifices herself by entering the ship's core and destroying it by using Jake's wrist gauntlet as a bomb, obliterating the alien ship.
With the aliens gone the abducted townsfolk begin to remember their pasts. Still a wanted man, Jake decides to leave, though the sheriff and Dolarhyde say they will claim he was killed in the invasion. The citizens intend to reconstruct their town. | boring, murder, cult, violence, flashback, action, romantic, sci-fi | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0048261 | Kiss Me Deadly | One night while driving down a dark road near Los Angeles, private detective Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) nearly runs down a young woman named Christina (Cloris Leachman) standing in the road who begs for a ride. Hammer gives the blonde a ride thinking she may be an escaped lunatic since she is only dressed in a trenchcoat. When they confront a road block, Hammer covers for the young woman after she gives him a story about some mysterious characters who are chasing her. Hammer shrugs it off until a car cuts them off and several shady men grab them, kidnap Christina and run Hammer off a cliff destroying his car and putting him in the hospital. When Hammer comes around he is bent on vengeance but more on solving the mystery of who these guys are and why they killed Christina. So he begins to investigate the woman's past, based on a clue that she left before she died. Hammer turns to his affectionate assistant Velda (Maxine Cooper) and Nick (Nick Dennis), his garage mechanic to track down helpful information and she finds the addresses of Christina's roommate Gabrielle (Gaby Rodgers), scientists, and art dealers who all have an interesting connection to a group of thugs composed of Carl Evello (Paul Stewart), Charlie Max (Jack Elam) and Sugar Smallhouse (Jack Lambert) and a mysterious box that holds the key to the mystery. An evil doctor named Soberin (Albert Dekker) catches up with Hammer and a finale brings about tremendous happenings.======================================================This is a more detailed Synopsis.The movie opens with a woman, Christina Bailey (Cloris Leachman) running down the middle of a street wearing just a trench coat. It is dark and she tries to flag down several cars with no luck. Finally, in desperation, she blocks the street forcing Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) to swerve his sports car into the soft shoulder of the road. Very annoyed, he tells her to get into his car. He drives down the road. Credits roll in reverse from top to bottom to the Nat King Cole song, "Rather Have the Blues" playing on the radio. Christina keeps looking back. She tells Mike she's heading for Los Angeles. They come to a road block. "A woman escaped from an asylum upstate", is the reason given by the police. Mike tells the officer his wife was asleep, explaining her appearance in "his" trench coat in an open top roadster. Mike stops at a service station. The mechanic finds and dislodges a shrub caught in the front wheel. Christina uses the bathroom, and then asks the mechanic (Robert Sherman) to mail a letter for her. They resume their journey. She tells Mike if they don't make it to her bus stop to "remember me." A large black Cadillac pulls out and blocks the road. Three men get out. Next we hear screaming and see a woman's legs twitching. Christina is being tortured with a pair of pliers (discreetly off camera). Mike is unconscious on a bare metal bed spring mattress. Mike awakens and learns Christina is dead. He and Christina are put in his car and pushed over a cliff. He is thrown clear before the car crashes and burns. The Cadillac pulls away.Mike wakes in a hospital room to the faces of a nurse (Mara McAfee) and his secretary, Velda Wickman (Maxine Cooper). The doctor enters and tells Lt. Pat Murphy (Wesley Addy) he has five minutes. Pat asks Mike what happened. Sometime later Mike is discharged. As he leaves with Velda, he is immediately detained for questioning by the Interstate Crime Commission. Pat waits outside the hearing room. FBI agents (Robert Cornthwaite and James Seay) ask Mike about his business. They are investigating Christina's death. Mike deduces Christina was involved "in something big." He sees a potential business opportunity.Mike takes a cab to see his mechanic, Nick (Nick Dennis). He is told the car was totaled, and that a couple of tough guys were looking for him. The tough guys are waiting outside Mike's apartment building when he gets home. He carefully approaches his apartment door, expecting someone waiting to ambush him, but the place is empty. The phone rings and the answering machine picks up; it is Velda, she tells him she is on her way over. Velda arrives, followed shortly by Pat--official business. Pat lets himself in. He revokes Mike's Private Investigator license and his gun permit. Mike asks Pat about a science reporter, Ray Diker. Mike and Velda discuss a return to their usual business--divorce investigations.In a different sports car, Mike is on his way to visit Ray Diker (Mort Marshall). He is followed by an attacker (Paul Richards). Mike gets the drop on him and easily disarms and dispatches the guy. He proceeds to Diker's apartment. It is clear the man is terrified as he shows signs of an earlier beating. He tells Mike he's afraid, just like Christina. He provides Mike her last name and address. Mike drives to Christina's last known address where he gains the confidence of an old furniture mover (Silvio Minciotti). He gives Mike the current address of Christina's roommate. The apartment manager, Horace (James McCallion) shows Mike the apartment. There he collects a volume of poetry by Christina Rossetti. Mike drives over to see the roommate, Lilly Carver (Gaby Rodgers). She greets him with a gun. They talk. She tells Mike about Christina and the night she was taken away.In his apartment, Mike gets a phone call. He lets the answering machine screen his call. A man's voice recounts the events to date; Mike picks up the phone to talk to the stranger. Mike is told if he "forgets" about events he will be rewarded. The next morning a brand new Corvette is parked in front of the building. Nick sees it first and gets in; he intends to drive it around the block before Mike gets there. Mike warns him in time not to touch the car--it is wired with explosives. He finds and removes the bomb, but Mike tells Nick to drive slowly over to the shop to find the second bomb. Mike asks Nick to discreetly find out who planted the bombs. This little task will prove to be a fatal one.Mike stops at Velda's apartment to tell her the divorce business is a little too small time; he has something better, "That girl I picked up was mixed up in something big." Velda tells Mike that Diker called and left two names and contacts. Leopold Kowolsky / Harvey Wallace and Nicholas Raymondo / Carmen Trivago. Velda tells Mike that Kowolsky was a pro fighter, but she had nothing on Raymondo. She emphasizes "was" as they both knew Christina and are both dead.Mike questions Harvey Wallace (Strother Martin) at home while he and his family are eating dinner. Wallace finally admits Kowolsky was pushed in front of his truck and killed. Next on his list is the gym where Kowolsky trained. He sees an old friend and trainer, Eddie Yeager (Juano Hernandez). Mike inquires about Lee Kowolsky. Eddie is shocked and scared. He tells Mike he has "forgotten". Two men, Charlie Max (Jack Elam) and Sugar Smallhouse (Jack Lambert) told him if he said anything about Kowolsky he would be killed. Mike calls Pat at police headquarters and asks who Max and Smallhouse work for. He is told Carl Evello (Paul Stewart).At the Evello home, Max and Smallhouse are playing cards and Evello is sitting by the pool having a drink and playing solitaire. Mike arrives in his new car. Evello's half sister, Friday (Marion Carr) is right behind him in her car. She kisses Mike, and then introduces herself. They go into the house and have a drink. Friday is what used to be called "a very loose woman." Evello recognizes Mike Hammer and sends Charlie and Sugar to the pool house to see him. Expertly wielding a sap or blackjack, Mike coldcocks Sugar. Charlie is so surprised he exits quickly and quietly back to see his boss. Evello tells Friday to, "send him into the house." They talk. Evello admits to placing the explosives in Mikes new car, "I'll admit that was a little crude...We keep underestimating you." Their meeting ends on an ominous note--play ball or die.Mike drives over to see Carmen Trivago (Fortunio Bonanova). Like all his other leads, this one is scared. He tells Mike, "I know nothing." He does manage to get that whatever "it" is, it is small and can be hidden. That evening he returns to see Lilly Carver; she is hiding on the stairs and tells Mike, "they came again last night, I hid in the basement." He takes her back to his apartment. Nick has done a little investigating earlier in the day, so when Mike drops by he tells him he has some information about the car bomb. Mike still needs to secure Lilly Carver at his place, so he tells Nick he will be back to talk. Nick crawls under a car to work and is killed by a man we never see. Mike gets Lilly to his apartment and tells her to lock the door and not to answer the phone. Mike drives back to Nick's garage and finds another mechanic Sammy (Jerry Zinneman) holding Nick's dead hand and sobbing. Mike leaves when he hears a police siren.Mike drives to Velda's apartment; They kiss. She asks, "what kind of trouble are you in this time?" He tells her Nick is dead. She gives Mike another lead, Dr. Soberin. The next day Mike stops at a nightclub and gets very drunk. The bartender wakes him and says, "They got Velda." Mike drives back to the gas station and talks to the attendant. He asks if he remembers who to whom Christina addressed her letter. The attendant tells him, "Some joker named Mike." He goes to his office and opens the letter. It only says, "Remember Me." Charlie Max and Sugar Smallhouse are there to greet him. Sugar returns the favor with a blackjack of his own. They take Mike to a beach house in his own car. Mike makes a run for it when he gets the chance, but Charlie and Sugar give him a good beating for his attempt. He wakes tied securely to a bed. A man tells Mike he will die, but he can save Velda. The man drugs Mike with sodium pentothal then exits the bedroom. Mike mumbles under the influence of the drug. Carl Evello comes in to question him, but gets nothing. Mike manages to work one hand free from the ropes. He calls out and Carl returns. He lures Carl over and knocks him out. Mike pretends to be Evello and summons Sugar in to kill Mike. Sugar enters the darkened room and stabs his boss, thinking it is Mike. Mike kills Sugar and escapes.Mike returns home; Carver is there and dressed. Mike picks up the book of poetry and reads the sonnet "Remember Me." He gets a clue that something may have been inside of Christina. Mike and Lilly visit the coroner's office. The Autopsy Surgeon, Doc Kennedy (Percy Helton) is corrupt and wants money for the key he found in Christina's stomach. Mike pays him, but the doctor tries to welch on the deal. Mike smashes his hand in a desk drawer to get the key. It has HAC stamped on it. They drive over to the Hollywood Athletic Club. Mike has to get tough with the attendant (Leonard Mudie). The attendant tells him it is a locker key and escorts Mike to Nicholas Raymondo's locker. Inside the locker is a leather covered box that Mike notices is very hot to the touch. He opens it slightly and an intense light shines from it. It burns his wrist. He tells the attendant not to touch it. When Mike returns to the car, Lilly Carver is gone.At his apartment, Pat and three policemen are waiting for his return. Pat demands the key. Mike confronts Pat with Pat's complicity in all the deaths and his inability to protect all the people who were killed. When he mentions Carver, he is told Carver was killed over a week ago. Then who was that woman? Pat notices the radiation burn on Mike's wrist. Mike gives Pat the key. The police depart. Mike calls the Hollywood Athletic Club, but there is no answer. The locker is broken open, the attendant is dead and the box is missing. That evening Mike makes another call on Ray Diker. He gets another name, William Mist, owner of Mist's Gallery of Modern Art. Mike breaks in but Mist (uncredited) takes a hand full of sleeping pills, prescribed by Dr. G.E. Soberin. Mist is unable to tell Mike anything, despite being slapped around. Mike does manage to get Soberin's location through his answering service. On a hunch he goes to the beach cottage and recognizes the place from his encounter with Evello, Charlie and Sugar.Dr. Soberin (Albert Dekker) is packing to leave. He talks to Lilly Carver, whose real name is Gabrielle and we learn she was employed by Soberin to get the key from Christina and keep an eye on Mike Hammer. Gabrielle wants her share, half, and before Soberin leaves. When Soberin brushes her off she kills the doctor. With his dying breath he begs her not to open the box. Mike enters the room and gets a bullet for his trouble. He demands to know where Velda is located. Gabrielle opens the box and is immediately consumed by fire. Mike comes to and exits the room. He finds Velda in a locked bedroom, frees her, and they leave the house. They run along the beach, occasionally looking back at the strobe effects lighting up the house and beach. They make their way into the surf as the house explodes. We close with Mike and Velda in the surf watching the house disintegrate. | cult, murder, violence | train | imdb | null |
tt0093507 | Masters of the Universe | On the Planet Eternia, at the centre of the universe, the forces of Skeletor (Frank Langella) have managed to seize control over Castle Grayskull. Also, Skeletor has captured the Sorceress of Grayskull (Christina Pickles) who until now has kept order over the universe. Skeletor's is planning to recieve the powers of Grayskull when the 'great eye' opens and Eternia's moon is correctly aligned.In the meantime, the Eternian forces are scattered and outnumbered. In the wasteland, one of Skeletor's patrols is attacked by Eternia's greatest warrior, He-Man (Dolph Lundgren) who is also Skeletor's arch-enemy. During the fight He Man rescues a Thenorian named Gwildor (Billy Barty), who claims to be an inventor and locksmith. He Man and his comrades go to Gwildor's home where he reveals his newest invention; the "Cosmic Key", which can open a portal to any location and any time. He explains that Skeletor stole the key from him and used it to get into Castle Grayskull, but Gwildor kept the prototype. With Skeletor's centurians arriving, Gwildor leads the others into a secret passageway that takes them straight to the castle.The Throne Room is empty, much to He Man's concern. While Gwildor tries to free the Sorceress from her confines, the group is surrounded by Skeletor and his troops. During the panic, Gwildor uses his key to open a random gateway which He Man and his friends escape through. Their destination seems to be Earth, but on arriving there, the key gets misplaced and the Eternians split up to find it. Meanwhile nearby, a pair of teenagers named Julie (Courteney Cox) and Kevin (Robert Duncan McNeill) discover the key in a crater and start pressing its buttons, suspecting it to be some sort of music device. At Grayskull, Skeletor's second in command Evil-Lyn (Meg Foster) tracks the key to Earth and prepares a small team of mercenaries to recover it. They consist of Saurod (Pons Marr), Blade (Anthony De Longis), Beastman (Tony Carroll) and their leader Karg (Robert Towers).Kevin and Julie are spending the evening after hours at their high school because Julie is moving away that night, following a personal tragedy and wants to say her goodbyes to both Kevin and the school. However, Kevin is curious about the 'device' their found and takes it away to get a second opinion, leaving Julie alone. A portal then opens, with the mercenaries storming into the gym where Julie is. The four of them shoot at Julie who takes cover behind the band equipment and manages to escape.He Man is searching nearby and hears Julie in distress. While the mercenaries search for Julie in a warehouse, He Man attacks the accompanying troops and saves Julie, while comrades Teela (Chelsea Field) and her father Man-at-Arms (Jon Cypher) chase the mercenaries away. On their return to Grayskull, Skeletor is infuriated by the mercenaries' failure and destroys Saurod with an energy bolt. This time with a larger force and Evil Lyn, they return to Earth.Meanwhile, Kevin returns to the school which has nearly been burnt down after Julie's escape. The detective on scene, Lubic (James Tolkan), takes Kevin to Julie's house to look for her. Over the phone, Julie reveals to Kevin the importance of the Cosmic Key. But before Julie can arrive, Lubic gets interested in the device and takes it from Kevin, suspecting it to be stolen. Immediately afterwards, Evil Lyn and her troops break in and interrogate him, then leave to catch the detective.When He Man and co. arrive at the house, Julie and Kevin decide to lead the Eternians to where Lubic has taken the key - a music store, where Kevin had been to earlier on. A battle ensues in the store, with He Man and Man-at-Arms
holding the centurians back while Gwildor tries to open a doorway back to Eternia. During the confusion however, Evil Lyn has masqueraded as Julie's mother (Gwynne Gilford) who was supposed to have died in a plane crash. While Lubic, Kevin and Gwildor argue, Julie is persuaded to steal the key for her 'mother' and doesn't realise the deception until it's too late. Evil Lyn and the others pull out and He Man gives chase. But then another doorway opens and this time, it's Skeletor himself who arrives on Earth.While the centurians march down the deserted street, He Man uses a stolen hover-board to swoop in and take the key back from Evil Lyn's grasp. But Skeletor has surrounded his friends including Julie and Kevin and sets a trap for He Man. Despite the overwhelming numbers, He Man still fights off the troops until Skeletor delivers his ultimatum. Either He Man surrenders and becomes his slave, or he'll kill He Man's friends. With no choice but to surrender, He Man leaves and returns with Skeletor, while the others are left to 'rot' on Earth. Worse still, Julie was injured by Skeletor's poisonous magic and the second key was damaged beyond repair.Back at Grayskull, Skeletor prepares for the 'Great Eye' to open and recieve ultimate power, while torturing He Man and demanding him to kneel before he his killed. Gwildor, meanwhile, tries to repair the key but explains that the tones needed were erased. Kevin goes back to the music store takes a keyboard which he can use to create the tones and open the portal. Just at the moment Skeletor becomes all powerful, comparing his new status to a God's, the portal opens and the final battle begins. Lubic, Kevin, Man-at-Arms and Teela all fight off the centurians from behind cover while He Man breaks free from his chains and recovers his sword. Skeletor and He Man clash swords and engage in combat. During the fight, He Man breaks Skeletor's staff and his new powers and god-like status vanish. He Man tells the weakened Skeletor that 'it's over', but his enemy draws a hidden sword and lunges at He Man. The fight continues, but He Man manages to knock Skeletor down the huge pit that surrounds the Throne Room.Now victorious and with Julie healed by the Sorceress, it seems like peace at last on Eternia. Kevin and Julie say goodbye to the Eternians and Gwildor opens a doorway back to Earth. When Julie awakes in her bed, she finds her parents downstairs, alive and well and about to take their fateful flight. Julie stops them from leaving and finds Kevin, who confirms it wasn't all a dream and holds out their souvenir of Eternia, a blue marble with the image of He Man holding the Sword of Grayskull high above his head.In the huge pit beneath the Throne Room, which Skeletor was knocked into, which is filled with red water. Skeletor emerges and pops his head out of the water and vows "I'll be back!". | good versus evil, cult, psychedelic, murder, violence | train | imdb | null |
tt0434139 | The Last Kiss | Michael and his live-in girlfriend Jenna appear to be enjoying the perfect relationship: Jenna is pregnant prior to the opening of the film and her parents are pressuring the pair to get married. Jenna claims that Michael's work pressures and her own dissertation rendered it an inopportune time for marriage. The real reason, unbeknownst to anyone, is that Michael feels trapped and scared. Although he considers Jenna an ideal companion, Michael is harboring second thoughts.Upon a chance encounter at a wedding, Michael meets Kim, whom he confides in about his relationship. Kim guesses he is about to break up with Jenna and becomes flirtatious. While Michael becomes intrigued by Kim's youthfulness, openness, and spirit, he does not succumb to temptation. The two part ways with Kim telling Michael where she attends school and where she usually hangs out.Michael eventually seeks her out at the Memorial Union but tells Kim he was in the area only because of a client meeting. Kim senses his interest and, while Michael drives her home, invites him to a party. Michael accepts. Back in the office, Michael constructs an excuse to be away from Jenna on the night of the party. He asks Chris, his friend and co-worker, to cover for him in case Jenna calls. Chris suspects Michael has met another woman and wishes to avoid becoming involved, as Chris himself has just left his wife; he knows first hand how painful a breakup can be. Michael denies the existence of another woman and merely says he will 'be with an old college friend.'After the party with Kimwho Michael says makes him 'feel ten years younger'the two kiss several times, preceding Kim inviting Michael to her dorm for the night. Guilt over cheating on Jenna prevails over temptation, however, and he refuses. Unfortunately for Michael, Izzy's father (Izzy is a mutual friend to Michael and Jenna) dies that night. Several friends and acquaintances, including Jenna and Chris, go to Izzy's home with their condolences. There, Jenna realizes Michael had not been, as he claimed, with Chris. Jenna confronts Chris but Chris refuses to answer her questions, which only fuels Jenna's suspicions that Michael has indeed gone astray.When Michael arrives home that night, Jenna becomes confrontational; Michael at first denies he was out with Kim, but eventually admits he had seen another woman. Although he points out he didn't sleep with her and that the outing meant nothing, Jenna yells at him and kicks him out of the house.Alone, depressed, and desperate, Michael receives a call from Kim. Kim apologizes for being demanding earlier and asks him to come over for conversation only. Michael agrees. Upon arrival, the pair immediately engage in sexual intercourse. The next morning, Michael tries sneaking away without waking Kim but notices once he gets out the door that he left his keys behind. Upon his return, Kim demands to know why he hadn't said goodbye. Michael tells her simply that he did not want to wake her, as he had to be at work early. Kim takes the missing keys out of her pocket and returns them after Michael promises to call her.At work, Michael plans on leaving early to seek out Jenna. On his way out, Kim visits his office unannounced, wanting to give him a mix CD. Michael confides he still loves Jenna who was, in fact, pregnant with his baby. He apologizes to Kim for not telling her about Jenna's pregnancy and leaves her in search of Jenna.Michael pulls up to Jenna's parents' home, and Jenna's father gives a stern lecture about commitment and adulthood and offers advice on winning Jennas forgiveness. The father urges Michael to be completely honest and never stop trying. Equipped with his wisdom, Michael goes into Jenna's room. On the verge of reconciliation, Jenna asks if he was telling the truth about having sex with Kim. Michael says he was telling the truth (which he was, at the time), but as a result of her father's advice he confesses he went back later that night. Even though Michael claims he was only being honest, Jenna becomes inconsolable and storms out of the house and back to their apartment.Michael follows her back and finds himself locked out. He stakes out on the front porch until Jenna agrees to talk. Both day and night, wet and dry, Michael remains at the front door with many neighbors taking notice and some even providing beverages to him. Jenna's father even proceeds to drive by in his car and notices Michael, who sees him. A proud smile develops on his face as he drives off, indicating that Michael has taken his advice seriously. Slowly but surely, she begins to relent, first tossing out a blanket during a cold evening, then dropping off a sandwich the next day. During the evening of what would have been his third night on the porch, Jenna breaks her silence and speaks to Michael through the closed door. She laments about mourning the loss of the relationship like the loss of someone's life. Later that evening, Jenna opens the door and Michael goes inside. | romantic, boring | train | imdb | null |
tt0082782 | My Bloody Valentine | Two miners in full gear, including face masks, are seen going down into a deep mine shaft, each carrying a pick axe. They reach an alcove and one of the figures takes off the mask, revealing that she is a young woman. She removes part of her uniform and stands in a state of half-undress in front of the other figure, presumably a man, who does not remove the breathing mask that covers his head. The man sticks his pick axe in the wall beside her as she does a strip tease, fondling the man's mask and breathing tubes in a sexual manner. Finally, the man suddenly grabs her and violently slams her against the pick axe, the blade impaling her through her chest.The small town of Valentine's Bluff is seen preparing for a Valentine's day dance. The town is home to a coal mine where many of the local men work, both young and old. Hanniger, the town Mayor, discusses the Valentine's Day dance with a woman named Mabel Osborne, who runs a laundromat. Hanniger makes a vague reference to a past tragedy associated with Valentine's Day, and we learn that this is the first Valentine's dance to be held in decades. 20 years prior, a mining accident trapped five men underneath the ground. The accident was due to the negligence of two supervisors who were anxious to get to the Valentine's dance, having left their posts while the men were still below - and having failed to check for dangerous levels of methane gas. Of the five men who were trapped in the explosion, four of them died. A survivor named Harry Warden was rescued, found in a state of mental collapse; the rescue took so long that Harry had resorted to cannibalism to survive, eating the bodies of his dead coworkers. Harry took revenge on the two supervisors, attacking them with a pick axe and tearing out their hearts, leaving them in decorative Valentine boxes and warning the town to never hold another Valentine's dance.The warning had been heeded until now, and the town tries to put the past behind it by having another dance. The younger people of the town are excited about it. Three of these young people are involved in a love triangle: T.J. Hanniger, the Mayor's son, has recently returned from an unexpected departure where he tried to leave Valentine's Bluff behind, including his girlfriend Sarah. In the meantime, Sarah has begun a relationship with T.J.'s friend Axel. Sarah still has feelings for T.J., infuriating Axel and causing tension between the two men.Meanwhile, Mayor Hanniger and the town's chief of police, Jake Newby, get an anonymous box of Valentine's chocolates, and when they open it, it contains a human heart, presumably that of the young woman at the beginning of the film. A note warns against having another Valentine's day dance.That evening, Mabel is also attacked by the killer, still dressed in the mining gear. He corners her in the laundromat and murders her with the pick axe. The next morning, Jake finds her body stuffed inside one of the dryers, her heart ripped out and her skin scorched from the heat. Newby tries to hush up the incident in the hopes of avoiding a panic, releasing information that Mabel died of a heart attack. Newby phones the mental institution where Harry Warden was incarcerated, but there is no trace of him there; his records are lost and his contact cannot tell Newby where Harry is or whatever became of him. Newby and Hanniger fear that Harry Warden has come back to continue his killing spree, and their worst fears seem to be confirmed when the coroner tells them the heart in the box was indeed a human heart - of a woman, approximately 30 years old.With the death of Mabel, the dance is cancelled. T.J. and his group of friends gather at the local bar, where they hear stories from the bartender about Harry Warden and his rampage. They scoff at him, angering the bartender Happy, who overhears them planning on holding their own party at the mine after hours. When they leave, the bartender rushes out to the mine ahead of them and sets up a gag dummy with a pickaxe to scare them. But the real killer lunges at him and murders him, driving the pick axe into his head.The following night, when the large group of young revelers arrives at the mine, T.J. and Axel come to blows over their rivalry. A young man, named Dave, is murdered in the kitchen, drowned and scalded in a pot of boiling water by the killer. The killer cuts out his heart and throws it in the boiling water, where it cooks alongside a large batch of beef franks. One of the girls finds it later, thinking it to be a gag, and Dave's body initially goes unnoticed in the freezer of the kitchen. Chief Newby also gets a hint of trouble when another candy box, apparently containing a blood-soaked heart, arrives at the police building with a menacing note - 'You didn't stop the party!'. The chief, unaware of the party at Hanniger mine, can only ask, 'What damn party?'.A young couple named John and Sylvia are making out in the shower area of the mine facility. When John leaves to go get beer, Sylvia is attacked by the miner, who first traps her by dropping miners' coveralls from the ceiling, then ambushes her and viciously impales her head on a shower nozzle. John returns to find the killer gone and Sylvia hanging impaled from the shower nozzle.One of the miners, Hollis allows some of the others to convince him to take them down into the mine. He heads down there with his girlfriend Patty, Sarah, Howard, and another couple, Michael and Harriet. After they descend into the mine, the bodies of Sylvia and Dave are discovered. Gretchen, Howard's love interest, finds Dave dead in the freezer, and then John runs in telling everyone about Sylvia's murder. Axel warns that Harry Warden is probably responsible and is prowling the premises, and the party disperses in a panic. T.J. and Axel find out that the others went down into the mine, and they take an elevator down to warn them and lead them to safety. While down there, Michael and Harriet go off into the engine room to make love, and the killer impales them with a large drill bit. Hollis discovers the bodies and is attacked by the miner, who uses a nail gun to drive two large nails into his head. Patty and Sarah discover him and they catch a glimpse of the miner, who disappears into a tunnel. Howard runs off in a panic, leaving Patty and Sarah alone.Axel and T.J. appear shortly thereafter and try to lead the two girls to safety, but the control panel to the mining cart has been tampered with. The elevator has been similarly disabled, so they climb up the service ladder. Halfway up, they are startled when Howard's body drops from somewhere above them; a rope around his neck decapitates him, spraying blood all over Patty and Sarah. Thinking Harry Warden is now above them on the ladder, they retreat. While rounding a bend in the mine shaft, T.J., Sarah and Patty hear Axel scream behind them. When they go back, it seems as if Axel has fallen into a well; his mining helmet with the light on it sinks down into the abyss, which T.J. says is too deep to traverse. T.J. says Axel is surely lost, and they continue.Above ground, Newby has learned of "Harry Warden" reappearing at the mine when he pulls over a car for speeing where three of the partygoers, Tommy, John, and Gretchen tell him about the two murders. Newby rushes off to the mine with support to rescue the survivors.In the mine, the killer steps out from a doorway and kills Patty with a blow to the stomach from his pick axe. Sarah and T.J. fend him off in a series of confrontations and chases, until they face off with him inside a small alcove that leads to some kind of abandoned tunnel. The fight destroys the outdated wooden supports, and the tunnel begins to collapse. The miner's pickaxe gets caught in a support beam, and he draws a hunting knife. As the miner threatens T.J. with it, the killer is then revealed to be Axel. T.J. and Sarah are stunned, and a flashback reveals Axel as a very young boy--the son of one of the supervisors murdered by Harry Warden. Axel was in the room and saw his father's violent death while hiding underneath the bed. The shock apparently snapped his mind, leaving him unstable, his potential for violence unleashed by the recurrence of the Valentine's dance.The entrance to the old tunnel collapses, trapping Axel underneath a great deal of debris, apparently killing him. Newby and the police arrive as T.J. and Sarah start to walk away, but Axel screams; Sarah, who is still emotionally attached to Axel, rushes back to see him. Only his arm is visible, and she holds his hand, but it pulls away from the rubble; on the other side, Axel has amputated his own arm with a knife to free himself from the cave-in. Through a hole in the debris, the others can see him as he stumbles backwards toward the abandoned tunnel, babbling aloud about Harry Warden and threatening to return. As the one-armed Axel runs off to find another way out of the mine, he says: "Sarah, be my bloody Valentine...!" | cult, murder, violence, flashback | train | imdb | Well, this movie doesn't, which makes it very neat.I'd say that it's lush photography, good acting, frightening set pieces and killer, and brutal deaths make this is one of the most impressive slashers of the 80's, maybe of all time..
It's also one of the better holiday themed horror movies around!A crazed miner is determined to stop the celebration of Valentine's day in a small Nova Scotia town, with the help of a trusty pick ax that is.
More than just a guilty pleasure -- this one's actually good!By the time 1981 had rolled around, the horror genre had gained much momentum with holiday-themed slasher flicks such as "Halloween" and "Friday The 13th." Never ones to shy away from a good cash-cow, Paramount (the same company to bring you "Friday The 13th") hired George Mihalka to direct the Valentine's Day themed "My Bloody Valentine." Pre-dating much of the camp and excess of the 80's, "My Bloody Valentine" is a pretty innocent film in it's own right, a glimpse into a time before the genre was completely saturated with masked killers and dumbed-down teenagers.
Sure, the film has it's fair share of clichés; in fact, some of the dialogue and plot-points appear to be ripped straight out of the original "Friday The 13th." The story of a deranged killer returning home years later to exact his revenge on a town is hardly re-inventing the wheel.
Truth be told, even if you are viewing the heavily edited theatrical cut, the film works just as well without the heavy special effects, which is a testament to the overall quality of a film that was conceived, created and released in under half a year's time.Sure, it's got it's flaws, but nothing fatal.
Twenty years ago, Harry Warden went nuts and slaughtered a bunch of people on Valentine's Day. The mining town he hailed from canceled subsequent V-Day dances, but when they try setting one up again, Warden seemingly returns with his pickax, ready to hack the local kids up and leave his mark.
i had seen this film a couple of times back in the day and had always thought it was a alright 80's slasher but was disappointed by some acting and the gore value, well recently they had released a special edition extended cut of the movie so i picked it up just cause i collect old school horror and thought it would be an alright piece to my collection, well little did i know i was right, there is so much gore that was taken out of this film i was in shock and dumbfounded to know that for 30 years no one has actually really seen this movie.
Pretty soon, the mayor receives an eerie warning and a heart-shaped candy box filled with a real human heart, and not long after young people left and right start dying in increasingly horrific and creative fashions - a laundry machine, a nail gun, a shower head, ropes, hot dogs (yes, hot dogs!), and the killer's trademark pick-axe figure into some of the most gruesome ways the characters in this movie are dispatched."My Bloody Valentine" was directed by George Mihalka, and his direction and production design are what is largely responsible for making this an above average slasher flick.
Like in "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th," the viewer is many times party to the slaughter of young people because of the fact that the film is often shot from the point-of-view of the killer; so we often hear his deep breaths from behind a gas mask as he stalks and slaughters his victims.The second half of the film is set largely underground, in a real mine in Nova Scotia, Canada.
These underground scenes are generally very creepy and claustrophobic, dimly-lit and you get the feeling that every time someone strays from the group or wanders down a dark tunnel alone, something could jump out of the darkness to dispatch them; these creepy and claustrophobic scenes of darkness remind one of the underground scenery in the recent British horror movie classic "The Descent" (2005) - which is also one of my all-time favorite horror movies.In terms of pure slasher movie goodness, "My Bloody Valentine" doesn't disappoint.
(Huh???) Strange but true, people die in some incredibly gruesome ways in this picture, but there's no gratuitous nudity anywhere - they aren't really sex scenes, but actually they're more like make-out scenes and the most "skin" we see is a girl in her bra and panties - so "My Bloody Valentine" gets bonus points from me for that.Lastly, "My Bloody Valentine" has also been the source of much controversy in the 28 years since it was released, largely due to the fact that at least five minutes of on-screen gore were cut from the film (additionally, none of this lost footage contains any extra sex or nudity); virtually every death scene in the movie was trimmed in some fashion by the MPAA.
If this movie were released today, I seriously doubt that these cuts would be enforced by the MPAA, but I guess one can understand why they were made back in '81; they are quite nasty and will surely please gore-hounds, but with this new extended cut of the film you get the feeling that you're watching the complete movie, one that is finally free of the ugly influence of censorship.I'm glad to say that now, especially since I saw "Drag Me to Hell" yesterday, I have yet another summer horror movie to add to my list of movies to watch during the Halloween season - "My Bloody Valentine."P.S.: "My Bloody Valentine" was remade earlier this year as a 3-D movie.10/10.
It has a great setting in a small Canadian mining town - which has it's streets and buildings drenched with red and pink valentine decorations - which is a surreal contrast to the cold and sombre setting that foreshadows the real pumpers that eventually pop up in crimson heart shaped candy boxes.The scenes filmed in an actual mine - where the protagonists are trapped with the killer lurking around with a sharpened pickaxe - are expertly filmed with plenty of style and a menacing atmosphere.
You want them to have their valentine party that has been denied them for obvious reasons.Notorious for being one of the most censored films by the MPAA at the time of release to avoid an 'X' rating, it is now available in an uncut form on Lionsgate DVD.
Notorious for being the slasher film most tortured by the censors upon release, MY BLOODY VALENTINE has become something of a cult classic with legions of adoring fans.
The movie began filming in September 1980, but the set designer took the time to make sure that everything was decked out in hearts and banners and they made things look like it actually was Valentine's Day. Mihalka makes good use of the spooky mine as a setting and most of the murders are imaginative and well thought out.
Recently the company asked people to give them ten films that we want to see unleashed and apparently one of those ten was MY BLOODY VALENTINE UNCUT; so we'll just have to wait and see if they come round to our way of thinking.
Slasher movie about a coalminer who axes numerous victims in a little mining town which becomes pretty sinister with the miner killer appearing .
This bizarre little horror movie is set in a mining town , on Valentine an explosion of methane gas took the lives of a group of coal miners working in the Hanniger Mine .
It was re-premiered at video-market in 2009 , an original uncut , then it was a real success in America and all around the world , thanks to 3 minutes gore added , even Quentin Tarantino has named My Bloody Valentine as his all-time favorite slasher film .
Unfortunately the film had the grave misfortune of being distributed by Paramount, the evil enemy to all slasher fans, and suffers badly from blatant cuts which were administered to secure an R-rating.Despite that, My Bloody Valentine is very entertaining to fans of slasher films; the film has a creepy mood all the way, decent actors and some top notch set pieces that are sure to give you a jolt on occasion..
As such the characters are smarter, more bitter and, in many ways, better than their college co-ed, teenage counterparts.In the ranks of slasher films 'My Bloody Valentine' ranks high.
A small-time mining town in America has a legend (don't they all?) – this one tells of a miner who went berserk years ago on Valentine's day and killed a bunch of people.
Also it seems there's a guy wandering around in a miners outfit killing off people because the town is celebrating Valentines Day despite a terrible tragedy that happened 20 years ago.The plot is a little bit confused but it doesn't matter--this is a great little horror film.
What makes "My Bloody Valentine" better than the usual slasher of the era are good production values (looks more expensive than the usual slasher), some nice location work (especially the mine), and it does have some gritty atmosphere.
A much better slasher than this is "Madman", a film with impressive night sequences we can actually see.The mine location is suitably creepy and probably had potential, but there's no point crying over wasted scenery when quite clearly nobody was up to making much of this thin premise that was probably an easy sell to a studio (Paramount) that was hot for special occasion-based/date-based horror after "Friday The 13th" poured millions into its coffers.The idea of "My Bloody Valentine" is much more interesting than the reality of slogging through its turgid scenery.
We also had a couple of characters Howard and Sylvia who had little introduction and then promptly slaughtered.The other issue i had with My bloody valentine was the thin motive the killer had we get a brief reveal at the end but is hardly satisfying.Your common or garden slasher movie the killer has his trademark kill, here victims are dispatched using various ingenious methods, which we are not allowed to see.Now that the movie is over 30 years old it needs a re submission to the censors like others of the time and the cuts re-addressed to make the movie more complete..
It is well made 80's slasher films from George Mihalka it is a Canadian slasher that is happening on a holiday "Valentine's Day" about a crazed killer killing people in a miner suit.
This is one of Quentin Tarnation's favorite slasher movies.A crazed miner is determined to stop the celebration of Valentine's day in a small Nova Scotia town, with the help of a trusty pick ax that is.I love the setting that fact that takes place in the mine is a great setting, great idea, great atmospheric, great claustrophobic and it is a great place dark mine shaft running people for their life's who are been chased by crazed killer.
I love the ballad about Harry Warden, who killed two people two supervisors and he cut their hearts, stuck them in candy boxes and sent them to the authorities.The cast are fine I like Paul Kelman so much as 'T.J.' Hanniger he did fine job.
Time is cemented with the titles of such great films as The Burning, Halloween, The Prowler and the rather stupid Friday The 13th.However criminally overlooked My Bloody Valentine is the best of them.Lost inside F13's popularity in 1981, MBV went mostly unwatched.
However it's unique premise and deliciously devilish kills deserved as much, if not more praise than those of F13.Remade in 2009, the plot focuses on a mass murder legend in a small town on Valentine's Day. As always a group of teenagers decides to do something stupid and the supposed dead killer returns.It's one of my favorite slashers, not without small flaws, but still entertaining and better than most the 80's had to offer.
While My Bloody Valentine is assuredly a straight-forward slasher flick that offers nothing fans of the formula haven't already seen countless times before, the gruesome bits that the Special Edition re-inserts provide the cheap thrills that the original presentation of the film was sorely lacking.Even without the truncated gore, the film already had some nice elements working for it.
One of the originally trimmed murders is extremely murky in its uncut state, and I'm still unsure exactly what happened to the victims (it looks like they were speared by a giant corkscrew, but I'm not sure where the killer got one so massive, or why he took it down into the mineshaft).Uncut or not, My Bloody Valentine is still far from perfect, but fans of the early-'80s splatter cycle will likely glean plenty of enjoyment from this decent descent.
My Bloody Valentine UNCUT is now a classic slasher, or even classic horror film!
No.Last night,I rented this movie for $1.99 and it was worth it.But to tell you the truth,It's no where close to being as good as the remake.It's not even as bloody.Well,the deaths aren't bloody,but there are some close up shots of hearts and dead bodies that are pretty gory.The first hour of the movie was pretty good,but then it descends into the so-so area.Some of the acting is also kinda mediocre.But since this is a 1980's slasher flick, there's always gonna be some bad dialouge.I would skip this and watch the remake if I were somebody looking for an awesome movie.Original- B+Remake- A+.
Well needless to say (it is a slasher movie after all) on the eve of the Valentine's dance, people begin to be murdered by a killer disguised in a mining uniform and armed with a pick axe.
My Bloody Valentine is middle of the road, blighted by cuts to its gore scenes, it's a film that has had to work hard to earn its cult following.
That aside "My Bloody Valentine" remains one of my favorite simply because the death scenes are gory and good, I like a cheesy story with minimal acting and it is from my favorite decade of horror films.
i like both of em but the original is better i think, the one thing that disappointed me in both movies is this,, why didn't either movie, start where it happened, in other words go back and start the movie right before the mining accident instead of those crappy flashbacks,, actually show harry in the mine, where all the workers get trapped,, show how he escapes and what he has to do to survive, they could have done this in say 10-15 mins film time..
Of course, that it what this slasher is most known for, and you will most likely be seeing the film without much gore at all."My Bloody Valentine" truly succeeds in its small town atmosphere that is very similar to that John Carpenter created in "Halloween" or Sean S.
If you love horror movies and especially slasher films you better not miss out on 1 of the best ever.
If you've seen other slashers then you know the routine formula but here we have some different twists like a mine and decent acting, pacing, directing which elevates this film far beyond others of its ilk.If you love horror movies and especially slasher films you better not miss out on 1 of the best ever.
As a result Paramount was able to consistently release films that seemed vaguely familiar in a comforting way, yet dealt with a wide variety of unique subject matters within the expansive slasher genre.My Bloody Valentine is an exploration of the environment and lives of modern day miners, an idea rarely touched by the horror genre.
Mediocre slasher from the early Eighties, this one has a crazy miner (or so it seems) returning after twenty years on Valentine day exacting his vengeance over the minerary town that cause the death of many of his collegues.
So now theres a killer with a pickaxe and a gasmask slashing up the kids in valentines bluff (you just gotta love that gasmask!) This movie has everything you could expect from a slasher-flick ; the pretty girl,the heroic boy,the stupid fat guy,the (not so) funny guy,the old guy that warns everybody and alot of horny teenagers having sex in very odd places.
A useful companion to fellow-Canadian slasher film, "Black Christmas", "My Bloody Valentine" borrows a little from "Friday The 13th" in terms of historical events determining plot and moulds itself into an effective and suspense-driven movie.Unfortunately the only version available over on this side of the world is the pre-Video Recordings Act butchered US version (released 1982) which contains a few trims.
Yes, the bloody effects really do make that much of a difference!The setting for the film is the sleepy mining town of Valentine's Bluff, where twenty years before, demented miner Harry Warden murdered those responsible for the Valentine's Day cave-in that buried him alive for six weeks, with only the bodies of his dead co-workers for food.With Harry safely locked away in an asylum for the past for two decades, the townsfolk have finally decided to ignore the killer's threat to return should they ever hold a Valentine's party, and begin to prepare for a lavish February 14th bash.
But that really has nothing to do with the film, which could have been shot anywhere.The only miner (Harry Morgan) to survive a mine explosion came out of an asylum to kill the next year and warned the town not to hold another Valentine's Dance.
Being released in 1981, however, when the slasher film was still a fairly new concept, My Bloody Valentine is actually a very significant for the time period.
It's too bad this movie was edited down so much on it's release since the gore and special effects in the uncut version are what make it a good slasher film. |
tt0043338 | Ace in the Hole | Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) is a fiercely ambitious, self-centered, wisecracking, down-on-his-luck reporter who has worked his way down the ladder. He has come west to New Mexico from New York City, along the way having been fired from eleven newspapers for libel, adultery, and heavy drinking, among other charges. Now that his car has broken down and Tatum is broke, he talks his way into a reporting job for the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin, a paper of little consequence.
Tatum stays sober and works there uneventfully for a year. Then while unhappily on assignment to cover a rattlesnake hunt, he learns about Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict), a local man who has become trapped in a cave collapse while gathering ancient Indian artifacts.
Sensing a golden opportunity, Tatum manipulates the rescue effort, convincing an unscrupulous sheriff to pressure the construction contractor charged with the rescue into drilling from above, rather than shoring up the existing passages, so that Tatum can prolong his stay on the front pages of newspapers nationwide.
Lorraine (Jan Sterling), the victim's wife, goes along with the reporter's scheme. She is eager to leave Leo and their struggling business, a combination trading post and restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Thanks to the publicity Tatum generates, she experiences a financial windfall, particularly from thousands of tourists who come to witness the rescue.
Herbie Cook (Robert Arthur), the newspaper's young photographer, slowly loses his idealism as he follows Tatum's lead and envisions himself selling pictures to Look or Life. The editor of the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin tries to talk some sense into his employees, but Tatum quits on the spot, having sold the exclusive rights to his copy to a New York editor for $1000 per day and, more importantly, his old job back.
Thousands flock to the town. The rescue site literally becomes a carnival, with rides, entertainment, songs about Leo, even games of chance. Tatum begins drinking again. He takes up with Lorraine and is greeted heroically by the crowd each time he returns from visiting poor Leo in the cave.
After five days of drilling, the party atmosphere ends abruptly. Upon learning that Leo is fading fast, Tatum belatedly tries to get the contractor to switch back to the quicker procedure of shoring up the walls of the cave, but the vibration from drilling has made this impossible.
Tatum has mistreated Leo's wife once too often as well, and she stabs him with a pair of scissors. Tatum gets the local priest, and takes him into the cave to administer Last Rites. Leo dies.
Tatum has neglected to send copy to the New York editor and he is fired. He calls the editor and tries to confess to killing Leo by delaying the rescue, but the editor hangs up on him. Tatum barely reaches his old office in Albuquerque. He enters calling for publisher Booth (Porter Hall). As Booth walks out of his office to deal with him, Tatum offers to work for nothing, saying that he's a 1000-dollar a day newspaperman. But before he can say any more to Booth, Tatum falls dead on to the floor. | satire, melodrama | train | wikipedia | Was it the surreal inhumanity of the plot, the repugnant newsman devoid of ethics, the exploitation of the trapped victim, the purposeful prolonging of the victim's entrapment to create a media frenzy, the ultimate commercial creation of an 'event' style attraction complete with a circus like atmosphere surrounding the cave while the victim remained entrapped and close to death.'Supposedly based on a real incident, it's a tough movie to watch and more so if one is prepared to accept the premise that such inhumanity displayed in the movie has an element of truth.I echo the desires of others to have the availability of this movie on VHS or DVD.
Billy Wilder's first commercial failure, but one of his best films, almost up there with "Sunset Blvd." Ambitious reporter Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) finds out a man is trapped in a collapsed mine.
One of Billy Wilder's great movies, with a superb acting job by Kirk Douglas as the cynical, glory-seeking and even desperate reporter whose only goal is get back in the limelight by regaining his former big-city news desk job.
The story scenario in which locals, then passers-by and finally distant tourists gravitate to and then make a festival or circus out of the event (the film was also released under the title "The Big Carnival") is supported by the real events on which the story was most likely based: the West VA mine disaster in 1925 that trapped miner Floyd Collins and was reported for 17 days, much as in the film, by local newspaperman Skeets Miller, who crawled into the mineshaft for face-to-face interviews with the trapped and doomed Collins.This movie fits nicely into the Film Noir genre, although it takes place largely under the hot, harsh glare of the Arizona sun, highlighting the sweat and grime visible on the characters' skin and creating a visual metaphor for the sorry state of their souls.
Fifty years later,Billy Wilder's tour de force has worn so well it should be considered the finest movie dealing with the media,topping "network" for instance.The world described here is so depressing,so disheartening that it takes drama to new limits.Not only Tatum is evil,but so are the miner's wife and family who take advantage of the situation ,regardless of any morals.So is the faceless crowd ,who has a wild time, near a dying man.You and me,we could be part of this populace,and maybe we've already been!Remember the little South American girl who fell into a pit in the eighties.The fair sequences might have influenced Fellini for "la dolce vita" (hype about a girl who would have seen Virgin Mary).The soundtrack ,with its relentless thud ,is so oppressive you feel the unfortunate victim's plight within your body and your soul ..
Saw this films years ago and it's still gripping.Mr.Wilder seldom did films that gripped the human condition like this one.After this movie flopped he stuck to screen adaptions of stage hits through most of the fifties.Both director and star,Kirk Douglas really delivered a stinging expose of media hype and manipulation of the newspaper business.Herein,burned out reporter Douglas chances on a man trapped in a cave and ruthlessly exploits it for his own gain.There's no softness here,even the leading lady (played wonderfully by Jan Sterling)is as hard as Douglas.The scenes of all the gawkers showing up,complete with carnival,are outright creepy.There's even a cheesy country western singer plunking a guitar and singing about poor Leo,(the trapped man.) The only sympathetic person is poor Leo's mom who continually prays for his release.Definitely a film for lovers of great movie drama..
Indian Giver or No. With the pairing of Wilder and Douglas we get best of both world's.Best director of his day {or arguably any other} and best actor for that decade and beyond{somewhat arguable}In this drama {not Film Noir enough} because there is no dark urban setting or real femme fatale,exist's a very fine vehicle for Kirk Douglas.As the proragonist who is relentlessly absorbed in his work as hard-boiled reporter looking in earnest for big breaking story,he packs more than the usual Kirk true grit.And any actor worth his salt knows Kirk rules on that domain.His facial countenance of clenched jaw and wild-eyed demeanor was his stock in trade,and made for this type of movie.And we,as audience are privvy too and enveloped by sheer ease at which it is demonstrated.
With a good backdrop of out of the way desert to establish the plot and suspence and plenty of foil to go around,the movie is rive with possible deals and double crosses and film noir aspects of storyline.And again who better than Kirk{one of his absolute best roles}to play the lead character and establish all action around.At the pinnacle of his carreer and it shows,he has more than enough grit and sassiness,and tough-guy bravura to go around.In fact,maybe too much.He is so utterly central to overall plot and story as to render other's in scene to be much less important.Nevertheless a very compelling and outstanding display of character depth and emotion,with a quite dramatic flair for ending.An absolute must see for any fans of Kirk,or great character drama,or journalist's-who seem to be getting a raw deal of late.After watching Mr.Douglas play a hard-edged journalist,then journalism will never be the same.Or will it??
The supporting players are interesting but uneven, ranging from peculiar (Jan Sterling, as the trapped man's soulless wife, who acts like a gangster's moll right out of a film noir), to very good (Richard Benedict as Leo and Ray Teal as the sheriff), to downright awful (Richard Gaines as the New York Daily News editor, whose ranting and raving over the telephone would be funny if it weren't so pitiful).
Coming as it did so soon after his masterpiece "Sunset Boulevard" where he managed to puncture egos in the movie industry, he outdid himself in cynicism and savage wit with this assault on the yellow press which almost tops its illustrious predecessor in quality but easily surpasses it in hard hitting cynicism.The story of a ruthlessly ambitious newspaper reporter who deliberately postpones the rescue of a trapped miner so as to revive his flagging career, the film undoubtedly exaggerates not only the greed of the reporter and of local traders but also ghoulishness of the public.However as with all good satire there was more than a grain of truth in points made and with a scriptwriter of Wilder's calibre it has many hard-hitting lines: the miner's calculating wife when admitting to Douglas not only that she's not the religious type but also that her appearance is what matters most to her: "I don't go to church; kneeling bags my nylons".Above all Wilder's trump card was undoubtedly the casting of Douglas.
Yet, this "yellow journalism" or "tabloid mentality" story has some different twists to it, such as being set in a mountainous desert, not in a big city.The acting is superb, not just with the two leads but with all the supporting actors, led by Porter Hall, who played the newspaper editor "Jacob Boot." I also appreciated the sarcastic comedy in here as Wilder and the screenwriters parody the "carnival" atmosphere which develops when a tragedy occurs and people make a financial profit out of it.
trampling everything in his path - men, women and morals!"Having talked his way into a tedious job on a small-town newspaper, an ambitious, hard-bitten reporter (Douglas) manipulates, and calculatingly drags out, a human interest story he stumbles across (man trapped in underground caves) for his own self-serving purpose (a desperate need to return to big-time, big city journalism), with tragic consequences, unknowingly assisted by the victim's less-than-heartbroken wife (Sterling).A flop on release (even critically), in more recent years it has taken its rightful place as one of Wilder's (and Hollywood's) most uncompromising masterpieces, featuring a fearless Douglas at his blistering best.The money lost by Paramount was recouped from profits from the director's next (hit) picture, STALAG 17.Blu-ray Extras: Documentary, Interview, Trailer, Booklet.
It is understandable that such an uncompromisingly cynical film was not well received and it was not until the more satirical approach used in "Network" that a film depicting media as a money-driven circus became a money-making proposition."Ace in the Hole" is a masterpiece of cinema that has not dated and, in fact, has become ever more relevant in an era in which newsreaders become "emotionally involved" instead of being objective conduits, news beat-ups abound and adjectives are thrown around with gay abandon.It is worth watching this film just to hear the dialogue between Kirk Douglas and Jan Stirling.
Billy Wilder's cynical view of Yankee ingenuity finds roving reporter/con artist Kirk Douglas searching for front page news and stumbling into a yellow journalist's dream come true when he finds an unlucky explorer trapped by a rockslide deep within a cave in desert New Mexico.
The version I saw is titled The Big Carnival and thats a pretty apt title.The story is pretty well known and I'm sure remade several times - Kirk plays Charles Tatum a scruple-less down-on-his-luck journalist who has to settle for a small-town newspaper job because none of the big newspapers wants to work with him on account of his loose morals and drinking habits.
Soon he is being aided by the man's wife and the local sheriff, all who stand to gain in their own ways by prolonging the rescue.Made in 1951 when mass media meant newspapers and radio (at least in this movie), the moral issues addressed here by Wilder are as germane today as then.
Kirk Douglas plays a reporter called Charles Tatum, who comes to work in a small town where nothing interesting ever happens.But then something interesting does happen and he can get an exclusive story on the newspaper.He finds a man trapped in a mine.He does everything to keep him there.Ace in the Hole (1951) is a brilliant Billy Wilder movie that criticizes the media.The actors are great as always in Wilder films.There are Jan Sterling as Lorraine Minosa, Richard Benedict as Leo Minosa, Robert Arthur as Herbie Cook and Kirk Douglas is wonderful in the lead.This now 87 year old actor has done some great roles during his career and this is one of them.The dialog is also excellent which was also typical in Wilder's movies.Watch this movie and see how a movie should be made..
It's no wonder it's only beginning to click to an audience in the last years, compared to other Wilder films that were popular in their day.Kirk Douglas is Chuck Tatum, a hardnosed, cynic, ruthless journalist down-and-out and looking to get back into business.
This film was also appropriately titled "The Big Carnival." What a circus-like media atmosphere is created when sly reporter, Kirk Douglas, goes after a big story in New Mexico.
This is one of my favourite Kirk Douglas films of all time with a magnificent supporting cast including Jan Sterling (superb), Porter Hall (always reliable character actor), Ray Teal (one of his best roles), Richard Benedict, Robert Arthur and Gene Evans.Kirk Douglas is Chuck Tatum - an unsuccessful reporter on his way to cover a news item about a rattlesnake hunt for a small town newspaper when he hears about a man Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict) who is trapped in a mine shaft.
Jan Sterling is perfect as Lorraine Minosa (the unfaithful wife of the trapped man) and her confrontational scenes with Kirk Douglas are electric.Grippingly directed by Billy Wilder (based on a real life incident) the film holds your attention throughout yet its only Oscar nomination was for best story and screenplay - it's hard to believe now but Kirk Douglas and Billy Wilder didn't even get a nomination more's the pity!
Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) is a former big-city journalist who due to his past indiscretions has now found himself on hard times working for a small newspaper company in Alberquque, New Mexico.
Chuck works to get his big human-interest story.Billy Wilder brings his biting cynicism and Kirk Douglas is the perfect vessel to embody this character.
Floyd Collins, who had the nation gripped while in a similar situation, Tatum seizes his chance and quickly sets up shop, convincing Minosa's unhappy wife Lorraine (Jan Sterling) to stay and play the weeping damsel for the cameras and microphones, and strikes a deal with corrupt local sheriff Kretzer (Ray Teal) to support his re-election bidA more recent film to cover similar ground was Nighcrawler (2014), starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a more outwardly slimy reporter, manipulating events to his own benefit.
Twenty years before the phrase 'media-circus' found its way into the lexicon, Billy Wilder envisaged a literal one while relating the story of a conniving reporter who attempts to turn invisible spectacle of a spelunker trapped in a cave, into the scoop of his life.
The literal media circus that ensues turns Tatum into a star - he contrives to delay the man's rescue, milk the public's lust for spectacle, and auctions himself off to editors - but it comes at the expense of his integrity, even as the victim quietly faces death.Over 60 years later, Ace in the Hole has lost none of its sharpness.
A ruthless exposition of media sensationalism, an unforgiving examination of the dark side of press media & a careful reflection of human nature, Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole covers a wide array of relationships between press, the news it reports, the manner in which it reports it, the lengths to which some journalists choose to exploit someone's misfortunes & the morbid curiosity of us human beings who are always attracted to the scenes of tragedy.The story concerns a fiercely ambitious & self-centered reporter who settles for a reporting job at a small New Mexico newspaper after being fired from every other agency.
But when he learns about a man stuck in a cave, he quickly uses this opportunity to re-jumpstart his career by exploiting the trapped man's situation, bribing the officials to prolong the rescue operation & eventually creating a national media sensation that soon goes out-of-control, leading to terrible consequences.Brilliantly directed from start to finish, it's quite shocking to discover that this quality feature film was a critical & commercial failure when it released but its reception has improved with time as the disgusting portrait of press media it paints has only become more relevant over the years.
This is about a man trapped in a hole, whose story is being manifested by a selfish, ambitious journalist Chuck Tatum played flawlessly by Kirk Douglas.
Wilder, writing with Lesser Samuels and Walter Newman, delivers a hard-boiled tale in which a faded newspaperman (an excellent Kirk Douglas) stumbles upon a human interest story about a miner trapped in a cave (Richard Benedict) and milks it at the miner's expense until it has become an event of carnival proportions and a national media sensation.
As for the film itself, a fictitious down on his luck New York reporter (played by Kirk Douglas) banished to an inconsequential newspaper in New Mexico stumbles into a nearby cave-in where a man is trapped and sees the opportunity to get back in the big time by milking the incident for all it's worth, to the point of conspiring to slow the rescue effort.
Billy Wilder who produced, directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Walter Newman and Lesser Samuels, paints a grim picture of human nature in this story which is both fast moving and uncompromising.Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) is a newspaper reporter who finds himself out of luck and out of money when he arrives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with a broken down car and no job.
He's a man who'd previously worked for a number of prestigious newspapers where his employment had been cut short due to a variety of problems including alcoholism, adultery and libel but his undoubted talent and his ability to sell himself, quickly gain him a job at the "Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin".A year later, Tatum is assigned to cover a rattlesnake hunt but on his way he stops at a desert trading post where he discovers that the proprietor, Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict) has become trapped in a cave where he'd been searching for Indian artifacts.
Later developments, however, derail Tatum's plans and the carnival atmosphere is soon brought to an end.Kirk Douglas gives an incredibly powerful performance as the unscrupulous Chuck Tatum and Jan Sterling is very believable as the cold, callous and coarse Lorraine who is totally devoid of any redeeming qualities.Commercially, "Ace In The Hole" was a spectacular failure and this was probably down to the fact that most of the people featured in the story are unsympathetic characters.
The story of a loud-mouthed, self-obsessed, unscrupulous big-city newspaper reporter, Charles 'Chuck' Tatum (Kirk Douglas) trying to create a media-frenzied story out of a rescue mission of a good-hearted trading post owner named Leo Minosa (Richard Benedict) who is trapped in a cave, while scheming with Leo's jaded unhappy wife, Lorraine (Jan Sterling) is just too dark for some.
Billy Wilder's "Ace in the Hole" opens with reporter Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) turning up at a desolate New Mexico town.
ACE IN THE HOLE is Billy Wilder's gritty censure of a collusion between an egocentric reporter Chuck Tatum (Douglas) and the corrupt local Sheriff Gus Kretzer (Teal), who immorally manipulate the entire action of rescuing a man trapped in a cave-in, to their own self-serving purposes, during the process, Tatum's moral conscience has been interminably tested until the worst-case scenario inevitably occurs and pushes him to a futile redemptive effort which will send him to his doom.
We follow the reporter Chuck Tatum played by Kirk Douglas, who will talk a bit each day with Leo, the man trapped in the cave, and also give him rations.
A cynical journalist (Kirk Douglas) delays the rescue of a man trapped in a cave, in order to prolong the story, boost his newspaper's sales and advance his career.Ace In The Hole is an incisive, compelling melodrama which takes a sour look at the American scene; one of director Billy Wilder's masterworks. |
tt0085159 | Amityville 3-D | After he exposes a pair of con artists with his partner Melanie (Candy Clark) in the infamous 112 Ocean Avenue house in Amityville journalist John Baxter (Tony Roberts) is persuaded to purchase the house by real estate agent Clifford Sanders (John Harkins). While preparing the house for John, Clifford investigates footsteps in the attic. He is locked in the room, where a swarm of flies attack and kill him. John believes Clifford died of a stroke, even after Melanie shows him some photos she took of the real estate agent before his death which depict him as a rotting corpse.
While John is at work, he nearly dies in a malfunctioning elevator. Simultaneously, Melanie experiences bizarre occurrences in John's house. She is found later that night by John, cowering and hysterical against the wall. Her attempts to convince John that something is inside the house fall on deaf ears. Later, while looking over blowups of the photos of Clifford, Melanie discovers a demonic-looking face in the pictures. When she attempts to show the photos to John, she is killed in a horrific car accident. Melanie's death is ruled accidental by everyone, including John, who remains oblivious to the evil in his home.
While John is away one day his daughter Susan (Lori Loughlin) and her friend Lisa (Meg Ryan) and two boyfriends use a Ouija board in the attic. The game tells them Susan is in danger. Growing bored, Susan and the others go out in John's motorboat. Susan's mother Nancy (Tess Harper), who has come to look for her, is surprised to see a drenched Susan silently walk up the stairs. Outside John arrives home to find Susan's friends bringing her lifeless body to shore. Nancy has a nervous breakdown and, believing Susan is still alive and will return shortly, refuses to leave, even for Susan's funeral.
After having nightmares about the old well in the basement and unable to deal with Nancy's delusions that Susan is still alive, John allows his friend, paranormal investigator Doctor Elliot West (Robert Joy), and a team of paranormal investigators to set up in the house, to help prove if Nancy actually saw something or not. As Elliot and John watch, Nancy is confronted by a spectral being speaking in Susan's voice. Nancy follows the spectre into the basement, where the old well has filled with liquid. Elliot urges whatever is in the well to reveal itself and restore Susan to life. Instead, a demon leaps from the well, burns Elliot's face with fiery breath and drags him to Hell. The house begins to implode. Much of Elliot's team is killed by flying and exploding objects, but John and Nancy and several others escape through a window. As John and Nancy leave, the well bubbles ominously as an eerily glowing fly emerges from it. | cult | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1318514 | Rise of the Planet of the Apes | The film opens at Gen Sys, a genetic therapy pharmaceutical company. A female ape (Terry Notary), designated No. 9 and known as "Bright Eyes" by the staff, has been given the drug ALZ 112, and has shown considerable progress. She is more sociable and calmer than normal apes, and has succeeded in completing the Towers of Hanoi puzzle in 20 moves, which is close to a perfect score of 15. Will Rodman (James Franco) talks to his boss, Steve Jacobs (David Oyelowo), and convinces him that he has data to enable them to proceed with human trials for the drug.The next day, Rodman and Jacobs appear before the board of directors in the Gen Sys conference room. Will explains that the new drug causes neurogenesis, the growth of new brain cells (something that doesn't typically happen after birth) and may heal any number of degenerative brain disorders, such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. The only side effect is that the subjects exposed to the drug have a green sparkle to their eyes.Back in the lab, the senior ape caretaker, Robert Franklin (Tyler Labine), is having trouble coaxing Bright Eyes out of her cage. She acts aggressively towards Robert and the other helpers. They attempt to lure her out of the cage with orange soda, but when they try to wrangle her with a lasso pole, she goes "ape" and runs rampant through the building. The chase ends when she crashes through the glass window of the conference room and the building's security guards kill her.Fearing that what they witnessed with Bright Eyes is a violent side effect of the drug, Jacobs pronounces the drug project 'dead.' Will attempts to change his mind, but Jacobs refuses, claiming he wants the remainder of the test apes 'put down.'After returning to the lab, Robert shows Will a baby ape hidden in Bright Eyes's cell. This explains that their assumption was in error: Bright Eyes was not acting violently because of the drug, but to protect her child. Robert does not have the heart to put down the baby, and gives the task to Will. Unwilling to do so, he decides to take the baby home.Will returns home, where he lives with his father, Charles (John Lithgow). Charles suffers from Alzheimer's and needs care from a nurse when Will is not around. Will shows the baby ape to Charles, who soon takes a liking to it. Charles playfully calls the baby Caesar (due to his love of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, it is implied).Caesar soon shows incredible progress, able to feed himself after only 2 days; he has apparently contracted the virus-based ALZ 112 from his mother. His "temporary" residence with Will extends to 3 years and Will sets up a room for him in the attic. Though apelike in some ways, the now half-grown Caesar (Andy Serkis) is a beloved member of the family and shows great intelligence, communicating complex ideas with sign language.While Caesar has been showing mental growth, Charles's Alzheimer's is getting worse and he has an altercation with his nurse. Will takes a major risk and steals ALZ 112 from Gen Sys. He gives a dose to Charles, and it appears it is a miracle drug when the next day, Will finds his father sitting at the piano, playing perfectly.Meanwhile, Caesar has grown enamored of watching the neighbors playing outside, and escapes out the window into their neighbor's backyard. However, his appearance frightens the neighbor's daughter, and her father, Hunsiker (David Hewlett), angrily attacks Caesar. Will and Charles manage to rescue Caesar, but not before Hunsiker has injured him.Will sneaks Caesar into a zoo for treatment. Caesar is treated by a veterinarian there named Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto). During the procedure, Caroline is fascinated by how well Caesar knows sign language; he even implies through sign language that Will and Caroline should go out to dinner.To counter Caesar's wanderlust, they take him across the Golden Gate bridge to a redwood forest for some outdoor play time. Upon arriving at the forest, Caesar will not leave Will, but makes a supplication gesture of extending out arm, palm up, which is his way of asking for permission to play. Will gives his permission, and Caesar takes to the trees.Five years later, Caroline is living as part of the Rodman family and Caesar has grown. Will has even started dressing him in a shirt and pants. During a visit to the forest, Caesar is barked at angrily by a dog, and he counters with a primal cry that scares it off. Will notices that Caesar seems sad and confused about just what he is. They drive past Gen-Sys and Will explains to Caesar about the drug that made him more intelligent, as well as the death of his mother.In the five years since he was given ALZ 112, Charles' condition has deteriorated. Will reasons that his immune system has developed antibodies and a more aggressive virus is needed. Will takes a risk by going to Jacobs, confessing his secret experiment with his father, and explains that the drug not only repairs cognitive damage but makes people smarter. He says he has reworked the virus and needs Jacobs to approve new animal testing.Back at home, Charles gets confused and wanders outside and into their neighbor's car. He attempts to drive it, but ends up damaging it. Hunsiker (the same neighbor who attacked Caesar) angrily pulls Charles from the car; in his demented state, Charles is unable to convey his reasons for being there.Caesar watches this from his window in the attic, and upon seeing the neighbor yelling and angrily pushing Charles, rushes out of the house. He attacks Hunsiker, throwing him to the ground, jumping on him, beating him, and finally biting off a finger. Charles recognizes Caesar, and yells "Caesar, no!" Caesar backs off and goes to Charles. The incident causes Caesar (by court order) to be taken to a primate "'sanctuary" by animal control. Will and Caroline walk him in, and say good bye.The sanctuary proves to be tough on Caesar during his first days. It is run by John Landon (Brian Cox), with the care of the animals supervised by his short-tempered and abusive son Dodge (Tom Felton) and a timid man named Rodney (Jamie Harris). When Caesar flings his food at Dodge and laughs, the young man angrily responds by turning a fire hose on him, forcing a cowering Caesar into a corner of his cage.When released with the other animals into the main play area, Caesar meets the alpha male of the group, an ape named Rocket (also Terry Notary). Rocket tears off Caesar's shirt and beats him. Caesar also takes note of a gorilla named Buck (Richard Ridings) in a locked cage and an orangutan across from his cage who speaks sign language. Quietly, Caesar begins to communicate with the orangutan, Maurice (Karin Konoval).The sanctuary ships 12 apes to Gen Sys for the testing of the newer version of ALZ 112, which is named ALZ 113. Will is once again in charge of the testing, and chooses a rather harried ape named Koba (Christopher Gordon) as his first subject. Koba is strapped down and given the new drug through a breathing mask. However, Koba struggles, and the hose comes off the machine. Almost everyone in the lab has their breathing masks on, except Robert, who is accidentally exposed.That night, Will takes some of the ALZ 113 home to treat his father. Charles refuses the treatment, and dies that night in his sleep. After Will and Caroline pack up the remainder of Charles' belongings, Will's eyes fall on a copy of Julius Caesar.Some time afterward, Dodge brings some of his friends into the cage area at the sanctuary, where Caesar manages to steal a pocket knife from one of the visitors. Caesar befriends the large gorilla in the yard named Buck, who is never let out of his cage, by letting him loose. Next he releases Rocket, who ventures into the yard. Caesar hits him with a steel gas can. Rocket is ready to fight, but realizes that Buck is loyal to Caesar and will protect him, so he submits. Caesar is now the alpha male. Caesar later lets Rocket out of the cage area and allows him to give stolen cookies (from Dodge) -- one to each ape, bringing solidarity to the group. Caesar has also found a walkway and controls to the windowed enclosure at the top of the play area.Will returns to work, where he finds that Jacobs has greedily and recklessly pushed the research schedule ahead. While Jacobs is largely thinking of business profits, Will warns him that the major hurdle they need to worry about is how the newer ALZ 113 will affect humans. When Jacobs refuses to listen to Will's warnings, Will quits Gen-Sys. Meanwhile, Robert has been experiencing side-effects from his exposure to the virus, including sneezing that produces droplets of blood from his sinuses.Will returns to the ape sanctuary and attempts to bribe John Landon into letting him have Caesar. John is willing to do so, but when Will coaxes Caesar to go with him, Caesar refuses.That evening, Caesar busts out through the window he found and goes back home. He steals ALZ 113 from Rodman's refrigerator and gives it to the apes at the preserve. The next day, John Landon observes the apes having something like a conference. The apes scatter, playing it off. Landon dismisses it as just something weird.That night, the apes are returning to their cages, but Caesar balks, confronting and 'defeating' Dodge in the yard. When grabbed, Dodge says "Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!" Caesar speaks (audibly) for the first time, shouting "NO!" The other caretaker is a witness and runs into the cage area, trying to rescue the now unconscious Dodge.The apes attack him, but Caesar calls them off and, in a show of mercy, puts him into Caesar's cage. Dodge tries to escape and gets killed. (He is holding a cattle prod and Caesar hits him with the fire hose.)At dawn, Will calls to check on Caesar but receives no answer. Driving over to investigate, he finds the facilities wrecked, the apes gone, and the ALZ 113 canisters open in the cage areas. He decides to raise the alarm.Meanwhile, the apes are making their way across town. Caesar divides them into two groups. Buck goes with one group to the zoo to liberate the apes there, while Caesar leads the second group to Gen Sys.Robert goes to Will's home to talk to him, but Will isn't there and Robert is accosted by Will's short-tempered neighbor, Hunsiker. Startled, Robert sneezes on him. Later on, a woman in Robert's building finds Robert dead.The news about the ape escape is relayed to Jacobs, who has just made his way to work. He finds that Caesar and the other apes have taken over the building and freed the 12 ALZ 113 test subject apes.The police are called in. Jacobs boards a police helicopter as Caesar and Buck's groups join forces, now some 50 to 60, chimps, orangutans, and gorillas strong. However, the apes seem to be intentionally preventing the deaths of humans they encounter.Will and Caroline have heard about the rampage, and upon learning that the apes are headed for the Golden Gate Bridge, they surmise that Caesar is leading the apes to the redwood forest.The officers are waiting on the bridge to fire on the apes, but Caesar again divides his forces. One group climbs the suspension cables, while another swings from the underside of the structure to get past the blockade.In the helicopter, Jacobs catches sight of Caesar and orders the men to shoot at him, reasoning that the death of Caesar will call off the others. However, as the helicopter hovers low to the bridge, Buck leaps onto it, bringing it down at the cost of his own life. Caesar feels sadness over the loss of his comrade, and soon finds the remains of the helicopter precariously clinging to the side of the bridge, with Jacobs pleading for help. Instead, Caesar turns away and Koba pushes the helicopter off, killing Jacobs upon impact with the water.The apes proceed into the forest. Will and Caroline, meanwhile, have made their way onto the bridge. Will steals a police car and heads for the forest. He calls out Caesar's name, but is accosted by one of his followers. However, Caesar soon appears, and the others back away. Will attempts to reconcile with his friend, promising that if Caesar comes home with him, he'll protect him. Caesar shocks Will by holding him close and whispering "Caesar IS home." Will watches as Caesar and several other apes climb up into the trees and survey the forest... and the world beyond.In an aftermath sequence, we see Will's neighbor Hunsiker reporting for duty as a pilot at San Francisco International Airport. As he walks to his plane, he realizes that he is bleeding from his nose. As the camera pans up, we see the digital boards flashing to different destinations... a sign that soon, these places will be infected with ALZ 113, sealing mankind's fate.A recurring sub-plot throughout the film is the TV and newspaper reports of a troubled manned Mars probe named Icarus which has become lost in space. What will the astronauts find on their return? | mystery, realism, thought-provoking, violence, action, tragedy, inspiring, sentimental | train | imdb | I felt the movie was paced a bit too quickly but nevertheless, still contains very fleshed out characters driven by excellent performances throughout, from Lithgow, to Franco, to Cox and especially by Andy Serkis.Cesar is by far the best animated character in the history of cinema.
I am a big fan of the original and had fun with the sequels and even after Tim Burton's remake I was still excited for this film and I got to say this is the best Planet of the Apes picture since the original.This story is an origin story about how the Apes began to rise to power and about a man who is bent on curing Alzheimer's and raising an ape who has been past on the genes of the cure from his mother and what the effects this has on this one ape named Caesar.The very surprising thing about this film is how story based and character based it really is.
Caesar is played by motion capture actor Andy Serkis (his second film as an ape, the other one being King Kong (2005)) brings so much to the table.
They also really know how write convincing dialogue and leaves the door open for a sequel but it could be just an make you think type of ending.The Bottom line is this is a very good story driven film that includes great special effects and matches the original and is the second best film of 2011 Final Score 9/10.
The actors delivered fine performances for their well developed characters; the writers, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, didn't miss a beat with their fantastic and intelligent script; and the story was compelling, exciting and emotionally touching.The star of the film is an ape named Caesar (whose emotions were brought to life brilliantly by Andy Serkis) who is the baby of an ape that was tested on for scientist Will Rodman's (James Franco) research in an effort that resulted in a way for the brain to heal itself, and what could possibly be the cure for Alzheimer's; a disease very personal for him because his father (John Lithgow) suffers from it -- even though Rodman is warned not to let personal issues get in the way of science.
Even with Avatar, using real humans, pales in comparison to the amount of detail going into every single one of these apes; there is not one second in the film where you cannot understand one of the primates intentions - you could practically vocalise them yourself with the refined eye movement, body language that clearly separates Caesar from his more primitive relatives.
Eat that Michael Bay. I was almost in tears at one point during one of Caesar's more emotional scenes for Christ Sake - although a chimp, the heightened intelligence really gives him just enough human characteristic to be above the uncanny valley while still behaving like an animal.The humans in the film were what I considered weakest in this film; not any of the performances were bad, but a little more development in some minor characters and some tweak in the writing here and there would have made this a perfect 10.
The main cast are good, though at it's current length, I think more development with James Franco's character wouldn't have gone amiss, but then again, this might have thrown off the pacing.Another thing I love about this film is that while taking a sharp diversion from its roots in terms of gradual characterisation, it does a superb job of delivering what everyone inevitably came for.
This is the time of year that people rush out in masses to see the latest action extravaganza, and to be fair, some films have delivered on that promise -- "Harry Potter," "Captain America" (though I have yet to see either of them and am simply relying on general reactions) -- but there's been a whole lot of disappointments, too, and the worst part is that people still seem to be flocking to them, almost out of necessity than wont ("Transformers 3" and "Pirates 4" both made over $1 bil worldwide, which is amazing, because they both sucked).I think the last film anyone expected to reverse the trend this summer was a prequel to a franchise that has been consistently poor over the years since its original incarnation in 1968.
Indeed, the first trailer for "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" focused on ape carnage and mayhem, and although a subsequent one highlighted the dramatic underpinning of the film, it seemed like Fox was just trying to turn around its marketing and fool people into thinking there was more than meets the eye.Alas, the second trailer turned out to be a far more accurate reflection of the movie than anyone would have expected.
"Rise of the Apes" is most likely the best film of the blockbuster season, full of heart, carefully crafted and professionally delivered on every level.Sure, the story has its fair share of clichés -- the "evil caretakers" played by Brian Cox and Tom Felton seem bad just because the film requires them to be, and Felton's performance in particular is so over-the-top that it's almost a caricature -- but because of how the film is packaged, and because it spends so much time focusing on the character of Caesar (played magnificently by Andy Serkis), you are willing to overlook many of the flaws.
You care about the characters and the story, even when you kinda know where it's headed and feel like it's a variation of a prison break-out movie with apes in place of humans.The human cast, as has been noted by many critics, is nothing to write home about.
There's a moment of genius in that particular scene where Caesar exchanges a sad, knowing glance with Franco's character, and it's eerily touching.Director Rupert Wyatt follows blockbuster blueprints from beginning to end, but by enriching the first three-quarters of his film with character development and an actual *story* (something so many blockbusters these days seem to be sorely lacking), when the big action sequence arrives at the end, you're invested in what's happening -- and you actually care.I confess to never having watched many of the "Apes" films.
It says something that the best performance comes from Andy Serkis and he plays the film in a CGI suit swinging through trees and rattling bars but to be fair again Daniel Day Lewis would be incapable of bringing much to the roles of humans in this screenplay There's a saying that " If you give enough chimpanzees enough typewriters they will eventually write the complete works of Shakespeare " Apparently this is an untrue truism and according to the likes of Richard Dawkins and other scientists involved in biology there's neither enough chimpanzees or typewriters for this to remotely come close to happening .
The main ape's actor, Andy Serkis, only spoken few lines in this movie but the motion he provides to the character is remarkably amazing.
Let's take a look at them: -the good scientist, played with his usual blandness by James Franco, -the beauty love interest (I suppose she is Hindu in order to attract moviegoers from that "emergent" market...), who happens to also be wise (surely she studied in the MIT) and cultured (she is reading Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", hence the name of the ape...
The story telling in "Apes" is unique in that it tells the story from the point of view an orphaned chimp named Caesar, adopted as a lab-test animal by a drug researcher played by James Franco, who's good in this.
Franco's character is trying to find a cure for Alzheimer's, which his father, played by the terrific John Lithcow, is in the grips of.But the stories is told through the eyes of chimp Caesar, who goes from family pet/child to being the punching bag for a tyrannical chimp in a California rescue facility for apes.
Watched Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes with James Franco(Spider-Man) as Will Rodman , The Lovely Frieda Pinto(Slumdog Millionaire) as Caroline Aranha,John Lithgow (Footloose) as Charles Rodman ,Tom Felton(Sherlock Holmes) as Dodge Landon, Brian Cox(Troy) as John Landon,David Oyelowo(The Passion) as Steven Jacobs and Andy Serkis(Lord Of The Rings) as Caeser ,.
The end scenes, where apes begin to take a stand against the consistently nasty humans, are impressive, but by then - after being through so much back story spanning over a large number of years - I did not really care.Lastly, and oddly, a huge drawback of the film was the marketing.
It deals with Caesar (Andy Serkis , this is the second film in which Andy Serkis plays an ape, having previously portrayed 2005's version of King Kong and he was also the motion capture actor for Gollum in Lord of the Rings), a Chimpanzee raised like a child by the drug's creator, Will Rodman (James Franco ,Tobey Maguire was considered for the role) and a Primatologist Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto) .
So I should think a truly penetrating look at human nature may come from a Planet of the Apes follow-up feature, a film outranking its classic original in psychological depth and structural control.
I can be hopeful, all the same, can't I?One must, after having watched a film, take stock of its overall 'value' for viewers, despite how a film has made us feel; insofar as lasting value is consideration, Rise of the Planet of the Apes achieves little, because its characters and events lack mimetic relation to experiences in life, as realistically developed over time, as opposed to ample stimuli that we can't help but emote to, since we're viewing primal displays that prompt automatic response.
It had everything in it: Strong but slow developing plot (you can feel the tension building up as the story progresses) Great acting (Andy Serkis) Strong script Emotion (you could really feel Ceaser's was feeling) Action AMAZING CGI/live motion capture (not surprising if it's the same people behind Avatar) And most of all, Andy Serkis was truly amazing as Ceaser and I hope he wins an Oscar.Bad The truly pointless girlfriend (Freida Pinto), she had No purpose in this movie except to be the hottie in the background, and there 0% connection between her and Will.
But the best performance of the movie, just like every one else is saying, is without a doubt the ape named Ceaser acted by mo-cap actor Andy Serkis.
Movie shows the transformation of Caesar from a human family chimp to a ape that understands his origin and leads the primates into a new beginning.
Things really get rolling about halfway though, and it's an action movie after all....so the climax comes with plenty of thrills as the alpha males (human and ape) contend for dominance in a shoot out like you have never seen before.Although this wasn't the most rip-roaring movie I have seen this year, it was by far the most original.
and it was no doubt for the effects and everything to be good after realizing it was done by Weta, which previous works were "Lord of the Rings", "King Kong" and even "Avatar".Andy Serkis was Caesar the Ape. I think he was brilliant, again being cast as a character as so after Gollum in "Lord of the Rings" and the King Kong in "King Kong".
I also wondered how a rookie director could handle a movie like this, but Mr. Rupert Wyatt did a mighty fine job.This film is a prequel set in modern-day San Francisco and tells the tale on how the apes took over the world.
In San Francisco, the scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) has been researching for almost six years in the Gen Sys Company the ALZ 112 drug in chimpanzees expecting to find the cure to the Alzheimer since his father Charles Rodman (John Lithgow) has been deteriorating with the disease.When a subject ape increases its intelligence, Will brings the results of his experiment to his greedy chief, Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo), requesting to use the experimental drug in a human subject.
In only his second film, director Rupert Wyatt (in tandem with smarter than your average producers and the great Weta Digital Effects team) teaches a master course on how to do a reboot/origin story in a way only Christopher Nolan has previously been able to achieve.Skilled direction, a great performance by Andy Serkis as Caesar, emotionally involving character development, and a clever subversion of expectations help this Apes flick rise above the rest.Watch out for some plot holes, leaps of logic, a goofy James Franco, and a vacant Freida Pinto...but don't worry, you'll still enjoy the ride.Check out full reviews at theschleicherspin.com.
i saw this movie after reading so many reviews and i also like the both classic.so i decided to watch this movie and i found its surprisingly awesome movie.the story and casting is really good especially Direction by Rupert Wyatt is really counting in.use of CGI in the movie is amazing but instead of CGI why they cant use real apes?
but all over this movie deserves best ratings.James Franco is really doing great acting, Tom Felton is also good and we cant forget Andy Serkis playing Caesar the real hero of the movie.
Forgive me if I am gushing but I loved this film and cannot help laugh in a way because it's a movie about Apes and the humans are secondary characters.
It is sometimes difficult to tell where these effects stop and the CGI begins, but overall the look of the chimps is pretty good and the action sequences are downright amazing.What hurts the film is the weakness of the human stories.
Also I tend to not like CGI animals because you can always tell they're fake although, the effects were really good.Now the movie has tons of references of the past Planet of the Apes films, some subtle, some not so much.
His character is well put but the real star in this movie is Caesar (Andy Serkis) the ape!
Saw rise of apes yesterday..went to this film with huge expectations and gladly my expectations were fulfilled..to begin with..this movie has good cast..some decent performances from James Franco and Frieda pinto..the best performance is from the ape..Ceaser(Andy Serkis) steals the show..he did a brilliant portrayal of the ape..this movie also has some striking visuals..good story line..some fast paced action sequences..this movie has some minor flaws which aren't evident enough..Weta digital proves that it is the king of special effects..i think academy awards must also include a 'best CGI character award' category...i smell some Oscars for this film..kudos to new director Rupert Wyatt for giving us such a great movie..this is the best summer blockbuster of 2011..i give this movie 9/10...
There is not too much talent to be wasted in the characters of the scientist played by James Franco or his girlfriend played by Freida Pinto, and the best human performance is given by John Lithgow as the Alzheimer disease-stricken father.It is said that 'Rise of the Planet of Apes' is the smarter entertaining film of the summer.
Rise was a major box office hit, taking in a total of $481,801,049 over its $93 million budget.Fox immediately planned for a sequel.I won't talk about this movie from beginning to end, but it is a very successful reboot in the Planet of the Apes film series.Will Rodman is played by James Franco and she is trying to find a cure for brain aliments such as Alzheimer's disease.
I loved the performances in this movie and I really did love the actor playing Caesar, which was Andy Serkis, he did CGI and performance capture for the character and the apes look amazing.The CGI for the apes is amazing, the story is subtle and very coherent and the rest is just top-notch.
This reboot is very successful and it is so cool to see because I like the Planet of the Apes movies, but then Dawn of the Planet of the Apes came out in July of last year and really blew me.The editing, cinematography, production design, costume design and musical score by Patrick Doyle is really great and it is really interesting as well.Overall, RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES breathes new life into the franchise and is remembered by audiences, moviegoers and critics everyone as a successful reboot in the long-running Planet of the Apes series, which began in 1968 with the original Planet of the Apes film, directed by Franklin J.
Andy Serkis as Caesar (The ape whos story this movie follows) brings a character too life that could off otherwise been tedious.
Off course it helps that there a bunch off great actors in this film (James Franco, John Lithgow, Brian Cox) but at the end of the day its the computer generated Caesar who is the star.The Flick also doesn't make the mistake off trying too have the "shocking" ending that the original or most of its sequels had (Something that ultimately destroyed Tim Burtons take on the apes a decade ago) and instead has a suitable conclusion to the lead characters story, while subtly hinting at where this new "apes" series will lead.
Some of the dialog was good but the majority of it was corny and badly written.I am a hardcore Sci-Fi fan and I loved all of the original "Planet of the Apes" films (excluding the 2001 remake), but overall I think this movie could have done a lot better if it had a more experienced director (i.e. Steven Spielburge) and better actors.
Caesar sees the many sides of human cruelty and he knows he can lead a revolution and lead his kind.Wyatt shows he is already turning into a really good director: The Escapist was a strong star and Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a great blockbuster.
A slow pace and some under-developed side characters bring the movie down a bit, but the captivating and emotional story, plus a very well-directed action-heavy third act, elevate the film into one of the best in the whole franchise.MSB Reviews - If you like my reviews, please follow my blog :). |
tt0094074 | Superman IV: The Quest for Peace | The film begins at a Russian space station where a cosmonaut is working outside, singing Frank Sinatra songs in Russian. A piece of space debris flies into the space station, spinning it out of control and sending the cosmonaut into deep space. The Russians are saved however, when Superman (Christopher Reeve) flies to the rescue, first putting the space station back into it's orbit and then rescuing the cosmonaut.In Smallville, Superman aka. Clark Kent returns to the old Kent farm which is being put up for sale. In the barn, Clark listens to a message from his Kryptonian mother (Susannah York) which explains that the green crystal he holds is the very last source of Kryptonian energy and that he should use it wisely. At that point, a car arrives at the farm and Clark puts the crystal in his pocket.A realtor named Hornsby (Don Fellows) greets Clark with the news that a big company wishes to buy the land unseen, much to Clark's dismay. Refusing to sell to anyone uninterested in the farm itself, Clark then returns to Metropolis. On the subway, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) is practicing her French for an upcoming trip. Clark, just behind, misses the train and waits on the platform. The train driver suffers an apparent heart attack and causes the vehicle to pick up speed, hurtling past the next station. Clark hears the panic from the train and steps into a nearby phone booth, where he changes into Superman. Superman then flies past the train and gets ahead of it, stepping on the tracks to stop the train's power. While the emergency team attend to the driver, Superman informs the public that the subway is still the safest and most reliable form of transport and then flies away.At the Daily Planet, Clark arrives to discover that a media mogul named David Warfield (Sam Wanamaker) and his daughter Lacy (Mariel Hemmingway) are to take over the newspaper, with plans to turn it into a sleazy tabloid. Clark's outspoken opinions on delivering the truth is noticed by Lacy who develops a liking for him. Meanwhile, Lois' trip is cancelled and editor Perry White (Jackie Cooper) heads off to the bank to try and get funds to buy back his newspaper.Meanwhile, Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) is broken out of jail yet again, this time by his young nephew Lenny (Jon Cryer) who Lex refers to as 'the dutch elm disease' of his family tree. His first plan on breaking out of prison is to destroy Superman and his first port of call is the museum where a strand of Superman's hair supports a massive ball of steel. After the museum closes, Lex steals the strand of hair.Elsewhere, peace talks break down between the world's superpowers and the U.S. President (Robert Beatty) appears on TV to say that America 'strive to become second to none in the nuclear arms race'. A school boy named Jeremy (Damien McLawhorn) writes a letter to Superman, asking him do something about the crisis, and sends it to the Daily Planet.Superman is moved by the letter but cannot intervene in global politics and when he seeks guidance from the Kryptonian elders (at the Fortress of Solitude), they encourage him to move on to another planet where war is forgotten. But Superman decides that Earth is his home and addresses the UN, with the world's press in attendance. He proposes to do what no one else can, or will, which is to 'rid the world of all nuclear weapons'. Following a tremendous applause, the superpowers all begin to launch their missiles into space where Superman collects them in a gigantic net. The net is sent flying into the sun by Superman, destroying the missiles safely.At Lex Luthor's penthouse, a trio of arms dealers hear Luthor's plan to make a fortune re-arming the world and to get rid of Superman, which involves creating a clone with the same deadly powers. Using protoplasm grown from Superman's hair strand, Lex infiltrates a missile compound and attaches the protoplasm to the last remaining missile to be launched. Superman again catches the missile and throws it into the sun.Immediately, a lifeform emerges from the fiery star and grows rapidly into a full grown man. Crackling with power, the 'Nuclear Man' (Mark Pillow) flies to Metropolis. Lex is impressed, not by Nuclear Man's power, but his own intelligence. Nuclear Man, however, has one major flaw - his power is drawn from the sun, and when he is not in direct sunlight he becomes incapacitated.Meanwhile, at Lacy's apartment, Clark and Lois attend a double-date with Clark having to be both himself (who Lacy is attracted to) and Superman (who Lois still has feelings for). The dinner is interrupted when Lex transmits a supersonic message to Superman, leading him to his penthouse. Just after arriving, Superman is confronted by his new enemy, Nuclear Man. The pair become locked in battle, as Nuclear Man leads his enemy around the world, setting off a volcano in Italy and destroying the Great Wall of China. Finally, Nuclear Man takes the Statue of Liberty and drops it over Metropolis. Superman catches it just in time, but leaves him vulnerable to Nuclear Man who scratches him with his radioactive nails.Superman, severely injured, manages to replace the Statue of Liberty but is kicked into sky, with only his cape left flapping in the wind. Presumed dead by everyone except Lois, Superman/Clark appears to be suffering some sort of rapid ageing and takes the green crystal that he pocketed earlier. With Superman out of the action, Lex begins raking in the money from his arms deals while Nuclear Man becomes obsessed with Lacy Warfield after seeing her picture.On the streets of Metropolis, Nuclear Man wreaks havoc searching for Lacy. Through the smoke emerges a fully recovered Superman who lures him into an elevator and manages to cut off the sunlight, causing Nuclear Man to shut down. The Man of Steel flies the elevator into space and dumps it on the moon's surface. But a crack in the door allows Nuclear Man to catch the sun's rays, starting a fight on the lunar surface. During the battle, Superman is buried in the ground while Nuclear Man finds Lacy at the Daily Planet and flies her out towards deep space. Superman climbs out of the ground and manages to save Lacy by causing an eclipse, allowing him to then deal with Nuclear Man by dropping him into a nuclear reactor.Back at the Daily Planet, Perry White has managed to secure funds at the bank and buys back control of the newspaper. Superman takes Lenny Luthor to a boys' home and his uncle back to prison, where the film ends. | good versus evil, violence | train | imdb | Being somewhat of a Liberal "peacenik," he was the kind you'd see out with a big "peace sign" at rallies against nuclear weapons.This movie had the kind of message that was dear to his heart.Superman goes about trying to rid the world of nuclear weapons here, especially, of course when they get into the hands of villain "Dr. Luthor" (Gene Hackman).
The truly horrific nature of this films effect sequences can be seen during the climactic battles between Superman and Nuclear Man. The added addition of new powers with bad special effects doesn't help either.The other major problem is the pacing of the film.
The Courage adaptation never fails to use the Williams music to maximum effect and it's a shame that, at Courage's own request, it has yet to see release.Despite its flaws in special effects and editing, Superman IV has saving graces in Christopher Reeves, the rest of the cast, the music, and the timely nature of the story.
come on people what's wrong with it, I there's a lot of problems with this movie but if you don't take it seriously I think you will like it like I did, I admit the effects were terrible, the same shots used over and over again, fighting scenes meh and a bad villain and retarded scenes, and last but not least no logic is in this movie.but just remember the budget used when they were making this, there was a good message and it was well presented still I enjoyed it, all those problems make it what it is a fun movie to watch, and I would recommend it if you like funny failed movies such as batman and robin, troll 2, for me the movies so bad it's good.
I am a huge Superman fan and I loved the first two Superman films,but starting with the third one this franchise slowly started going down.Now we reach the fourth installment in the franchise and not even Superman himself could of saved this one.The story and villain were weak and the action was boring.Plus this sported the worst special effects in the franchise.This film feels rushed and choppy,cutting from scene to scene leaving you confused.Christopher Reeves still played the part perfectly,but him and Margot Kidder are the only ones.I felt throughout the film they tried to rekindle the success of the original two,but just couldn't do it.With a corny script,bad special effects and action,weak acting,and terrible directing and editing this one is completely passable.You definitely will not be watching this one again and again like the first two.A disappointing: 1/10!!!.
"Superman IV: The Quest For Peace" is a definite improvement over the embarassing "Superman 3".The cast give sincere performances despite the film's flaws with Christopher Reeve handing in another great performance as Clark Kent/Superman."Superman 4" is a flawed film, most notably the special effects and the bad editing, as well as the cut scenes, but I like the film.Alexander Courage's adaptation of John Williams' music is lovely and is certainly much better than Ken Thorne's version in "Superman 2".
The budget was obviously lower and the platitudes higher (due to Christopher Reeve's need to make a statement about nuclear proliferation) but the film as its moments of excitement, particularly in the scene between Superman and the manufactured super-villain of Lex Luthor, a sort of Sun-Man.
"Superman 4" is a fun-house of watching bad special effects, plot holes and actors looking lost at times..
But things are slowly changing, when Superman's number one enemy Lux Luthor (Two Time Oscar-Winner:Gene Hackman) is having plans to kill Superman once and for all with the help of Luthor's nephew (Jon Cryer) by using a piece of Superman's hair by creating an super-clone named Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow).
This movie is one of my favorite Superman installments(after Superman 2).It has it all: a original plot( Superman's quest for peace), the return of Superman's arch nemesis, Lex Luthor(played remarkably by Gene Hackman), a super villain just as powerful as Superman, Nuclear Man( the fighting scenes between them are outstanding), and new changes like the Daily Planet becoming a tabloid news paper.
The opening scene when Superman help a group of Russian cosmonauts in space , wow in 1987, i can only assume the thoughts of many viewers back then.The movie even suggested that there was an economical angle concerning the nuclear arms race(mainly through Lex Luthor).From my point of view, the reason this film flopped is because it meddled in to Politics.For many people super heroes belong in comic books, facing fictional problems( like for instance, an alien invasion).However it's very illogic to assume that Superman with all that power wouldn't take a stand on serious issues like nuclear arms and relegate to minor issues like saving a cat stuck on a tree.Many people expressed their dislike on this movie by focusing on the special effects.But not the entire movie has lower grade special effects, in fact there are only a few scenes.My favorite scenes like Superman worldwide chase of nuclear man, Superman missile round up in space, birth of nuclear man, metropolis show down have very good special effects.
Anyway in the end he does destroy them, mean while Lex Luthor steals one of superman's hairs from a museum and uses it to create Nuclear Man, basically an evil superman...well it's almost exactly like superman except hes blonde and needs the sun to get energy on a more extreme level than superman.Still the movie has some great action sequences and fits in well to the other superman films, though you do have to take this for what it is "a comic book movie" it is good at what it is, you have to watch it and forget everything you where ever taught or believe...OK some of the stuff like the fight on the moon is abit extreme but it's a SUPERman movie.
the most hated sequel in the superman saga is one of my favorites.i loved this movie from start to end with amazing acting and special effects.the story is exicellent(superman getting rid of nuclear weapons/lux luther creates a nuclear man to destroy superman) and so is the comic book style setting.gene hackman (luthor) and chris reeves(superman)give outstanding acting and so does margot kidder as lois lane.john cryer gives a goofy performace as luthors idiot nephew lenny.you also got those good special effects(they dont suck to me) and a comic book movie that kids will love.so sit down and watch the 90 minute special effects charged movie that gives chris reeves final performace as superman.on a scale from 1-10 i give it a 10!!!!!.
Once again, Christopher Reeve does an amazing job as Clark Kent and Superman, and Gene Hackman and Margot Kidder also have great performances in their roles of Luthor and Lois Lane.
This is the fourth and final Superman film with Christopher Reeve taking on the role, where he tries to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and battles Lex Luther (Gene Hackman) and his super-powered sidekick, Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow).Though the level of excitement and intrigue of this film doesn't match the first two, it is almost on par with the third and is still fun and fast-paced with neat special effects that showcase Superman's powers and great action scenes, something that sorely lacks in Superman Returns.The nuclear weapons plot I thought was clever and unique to a Superman movie.
In addition, the fight scenes between Nuclear Man and Superman were awesome - Nuclear Man looked like a force to be reckon with as he possessed the same level of powers and same physique as Superman.Overall, I think this film is a fitting ending to the Christopher Reeve saga.Grade B-.
So many scenes are deleted from this movie that it is confusing to understand just how certain key elements of the film are executed, or worse yet, why!The only scene which holds interest for a little while is the climatic battle between Superman and Nuclear Man, at best the scene gets a mediocre.
Look I'll give some of the actors credit, it was nice to see Gene Hackman back as Lex Luthor (even though the horrible dialogue didn't do much)and Christopher Reeve was alright as of course you, Superman.But all of it still feels like it was done for nothing.It feels like it was just done to keep your franchise alive and made for a quick penny so that Cannon can make more cheesy films.Well the joke was on them...
Superman rids planet Earth of all the nuclear weapons, and in doing so unknowingly creates a super villain named Nuclear Man thanks to arch rival Lex Luthor.The movie does star all the original cast, which surprised me.
Great performances, special effects, and a good story make this film a must-see for Superman fans, and movie fans.The story is about Superman's quest for peace.
I have just watched the 89 minute cut of superman 4 and i've asked myself is this a stinker of a film or not and my answer to that is no i don't think it is.Why you ask when most of the world thinks it is well i shall tell you.Well it's world renowned that cannon were cheapskates and the budget was only 10 million on this film but that aside what Sidney j furie did with this film was i think a much better film than superman 3.I liked the story the acting i think was on par with the other films and i enjoyed the action scene's especially the fight around the world with the nuclear man and it kept me entertained however there are bad points about this film as much as it kept me entertained which included Lenny who was as about as much use in this film as a chocolate tea pot and "THE NUCLEAR MAN" what purpose does he serve in this film he is that bad that Gene Hackman has to voice him so i can only imagine Marc pillow was more wooden than a park bench and also when superman and nuclear man are fighting in space it's so obvious that they are on a blacked out stage.What really bothers me about this film is that somebody out there has the full 143 minute version and i think this is the problem with superman 4 the general public have seen a watered down version which in some places this film makes no sense where as the full version that was laughed at by critics in an advanced screening would make more sense than this version we have to put up with and lets face it the real critics are real movie fans who do not get paid for there views unlike these posh art house lovers who would dissect care bears the movie if they had the chance.In closing i would like to say two things about this movie (1) This film is voted one of the worst films of all time because we have a watered down version that makes no sense in places.(2)Warner brothers or cannon whoever has the rights to the full uncut version do the decent thing and give us the general public and superman lovers across the world the the right to view superman 4 the quest for peace in it's full uncut glory if not for us then let's have Christopher reeve doing what he does best in these films and entertaining us and believing that a man can really fly.
sure it's not the greatest film in the world but compared to superman 3 i'll watch this over that any day of the week.The problem with superman 4 is we haven't seen how it was or was not intended therefore the film doesn't make much sense but i personally think there is more standout points in this film than superman 3(1)Clark and superman simultaneously having dates with Lacey and Lois a really well made scene.(2)superman and nuclear man's fight around the world, silly but entertaining (3)russians in space singing my way, unrealistic but a well made scene.there are a few more but the point i'm trying to make is superman 3 has one worthy scene and that's the junkyard fight between Clark and superman.I truly believe when the deleted scenes come out this film will gain more respect but other than that i enjoyed it so balls to you all ha ha.coincidently i have a version of superman 2 with Richard Donner's footage which i recommend if you can get your hands on it.
I can buy Superman's 'mind erasing kiss' or even him flying back in time if it's only happening once and a while, but in Superman IV every time I hear Luthor talk about how the sun is just a 'big bomb' or anything like this I just want to cringe.'Nuclear Man' seems like an interesting idea for a villain, but the way he's created and just about everything about him is hilariously bad.
His new creation is a Frankenstein like being, a Nuclear Man. Can Superman stop the Earth from blowing itself up?Actors such as Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman were crazy when they agreed to do this film.
Superman IV is a mix of good and bad things.The good things-1: The intention of the movie; its good, Superman X nuclear weapons is coherent because is one of worst enemies of humanity.2: The cast; Reeve and Hackman gives a bit of light in film, but Jon Cryer and Mark Pillow aren't good.The bad things-1: The production of film is poor, very poor, the FX effects, the flying effects are horrible for a Superman film.
The Golan/Goblus production isn't competent in anyway.2: The plot could be better, much better...The nuclear Man, Superman talking in space after to save astronauts, Lacy Warfield in space, the Moon's scenes and Luthor's escape of jail are some examples of the mistakes in the plot, but some scenes like the Superman speech is OK.The film's intention is really good, but intention is never enough..
The low budget means Furie has to shoot in wholly unrepresentative locations that are so far away from the classy glamour of the first movie it's unreal, while ironically given Hollywood was on the verge of CGI breakthroughs around this time, the effects are the shoddiest of all four movies; the story starts in earnest fashion, with the interesting notion of Superman being called upon to interject in a nuclear arms race (though given, at this point, America & Russia were practically bowling buddies, it's not exactly razor sharp political commentary) utterly shattered when it descends (after a bizarre sequence where Supes throws ALL the nukes INTO THE SUN - surely that's a terrible idea, scientists?) into yet another dumb Lex Luthor farce of a plan and introduces the most laughable antagonist in comic-book history...
Poor visual effects aside, this movie is just hastily cobbled together from a few half-baked ideas that aren't fully realised, with the character motivations and the way certain plot points come to fruition not making a lick of sense.I understand that 45 or so minutes of this film were left on the cutting room floor, but having both watched the deleted scenes and read the original script for the movie, I have to say that even if all of the footage had been left in this movie would still have been a mess.
The film is a sad end to an otherwise classic (or half classic) movie saga and unfortunately leaves Christopher Reeve, the definitive man of steel, in a bad light.
Using a strand of Superman's hair, Lex Luthor creates Nuclear Man.The movie is pretty boring and even more silly than all the others.
Superman becomes active in disarming the world of nuclear weapons but his arch nemesis Lex Luthor still holds a grudge against the Man of Steel and devices a plan to get rid of him; by creating a super villain of his own.Reeve shares co-credit story this time around but he's not responsible for the terrible script.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace had a lot of potential to be a good movie, but it was put in the wrong hands.One thing that I must point out is how they ruined the film's villain.
Mark Pillow has some good moments, but some of the best scenes of Superman chasing Nuclear Man around the world ended up on the cutting room floor.
Sadly, everything else is a 90-minute disaster: from the dire script (it almost screams: "Hey, nuclear weapons are a bad thing, you know?", and it has some awful dialogue, such as "You know what we can do with Superman's hair?" "A flying wig?") to the far from exciting SFX scenes (the same flying shot is reused at least four (!) times), The Quest for Peace is even worse than Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin, which at least tried to be decent (Schumacher himself admitted he wanted to make it less "clownish" than it turned out).And let's not (?) forget the villains: Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) is sidelined in favor of his obnoxious nephew (Richard Pryor, who was the bad guy in Superman III, had a bit more charm), and the "frightening" Nuclear Man (voiced, God knows why, by Hackman) is probably the most throwaway movie character I've seen to date.The premise was interesting, but not even Christopher Reeve could completely prevent this movie from crash-landing rather than flying.
However, it is nice to see Gene Hackman returning as Lex Luthor as he did his best with a bad script, but don't think he did good as the voice of Nuclear Man which I find it pretty silly.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)** (out of 4) The death nail in the series finds Superman (Christopher Reeve) having to once again go up against Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) who has now wants to use Nuclear Man for his wild schemes. |
tt1305806 | El secreto de sus ojos | (Note: in this summary, last names describe the characters in the fictionalized novel of the 1970's history of law enforcement officer Benjamín "Espósito", first names describe the people in retiree "Benjamin" Espósito's modern world.)
Retiree Benjamín Espósito is having trouble getting started on his first novel. He pays a visit to the offices of Judge Irene Menéndez Hastings to tell her about his plans to recount the story of the Liliana Coloto case, the one they both worked on 25 years before, when Irene was his new department chief and he was the federal agent assigned to the case. Irene suggests that Benjamin start at the beginning.
The beginning marks the discovery of Coloto's body, raped and murdered in her home in 1974. Espósito promises her widower, Ricardo Morales, that the killer will do life for his crime. Morales states that he opposes the death penalty. Espósito's investigation is joined by his alcoholic friend and assistant, Pablo Sandoval, and the Cornell Law School-educated Menéndez. Before the three can start, their rival, Romano, tries to show them up by having officers beat a confession out of two innocent laborers, who had been working near the couple's apartment. Espósito has the confessions overturned and lashes out at Romano in a justice building hall. Espósito threatens to file a complaint as Romano racially insults the construction workers.
Back on the case, Espósito notices that pictures from Coloto's home town of Chivilcoy frequently show a man named Isidoro Gómez whose eyes never leave her. Although Irene is skeptical, Benjamín insists all of a young man's feeling for a woman is spoken there. Seeing that Gómez has disappeared, Espósito and Sandoval travel to Chivilcoy and sneak into Gómez's mother's house, where they find his letters to her. Sandoval steals them but they contain nothing useful and, when their supervising judge learns of the illegal action, the case is closed. Over an evening review of the manuscript, Benjamín reminds Irene that it was only one week later that she announced her engagement. He also recalls backing out of a conversation with her in which he was about to shut the door. The memory is poignant, and Irene decides that she cannot revisit the past through his novel anymore.
The case is reopened after a year when Espósito sees that Morales maintains daily surveillance of Buenos Aires railway stations looking for Gómez. After receiving Menéndez's approval, Sandoval studies the letters and notices references to the players of Racing Football Club in Buenos Aires. Espósito and Sandoval attend four matches of Racing until they are able to spot Gómez in the crowd. Gómez leads the police through a chase before being arrested. Menéndez is able to break Gómez by making taunting remarks about him being too weak to commit the crime. Feeling emasculated, Gómez exposes his penis and shouts a confession.
In 1975, the widower sees his wife's killer on television, included in a security detail for the president of Argentina, María Estela Martínez de Perón. Menéndez and Espósito quickly establish that Romano, now working for a government intelligence agency, released the murderer out of spite. Romano claims that Gómez has violent talents that should be used to combat left wing guerrillas instead of being squandered in prison. Romano insults them both, taunting Espósito for being beneath Menéndez. Undeterred, she later invites Espósito to offer his objections to her impending marriage plans later that night. Before they can meet, however, he has to leave a very intoxicated Sandoval in his living room to fetch his wife. When they return, they find Sandoval murdered. Espósito assumes he was the target of either Romano or Gómez and accepts the remote isolation of Jujuy Province. Late one night, while contemplating the sacrifice of his lost friend Pablo, Benjamín gets a call from Irene asking to see the rest of his book. Menéndez takes him to the train station for a disconsolate goodbye.
When Irene finishes reading, she and Benjamin still seek inspiration for a suitable ending. They are able to locate Ricardo Morales leading a quiet life in a rural area of Buenos Aires Province. Although the widower apparently has relinquished his obsession with the murder case, Benjamín has to ask him how he has lived without the love of his life for 25 years. When Benjamín repeats Pablo's final promise to get Isidoro, Ricardo hesitantly confesses that in 1975 he kidnapped Isidoro and shot him dead. Feeling that something is not right, Benjamín follows Ricardo to a small building near the main house, where he is shocked to find Isidoro living in a makeshift cell, undetectable from the outside. Isidoro begs for human contact and Ricardo reminds Benjamín of his promise that Isidoro would never go free. Benjamín pays his respects at Pablo's grave, then goes to see Irene with an evident sense of purpose. She notices something different in his eyes, reminds him that it will be complicated, and asks him to close the door. | boring, cruelty, murder, mystery, dramatic, violence, flashback, romantic, revenge | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1250777 | Kick-Ass | Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) opens the film with a narration about how superheroes came into existence. A man in a superhero costume stands on a skyscraper above a crowd ready to show the world his new flight suit. He jumps as people cheer before crashing into a taxi and dying. Dave comments that the man isn't him; just a delusional mental patient. He introduces himself as 'Kick Ass' and starts telling the story of his life.He begins six months earlier. Dave is a social misfit; a real, natural-born geek, a true nobody at his high school, and invisible to all the girls. He has two good friends, Todd (Evan Peters) and Marty (Clark Duke), and they spend most of their time at the local comic book store. When Dave was 14, his mother died suddenly of an aneurysm and that's when he noticed that, even when things change, they simply stay the same. He is in love with Katie Deauxma (Lyndsy Fonseca) but she barely notices him. A genuinely nice guy, he tries to reach out to people, including Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) the spoiled but lonely son of a local mobster, however this plan fails miserably. When he attempts to casually talk to Chris, Chriss' bodyguard scares Dave away because Chris is not allowed to have friends. One day, following a conversation about superheroes at the comic book café, Dave and Todd are robbed by a pair of street gang members. This event inspires Dave to become a superhero and fight crime. He orders a green colored diving suit off the internet, fits two batons to the back, and starts training to become a crime fighter.After a few weeks of physical training, Dave sees the two men who robbed him and Todd trying to break into a car. Dave dons his suit and confronts them which leads to a fight. It ends when Dave is brutally stabbed and the robbers run off. Dave stumbles away only to be hit by a car which quickly drives off. However, an ambulance shortly arrives and rushes Dave to the hospital. En route, though clinging to life, Dave begs the paramedic to hide his suit. Dave is brought to the hospital naked which starts rumors about the circumstances that led to his admittance - one heavily implied to be related to gay prostituion.A few months later, Dave is almost as good as new. His injuries left him with metal plating covering most of his skull and interior and he possesses a higher threshold for pain thanks to frayed nerve endings. He returns to school and is shocked when Katie begins talking to him, but Marty explains that she likes 'lame ducks' and tells Dave that the entire school thinks he's a gay prostitute. Though he is at first horrified by this, Dave comes to accept his new social standing, seeing it as the only way to be close to Katie. Despite the setbacks his debilitating fight caused, Dave is still determined to be a superhero and sets up a MySpace account for his alter ego: Kick-Ass.One night, while looking for a lost cat, Dave notices three men viciously attacking a fourth man in front of a diner. Immediately, Dave rushes to the man's aid and successfully beats off the attackers, his metal plating and inability to feel pain providing an advantage. Some patrons from the diner record the fight along with Dave's formal introduction of his alter ego and post it on YouTube. Kick-Ass becomes an internet phenomenon and is quickly circulated throughout the media. Chris watches the latest reports with his parents, Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong) and Angie (Yancy Butler) as his father criticizes Kick-Ass's apparent lack of skill.Across town, Frank's thugs are torturing one of his associates who claims that a man resembling Batman attacked their cocaine dealers and stole all of their drugs. Thinking it far more likely that the associate stole the cocaine for a profit, Frank has him tortured and killed before taking his son Chris out to the movies. Frank surrounds himself with a posse of thugs/bodyguards wherever he goes for both intimidation and to protect himself from family members of rivals and people he's killed. Later on, Frank learns that his earlier assumption about his missing shipment was incorrect, so he sends his men to take care of a Russian mobster whom he believes is really responsible for messing with his shipments.The next morning, ex-policeman Damon MacReady (Nicolas Cage) points a gun at his 11-year-old daughter, Mindy (Chloë Grace Moretz), and shoots her in the chest. Mindy stands up, shocked by the force of the bullet but impressed with how effectively her bullet-proof vest absorbed it. They watch the reports on Kick-Ass. Damon is not impressed and sees Kick-Ass as a wannabe rookie but Mindy thinks he has potential. Framed as a drug dealer by Frank D'Amico, Damon was relieved of his duty as an officer and sent to prison for five years which led to his wife's suicide and left Mindy in the care of Damon's partner, Marcus (Omari Hardwick). Damon vowed revenge against Frank and began training to become a vigilante. Once his term was served, he was reunited with Mindy and began training her as well, against Marcus's wishes. Bent on eliminating all of D'Amico's crime syndicate, Damon captures and manipulates several members resulting in very brutal and violent deaths. Marcus finds Damon and begs with him to end his vendetta before dirty cop Detective Gigante (Xander Berkeley) or D'Amico finds him. He asks to see Mindy but, seeing the futility of the attempt, leaves, telling Damon he owes Mindy a real childhood. Damon colors a large, comic book-style hit list and hangs it on the wall.As Kick-Ass, Dave continues to save people and gathers more supporters over the internet. As Katie's 'gay' best friend, he is able to get closer to her and begins to get to know her as a person. One day, she mentions that a meth addict named Rasul (Kofi Natei), who frequents the clinic she volunteers at, robbed her and smacked her around, refusing to leave her alone. Dave convinces her to message Kick-Ass. That night, Kick-Ass finds Rasul at his apartment and attempts to intimidate him, but fails. As Rasul and his gang members are about to castrate Kick-Ass, Mindy, dressed in her vigilante outfit as with a purple wig and cape, shoots through the window and fights off all the gang members with knives and a long spear until they are all dead. As a surviving gang member sneaks up behind her, Mindy's father shoots him through the head with his sniper rifle from an opposite building. She introduces herself to Kick-Ass as Hit-Girl and begins stealing all of the gang members' money and guns. Kick-Ass asks what's going on and Hit-Girl tells him to come with her. They go to the roof and Hit-Girl jumps across the rooftops to join her father, dressed as his alter ego, Big Daddy. Kick-Ass is too afraid to follow and the other two leave disappointed. Dave returns home, removes his mask, and cries himself to sleep. He laments that he's just an incompetent, overgrown child and that there are other people better suited for his job as a superhero.That same night, Big Daddy and Hit-Girl pay Dave a visit at his house. They tell him that they were able to easily back-trace his MySpace account and the three have a chat. Big Daddy tells Dave that he is doing okay but that he has potential to be better. They tell him that if he ever needs to reach them he should decorate his MySpace page with an 'On Vacation' banner and they will find a way to contact him.Meanwhile, Frank D'Amico learns that there are actual vigilantes fighting against his organization and becomes very pissed off. Chris wants to get in on the business, but Frank pushes him aside. He becomes extremely tense and paranoid, going so far as to kill a Kick-Ass imitator in broad daylight, thinking the phony to be the real thing. As more of his gang members are disposed of, Frank becomes desperate. He contacts Detective Gigante and tells him to 'take care' of Kick-Ass. Gigante admits that Kick-Ass is in a relatively gray area, but he'll do his best. Chris offers an alternative solution: let him don his own superhero alter ego called the Red Mist. As such, Chris will frame one of D'Amico's incompetent associates and trick Kick-Ass into trusting him before leading him into an ambush.Chris executes his plan while Dave becomes more and more discouraged. As Red Mist, Chris makes contact with Kick-Ass and requests to become his sidekick, since Kick-Ass is the one who inspired him. Red Mist shows Kick-Ass his flashy sportscar and they drive off to the D'Amico stronghold, only to see it burning to the ground. Kick-Ass rushes inside to see if he can save anyone but everyone inside is dead, horribly cut and burned. Red Mist grabs a teddy bear from the wall and runs out of the building with Kick-Ass as it explodes. The two part ways and Kick-Ass resolves to give up crime fighting. He goes to Katie's house with the intention of revealing his identity. She sprays mace in his face, calling him a pervert, until he de-masks. Dave confesses his alter ego and tells Katie that he isn't really gay and he loves her. She forgives him and they begin dating and start having sex. Todd and Marty are left to hang out with a friend of Katie's.Meanwhile, Frank D'Amico has seen the destruction of his warehouse and worries for his son until Chris arrives and tells him that Kick-Ass isn't the real threat. He shows Frank the teddy bear which has a Nanny Cam in it. They watch footage of Big Daddy killing all of D'Amico's men and burning the warehouse to the ground. D'Amico convinces Chris to set up a trap to catch Big Daddy.Dave, having been Kick-Ass free for a week, sees a series of emails from Red Mist requesting his help and decides to go on one last mission. He tells Katie what he is doing and leaves to meet up with Red Mist who tells him that they have a bounty on their heads. Concerned for his allies, Kick-Ass contacts Big Daddy through his MySpace page. Damon and Mindy notice the urgent message while enjoying some hot chocolate and reviewing their latest cache of weaponry. They response to Kick-Ass and instruct him to meet them at one of their safe houses. Red Mist drives Kick-Ass to the location while being followed by D'Amico's men. At the safe house, Red Mist and Kick-Ass are ushered inside by Big Daddy as Hit-Girl waits beside a window. Inside, Red Mist pulls a gun and shoots Hit-Girl twice in the chest. As she falls out of the window, Big Daddy screams and D'Amico's men rush in, beating him and Kick-Ass unconscious. As they put them in the back of a waiting van, Red Mist screams for them to let Kick-Ass go since he considers him a friend and doesn't want to see him hurt. One of the bodyguards takes Big Daddy's bazooka as a reward and drags Red Mist home to his father. Chris complains to his father that his men reneged on the deal by taking Kick-Ass along with Big Daddy but Frank tells him to shut up and to watch what happens next. He explains that Big Daddy is a nobody, important only to him for the sake of his business, but that by killing Kick-Ass he sends a message to all the punks out there considering to becoming superheroes. Chris can only watch.A countdown is announced for the unmasking of Kick-Ass and all of New York City bears witness. Katie is proud of Dave but watches with horror as a live video feed on the internet shows Big Daddy and Kick-Ass handcuffed to chairs awaiting torture and execution. Marcus also watches solemnly as D'Amico's men begin to brutally beat the two. They pour gasoline over Big Daddy as Hit-Girl, very much alive, sneaks into the hideout. She attacks and kills all of the men inside but one of them manages to set Big Daddy on fire, burning him severely. Hit-Girl extinguishes her father too late and shares on last moment with him before he dies in her arms. Hit-Girl rescues Kick-Ass and takes him back to her father's apartment. There, Dave tries to tell her that it's all over now and they should give up their vigilante lifestyles but Mindy is adamant about finishing what her father started, adding her own fury to avenge her father's death. Realizing that he is responsible for all that's happened, Dave agrees to help her. He takes up a mysterious piece of weaponry that Big Daddy had bought and assembled.At Frank D'Amico's headquarters, his men are on double alert waiting for Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl to show up. In the lobby, the first guards are standing idly on duty when Mindy knocks on the front door, dressed in a school girl outfit. The doorman and guards, having never seen Mindy's face before, open the door to let her in. She tearfully says she can't find her parents so the doorman offers her his phone to call them. As he kneels down, Mindy stuffs the barrel of a handgun into his mouth. The guards realize this too late and Mindy takes them all out with ease. She changes into her Hit-Girl guise and arrives at the penthouse, fighting with speed and stealth and killing more of D'Amico's men. When she runs out of bullets she resorts to throwing knives. A large thug runs to get the bazooka, much to the shock and disgust of both Frank and Chris, while the other thugs pin Hit-Girl behind a counter. The large thug returns with the bazooka as they all hear a mechanic sound near the windows. They look outside to see Kick-Ass hovering upwards with a jet-pack strapped to his back with attaching rapid-fire mini guns protruding over each shoulder. Kick-Ass quickly disposes of the rest of the thugs.In Frank's office, he and Chris hear the final sounds of the fire fight and think that the thugs were successful. But Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass barge through the door, ready for the final showdown. Frank orders Chris to take on Kick-Ass. Chris is disgruntled but rushes into battle while Frank squares off against Hit Girl.Kick-Ass and Red Mist face off in an adjacent dojo and knock each other out cold. Hit-Girl battles Frank with ferocity but finds that she has met her match since Frank is highly trained in martial arts. Frank's attacks become increasingly ruthless and he beats Hit-Girl near to a pulp and slams her through a coffee table. He retrieves his gun and prepares to kill Hit-Girl when Kick-Ass appears, suggesting he 'pick on someone his own size'. Frank redirects his gun only to see that Kick-Ass is holding the bazooka. Kick-Ass fires, sending the rocket into Frank and out the window.Chris comes to and draws a katana, looking for a rematch, but finds Kick-Ass activating the jet-pack and flying off with Hit-Girl. They land on a distant rooftop and Kick-Ass unstraps the pack and sets both Hit-Girl and the pack down. Hit-Girl thanks him for the help, saying Big Daddy would be proud of them both. Kick-Ass takes off his mask and tells her his real name, Dave Lizewski. Hit-Girl consents to the gesture and takes off her wig and mask, showing him her face, and telling him her true name, Mindy MacReady. They shake hands and look toward the horizon.A voice-over from Dave tells us that Marcus regains guardianship of Mindy and that she is now enrolled at Dave's school, on the promise that Dave will look out for her...not that she'd need it as Dave says. An amusing scene shows two school bullies attempting to shake the 'new kid' for her lunch money but she merely smiles and cracks her knuckles. Dave relaxes with his friends at a coffee shop as his voice-over mentions that Kick-Ass has become a cultural sensation with his own comic strip. And while Dave is retired from crime fighting, there is a whole new wave of people inspired to follow in his footsteps.However, we see one who is equally determined to break the new superhero wave down. Chris, as the Red Mist, sits in his father's office donning a revamped costume and mask vowing revenge against Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl, and any superhero wannabe that gets in his way. He aims his gun at the camera and fires and the screen goes black as the credits roll. | comedy, suspenseful, cruelty, murder, mystery, bleak, cult, violence, flashback, psychedelic, humor, action, satire, comic, revenge, entertaining | train | imdb | Unless you're into comic books, video games, in your teens/20's/30's and don't have a young kid, you might be taken aback that a little 11 year old girl is killing people and using bad words.
An explosive ride that covers insane action sequences, intelligent superhero parodies and intense dramatic turns, Kick-Ass is a welcome addition to the realm of the comic-book movie.I was initially sceptical about the prospect of watching another superhero spoof movie, most recent attempts at the genre have been abysmal, but Kick-Ass completely transcends its predecessors through the use of intelligent pastiche which drives the story forward as well as providing laughs.
The brilliantly choreographed action scenes would not feel out of place in a Spiderman film, or even a Tarantino script, in fact it feels like Spiderman and Kill Bill were put into a blender and Kick-Ass was the end result.The story focuses on Dave Lizewski, your average teenage nerd, whose obsession with comic books inspires him to create his very own superhero, Kick-Ass, despite his discernible lack of superpowers.
This is an essential film for all cinema-goers, catch it on the big screen and I guarantee you will be completely immersed in the explosive yet entertaining world of Kick-Ass9/10 If you liked this film you will also enjoy these: Special, Spiderman, The Dark Knight and Superbad.
From it's inspired use of music (again utterly relatable) right down to it's outstanding score, like "Get Carter" for superheroes; I could say more but there's surprises in store.In a movie this stunning, acting is usually secondary (as any James Cameron film shows).
A renegade band of acting styles forming a perfect one and complementing the film's fun style.Watching "Kick Ass" is ultimately like being on a thrill-ride, it doesn't just want to dazzle you, it's wants to draw you in, ride the wave and leave the cinema on a high.
The acting was flawless (in my opinion) with Aaron (Dave/Kick-ass), Chloe (Hit-girl) and Christopher (Chris/Red Mist) giving their best and shining throughout the entire movie.
It's not even like any other action/comedy/suspense movie you'll view out there!I loved Dave/Kick-Ass' character because he relates to most teens these days.
I loved Big Daddy, but hated what happened near the end (movie and comic-wise).Kick-Ass the most exhilarating, jaw-dropping, and the most hilarious movie I've ever seen in my 16 years!
The other heroes, such as Hit-Girl (who alone could provides the R rating) and Big-Daddy act as a total sub plot to the film that eventually mashes together with Kick-ass's story.
Despite all the blood and violence there are some touching moments in this film.In all, this movie rocked, it's not for kids, it'll blow your mind, the filming technique was great props to the director, the acting was good, the action was sweet, and the movie in total kicked some SERIOUS ASS!!!.
His first film adaptation was the weak, dumbed down version of the Matrix, Wanted: but luckily Kick-Ass is a lot better.Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a typical New York teenager, who is a comic-book fan, and not in any particular group in High School.
But Dave as Kick-Ass gets in over his head when he meets two real heroes, Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage), and his young girl Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz), a brilliant martial artist and skilled assassin.
The first time I saw this film I was a bit disappointed I mean I loved the Big Daddy and Hit girl parts of the story I just didn't like the Kickass story all that much.
His fight scenes were good but I just didn't care for the character or his group of friends the way I did for Big Daddy and Hit girl.The second time watching it he did grow on me more but that could be because in the time between veiwings I read both Kickass graphic novels, so now this film is quite near the top of my fave comic book films (The Dark Knight, Sin City, Watchmen, X-men First class, Scott Pilgrimm Versus The World, The Crow).This film did something something I thought o film could....it made Nicolas Cage cool again!
It does have a good natured premise ripe for all types of dark humour where Dave Lizewski a gauche New York teenager suffering from existentialist angst decides he's had enough of being a nobody and decides to take on the criminal underworld as " Kick Ass " a real life superhero who is going to live up to his nameThis is how the early parts of the film play out and is blackly comical as Kick Ass has a quixotic plan to clean up the streets .
Let's be honest here if she was in her early 20s and played by Megan Fox no one would have blinked an eyelid and if we were to be even more honest she'd be some sort of masturbatory fantasy figure but because the character is eleven years old that changes the whole game and watching Hit Girl jump around in the style of THE MATRIX literally slicing and dicing gangsters does make for uncomfortable viewing and some cynics might say she is included to stir up controversy Matthew Vaughn proves himself as one of the most interesting directors and if you want to say that he's more style than substance then I won't disagree with you but will defend him on the grounds that if you're this talented when it comes to style who needs any substance .
He does help his cause by including a great soundtrack and might be seen as a cheap trick but is very effective KICK ASS is a very enjoyable film for those in the mood for some stylish designer violence but I should emphasise it is a violent film and the fact that much of the violence is tongue in cheek might ironically alienate audience members more than it might have done if everything had been played in a slightly more serious way , but there's an energy here rarely seen in other films featuring vigilantes and superheroes.
it is packed with awesomeness, violence and crude humor, it is so far the most sensible superhero movie till now the story is simple, a geeky teen, fascinated by comics, one day decides to be a superhero, but unfortunately runs into a situation with a powerful drug dealer the screenplay is just beautiful and the acting is a stand out, the movie actually makes us to care for its characters and the intro of all the characters just makes u go like "whoa, this is awesome" the humor is topnotch and the violence is....well thats whats best in this movie, the violence is sometimes a bit too much but it never pulls of the experience with a disgust, say for just a small scene this is one of the best movies I've seen so far but haters would simply love to hate it, if u walk in the theater expecting "spiderman" or "batman" action sequences, well u could be disappointed, the action sequences in this movie are more realistic and not sequences with heroes flying and punching with superhuman strength the villain is likable and everything evolves in the movie, just perfectly well it certainly isn't a movie for young viewers but enough said,this is a must watch movie and your surely gonna love this superhero.
This film is really let down by it's DVD cover, the cover makes it look like a childish moronic superhero movie trying to be better than it actually is.
Kick-Ass is an excellent,entertaining and hilarious Superhero/Comic Book film that's filled with great direction,a wonderful cast,amazing Action,laugh out loud Comedy and a great score and soundtrack makes Kick-Ass one of the best Superhero films ever made and a Cult Classic.Based on the Comic Book by Mark Miller and John Romita Jr. and Set in New York City,Kick-Ass tells the story of teenager Dave Lizewski,an outcast who has nothing in his life going for except for his love for Comic Books and Superheros.
Now,with the help of other crime fighters Hit-Girl(Chloe Grace Moretz)and her Father Big Daddy(Nicolas Cage),Kick-Ass has to stop D'Amico and end come out on top.Kick-Ass is a brilliant,Action-packed and funny superhero film that wears it's over the top spirit on it's sleeve and gives viewers a film that mocks and reconstructs the Superhero genre and a movie that is violent,hilarious and offbeat and a true Cult Classic.
One of the main reasons Kick-Ass is a great movie is that it takes the Superhero Comic Book genre and turns it on it's head taking aim at classic and iconic Superheros such as Batman,Superman and Spider-Man and the film's that associated with them taking all of the trademarks and familiar things and giving them a demented twist that is funny and stylish.
The most talked about and controversial thing about Kick-Ass is Hit-girl's use of harsh language and violence that she does in the film which will offend most viewers.
Some of this will upset a few but it's not trying to ape any family friendly fare, but be very left-field.The actors are near perfect for their roles, with a young 11-year-old girl stealing the film from all others with an incredible performance as being more kick-ass than anyone else there.The soundtrack is brilliant, and you'll love the ride.You have to give this a go.
He labels himself 'Kick Ass' and spends his time getting his butt kicked.At the same time he meets Big Daddy played by Nicolas Cage, a former cop who wants to bring downs drug lord Frank D'Amico, and who has raised his daughter to be a ruthless vigilante.The film adaptation combines kick ass graphic violence and comedy with also profanity.
"Batman" character), was a perfect contrast to Hit Girl's persona, and to be honest - I liked Nick Cage better as Big Daddy, than I did as the "Ghost Rider", although I enjoyed that film as well (I actually liked "Kick Ass" a lot more than Ghost Rider - but I generally liked both films).I recommend this movie 130%!!!
I don't know how but I actually cared about the characters in this movie, unlike in most parodies, and some super hero movies (cough, cough, Fantastic Four.) This movie was actually better than most huge budget blockbuster superhero movies (this is coming from a big superhero fan.) I mean they made a move about a comic book geeks, Nicolas Cage, Mclovin, and a tiny ninja (I can't think of any better way to describe her) not seem so stupid you wanted to bang your head against a table.
But really this is Nicholas cage's best role of all time, and he was very good as the lead in Con Air, which is not surprising because the last really good film he was in before Kick-Ass was also Con Air. Christopher Mintz Plasse (aka Mclovin from Superbad) has a new best role of all time, not only is he funniest actor in the movie.
The brutality of the scene is immediately undercut with the 11-year-old employing some nasty profanity, an easy joke that'll get an immediate reaction, doing away with the conflict I imagine (hope?) a lot of the audience will be feeling after the scene that preceded it.The premise is: real people trying to be super-heroes (not a bad idea - I liked it in "The Dark Knight").
Since we can already guess, roughly, how everything will play out, I don't know why "Kick-Ass" spends so much time explaining itself.When you hear the premise - real people trying to be superheroes - it sounds good, but watching this movie makes you think there are really only a few ways to handle it.
The violence in this film is so gratuitous, so disturbing, especially because it involved such a young girl, that it really wouldn't be any more offensive if the preteen actress was wandering around naked and having sex with adults, instead of gleefully murdering them.If there is any justice in this world, "Kick Ass" will continue to under perform at the box office.
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Tired of being a nerd who gets pushed around all the time, Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) takes his love of comic books to new lengths by donning a lame suit and calling himself Kick Ass. Despite proving woefully incompetent when facing real, tough bad guys, he just about manages to maintain a steely resolve- but after a while the assistance of 11 year old superhero prodigy Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) starts to come quite in handy.
But Hit Girl's father and superhero father Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) has vengeful issues of his own to deal with and they've all managed to rub the city's top crime boss Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong) up the wrong way, as things draw to a brutal, action packed conclusion.In a world of genuine artistic vision, where a lot of directors see their work as a labour of love with which they are genuinely trying to convey something deep and meaningful to the audience, it's great and refreshing to see films that just were not meant to be taken seriously at all.
Kick Ass had poor acting, pathetic writing and the directing was wooden!Based upon the comments posted here, this movie apparently appeals to prepubescent fan boys that get off watching an 11 year old curse and maim other people.I give this waste of celluloid a very generous 2 only because a rating of 1 should be reserved for complete trash like Battlefield Earth..
it wasn't all terrible any time hit girl was on screen was amazing, any time she was on screen the movie very suddenly changed its format it had a great soundtrack and action sequence but as sudden as it came, it went back to trying to be the lames movie ever..Final thought - watch this if you've never read the comic and have nothing else to do, otherwise stay away this movie does not hold a match to the original story by comparison this is complete canine stool..thanks for your time and i hope this review helped you make a decision..
i know i'm late but when i saw the trailer in 2010 i thought it was like one of those fake-ish movies, but today when i finally decided 2 watch it (seeing as kick ass 2 is coming out soon.
Excellent performances from all of the leading cast, Aaron Johnson as Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass, Nicolas Cage as Damon Macready/Big Daddy is excellent, Chloe Moretz as Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl (also superb), Mark Strong as Frank D'Amico, Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Chris D'Amico/Red Mist and Lyndsy Fonseca as Katie Deauxma.There is a lot of humour in this film, both spoken and visual.
In the end the film feels far too much like a too many other movies (though obviously genre references are essential) to have much of it's own identity (Watchmen, Spiderman, Superbad, Kill Bill, etc.) It's also not nearly funny enough to be a comedy - shoot me down but I honestly found the underrated Mystery Men funnier, and that was over ten years ago!I wasn't excited about this film until seeing the reviews, and having seen it, I'm now pretty confident that the fawning reviews of the UK media (it came out here a few weeks before US) have been heavily influenced by editors insistent on giving a film with so much UK talent (star, director, writer etc) good reviews.
At the start it looked as though Kick-Ass was going to be a funny and different film; it seemed like it would be a "realistic" superhero movie with an interesting plot.
Kick ass tells the story of a student that after seeing injustice transform himself in a superhero without powers it seems like its a little bored but after i watch the movie i realize it have most of i need: will, compassion, action, humor, good storyline, excellent cast and characters, excellent dialogues and in my opinion no other movie have all this in 2010.
however the film is not for kids i warn you; through the movie you will find the Strong's points of it and they're that it have excellent humor, detailed and excite action scenes, good humor and besides the 4 or might i say 3 hero's will steal the movie: (kick ass) with his strong will,(hit girl) will steal ours hearts with her bad-@ss action moves and innocence, (big daddy) will make us cold with her love for her daughter and for his thirst of vengeance.If you ever readed a comic book or liked super hero's don't even think it GO AND WATCH THE MOVIE!!
Bad indie movies get made too...agro Juno is actually more accurate than I suspected when I started writing this.At the beginning Kick-Ass tells us how he isn't like your daddy's super-heroes no alien origins or dead parents to avenge, no powers or skills etc., but an hour later, were cheering on Hit-Girl's Matrix/28 Days Later/Silence Of The Lambs/Kill Bill reference laden revenge for her slaughtered father, and watching jet-packs streak across the sky.
Those others such as a father and a daughter named Damon and Mindy, who take up the names of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, along with a kid around Dave's age named Chris who becomes Red Mist, but he isn't all what he appears to be.As the movie-going fans, we all love watching a good superheroes fighting crime and busting villains.
Kick-Ass is a comic-book movie unlike any you will have seen; it is violent, funny and shocking at times but above all it is utterly entertaining!
Now that I have finished watching Part 1, the answer is very clear."Kick Ass" tells the story of Dave Lizewsky, a nerdy guy who decide that he wanted to be a real superhero like those in the comic books he loves to read. |
tt0387736 | Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars | The story itself begins with a flashback, and as one would expect, its not good news. Crichton is apparently on his deathbed on a badly damaged Moya, and Aeryn is lamenting the possibility that Johns victory has come at the price of his own life. Two things are readily apparent: the war itself is over by Crichtons hand, and Aeryn has survived the final battle. All else is suspect, and that places everything in perspective.Ever since the end of Bad Timing, the perfectly titled fourth season finale, events have escalated throughout the galaxy. With the promise of wormhole weapons no longer an option with the apparent death of Crichton on the water planet of Qujaga, the Peacekeepers and Scarrans turn back towards one another. The Peacekeepers had been using the claim of such weapons as a deterrent against a Scarran invasion; with that ruse long over, theres nothing to stop the Scarrans from pursuing galactic domination.Enter Scorpius, who has somehow managed to rise to command of an entire armada in an incredibly short period of time. His swift ascension in the ranks makes sense, given his past history: the Grand Chancellor of the Peacekeepers sent Scorpius and all other undesirables to the front as cannon fodder. Scorpius, however, launches a pre-emptive strike against the Scarrans, using his knowledge of the Scarran military to his advantage. His theory is relatively sound: with no other advantage at their disposal, the Peacekeepers might as well force the Scarrans into military action before they are completely prepared. Its an act of desperation, but still, a calculated attempt.Back on Qujaga, Rygel finishes the job of gathering the last of the crystals that used to be John and Aeryn. Anyone who thought they were really dead clearly stopped paying attention long before the end of the series. Apparently DArgo, Noranti, and Rygel have been working with the aliens on Qujaga to restore John and Aeryn, while the others have been attending to the task of quickly wrapping up other plot threads. The effects work for Rygel is fairly primitive, but considering that the character is usually a puppet, theres no problem accepting it.Chiana and Stark greet the others upon landing, and little time is spent on needless exposition. Enough context is inserted into the story to allow new viewers to get some sense of the relationships and abilities without wasting the time of the educated audience. Chianas new eyes are odd, but they represent a nice evolution of her character. Chiana always seems to get abilities that match the growth of her emotional maturity, changing as experience informs her point of view.One thing comes as an immediate surprise: the arrival of a Diagnosan and Grunschlk to Qujaga. As many fans would recall, Grunschlk was supposed to have been a victim of his own double-crossing in the third season premiere (Season of Death). His survival is clearly meant to be suspicious, and the fact that his apparent death is glossed over with unconvincing language is slightly disappointing.It does, of course, speed the plot along, which is a priority at this stage of the game. What would have taken an entire episode takes less than an act as the Diagnosan methodically puts John and Aeryn back together again (shocked, by the way, at the lack of a Humpty-Dumpty reference). This also gives Grunschlk enough time to brief the rest of the cast on the war, underscoring the fact that the Peacekeepers dont have a prayer. Its mostly background for the new viewers, but like the character introductions, the execution of it is fluid enough to remain unobtrusive.John and Aeryns first move, once they are restored, is a thing of beauty. One cant help but wonder how many takes it took to make it look so perfectly symmetrical, indicative of how they have joined fates together. The resulting showdown quickly reminds the audience that Moyas crew is on the planet under tenuous circumstances; misunderstandings aside, the crew is still considered a potential threat. This scene also gives the writers a chance to set the timeframe: 60 days have passed. In two months, things have gone from bad to much, much worse.The scenes on Qujaga are mixed with scenes on the battlefront, where Scorpius is leading a somewhat effective charge on a Scarran fleet. Scorpius seems to have some strong tactics, and his knowledge is vital to the success of military operations. But as soon as Crichton is reconstituted, Scorpius is aware of it, and his priorities change dramatically. He elects to chase after Crichton rather than remain with the armada and achieve victory. Its a good scene that reminds the audience that Scorpius considers the wormhole weapon the ultimate prize; he would much rather chase the weapon that could end the war in seconds by sacrificing thousands of lives than fight out a protracted and costly campaign that could end in billions of casualties.Continuing the strong exposition through creativity, John gets to give the audience a rather quick and dirty recap of the entire series to date during his endless interrogation by the aliens on Qujaga. Like the rest of the cast, Ben Browder steps right back into his Crichton persona, delivering a short monologue layered with deep sorrow and biting sarcasm in equal measure. This does much to set the tone and remind the audience that time hasnt passed for these characters; the insanity at the end of the fourth season has far more immediacy to them. This does much to explain why the characters have such a bunker mentality from the very beginning.Grand Chancellor Maryk declares Scorpius a traitor, making it a standing order for the Peacekeepers to shoot on sight. Granted, theres no love lost between Maryk and Scorpius, given the hybrids previous orders, but one would think that the Peacekeepers have learned to interpret Scorpys behavior by now. Certainly Grayza has, and the fact that shes attached herself to Maryk so quickly speaks to her own ambitions. She wants to be in the position to take control when the time comes, and her ability to influence others is already well established.Of course, the real shock when it comes to Grayza is her delicate condition. Not only does this play a large part in the final showdown, in terms of her psychological response to Crichtons gambit, it raises a very interesting question about paternity. While Peacekeepers certainly have the ability to keep a fertilized egg in biological stasis for up to seven cycles, the timing is incredibly suspect. Could John be the father of Grayzas child?In a plot twist that was almost certainly planned for the fifth season as an ongoing storyline, it turns out that Rygel forgot to upchuck every little piece of crystallized Aeryn. In fact, the one piece he retained is, quite against the odds, the same piece that was the activated embryo in Aeryns womb. With John and Aeryn reconstituted, it seems that the baby was as well, and now Rygel is the mother to be. The proud parents are, of course, suitably annoyed, but not nearly as much as Rygel himself.Having protected Earth in Bad Timing, Crichton has no intention of putting his new family at risk by wandering around a war-torn galaxy. Since the aliens on Qujaga are hidden behind a concealment barrier, Crichton wants nothing more than to keep himself and his family hidden away. For all he knows, the rest of the galaxy still thinks hes dead; as long as he stays out of view, theres no reason for him to believe that the war will come to him any time soon. The trick is convincing his hosts and friends to buy it.Its bad enough that Scorpius is coming to crash the party, but the Scarrans apparently have a spy amongst the players aware of Crichtons restoration, and they are planning to send their own fleet to make a grab for Johns wormhole knowledge. The writers toss out Grunschlk as the obvious traitor, which makes it equally obvious that hes not the spy. All things being equal, at this point, the most logical assumption would have been that Chianas new eyes were in some way transmitting information to Ankna. (That was this reviewers guess, anyway)As John and Aeryn prepare for marriage (with Aeryn in a black leather wedding ensemble, stunning as always), things come to an abrupt halt as a PK command carrier arrives overhead. Considering that the alien city is supposed to be cloaked, this does not help with the crews PR campaign to gain the aliens trust. For John, of course, it must bring back some uncomfortable memories of his hallucinations in Dog with Two Bones.Sending Noranti into cover with the aliens is the perfect introduction to the first real shocker of the mini-series. Noranti quickly recognizes symbols and design elements that remind her of something else shes seen, and before the audience can call out What Was Lost, she proclaims that the aliens are Eidelons. Meanwhile, John, Aeryn, and DArgo go outside to greet their new wedding guest, whose identity is no surprise. Nor is it shocking to learn that Scorpy knew John was alive thanks to Harvey, Scorpys neural clone still partially resident in Crichtons psyche.Which of course leads into a Harvey scene, something that the writers dont even bother to explain for the new viewers. Like the similar scenes during the series, its all about working out the context, and in this case, thats not very hard. Harvey makes it very clear that Scorpius plans for every contingency, and in this case, Scorpy is aware that Crichton knows about a source for wormhole weapon technology.Crichton is adamant in his decision to deny wormhole weapons to either side in the war, since both sides were equally willing to hunt him down and ruin his life. Scorpius has every intention of pressing the issue as long as it takes. Here the writers speak to the obvious assumption immediately: the scene jumps back to John on his apparent deathbed, with the voiceover revealing that John gives Scorpius exactly what he wants. Taken in context with the opening scene, its clear that John somehow uses wormhole weapons to end the war, and it is not a good thing.Among the many frustrating dangling plot threads left by the abrupt cancellation of the series, the hints about the true origins of the Peacekeepers, the connection between Sebaceans and Humans, and the lost temple on Arnessk were ranked at the very top. For Qujaga to be the home of the descendants of the priests dwelling in the restored temple at Arnessk is a stunning connection, and one that had to have been previously conceived for the fifth season. For those plot threads to be addressed in the mini-series was a huge selling point.As noted in What Was Lost, the lost temple was maintained by a race that had the ability to influence peace. It was strongly suggested that there was some connection between that unknown race, Humans, Sebaceans, and another race called Interions. The keepers of the temple created a peace that would last thousands of years, but when their influence was lost due to an attack by an unknown agency, that peace slowly eroded. The current war was the inevitable long-term result. Noranti claims that the people on Qujaga and the keepers of the temple on Arnessk are all Eidelons, and that the ones on Arnessk ought to be able to awaken the same peace-generating ability in their descendents.With Scorpius looking over their shoulders, Crichton understands that his desire for peace cannot be realized until he finds a way to end the war and thereby stop everyone from threatening him and his family. Aeryn, on the other hand, just wants to stay out of it. The two characters have come so far in four years, so that now theyre overlapping in their points of view. The old Aeryn would never have placed family above all else, thats for sure. John wants to believe that peace can be achieved other than at the barrel of a gun, so he opts to take some of the Eidelons from Qujaga to meet their revived ancestors on Arnessk.Considering that this portion of the plot is covered in less than an episodes worth of time, the condensed nature of the plot is more than a little apparent. Still, some attempt is made to allow time for character moments, like the conversation between Pilot and Muoma, the leader of the Qujaga Eidelons. Its interesting to note how different Pilots voice sounds in this mini-series; there was a definite attempt to upgrade the sound effects as an enhancement, but quite often, Lani Tapus voice is recognizable. On the series, it was just different enough to keep the illusion intact.With Noranti staying behind to educate the Qujaga Eidelons on their heritage, two Eidelons come on board as part of an initial delegation. Scorpy and leather-clad vixen Sikozu also come along, because its just not fun without Scorpius to stand there and give John the supremely-confident eye. Oh, and DArgo assumes that having a Peacekeeper officer could be useful when trying to cross Peacekeeper space. Grunschlk and his Diagnosan dont come along; however, they do give Aeryn a device for transferring the baby from Rygel when the time comes. And that time is coming damn fast, thanks to the super-efficient biology of the Peacekeepers.In a nice sidebar to the main story, Rygel receives news that the Scarran invasion of Peacekeeper space has created some serious instability for his cousin Bishaan on Hyneria. As a result, Bishaan officially wants Rygel to come home and assume some level of control. Rygel is rather pleased to know that his long-held dream of restoration to Dominar status is finally coming to fruition, but Aeryn makes it very clear that the current crisis takes priority. Still, this is a nice way to give the rest of the characters a feeling that there is something to fight for, a personal peace. Its also good to see Rygels plot thread within reach of resolution.Of course, nothing goes right in the world of John Crichton, and thanks to the traitor, the Scarrans are aware of the fact that Crichton is on his way to a place where he hopes to find a way to end the way. Emperor Staleek assumes that it must be wormhole weapons, so he orders Ahkna to engage the Peacekeepers over Qujaga and then subdue the inhabitants of the planet. He intends to follow Crichton. This is never a good thing, and the prospect of real violence is definitely present.The plot takes a strange diversion into more standard Farscape territory when Moya is boarded by mercenaries working as border runners for the Peacekeepers. Considering that the mercenary Tregans attack just as John and Aeryn are once again attempting marriage, its fairly clear that a literal shotgun wedding is in the cards. Since Scorpious was brought on board to help them get through Peacekeeper space, Crichton insists that he do his job. Scorpius looks thrilled at the chance to toss out colorful threats.Scorpius is the kind of character that makes for incredible action poses, and this mini-series abounds with reasons that Scorpius should star in every television series currently made. His confrontation with the Tregans is classic Scorpy, just as Johns use of Scorpius as a shield is classic Crichton. As the fourth season indicated again and again, having Crichton and Scorpius in the same room is a recipe for instant drama.Even if the Tregan attack seems somewhat removed from the main plot, it does provide a vehicle for some important plot developments. For one, it kills off one of the two Eidelons that were to gain the ancient knowledge from Arnessk, lessening the chances of success. Second, it gives Chiana a chance to display her new X-ray vision eyes, which is important later in the story. And third, it gives DArgo and Aeryn a chance to have a heart-to-heart about parenting. Its interesting to know that Aeryn is still not sold on being a mother; it speaks to her love for John that she would take that step for his sake alone.If the connection between the Eidelons and Arnessk is one of the mini-series greatest strengths, then the characterization of Jool has to be the primary weakness. Jool gets barely any screen time in this mini-series, and in the end, theres a plot-driven reason for that. That makes it harder to understand why the character is saddled with some bizarre native huntress persona and a completely unjustified love for Crichton. Its not funny, it makes no sense, and it changes the motivations of the character in a major way without explanation.Once the crew and Pikal, the surviving Qujagan Eidelon, finally meet with the Eidelons in the lost temple, the ancestors are less than enthusiastic about getting involved in galactic affairs again. And from their point of view, they dont understand why they should; after all, the Peacekeepers were supposed to keep things in order for them. The chief priest, Yondalao, seems to take Aeryns counsel to get involved and help their heirs inspire peace, but its still not enough. It requires some of Crichtons usual antics to get Yondalao to understand the urgency of the proposal.As Yondalao and Pikal have a generational discussion, theres time for a quiet moment between John and Aeryn. These moments are the real highlights, because the series itself was centered on the epic romance of these two characters. Johns travails were really all about getting the universe to back off so he could have the life he wanted with Aeryn. In this case, its Aeryn and their child, which Aeryn points out will be coming within days, not months. John is suitably stunned and pleased at the same time.An unexpected pleasure is the conversation between Aeryn and Sikozu, two characters that had very little in common cause during the fourth season. Its interesting to see Sikozus mind at work, especially since there is little point for her to be lying in this particular scene. One can actually believe that Sikozu loves Scorpius on some level, but she also still has trouble with the idea of inferiority. It would have been interesting to see that relationship explored, had the fifth season been made.The true motivations of the previous scene are indicated when its revealed that Scorpius is pushing John to explore other options while pursuing peace. The wormhole weapons are certainly on Scorpys mind, but John is adamant that they attempt to use the abilities of the Eidelons to their advantage first. After all, he notes, peace forged in the heat of conflict often lasts longer. Its quite clear, however, that Crichton is also trying to convince himself.The pacing never really lets up, so these moments of relative calm are quickly broken when Staleeks vessel is detected on its way into Arnessk space. This is a very bad development, and one that Scorpius knows shouldnt be possible. Crichton tries to convince Jool and the Eidelons to leave the planet, but only Yondalao agrees to travel with Crichton back to Qujaga. This decision is alarming, because the audience cant help but know that something very bad is going to happen. Sure enough, within moments, the Scarrans wipe the temple (including Jool and the remaining Eidelons on Arnessk) out of existence.Jools death might have been more effective had her character been more prominent and consistent with her earlier appearances during the series, but as it stands, it is overshadowed by the fact that the most obvious solution for peace no longer exists. Its somewhat ironic, considering what they all went through to restore the lost temple in the first place, but its a classic Farscape move to defy expectation at every possible turn.Critical decisions need to be made when Moyas attempt at emergency starburst is halted, forcing the crew to surrender to the Scarrans. In an interesting move, DArgo and Chiana jump into his ship and immediately cloak. This could have easily been purely in service of the plot, but like much of Farscape, the writers dont have the characters act in a certain way just to move the story along. Far more shocking is Aeryns insistence that Yondalao be the priority over Rygel; that drives home the fact that Aeryn is desperately hoping for a peaceful resolution to the war.The first look at the Decimator is damned impressive. The production values on this mini-series are top-notch, and it helps to make the confrontation between Staleek and the crew that much more visually daunting. Staleek does reveal the presence of a traitor among Moyas crew a little too conveniently, but at that point, the crew should have been wondering anyway. One nice touch is the strong continuity with the events at the end of the fourth season, right down to a reference to Scorpys Byzantine goals. When Staleek rips out Scorpys coolant system, all of the previous torture scenes from Were So Screwed come flooding back.Back on his ship, DArgo reveals that he wants to take up Rygels offer to settle down on Hyneria. This echoes his similar decision earlier in the series, when he was planning on taking Chiana off to live the rural life, far away from the growing war. She wasnt willing to go with him then, but time and experience have obviously had their toll. As soon as the option is raised, of course, the audience knows that one of them wont survive. Its just a given!Staleek and Ahkna understand very well that placing Rygel and the baby in mortal danger is the perfect psychological torture, even if they disagree on keeping them alive. And in a certain sense, because of that threat, Crichton is forced to go a lot farther than he would have ever wanted to prove that wormhole weapons are beyond his capability. This is reminiscent of Crichtons decision to distract Scorpius by giving him a ride down a wormhole in Into the Lions Den, but with much higher stakes.In the meantime, there is one final connection to be made with the hints dropped in What Was Lost. Yondalao reveals that the Peacekeepers were genetically engineered by the Eidelons from a primitive race that none of the warring peoples had ever heard of before. While its never said explicitly, the meaning is fairly clear: humans were the genetic forebears of the Sebaceans. This origin for the Peacekeepers goes a long way towards explaining why Humans and Sebaceans are genetically compatible, and also why there is such an emphasis on cultural and genetic purity among the Peacekeepers. As Yondalao said, the original motivations for the Peacekeepers lifestyle slowly but surely evolved into the rigid, monolithic organization hated and feared.The true nature of Johns gamble can be measured by the extremity of Harveys proposed alternative. Killing Staleek would certainly throw the Scarrans into disarray, but John is probably aware that Ahkna is more than willing to step into the role of Empress and continue the war unabated, killing Johns family and friends immediately as a start. Her casual decision to destroy DArgos ship is a perfect example. Demonstrating that he cannot create the weapons desired is Johns only real option.Its not clear how John knows how to initiate contact with Einstein, the other-dimensional version of an Ancient. He shouldnt be able to, since it was Einstein that purposefully initiated a limited and difficult contact in Unrealized Reality. One can assume that Einstein was aware of Crichtons need, and allowed the contact despite disapproving of it. One thing is very clear from that scene: Staleek now has personal evidence that Crichton cannot create wormhole weapons. This is the beginning of an interesting exploration of Staleeks character, something that was an unexpected pleasure.Upon return, Staleek learns of Ahknas treachery, and he is not pleased. His word seems very important to him, and he makes a concerted effort to maintain some semblance of patience. It should be remembered at this point that the substance that allows the Scarrans to maintain their intelligence was lost at the end of the fourth season. As Emperor, Staleek is under pressure to assure the future of his people by any means necessary. He has been forced into the war by lack of resources, unconvinced that negotiation would ever work. To keep his word is to maintain the veneer of civilization that the Scarrans want so badly.Yondalao, armed with an inner knowledge of the Scarran psyche and ready to use his powers to influence peace, points all of this out to Staleek (without getting too far into the details of why Staleek feels this way). By Staleeks reaction, it seems as though Yondalaos suggestion that the Scarrans could prove everyone wrong by initiating a peace effort was something he had long wished could happen. Scenes like this give the Scarrans a more complete characterization, rather than setting them up as cardboard cutout villains.As is typical for Farscape, one moment of hope must be countered by a moment of treachery. Even as Staleek discusses a possible avenue for peaceful resolution to the war, Grayza assassinates Grand Chancellor Maryk for even considering surrender. Grayza has no intention of letting the Scarrans remain a threat to the Peacekeeper way of life. Its clear that Grayzas mandate of peace by any means necessary has become victory by any means necessary. One has to hand it to her; she certainly knows how to stay on task!If Jools part in the story was a serious weakness in the narrative, then Jothees role does much to counter it. After the initial confusion of hearing everyone call some stranger Jothee (the actor looks and sounds very different), its great to see yet another plot thread pulled into the big finish. Jothees story may not have been one of the most compelling during the series, but it was important to DArgos character arc to see his son leading Luxan warriors into battle.Chianas new visual talents, however, become a major plot point. Her enhanced vision would have played better if it had been established over the course of several episodes. The writers took the time for the Tragen attack at least partially to reinforce Chianas new ability, but one can hardly characterize that as a highlight. To the uninitiated, Chianas new eyes probably felt like a plot convenience, but the fact is, the writers mapped out the fourth and fifth season well in advance. Chianas evolving eyesight probably dates back that far.Yondalaos death is a sudden but understandable plot development. Staleek reacts in a somewhat unfortunate manner, however, not realizing that his concessions and peace plan were really already in his mind, waiting to be given form. If the Eidelons were simply pacifying people en masse, then its unlikely that Crichton would want them in a position to control the fate of the entire galaxy. The character development for Staleek indicates that he wants peace, but he simply doesnt know how to bring it about. Ahkna, however, has no interest in peaceful co-existence with any other species.Crichtons decision after to force Stark to gain Yondalaos knowledge is harsh but ultimately in character. Crichton has been forced, time and again, to set side his moral code to protect his loved ones, and considering what Stark tried to do to him in John Quixote, theres probably a little payback involved as well. Once again, the writers take established character aspects and use them to further the plot. Everything that happened with the alternate Stark in the fourth season leads up to this moment.Since no crisis can exist in a vacuum, Rygels ability to carry the baby comes to an end at that exact moment, and sure enough, Staleek rewards the prisoners by trading the peace pipe with a deadly stasis gas. The prospect of being effectively dead but still alive enough for experimentation is just so very pleasant. Of course, theres no question that they get out of the trap, because once again, the writers flash forward to after the war to remind the audience that Crichton does in fact use a wormhole weapon and its all for the sake of his family. Whether or not John pays the ultimate price for his family is kept nicely vague, and given the mythological structure of the story, its all too easy to assume that he will.Recalling that bioloid Sikozu has a number of useful finger-tools, making her the hottest Swiss Army knife in the known universe, Crichton thinks fast on his feet and uses the conveniently combustible gas to escape the trap. Forgiving for a moment the concept of directing the combustion of a gas cloud, the distraction lets Jothee also show off the capabilities of the upgrades in Luxan warship technology. Also forgiving the fact that DArgo didnt recognize the design of his ship as being Luxan despite the fact that modern Luxan ships look rather similar, its a lot of fun to watch the pretty explosions.This opening scene sets the pace for the second half of the mini-series, since the quick and dirty overview of what would have been the bulk of the fifth season was more or less covered in the first two hours. Now its all about triggering every possible plot point established, and doing it with lethal calculation. The firefight on the Decimator establishes the fighting capability of the Luxans under Jothees command, and its just plain hilarious to watch John and Aeryn in a very delicate moment while dodging gunfire. (This is also nice foreshadowing of the eventual birth scene.)With some small measure of hope restored, the crew returns to Moya armed with the knowledge that Staleek, at least, will not be hunting them down again any time soon. That doesnt mean that events are any closer to resolution, since they still need to get Stark to Qujaga to pass on the mind-frelling gift of peace. How thats supposed to work is never quite explained, but Stark has pulled off stranger things, so its not worth questioning. Just to keep the audience in the loop, Scorpius reminds an impatient Sikozu that he is still leading Crichton right down the path to wormhole weapons. Sikozus questions about the timing, of course, are related to her true mission for the Scarrans.Jothee stays on Moya, which gives DArgo the chance for some sense of closure over the events of Suns and Lovers, way back in the early third season. Considering how ominous DArgos plans for the pastoral life on Hyneria were, his apparent chance to find peace of mind with his son adds to the foreboding. Thankfully, at this point, the writers have only revealed that Aeryn and Moya make it out alive at the end, so theres no sense that DArgo is the only one with a high chance of being dead before the war ends.It doesnt take long for Crichton to come to the conclusion that the Eidelons arent a very likely option for creating the peace he wants; they are simply too vulnerable and coming into the process way too late. Theres an irony in his decision that goes back to the very first episode. Crichton immediately rejected the peace of the gun methods employed by the Peacekeepers, but in the end, thats exactly the method he knows he must employ.Meanwhile, Grayzas gambit to take control of the Peacekeeper defensive posture comes to fruition. Shes well aware of the fact that Crichton is alive, and that something of immense value is hidden within the city on Qujaga. With Braka commanding a desperate defense, its only logical for Grayza to engage the Scarrans there. Despite all their differences, Grayza clearly understands that whatever has value for Scorpius has value to her. Of course, once Staleek and Ahkna learn about the Eidelons from Sikozu, they want to escalate the efforts to destroy every last one of them. The stage is set for a massive confrontation.If the previous scene with Einstein is somewhat confusing in terms of Johns ability to call upon the other-dimensional Ancients, then the subsequent scene is confusing for the pure and simple reason that Einstein grants Crichton the knowledge he seeks. This is a scene that could have used a little more dialogue or explanation. It can be inferred that the Ancients were giving Crichton the knowledge because they knew how he would use it, but its one hell of a gamble, and contrary to the Ancients previous design.To further explore Aeryns character development, she gets a chance to debate with John about his decision. Its interesting that she objects, since his decision is based on a mode of thinking that she has followed since childhood. John makes his case again, emphasizing his obligation to family. But Aeryn makes a very good point: John isnt the only one taking care of people, and it just about kills her to see John compromising his own values to end a war that he shouldnt have to deal with.In keeping with the pacing from the first half, the journey back to Qujaga is just long enough to continue with some short but sweet character moments. Rygels post-partum depression is hilarious, and Chianas attempt to spoon-feed Stark evokes similar parental memories. The most important scene, however, is the one between Pilot and Crichton. Pilot and Moya object to John building the wormhole weapon technology on purely philosophical terms, questioning Johns motives and the morality of his self-centered decision. As usual, the production is strong enough for the audience to completely overlook the fact that Pilot is a glorified puppet.Immediately, the action picks up again, as Moya drops out of starburst into the middle of a raging battle between Scorpys PK carrier and the Scarrans over Qujaga. The shot of Moya hitting the water and slamming into the seabed is stunning, and in a nice bit of internal consistency, all those open wounds from the Tregan attack make staying on Moya next to impossible since none of the crew has gills. Getting Stark to the surface and in touch with the surviving population of the city is critical, and the situation topside escalates with the arrival of Grayzas fleet.In the midst of it all, Aeryn does something that speaks to the love and respect she has for John. She pleads his case for the wormhole weapon to Pilot and Moya, knowing full well that her bond with Pilot gives the request that much more weight. This is an aspect of the scene that could be lost on new viewers who dont know the history between the two characters, especially since the interaction is very subtle.The escape from the flooding Moya is designed to take just enough time for all the players to arrive in the space above, sending the conflict into complete overdrive. Along with Jothee and his Merry Luxan Men, the crew races to get Stark to Brakas location in the Qujagan temple, where several Eidelons are being protected at great cost. As the story marches on, the chances for restoring the Eidelons get smaller and smaller, as the writers expertly force events into a crucible for Crichton.Perfectly aware that Crichton has an amazing survival rate, Staleek offers Ahkna her most fervent dream should she bring evidence of Crichtons death and kill the remaining Eidelons: she will be Empress of the Scarrans while he administrates governance of the galaxy. As shown in the fourth season, Ahknas chances for that ultimate prize were highly compromised, and this is exactly the psychological prodding Staleek knows will get the job done.On the way to the temple, the crew encounters Grunschlk, and the debate over whether or not hes the traitor returns to the forefront. Unfortunately, its long past the point where the crew should be considering him a possible candidate, since the traitor transmitted information that could only have been known by someone on Moya. Maybe thats a factor in keeping Grunschlk alive, but it seems more of a minor plot oversight or convenience. Just to keep the improbable deception going with the audience, Ahkna contacts Staleek and says, point blank, that the spy is now with Crichton.Once at the temple, several of the running plot threads are triggered, ratcheting up the tension immediately (as if its not already high enough at this point!). Stark tries to keep himself and the remaining Eidelons alive while preparing to transfer the ability to create peace, the Peacekeepers and crew prepare to defend against another massive Scarran assault, and Aeryns water breaks. Its the usual Farscape brand of chaos, multiplied by 10 times over.Starks part is resolved rather quickly, but a further complication is added. Sure enough, there arent enough Eidelons left in the temple to exert enough influence, even if they are all trained by Muoma. Noranti (who finally factors back into the plot) has gathered enough of them to make a difference, but they are cut off from the temple. With Moya unable to get back to the surface until sunrise, those within the temple are cut off from assistance and the other Eidelons. The net effect is that the Eidelons are no longer a viable short-term option, forcing Crichton to survive long enough to get the baby born safely under fire and then try to find a way to activate his wormhole weapon.Of course, the Diagnosan gets killed right away, just after pointing out that the baby is breech and has to be turned. As if labor isnt hell enough, Chiana has to manage this while Aeryn is still firing her rifle at oncoming Scarrans. In a sense, this is probably a good thing, because right about then, Aeryn is ready to kill Crichton for the wonderful gift of Human labor. She certainly gets to vent her aggression!Through quick cuts between the battle scenes, its revealed that Jothee has secured a Scarran transport to safeguard the surviving Eidelons; its just a matter of getting Muoma out of the temple. With the conditions less than sanitary, John tries to convince Aeryn to get into the central fountain. Shes less than enthusiastic. Somewhat harder to discern is Scorpys sudden realization that something is amiss about Sikozu.What exactly it is that tips Scorpius off is hard to figure out, but its even harder to understand when and why Sikozu would have joined the other side. One could presume that it was during the gangs time on Katratzi, when Sikozu would have had the interests of her people in mind. But Sikozu had been working with the underground to undermine the Scarrans all along, so why the change of heart? Again, it would have made more sense for Chianas eyes to be bugged in some fashion, rather than force a betrayal that doesnt quite hold water. Its even stranger that Scorpy doesnt kill her right then and there; perhaps thats some sign of his actual love for her.With the baby on its way, the writers stage an absolutely hilarious wedding scene that just about encapsulates everything that is Farscape in one quick succession of misunderstands and madness. It all ends in the birth of John and Aeryns son, which is a banner moment for the series. Had this taken place in the middle of the series itself, it might have spelled disaster; coming during a true event like this mini-series, it adds to the drama in less threatening way. Its also a little surprising to see a child so young actually on screen; that kid looks like a newborn in the close-ups, and thats not something typically done in American television.To get the baby to safety and make it to the point where Moya can extract them, the gang goes on the offensive. This takes the ongoing battle out onto the streets, leaving the fates of Grunschlk and Sikozu completely unresolved. One could assume that they are killed at some point later in the narrative, especially if they dont find a way off the planet. Still, this minor glitch is nothing when compared against the seemingly endless series of glorious action stills. Aeryn with her baby takes down the enemy, and Scorpius spends every other moment making damn sure he looks as badass as he most assuredly is. The whole thing feels like Saving Private Ryan remade for the future.It all comes to a head in a street battle that forces Jothee to strafe the entire area to eliminate the bulk of Ahknas forces. In the chaos that follows, Jothee gets the Eidelons to safety, leaving just the crew to make it to safety. In the ensuing flight to the extraction point, Ahkna manages one last attack on Crichton. Since this is the last of the hand-to-hand combat scenes, its not surprising that this is the moment DArgo is mortally wounded. But it happens so fast that its almost easy to overlook, and theres also Aeryns satisfying kill shot to Ahknas head. (Leaving aside, of course, the fact that Ben Browders wife plays Ahkna, which makes the scene too warped for words!)DArgos death scene is one of the most moving moments of the mini-series, and it really sets off a barrage of incredible moments. As long as the siege is in the second half, it serves to keep the tension from fading. By the time DArgo is dying, the audience is exhausted by the war and stunned by the immediacy of its cost. The writers do an incredible job of letting each character say their farewell in their own unique way: Aeryn treats him as a fellow warrior, Stark offers to ease his passing, and Rygel simply touches him on the arm, expressing regret the only way he knows how.The most moving farewells, of course, come from John and Chiana. John and DArgo developed an incredible friendship over the span of the series, and that bond became almost as strong as the one between John and Aeryn. John once sacrificed himself for Jothees sake, placing himself in Scorpius hands, and now DArgo is returning the favor. In one last act of forgiveness, he gives Chiana his Qualta blade. In a nice reference to one of their better days during the series, John tasks DArgo with the responsibility of telling the first Scarran who his daddy is. Its doubtful that theres a fan out there that wasnt struck with a sense of loss as DArgo made his last stand, allowing the others to get to the extraction point and escape.Caught up in the full-scale war erupting over the planet, Crichton arrives on the command deck to see the wormhole weapon waiting for him. With the Eidelons safe and secure with Jothee and Moya under considerable fire, the moment of truth arrives. Everything has been leading to this one moment, the moment that almost never came to pass. Still reeling from DArgos death, the crew is ready for Crichton to end the war once and for all. But only he understands the true nature of the weapon, and the terrible price to be paid if its used.After drawing Scorpius into saying that firing the wormhole weapon is what he truly wants, Crichton launches it into the space between the Peacekeepers and Scarrans. What follows is easily one of the best CGI sequences in the history of television. Hell, it even beats the pants off of most feature films. Ship after ship is pulled into the growing maelstrom of a rapidly expanding black hole, but even then, Staleek and Grayza continue to fire, all until the event horizon reaches so far that Qujaga itself is ripped apart before their eyes. Its a moment of such total annihilation that its impossible to describe in sufficient detail; it is the culmination of every action sequence ever put to film during the four seasons of the series.With only Staleeks Decimator, Grayzas carrier, and Moya left on the edge of the maw, unable to escape, Crichton completes his endgame. He makes it very clear: the wormhole weapon cannot create peace; it can only destroy. People need to forge peace, and if that doesnt happen, then Crichton will let the black hole expand until they all die, and then everything will eventually be destroyed.Grayza offers to stand down and sue for peace for the sake of our children. This once again suggests that her unborn child is Johns progeny as well, but its certainly not a given. Staleek hesitates, but he was already willing at one point to entertain a peaceful resolution. Perhaps aware that victory is out of reach without peace, he agrees as well. When Crichton jumps back into the machine to halt the process, its not without cost; Einstein fulfills his promise to remove the knowledge of wormholes from Crichtons mind. The process works, but the toll on Crichton is not at all pleasant.When he falls to the ground, Aeryns hysterical screaming, quite out of character, drives it all home. For quite some time, it seemed inevitable that John would only make it out of the crucible by dying. Even Scorpius seems to be struck by the knowledge of it, even if he is altogether too pleased with himself for bringing about his own personal victory by forcing Crichtons hand. Finally, events catch up with all those flashes of John on his deathbed, and one cant help but remember the final scene of Infinite Possibilities. Certainly Aeryn cant imagine saying goodbye to the man she loves twice in less than two years.Time is spent giving most of the characters some sense of closure. Stark finally gets the peace that he has been seeking, no longer cursed with the connection to the spiritual world that plagued his mind. Chiana still intends to get to Hyneria in honor of DArgo. Jothee doesnt take his fathers blade, so its left to question how all of that is meant to play out, but resolution doesnt mean that all the questions are answered. In a nice homage to 2001, Harvey fades out of existence, no longer necessary now that Scorpius wishes have been fulfilled.The rest of the final act is utterly devoted to the shippers and saps in the audience, though its hard to imagine anyone who wouldnt feel something for John and Aeryn in that moment. Watching John awake with his son at his side was incredibly touching, especially Aeryns expression at the sight of father and son. Theres no question that they would name the child DArgo! Its pure melodrama, but damn if it doesnt make perfect sense for the character arcs and provide the perfect ending to Johns story. | romantic | train | imdb | Having been a fan of this show since I first saw it on BBC 2 in 1999, I sat down to watch PKW with some nervousness, Farscape's characters are like a family in a way.
Not a cop who gets results through unorthodox interrogation techniques, not a group of American army personnel representing earth to a group of American-o-centric aliens but a group of incredible (meaning unbelievable) characters.The colours, the shapes.....John spends the entire series as a mentally ill person warped by his experiences and the brain surgery of Scorpius.When he takes on a 7 foot lizard creature in a fist fight he ends up smashed and bruised on the far side of the room.
What a wonderful complex character Scorpius is - there is no evil in Farscape, no black and white, only shades of Grey.I would quite happily have accepted John waking up and believing it was all a dream following some tremendous astronaut accident.Farscape the mini series is a wonderful finale to the best sci fi series ever conceived..
As a long time fan of the show I had waited for this with growing anticipation, to the point where I almost expected to be disappointed.I wasn't.It's big, it's bold, it's thrilling, it runs the gamut of emotions and then some, and amidst all the spectacle it never loses sight of the most important component of this brilliant series - the characters.
I was reduced to tears on several occasions, particularly during the last ten minutes.A big thank you to all the fans who got this made, to Ben, Claudia, Anthony, Gigi, Wayne and all the other actors and puppeteers, and to Rockne O'Bannon, David Kemper, Brian Henson et al for bringing us this and four wonderful seasons.It was one helluva ride..
Unlike so many other mini-series which compromise the core qualities which made the series great and pandered to the lowest common denominator, Farscape:PKW has remained true to the magic and charm we so loved and we've so missed, picking up immediately after the cliffhanger at the end of the final season.The only way this mini-series fell short of the original series was the nature of it being a mini-series.
Nonetheless, if Farscape does not come back, at least we have some sense of completion to our beloved story and characters which was sadly denied us upon the untimely cancellation of the series.As Scorpy said....
Just in case you are not familiar with the back story of this excellent little mini-series: Farscape PKWs is a continuation of a cancelled television series on the Scifi channel.
In a world where we feel like people crap on us at will and it's us again the big corporations...the little man finally won a small but decisive battle.As for the show, some die-hard fans, myself included, noticed a few differences in how the mini-series was shot and some character changes...though all the original actors were used.
Farscape:The Peacekeeper Wars was truly to the quote," the best is always last." Once again Series Creator Rockne S.
And also giving closure and finale to many story plots of the previous four year quest of Astronaut John Crichton and his beloved Flight Officer Aeryn Sun. Equally within this final piece the reappearance of other beloved and familiar characters showing solid and firm tapestry.
I expected a lot of The Peacekeeper Wars, and I think these hopes were a little unrealistic for a mini-series trying to cover what was intended for a series.Unfortunately, this very much a full series squeezed into three hours.
unconventional end to series four, but it's obvious that many wanted closure, and while it doesn't entirely satisfy that demand, it was good to see the finest sci-fi ever made back on our screens, if only for a little while..
For all the farscapers that were left at the edge of their seats from the series' finale cliff-hanger, you will be truly satisfied with how this mini-series successfully ties all loose ends.
After that, the show takes off!Farscape: The Peackeeper Wars continues to extract elements from what made the series superb in the first place, by relying on characterization and great dialogue.
I was kept at the edge of my seat the whole time.Although I was greatly hurt that the series was cancelled, I was truly satisfied on how Farscape ended, although some out there won't be happy on how some of the story lines and characters ended.
Unlike many of my fellow fans, I don't consider Peacekeeper Wars to be among Farscape's best episodes.
Also, some of the characterization is a little inconsistent with the series..Remarkably, every major character the fans wanted to see is reprieved for at least a couple of scenes with the exceptions of those who have died (Zahn and Krais).
D'Argo and Chiana are very consistent, as is Stark, the brief appearances of Noranti and Jool and the somewhat more elaborate returns of Bracca and Grunchlik.In terms of acting, Paul Goddard's Stark, David Franklin's Bracca, Anthony Simcoe's D'Argo and Gigi Edgley's Chiana are the stand-outs for this one.Acting can only be as good as the script and the directing, and there are a few times during Peacekeeper Wars when all three fail to reach the usual Farscape standard.
Thankfully, by the time John develops the solution he needs in order to see this thing through to the end, we're back to the show's usual brand of weird, but excellent drama.Warning - Peacekeeper Wars can not be appreciated without a strong background in, at least the 4th season of Farscape.
Lower production values (a large percentage of the movie obviously took place in one, large, circular room that was redressed for different scenes) For me, Farscape is about tight plotting: building tension, keeping focus on the characters and the situation, and tightening the screws as one thing after another gets frelled.
Also, Guy Gross' Music is not very Farscapish or Subvisionish, it is traditional - Not like the show at all, although he did almost 3 seasons worth of music.But as the story gets more involved, that continuity returns and we once again enter Tormented Space and The Uncharted Territories which is where Moya and crew were when last we looked.Had we a season 5, there would have been more explanation of why "Grunchlk" was still alive and exactly why Chiana could see across "Unrealized Realities", also we never really got into what Sikozu really was, other than what is shown here.And it also seems that the Skarran Empre was not slowed down one bit by the destruction of Staleek's "Bird of Paradise" farm, and they are kicking the pants off of the Peacekeepers.If this story had been told across a 22-Episode 5th season, maybe we could have gotten those answers.
The Peacekeeper Wars is a great piece of science fiction film-making whether or not you've seen Farscape.
This is why we owe thanks to this mini-series that did not leave us wondering what could have been, but offered us a deserving ending to the wonderful Farscape.The story is more different from the previous episodes, even the title points out that we get bigger action scenes and battles never before seen on Farscape.
Acting is again marvelous and the cinematography mind-blowing.I say a big thanks to Farscape, because it truly has one of the best stories and best characters around.
And so they should - Farscape is the smartest and funniest scifi series ever made.Well done to cast and crew (particularly the writers) and thanks again to you American fans.
There is war all over the galaxy and everyone is going to be exterminated, it is time to take hard decisions and to use expeditive methods...Farscape is, maybe, the best sci-fi series ever done, imaginative, touching, funny, entertaining, philosophic...
It has everything: Impressive charismatic characters, great action and adventure, good special effects (at the end) and a delicious catching story...
Farscape is an excellent series and I highly recommend it to all sci-fi fans.
The major characters were all likable, the story lines were fantastic and the FX and makeup were outstanding.I advise any newcomers to Farscape to watch it all on DVD or Blu-Ray; you won't be disappointed.
Sadly, this resulted in the producers of Farscape leaving us with an unresolved cliffhanger on Season 4 that left us gasping with no promise of resolution.Skiffy somewhat redeemed itself (sorry, I still can't forgive them for 500 CGI monster movies they've added to film history) by allowing a four hour miniseries that had our intrepid crew reunited for one more mission to tie up all the loose plot points.Farscape is always carried by Ben Bowder as John Creighton, an American Astronaut who finds himself dealing with the insanity of the "uncharted territories" and the unique races and cultures he encounters.
Pilot...Rygel...the actors make these characters so real...and the love story of the main characters is at the heart of the show!Its nearly 20 years since we got this series on our small screen and still only a few very lucky people have seen it...forget Star Wars..Guardians of the Galaxy...Stat Trek, this is Farscape!Bring it back!Just an amazing series!.
I've spent a lot of time over the last few years watching the entire series run of FARSCAPE on DVD, as I haven't had cable for years and was always interested in what seemed like a smart, funny, exciting, and engaging show.
I was not wrong at all - I quickly got utterly addicted, fell in love with pretty much every recurring character, and wondered how it would all end up.So of course I got the Peacekeeper Wars DVD from the video store...
Farscape signified a new era in Sci-fi TV, and I will always remember "Peacekeeper wars" as probably the best finish to any series.If you still haven't had the chance to see the final chapter of Farscape, I can only say two things to you - have fun and prepare for the best!.
I love everything they have done with the show until Peacekeeper War. Don't get me wrong answered all questions and left me feeling happy with the ending.But i feel that they could have but a bit more in to the show and done a much better job with it.
but no more than some of the Star Trek movies.Perhaps the Mini Series is a better format for Farscape?
Maybe a four hour story every year or two would be a good way to keep an excellent story from ending pre-maturely.If you're a fan of Farscape, this is a very good story, albeit with some irritating edit cuts.
This movie sticks out like a sore thumb in that list -- proof that a couple of thousand overzealous fans can indeed foul the IMDb ratings for everyone."Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars" is a decent mindless-escape movie, with plenty of good ideas, a reasonable plot, and a mostly interesting cast of characters.
I sincerely hope another film or perhaps another mini series that can continue the story of John, Ayren and their friends.
I think that all the fans of this marvelous series deserve to see more adventures of John Crichton, it represents an opportunity to continue be delightful of farscape..
I can't say enough about the Peacekeeper Wars mini series … it was GREAT !!!!I look forward to seeing John, Aeryn, D'Argo ( he will return ), Moya, Rygel, Chiana, Scorpy and Pilot again !!!!
The mini series puts to bed lots of plot lines left open from the ending of season four.Peacekeeper Wars, I had to pinch myself to remind me that this is made for television, the effects are fantastic the acting and characters brilliant.I would have loved to see the mini series at a cinema!
I don't know which mini-series LVCambot watched, but the one I watched, Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars, delivered exactly what the creators promised: Excellence!
The Peacekeeper Wars picked up where Farscape's fourth season finale, "Bad Timing," left off and the mini-series stayed true to the original concept of the show; the characters were strong, the script was out of this world, and the miniseries never failed to provide one exciting scene after another.
"Peacekeeper Wars" is a movie that can be appreciated just in terms of its craft - magnificent special effects merge seamlessly with an complexly plotted, character driven story.
There are spies and turncoats, duplicity and intrigue, evil acts performed by good people, many interpersonal story lines that adds to a richness not found in the run-of-the-mill scifi, and a grittiness that only the creators of Farscape would dare.This is a continuation of the epic storyline from the series, with technology and decimation on a scale I haven't seen in pop scifi- for instance, there is a weapon whose decimation is on the scale of solar systems and galaxies with all the accouterments (...cliché's maybe?
I also enjoyed the clear vision presented, the story of John Crichton's knowledge coming to fruition in the most horrific way, vindicating the entire series and the turmoil they crew of Moya went through trying to protect the knowledge.I only wished the makers of Farscape had left a few more issues unresolved, I would love to see another miniseries or movie.
I always loved Farscape, and was extremely happy to know they were going to "officially end it." They never intended to leave Farscape as a cliffhanger and this is why there mini-series was brought on.
Although Farscape:The Peacekeeper Wars was admittedly created for the fans of the show, to give them their just due after it's premature cancellation, I've talked with non-Scapers who watched it, family included, and all of them found it to be an enjoyable epic with the kind of special effects and emotional depth you rarely see on TV.Several of it's CGI sequences are some of the best I've EVER seen.
The writing for this mini was great in that it brought in all the little nuances that series watchers could relate to but was across the board a good watch for newbies to Farscape.
I highly recommend mini series....and for enjoyment, buy the series DVDs first at watch them start to finish and then watch The Peacekeeper Wars....take your emotions on a ride they will never forget!Thank you to Brian Henson and everyone else involved for reviving this wonderfully written, constructed and acted story.
I can only hope there is more to come!!Thank you to all the actors for doing such a great job and pulling all of us in to the story so far that we feel like we are part of the Farscape 'Family'.
After just coming back from watching the six hour long watch of PEACEKEEPER WARS - I can barely contain myself, I feel as emotional as when I watched the final episode of the Lord of the Rings trilogy TIMES TEN!
- I do seriously not know how to best describe these emotions with any clarity, so I will instead choose to portray it in something abstract:It feels as if being enlightened, touched, by a high deity.This movie, and the series behind it, truly is a MUST SEE for any person, whether they are a Sci-Fi-nerd, or someone who loves acting, and great character development.
sailing into the wide expanse of the universe with hope for a bright tomorrow.Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars is a television epic mini-series produced with theater quality cinematography.
This mini-series is another great accomplishment, and a great end to the many stories of the television series.I started watching Farscape when I happened to see it on SciFi, many years ago.
As a Farscape fan from the beginning, I expected great things from "Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars".
Staying true to "Farscape" plot lines and fans, this mini series kicked serious ass!
I'm not going to give away even the slightest ounce of what happened in the show (that wouldn't be fair of course!) There are some questions I have about very little things, but answers to those questions may be sacrificed due to the overwhelming satisfaction that this mini series brings hard core fans (and perhaps even new ones who watched all 88 episodes air on the sci-fi channel October 1st through October 15th) I can't wait for "Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars" to come out on DVD!.
Before the galaxy can be safe again they will encounter old friends and enemies and Crichton will have to do something he has spent most of the series trying to avoid; creating a wormhole weapon!While it is a shame that the events shown here couldn't have been spread over a full season this miniseries still provides the conclusion that Farscape deserved and its fans demanded.
it is something for the fans though; if you've not watched Farscape before you are unlikely to figure out what is going on as no time is wasted introducing characters or their various relationships..
I ended up buying seasons 1-4 on DVD, and after having watched those episodes, and then watching PKWars again, I must say it's one great mini-series.
In watching "Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars" I was thinking that despite the excellent quality of the miniseries, it wasn't much above the great average level of the regular series.
Farscape was a tremendous Sci-Fi series that was overshadowed by some of the Star Trek shows but usually surpassed them in quality.The Peacekeeper Wars continues the saga of John Crichton, Aeryn Sun, Chiana and the rest of people on the living ship Moya as they go through their incredible adventures.
It has always been a show driven by the characters, not just by the special effect, which are excellent I might add.Farscape has always been a show that was tough to follow if you were not watching the previous shows but the mini-series explains the basic plot quickly.
I love Farscape and I'm happy they made Peacekeeper Wars so the show wouldn't end in Season 4's cliffhanger.
A definite yes.My only advice is don't watch Farscape Peacekeeper Wars....not until you watch the whole series from start to finish. |
tt0332452 | Troy | The story takes place in the fertile, eastern lands bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and kept by the gods. Within the cradle of ancient civilization empires are built, wars fought, alliances forged, and heroes born.Agamemnon (Brian Cox), king of Mycenae, has united most of Greece's kingdoms under his rule and now advances his army upon the nation of Thessaly, hoping to include it in his collection of ever-growing conquests. King Triopas (Julian Glover) bargains with Agamemnon to each let one of their best fighters decide who wins the battle rather than engaging in open war. Triopas calls upon the giant Boagrius (Nathan Jones) while Agamemnon calls to Achilles, but the legendary warrior is nowhere to be found. A messenger boy (Jacob Smith) is sent to fetch him and Agamemnon curses the stubborn nature of the fiercest warrior Greece has ever seen. A half-god and blessed with incomparable strength and skill, Achilles lives to fight but he refuses to associate with Agamemnon, preferring instead to seek his own destiny and be immortalized in history. Achilles easily defeats Boagrius, sealing Agamemnon's control over the nation, and calls out if there is anyone else worthy enough to fight him.Meanwhile, Prince Hector (Eric Bana) and Paris (Orlando Bloom) of Troy feast in the banquet hall of King Menelaus of Sparta (Brendan Gleeson) as honored guests and peace ambassadors to their home nation. However, young Paris sneaks away to be with Menelaus' beautiful wife, Helen (Diane Kruger), whom he loves dearly. He convinces her to come back with him to Troy, stowing her away on his brother's ship. When Hector finds out he is clearly angry but it is too late to return to Sparta with Helen and seek pardon. Finding Helen gone, Menelaus vows revenge on Troy and seeks the approval of his brother, Agamemnon, who is only too happy to oblige, though Agamemnon's decision comes mostly from his desire to sack Troy.Odysseus (Sean Bean), king of Ithaca and under command of Agamemnon, goes to convince Achilles to accompany them in the conquest of Troy. He finds him sparring with his young cousin, Patroclus (Garrett Hedlund), who is more than eager to join in the fighting. But Achilles refuses to go, despite Odysseus' assurance that this war will go down into history. Achilles later seeks advice from his mother, the sea nymph Thetis (Julie Christie), who is gathering shells to make a new necklace for him. She tells him that if he chooses to stay home he will find a wife, raise a family, and die old and loved. If he goes to Troy, he will find his eternal glory and history will remember his name for thousands of years. However, should he go to Troy, he is doomed to die and will never return.Meanwhile, Hector and Paris return to Troy with Helen, greeted warmly by their fellow Trojans. The city is guarded by a high, thick wall that has remained impenetrable since its founding. They meet their father, King Priam (Peter O'Toole), who welcomes Helen and praises her beauty. Hector is reunited with his wife, Andromache (Saffron Burrows), and his infant son.Achilles decides to join Agamemnon's campaign against Troy but brings his own warriors, the Myrmidons, led by Eudorus (Vincent Regan). Patroclus accompanies them as well. The Myrmidons prove to be faster rowers than the Greeks and arrive on the shores of Troy before anyone else, though Achilles tells Patroclus to stay and watch the ship. They take the beach with ease and sack the Temple of Apollo where priestess and cousin of Hector and Paris, Briseis (Rose Byrne), is taken captive. In a defiant move, Achilles decapitates the statue of Apollo. Prince Hector leads an offensive to keep the Greeks at bay and runs into the temple where Achilles confronts him but refuses to fight him. Achilles explains that their fight would be suited best in front of an audience and he allows Hector to leave.Briseis is brought to Achilles' hut as his prize. She berates him for killing priests of Apollo before he is summoned to see Agamemnon who is preparing to celebrate the victory. There, tensions rise as Achilles and the king argue over claims to the victory. Agamemnon goes further by bringing in Briseis, claiming her as his own spoil of war, which drives Achilles into a rage. He threatens to fight for her but she angrily interjects, saying that no one else will die for her. Achilles stays his blade, to the surprise of Agamemnon. Achilles vows that Agamemnon will one day fall under his sword.That night, Priam seeks the advice of his advisors and elders with his sons in attendance, discussing how best to defend against the Greeks. Paris offers an alternative to bloodshed; he will fight Menelaus for Helen's hand. The winner will take her home and the loser will burn before nightfall. Later, Priam speaks with Paris in a courtyard and admits that, in all the wars hes fought for power or land, a war fought for love makes more sense. He gives Paris the Sword of Troy, forged at its founding and containing the history of their nation. He explains that as long as a Trojan wields it there is hope for their people.Hector goes to see his wife and son. She fears for his life and can't imagine living on without him. He comforts her before getting up to see his brother. In the halls, he sees a cloaked figure and gives pursuit to find that it's Helen trying to leave the city. She is remorseful for being the sole reason so many Trojan men died that day but Hector tells her that returning to Menelaus will not end the war and that she is a princess of Troy now. Helen returns to Paris.The next day, Agamemnon's army marches for Troy while Achilles, still seething over his loss of Briseis, watches from a nearby hill with his men. Hector and Paris ride out to meet Agamemnon and Menelaus before battle. Agamemnon demands that the Trojans return Helen to his brother and submit to his rule. Hector bravely rebuffs but Paris offers to fight Menelaus one-on-one, hoping that will settle the dispute. While Agamemnon could care less about returning Helen to his brother, he allows Menelaus the opportunity to issue revenge. The two begin their fight and Menelaus is clearly stronger. Paris is wounded and disarmed but, before Menelaus can deliver a death blow, ducks away and crawls back to his brother. Stunned at his cowardice, Menelaus demands the fight to continue but Hector defends his brother and drives his sword through Menelaus, killing him. Enraged, Agamemnon charges forward with his army.Watching from his hilltop, Achilles can't help but curse under his breath at Agamemnon's inability to keep his ranks in formation. Hector proves to be the more able warrior and overpowers the Greeks with his tactics. One of the strongest Greek warriors, Ajax (Tyler Mane) is felled by Hector. Odysseus advises Agamemnon to fall back before he loses his entire army and the Greeks retreat to the beach where their archers provide defense.With Menelaus dead, the main reason for the assault on Troy is gone and Agamemnon struggles to think of a way to rally the troops to his cause. Odysseus suggests that Agamemnon put his reservations aside and enlist Achilles to fight again. Outside, Briseis is tossed around between Greek soldiers, having been given to them by Agamemnon. Before she can be cruelly branded, Achilles steps in and takes her back to his hut. He gives her a wet cloth to clean with and some food. When she questions why he fights and defies the gods, he shows her a more reflective side to his nature and explains that the gods are jealous of men for their short, mortal lives. As such, everything is more beautiful.Priam consults with his advisors again while Paris laments over his cowardice. Helen assures him that, though Menelaus was a strong warrior, she hated her life with him. She'd rather have someone to love and grow old with than to see him die on the battlefield. Hector advises his father that the Greeks underestimated Trojan strength and that they should not do the same. However, General Glaucus (James Cosmo) wants to strike preemptively and High Priest Archeptolemus (Nigel Terry) claims Troy is favored by the gods, citing bird omens. Despite Hector's warnings to keep behind their walls, Priam favors his advisors and issues an attack before daybreak.As Achilles sleeps that night, Briseis takes a dagger and holds it to his throat. Without opening his eyes, he encourages her to kill him but she hesitates. They realize their feelings for each other and make love. Achilles decides that he's had enough of war and offers to take Briseis away from Troy. Afterwards, he speaks with Eudorus and tells him that they will go home. Hearing this, Patroclus is devastated, having hoped to take part in battle. Achilles returns to his hut.Just as dawn approaches, the Trojan army, led by Hector, set up on the dunes and sent hundreds of lit arrows into the sand. The Greeks awake in time to see large balls of hay being rolled down the hill towards camp, ignited in huge fireballs by the torched arrows. Banging their shields to intimidate, the Trojans advance towards the Greek camp. Suddenly, Achilles appears in his armor and rallies the troops to fight. Achilles fights his way towards Hector and the two engage in combat. Greeks and Trojans alike surround them, edging them on, until Hector slits Achilles' throat with a swift thrust of the sword. Achilles falls, gasping for breath, while the Myrmidons look on in horror. But when Hector removes his helmet, he discovers that the man he wounded is not Achilles; its Patroclus. Hector, repentant but resolute, drives his sword into the boy's chest to finish him. He addresses Odysseus and tells him they've fought enough that day. Before leaving, Odysseus tells Hector that Patroclus was Achilles' cousin.The Myrmidons return to camp as Achilles emerges from his tent. Seeing them battle-worn, he asks why they disobeyed him. Eudorus laments that Patroclus disguised himself in Achilles' armor, even moved like him, and fell under Hector. Achilles is outraged and attacks Eudorus. Briseis tries to stop him but he throws her to the ground.Hector returns to his wife. He admits that he killed a boy who was much too young and feels that his actions will have severe repercussions. He shows his wife a hidden passage under Troy that she can take civilians through to get to the mountains should he die and the walls be breached. Though she is upset to have to consider this, she heeds his advice.Achilles puts his cousin on a funeral pyre and sets it alight. Agamemnon watches and says, "That boy may have just saved the war for us," knowing that the rage of Achilles will not wane until he's had revenge. Meanwhile, Helen watches as Paris practices his archery in preparation for battle, hitting his target time and again.The following morning, Achilles sets off to enact vengeance upon Hector. Briseis begs him not to go, but he ignores her. He rides to the gates of Troy and calls for Hector who dresses in his armor and says goodbye to his wife. He meets Achilles outside alone. Achilles throws down his helmet so that Hector can see his face. Though Hector tries to reason, Achilles is bent on bloodlust. As they begin to fight, Priam and Paris watch while Helen comforts Andromache who can't bring herself to look. Achilles overpowers Hector by driving his spear into his chest before finishing him with his sword. He then ties Hector's legs together behind his chariot and drags him away, back to the beach. When he returns to his hut, Briseis cries out and asks when the killing will stop before leaving.That night, Achilles is visited by a stranger in a cloak. The stranger kisses Achilles' hand before revealing himself as none other than King Priam. Having stealthily entered the Greek camp unnoticed, Priam begs for his son's body back to be given a proper burial. He tells Achilles that, while Hector killed his cousin, he did not know who it was and he asks Achilles how many cousins and brothers he's killed in his time. Despite being enemies, he asks for respect. Achilles relents. He weeps over Hector's body, promising to meet him in the next life, before giving him to Priam. When Briseis comes forward, Achilles allows her to go home and apologizes for hurting her. He gives Priam his word that the Greeks will not attack Troy for 12 days to allot for proper mourning.When Agamemnon hears of Achilles' secret treaty with Priam, he becomes incensed. But Odysseus, who notices the sculpture of a horse a fellow soldier has made for his son, proposes a plan, putting the 12 days of mourning to their advantage.After 12 days, the Trojans discover that the beach has been abandoned and various bodies lie in the sand. They appear to have been taken by disease and, where the heart of the camp once was, a large wooden horse has been erected. Upon seeing this, Priam is advised that the horse was left as a gift to the god Poseidon and is encouraged to bring it back to Troy. Paris, who is suspicious, urges his father to burn the horse, but Priam brings the horse into the city where its revered as a sign of the end of the war. A Trojan scout, hiking through the cliffs outside the city, comes upon a cove apart from the main beach and discovers the Greek armada hiding there. However, he is killed by arrow before he can warn the rest of Troy.Meanwhile, the whole city celebrates into the night. Once everything has quieted down, the horse opens and Achilles, Odysseus, and a mass of Greek soldiers emerge from inside and open Troy's gates where the rest of the Greek army has gathered. They quickly infiltrate the city, pillaging and burning homes and killing any Trojan who stands in their way while a tearful Priam can only watch. Soldiers of Troy attempt to defend the royal palace, but fail. As Priam prays before the statue of Apollo and asks why he's been forsaken, Agamemnon comes up behind him and stabs him in the back. Achilles, meanwhile, searches the city for Briseis.Paris and Andromache lead surviving civilians down to the secret passage where Paris gives a young boy, Aeneas (Frankie Fitzgerald) (a progenitor of the Romans), the Sword of Troy, reciting what his father told him. He then returns with his bow and arrow to help fight.Briseis is praying before a statue of Apollo when she is grabbed from behind by Agamemnon. Achilles sees this and runs to her aid. Agamemnon tells Briseis his intent to take her back to Greece as his slave before she takes a concealed knife and fatally stabs him in the neck. His guards accost her but Achilles kills them. As he is helping her up, Paris arrives and shoots an arrow through Achilles' heel. Standing up to face Paris, despite Briseis' cries, Achilles is shot again through the chest. He removes the arrow only to be shot again and again, each time removing the arrow. He finally collapses and tells Briseis that she was his peace in a lifetime of war and urges her to escape. Briseis goes with Paris and they leave as the Greeks arrive at the palace to find Achilles dead, seemingly taken by a single shot to the heel (thus perpetuating the myth surrounding his death).Achilles' body is burned honorably on a funeral pyre within the ruins of Troy the following day as Odysseus watches and exalts, "If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say I lived in the time of Achilles." | boring, violence, action, romantic, tragedy, revenge, historical | train | imdb | Loosely based on Homer's 'Iliad', Wolfgang Petersen directs this epic war film, with an ensemble cast including Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Diane Kruger, Sean Bean, Brian Cox, Rose Byrne, Garrett Hedlund, Peter O' Toole, Brendan Gleeson, & Tyler Mane.
Troy is also to be congratulated for not over-armoring the cast like previous Hollywood productions and staying true to the lightness of armor prevalent during the historical period.Lovers of Homer and Greek mythology may be disappointed but keep in mind this film is about the Trojan War, not the Iliad.
For those of you with a good "Home Theater", this film will provide two hours of historical battles, conducted in a very realistic and impressive way, spectacular vistas of both land and sea, seamless digital effects that are difficult to distinguish from reality, and for women, a well- oiled Brad Pitt projecting a multifaceted and enigmatic Achilles, whose performance was highly underrated by critics.In contrast, Orlando Bloom (Lord of the Rings , Pirates of the Caribbean) as Paris was somewhat indecipherable, leaving one with the question of whether the lack of character in his portrayal of Paris, was intentional or due to an under-par performance .
The rest of the cast appears to be generally well chosen (with the exception of Diane Kruger in the role of Elena, who looked like a mechanical porcelain figurine) and bestows a resonance and a dimension to this historical drama rarely seen in a movie of this genre.As announced in the end credits, TROY was "inspired" by Homer's Iliad, authored some 2,500 years ago.
Well, the fact that the thousands of gods and demigods present in the book are absent from the movie is, perhaps, not necessarily a bad thing!.As for historical events themselves, nobody really knows for sure what happened in Troy three thousand two hundred years ago!
So consider that TROY is a completely separate film version , with a different name , of the written work, the Iliad.It is worth making a few comments on some technical aspects of the production : costume design , sets & scenery , weapons, boats and other elements of war demonstrate a work done taking his time, with enough love and an almost obsessive attention to an endless number of details , almost impossible to see and perceive well the first time you've seen the movie, but that clearly stand out during a second viewing.There have been many works where the Seventh Art has spent a fortune, and the result ends up being anything but artistic!
We must recognize the director, Wolfgang Peterson ( Das Boot, Air Force One , The Perfect Storm) which reached orchestrate an intense, clear and consistent cinematic vision of Troy .A final recommendation....Despite the fact that Troy, really lacks any scenes of graphic violence, much less any sexually charged ones, because of the amoral, indecisive and unfocused tone of some of its protagonists, it would probably be a good idea to do a pre-screening with family and friends over 12, and then decide if you deem it suitable for younger people in your family!.Hoping you really enjoy your two and a half hours in the city of Troy, in the second millennium before Christ ...
Screenplay , direction and most of all Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Brian Cox, and Peter o'Toole were completely on top of their game, even Olando Bloom as the love sick coward Paris was very watchable.Fight scenes were not overdone, and the love scenes were part of but didn't completely rule the story of Troy which I also liked.
It is truly a much richer, perhaps even exciting experience, as your expectations have been lowered, and often this makes a movie-watching experience better.Anyone who is not tired of the two-huge-armies-face-off battles we've been seeing in "The Lord of the Rings" films and now many other films following in that trilogy's footsteps will sure love the battles in "Troy".
The battle sequences are a little more graphic than you might expect, and they are certainly brutal.Brad Pitt, looking absolutely incredible here (the months of training sure paid off), shoulders the movie with much confidence and adds layers to his arrogant, self-centred Achilles.
I did like, though, that Bloom had a more realistic touch, the scene in which he faces Menelaus and fails to defeat him, running back to his brother, is nerve-wracking and powerful, not all men were great butt-kicking heroes, even back then, so it's good to see that put into the film, even if he does play the more "pussy" role.One of my main complaints about the film the first time around was the unnecessary relationship between Briseis and Achilles.
If it would not have been for these alterations to the original story, which really disturbed be (if you ever read the Iliad, you'll understand me)and which i really regard as unnecessary, and the usual Hollywood crap added to most American films (a good dose of machismo, exaggeration, historical inaccuracy, etc) This could have been a great film but unfortunately it is not...But this movie is also far away from being a terrible film.
The director and the actors did a nice job, Brad Pitt acts very good as usual, The guy that plays Hector does it in an amazing way too, taking most of the sympathy of the public.
The movie is exciting and the battles are good, my favorite scene is before Achilles fights Hector, and he repeats the same line that in Homer's book "There are no pacts between men and lions"!!
They fight against king of Troya (Peter O'Toole) and his sons : Héctor (Eric Bana) and Paris.Wolfgang Petersen's film benefited from the effect "Gladiator" and offered the possibility of expanding commercial horizons towards a movie that achieved a big commercial success .
This can, of course, be respectably done, as in the 1955 film "Ulysses," but this is not what Petersen was shooting for in "Troy." His goal, as already noted, was to depict the ACTUAL Trojan war that Homer's myth is based on (and even if it never really took place, wars LIKE IT did).Regarding Brad Pitt's heavily criticized performance as Achilles, I'm not a major Brad Pitt fan -- I neither love him or hate him -- but I think he does an outstanding and believable job portraying Greece's greatest warrior.
Don't get me wrong here, Agamemnon could probably be viewed as the villain in this picture, and I wasn't rooting for Menelaus when he fights Paris (Orlando Bloom, who seduces Helen, Menelaus' wife), but neither the Greeks or the Trojans are painted as the 'good guys' or 'bad guys.' They're just people at war, and in war there's no real glory, as Hector points out,...
Now as much as I dislike Orlando Bloom, he actually pulls off the Paris character quite well, and fits the part of the weak, cowardly, naive pretty-boy prince perfectly.All in all, Troy is definitely an entertaining movie, and the production is remarkable, but a few major historical inaccuracies, strange casting choices and a particularly cliché Hollywood ending lower my appreciation for the film..
I was all right with the screenwriters taking out the role of the gods in this story, I was moderately all right with them cutting out the women in this tale (overplaying Helen who never speaks in the Illiad, and cutting out Hecuba--Priam's wife and Queen of Troy--completely, cutting out Cassandra), and I eventually came to terms with the fact that the Trojan Horse was in this version (the Trojan Horse was not in the Illiad, it was written about in the Aenied which was written a few hundred years later by Virgil and NOT Homer), and even that the Trojan war took place over the course of a few days instead of years but there are LOTS of things that suck about this movie.Who was that girl who Achilles ran into the burning city to get?
Those with American accents couldn't act.Trojans looked just like Greeks, but they tended to stay on the right side of the screen.Brad Pitt does not blink on camera.Helen of Troy's biggest line was, "They're coming for me."Trojan music sounded remarkably like modern Bulgarian music.Brad Pitt's thighs go all the way up.Achilles had a young male friend with whom he was very close, but it's OK.
If you don't care the out of the plan insertions of the castle balcony people (King/father, wife, Helene etc) the whole fight sequence is planned and played very well.The rest of the cast is good enough with a special note for Peter O'Toole and Brian Cox. Their lines are well delivered and their characters are believable..
Similarly, was Achilles' mother a goddess who dipped her son's body in the River Styx making him invulnerable in battle or is the grain of truth here - as some historians have suggested - that he had some of the first iron armor which could not be penetrated by the bronze weapons of his opponents.As Homer did Troy focuses on the relationship between Achilles and Agamemnon and not the love story between Paris and Helen.
If you aren't interested in any of that then you can just relax and enjoy watching Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, and the rest of the cast.Hundreds of years later Troy was still remembered in Homer's time because it was a clash between two great civilizations which went to war and destroyed themselves..
But, hey, this is Hollywood, and we have Oliver Stone for the homosexual love story in his version of Alexander the Great (to Stone's credit he didn't shy away from the reality of this actual historic figure), and most Americans under the age of 50 are so undereducated and/or dumbed-down that it would take a 2-hour movie just to explain all of the Greek gods and their significance as it relates to the human characters in the Iliad/Troy.Troy, as is, really works, with no homosexuality (it is obliquely referenced for those who've read the book), and no Mount Olympus gods.
An explanation of just why Achilles was vulnerable in his heel (his mother held him there when dipping him in the River Styx to make him invulnerable thus that part was not made invulnerable) would have proved helpful for the purpose of heightening the drama when he is finally felled by Paris at the end.What is great about the film is its pacing, the superb acting by all involved, the look of the film, the visceral and effectively executed battle scenes, and the sense of another time.A weakness of the film is the casting of Helen.
No sparks, no emotion, no hope.I have to say in the films defence Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Peter O' Toole acted very well with a bad script but that isn't enough to save this awful movie.
In Wolfgang Petersen's "Troy," the Aegean Sea never looked so gorgeous and the clashing of swords and smashing of shields never have been heard so powerful and clear
The city of Troy is one of the few that has not fallen under Agamemnon's influence, a fact that irritates the fearsome commander to no end
From the part of the Greeks there is no love at all
Only ambition, revenge and conquest, with a yearning for power, wealth and victory
From the part of the Spartans there is King Priam (Peter O'Toole) who is seen old, powerless but kindly, not even blaming Helen for all his personal losses
Eric Bana as a noble Hector is the only truly compelling character of Peterson's epic motion picture
Not even his courage was enough to restrain the savage anger of his egotistic adversary
But his tormented loyalty to his country and to his family is to admire and contemplate
Hector is happily married, and he has just become father of a little son and would actually like to rest a little bit and enjoy his family
Orlando Bloom is lost as Paris, the prince and the lover
His passion has no limit
He is a free spirit with a love to beauty despite his admirable drive to pursue his dreams no matter the odds
Helen (Diane Kruger) escapes back to Troy and gives the tyrant Agamemnon (Brian Cox) the excuse he needs to reach the beaches of the city
She is the beautiful face of the odious Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) who swore not to rest till he destroy Troy once and for all
Achilles (Brad Pitt) makes a more human lover than a mighty warrior
He only fights when motivated but beware when he is furious and outraged
His hatred for the malevolent conqueror Agamemnon is deliciously to look at and consider
Rose Byrbe (Briseis), a priestess and cousin to Hector, is moving in her willing to give up everything as long as her deadly Greek warrior lives
Odysseus (Sean Bean) provides the Greeks enough soldiers to conquer Troy with terrible consequences.
There's a reason why this movie is called TROY and not 'The Iliad', as the movie's ending credits clearly point out that the movie was 'inspired by the Iliad', so don't watch TROY expecting it will be like 'The Iliad'.TROY, directed by Wolfgang Peterson, is entertaining from start to finish, considering it contains three of the most hottest men in Hollywood: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, and Orlando Bloom, all in skirts.
The movie starts off in ancient Greece, where Trojan Prince Hector (Eric Bana) and Prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) have come to Sparta on a diplomatic mission to make peace with Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson), the Spartan king.
His best scene is when he loses to Menelaus and crawls back to his brother, clutching his brother's leg, imploring Hector to save him, showing the coward that Paris really is.But the true star and savior of the movie is Eric Bana with his excellent portrayal of Hector, the heir and Prince of Troy.
Bana conveyed perfectly all the expressions of love, anger, fear, hatred, pride and suffering in his eyes, while Brad just looked fierce the whole time, even in his death; the only exception was when Achilles sobs over Hector's body, which was Pitt's best scene.
The movie is full of mistakes:1) at the time of the war of Troy there was not cavalry because horses where not mounted at the time;2)The armors, the helmets and the shields where different as those described by Homerus and in use about in the 1250 b.c.;3)First man reaching the shore at Troy was Iolao ( then the army changed his name in "Protesilao" meaning "first among the people")saving the Achilles' life on behalf of a prediction about the death of the first man landing at Troy;4) There is a big confusion beetween the ages, Myceneians, Greeks, Hellenic age and so on;5) Buildings, costructions and temples are not of the age.The movie is a real disappointement to those that loves the poems of Homerus even the feeling of the epic era was wrong!
All the gods were directly involved in this war, by love, or hate, or by cunning.So, Wolfgang Petersen made a great movie, for the main issue of the Iliad, ACHILLES ANGER, is fulfilled in his excellent deed.Brad Pitt is wonderful Achilles, the right one (Homer ever called Achilles handsome and blond)), so, Brad, I don`t know if you like this roll or not, but you was born to act the Achilles, as Viggo Mortensen was so to act the Aragorn (I don`t want to compare the actors!).
Brad Pitt looked good, leaped handsomely around the set during fight scenes, and gave the suggestion that the film should have been called "Achilles" instead of "Troy." The computer-generated armies looked convincing, and the acting was at least better than average.
i really want to say that this movie offends greek people and everyone who has read the real story.First of all,achilleus wasn't serving agamemnon or anyone else.He was born in thessaly and especially in the town i came from(farsala).So the fact that in the beginning he is fighting against thessaly has nothing to do with true.Now in troy,hector kills menelaus and ajax at the first day of the war,when it is known that menelaus survived of the war and went back to sparti with helen of course and ajax killed himself at the last year of the war because of a fight he had with oddyseus about who would take achilleus' weapons after his death.The war lasted 10 years and not of course two weeks.Paris killed achilleus at the 9th year of the war.Also,agamemnon didn't die by the woman in troy,but from his wife when he got back in mikines.And the only trojan who survived from the massacre was aineias,who carried his sick father and his little son in his back..
Title: Troy Directed By: Wolfgang Peterson Starring: Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Peter O'Toole, Brian Cox, Brenden Gleeson, Sean Bean, Rose Byrne, Diane Kruger Rating: 8/10Where to start, where to start?
When I heard that Hollywood was making an epic movie based on Homer that would star Brad Pitt and Eric Bana, I thought to myself: "NO WAY!
it's a good movie, if you can get over the fact that the original story of troy didn't happen the way it was told in the movie.And that the ten year war lasted only for a couple of weeks in the film.But overall, great sets, great special effects, great battle scenes (esp.
If you love period movies,TROY is a treat.Brad Pitt makes u believe he is Achilles.The War sequences are beautifully shot and so are the one to one combat scenes.The combat between Hector(Bana) and Achilles is the best I have ever seen,especially cause the fight is not the usual,basic sword/spear fight,rather it is very intelligently choreographed; with unconventional fighting styles.The special effects are very convincing.The cast is perfect and everybody does justice to their character,and i don't think any other could play Achilles as good as Brad.The movie may be just under 3hrs long but is fast paced and keeps u engaged.It's a must watch for all period movie buffs.. |
tt0077138 | L'albero degli zoccoli | An absolutely engrossing film. A wonderful slice of life in rural Italy at the turn of the century. No great dramatics but a detailed examination of a year of peasant life. The characters, especially the young children are so endearing. A three hour film but never dull. No big name stars but each performance is so very real. A must see. The photography of northern Italy is so very atmospheric. The plot emphasizes the extreme poverty of the people but also how well they treat one another and the limitations of living in the homes and the land of a well to do but uncaring landlord. The only parts that are difficult to watch are the slaughtering of livestock that was so much a part of life at the time. The program not only shows the extreme poverty of the farmers abut also their remarkable ingenuity in dealing with the trials that they face. The challenges faced are those relatively unknown to us, we who are so well off here in America. You can see from this film why so many individuals migrated from Italy to America at that time. However, this film is in no way downbeat, the viewer revels in the persistence, good cheer and adaptability of these people. | romantic, horror, storytelling | train | imdb | null |
tt0091530 | The Mission | The film is set during the Jesuit Reductions, a program by which Jesuit missionaries set up missions independent of the Spanish state to teach Christianity to the natives. It tells the story of a Spanish Jesuit priest, Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons), who enters the South American jungle to build a mission and convert a community of Guaraní Indians to Christianity.In the opening scene, a Jesuit missionary is lashed to a cross by the Guarani Indians who live above the spectacular Iguazu Falls. The missionary is then sent over the falls, cross and all, while praying fervently to God. His martyrdom inspires the gentle Father Gabriel to scale the hazardous falls and try to reach out to the tribe. Initially, the Guarani warriors prepare to kill him, but after Gabriel plays an unforgettable solo on his oboe, they allow him to live and he gradually wins their trust.Mercenary and slaver Rodrigo Mendoza (Robert De Niro) makes his living kidnapping natives and selling them to nearby plantations, including the plantation of the Spanish Governor Cabeza (Chuck Low). Mendoza subsequently finds his fiancee (Cherie Lunghi) and his younger half-brother Felipe (Aidan Quinn) in bed together. He kills Felipe in a duel. Although he is acquitted of the killing by Cabeza, Mendoza spirals into depression. Father Gabriel visits and challenges Mendoza to undertake a suitable penance. Mendoza accompanies the Jesuits on their return journey, dragging a heavy bundle containing his armor and sword. After initially tense moments upon reaching the outskirts of the natives' territory, though they recognize him, the natives embrace a tearful Mendoza and cut away his heavy bundle.Father Gabriel's mission is depicted as a place of sanctuary and education for the Guaraní. Moved by the Guaraní's acceptance, Mendoza wishes to help at the mission and Father Gabriel gives him a Bible. In time, Mendoza takes vows and becomes a Jesuit under Father Gabriel and his colleague Father Fielding (Liam Neeson).The Jesuit missions were safe, because they were protected under Spanish law. The Treaty of Madrid (in the year 1750) reapportions the land in South America. The land on which the Jesuit missions were located was transferred to the Portuguese, and Portuguese law allows slavery. The Portuguese colonials seek to enslave the natives, and as the independent Jesuit missions might impede this, Papal emissary Cardinal Altamirano (Ray McAnally), a former Jesuit priest himself, is sent from the Vatican to survey the missions and decide which, if any, should be allowed to remain.Under pressure from both Cabeza and Portuguese Governor, Don Hontar (Ronald Pickup), Cardinal Altamirano is forced to choose between two evils. If he rules in favor of the colonists, the indigenous peoples will become enslaved; if he rules in favour of the missions, the entire Jesuit Order may be condemned by the Portuguese and the European Catholic Church could fracture. Altamirano visits the missions and is amazed at their industry and success, both in converting the Indians and, in some cases, economically.At Father Gabriel's mission of San Carlos he tries to explain the reasons behind closing the mission and instructs the Guaraní that they must leave. The Guaraní question his authority, and Father Gabriel and Mendoza, under threat of excommunication, state their intention to defend the mission should the plantation owners and colonists attack. They are, however, divided on how to do this, and they debate how to respond to the impending military attack. Father Gabriel believes that violence is a direct crime against God. Mendoza, however, decides to break his vows to militarily defend the Mission. Against Father Gabriel's wishes, he teaches the natives the European art of war and once more takes up his sword.When a joint Portuguese and Spanish force of soldiers attack, the mission is initially defended by Mendoza, Fielding and the Guaraní. They are no match for the military force and Mendoza is shot and fatally wounded. When soldiers enter the mission village, they are slowed by the singing of Father Gabriel and the Guaraní women and children who march in the procession. The soldiers are reluctant to fire at a Mass. In spite of this, the Portuguese commander orders the attack and Father Gabriel, the rest of the priests and most of the Guaraní, including women and children, are gunned down. Only a handful escape into the jungle. Fielding sacrifices himself by killing the Portuguese commander and a few more soldiers before he himself is killed.In a final exchange between Cardinal Altamirano and Don Hontar, Hontar laments that what happened was unfortunate but inevitable because "we must work in the world; the world is thus." Altamirano replies, "No, thus have we made the world. Thus have I made it."Days later, a canoe of young children return to the scene of the Mission massacre and salvage a few belongings. They set off up the river, going deeper into the jungle, with the thought that the events will remain in their memories. A final title declares that Jesuits and others continue to fight for the rights of indigenous people. The text of John 1:5 is displayed: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." | tragedy | train | imdb | This man sent from Rome by the Pope himself has the power of life and death over the Guarani Indians and the Jesuit priests who have dedicated their lives to Christian service in the deepest regions of the South American rainforest.The film isn't perfect by any means: I would have liked better representation of at least one Guarani character but the integrity of Joffe's direction and Chris Menges' spectacular camera-work make this one film you have to see.
This story, presented here in a condensed way but developed in the film is so powerful that it leads to reflections: what, in fact, reigns in our lives; why good people have to suffer, why we are forced to do what we hate, it is so effortless to destroy while to build requires so much strength, why the world turns our good deeds into evil, etc.
I think that most readers will agree with me that THE MISSION is a masterpiece, a film that opens people to new horizons of understanding the profound thoughts that are there in our lives if we are willing to reflect on them or not.
This is a drama, not an "action film," but the movie has extended violent ending, and sometimes is shocking in that finale.Jeremy Irons, as the dedicated Jesuit who heads the mission, and Robert De Niro in a surprise role as the killer slave-trader-turned-repentant priest are both excellent in their leading roles.
But that is NOT all there is to this great film: Ennio Morricone's music reaches its greatest power, its most poignant intensity, its most gratifying melodic line, right here in `The Mission', surpassing everything this Italian composer had ever done before even with his great friend, Sergio Leone.
This is a movie that will always stay in my memory.First time I saw it, back in the late 80's,I thought it was too brutal and even morbid in a way.But the second and third time I was swept off by its non-conformistic beauty.The story begins unusually,with De Niro's character killing his own brother over a woman.The good priest in Irons' interpretation steps in as guiding light and leads him to salvation,which means that he takes him to his own Mission deep in the jungles.There De Niro is born again as an individual,though he doesn't lose his warrior instincts and I believe much of his story revolves around dealing with his newfound identity as a Christian and struggle to shake his old militant ways.The film gives us some strong performances and both De Niro and Irons should be praised for they pull it off wonderfully in their parts.I believe this to be De Niro's last great performance.The movie is beautifully shot,a Roland Joffe trademark,and though it ends tragically it isn't a sad film.Its poignant and highly enlightening and I believe many souls were deeply changed after seeing it.The Morricone score is brilliant as always.A nice supporting cast includes Liam Neeson and Aidan Quinn in some of their best early work.
Unfortunately, the end product isn't quite cinematic magic.Set in the 18th century, Jeremy Irons stars as Father Gabriel, one of several Spanish Jesuit priests (including Liam Neeson) assigned to convert the Guarini tribe of South America into Christians.
Determined to prevent such an action at any cost, Mendoza takes up his sword once more, coming into conflict with Father Gabriel's peaceful approach.The Mission was released in 1986 with little success in theaters, despite garnering a respectable 7 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
The story is a tragic one, but with a message of hope that there are indeed people like Irons and DeNiro for whom the positive aspects of their religion is not just platitudes.The best way to see The Mission is back to back with At Play In The Fields Of The Lord which is a 20th century look at the same problem.
However the movie is about Jesuits and both native and non-native laymen are backdrops to the development of the conflicts exhibited in the priests played by DeNiro and Irons.I certainly recommend this movie as a great drama that presents interesting questions in a formally pleasing way..
It is one of the foremost means to work upon man with an effect of marvel." I don't think there is a more eloquent movie moment to illustrate that statement than the scene from Roland Joffé's "The Mission" where the Guarani Indians find Father Gabriel (Jermeny Irons) in their territory.The previous Jesuit priest who tried to convert them ended up tied in a cross and sent to his death in the vertiginous Iguazu falls, probably the film's most spectacular and defining shot.
As the film concludes." The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Faith, like music, speaks for something hidden in the soul that no one can't reach, the belief in people's inner goodness, that no one is beyond any redemption, that's what Catholicism is about, and I'm not even Catholic, but within my own religion, I can respond to a film like "The Mission", and that's what Ennio Morricone's music accomplishes and what makes it one of the greatest score ever made.
Led by a majestic score by Ennio Morricone and sweeping cinematography and beautiful shots of the lush South American wilderness, this movie is one of the best of the 1980's.
The movie has been overlooked mostly because of it's Christian themes, but as it's about saving people and a man of the cloth, it should have these themes.This film is about how a Jesuit and a slave trader unite to save a South American tribe from relocation and other dangers.The acting is really good.
It deals with the tale of a Spanish Jesuit priest , called Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons), who goes into the South American jungle to build a mission and convert a community of Guaraní Indians to Christianity .
The film was Roland Joffé's epic "The Mission" with the unlikely cast of Jeremy Irons, Robert DeNiro, Liam Neeson and Ray McNally.
While nominated and winning many international awards, The Mission was mostly ignored by Hollywood, receiving only one Oscar (cinematography).The complexities of the story telling in "The Mission" are almost too much to take in in a single film lasting a bit more than two hours, but Jaffe has woven them together with a touch that is both delicate and profound, creating a tapestry as impressive and intricate as any medieval Flemish tapestry, its story held together flawlessly.While supposedly created for our own preservation and edification, politics and religion have done as much or more unspeakable horrors in the names of God and Man as they have good and in "The Mission" we see the bloody result, despite the effort of a few rebel priests who believe in the power of love and the natives with whom they try to share their world.
The villains are plentiful in this "true tale" and Joffe never disguises them, allowing the deceptive simplicities of "good versus evil" run its predictable course, as they twist and turn everything they touch into the inevitable choked and knotted apocalypse of sorrow that is always the end result of greed.Despite its bleak, often hopeless nature, Joffe nonetheless gives us a miracle: a film of such ineffable beauty that stirs both heart and mind through the combination of remarkable acting, a wilderness captured in breathtaking cinematography, battles both physical and spiritual, and wed it all to one of the most remarkable musical scores of the late 20th century..
The cinematography is beautiful, the score is perfect for the movie, and Jeremy Iron turns in one of the best performances of his career.The movie can be a little slow moving at times, and I understand how everyone may not like it, but there are certainly much worse movies out there to watch.
I love the story (and the way its told), I love the score (Morricone rules!), I love the photography (simply amazing and fascinating), I love the acting of both the main actors (don't need to name them) who help the talented director Roland Joffe' depicting one of the finest images of the struggles the native South Americans have been through centuries ago just to keep their culture and identity alive (and the battle is still raging, as we can read in the ending lines).
This is a movie filled with pure and deep humanity, charity, this is about mistakes and forgiveness, sins and redemption, the power of weapons against the weight of love, but most of all, the lessons we read between its lines is that, even in death, hope never dies, like the memory of great people will live forever as the living keep it alive.
The film begins with Jeremy Irons (Giving a beautiful performance) And Liam Neeson (in one of his first movies) go to the waterfall where Gabriel (Irons) is to find the old mission where the old missonary died.
Robert De Niro is the only reason that I watched the movie.I am an absolute fan of his.His Hairstyle in this picture makes him look like the Only Hero around.His performance when he plunges his knife to his brother and the scenes where he cries out loud and the final scene of his death makes this film memorable.Jeremy Irons provided as the believer and a guide.Liam Neeson even though got small screen time,he put up a good show.The film even though is slow and little dragging at times brings an entirely new mood to the viewers.
The Viceroy, played by Ray McAnally, gives the best performance in the film as the ex-Jesuit Priest who now obeys the king and not the teachings of the church.
Robert De Niro excellently portrays Mendoza, a converted Jesuit, whose former life reflects the convictions of his enslavement against the South American Indians.
Im a sucker for movies based on historical events and this movie portrays a beautiful captivating story based on the occupation of Spain in South America and the profitable slaving of the Amazonian rain forest people.What truly makes this a classic is the cinematography which earned it the Oscar and Golden Globe for this catorgory in 87.You top this off with some of Ennio Morricone best work and you have the making of some uplifting scenes which will humble you.The story is simple as it happened a lot in the 1700's.
De Niro is a slaver and the film is based around his way of life and finding god.The catholic church is the other big part in this movie and this is represented by some fine acting by the late Ray McAnally who plays Altamirano.The soundtrack will grab you the scenes will leave you awed and the things we did to each other will appall and inspire....enjoy a 80s classic.
When the story begins, a lone Jesuit priest, Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons), treks through the jungle in South America to try to establish a mission where one had previously failed.
If you think you've seen DeNiro's best, you have to see this film - true, too, of Jeremy Irons's performance.
Anyone who cares about what we did to the Native Americans in the United States needs to see what the Europeans did to the indigenous people of South America - as is brought out (at least one side of it) in this deeply touching movie about early power struggles in the New World.
So it's just the main plot's topic of this movie which then focus on the personal story of father Gabriel (played by Jeremy Irons), a Jesuit missionary, and Rodrigo Mendoza (Robert de Niro) a former slave trader which was converted to the Christian faith (and to the Jesuits) after kill his brother (because of a woman).
An emotionally journey in the South American villages of Brazil where Father Gabriel wants to bring Christianity to the natives and ex-slave hunter Mendoza to his mission in order to find peace for killing his brother.
It is also a film with "torn in different thoughts" heroes, torn between learned duties (as a priest for Mendoza) and his past, a conflict between catholic ideals and love as the only spirit and feeling who will live after all (a great final scene , a sunny and silent day in the jungle).
6 Academy Awards Nominations (including Best picture, Director for Joffe, a remarkable original music score from Morricone,for the incredible editing in the battle scene for Jim Clark etc) ,one win for the outrageous cinematography (once again) by Chris Menges, and a pair of -should be AAN- great performances from Irons and De Niro.
The mission starring Robert De Niro is a musical epic in itself.Fantastic score by Ennio Marricone.Soundtrack is fantastic.The performances given by Robert De Niro & Jeremy Irons are a blessing for all cinema lovers.This is a very good movie.The mission shows the struggle of two men who want to preach Christianity to the natives living in Brazil.When Spain sells the colony to Portugal,both are forced to defend all that they have built.We see a contrast between two men.Both have their own ways.De Niro wants to protect them by using firearms,as once he was a hunter.Whearas Irons is a committed priest who does not want to take firearms.He believes that god would protect them.The mission is a cinematic beauty with a great camera-work.
I've forgotten some of the details as I only saw the movie once when it was first released, but its basic themes & main characters have stayed fresh in my mind all these years, particularly the sense of awe I felt upon leaving the theatre following the dramatic closing scenes.Set in the mid 18th Century, the story revolves around Father Gabriel, a Jesuit priest and missionary, who travels to the South American wilderness, establishing an evangelizing mission to convert the native Guarani peoples to Christianity and teach them certain aspects of European civilization.
However, the compelling aspects of this magnificent film are the character portrayals of Father Gabriel & Mendoza, the sacrifices these Jesuits are prepared to make for this mission, the beauty of the peaceful native Guarani people, the abundant symbolism, the sense of grave injustice that these South American natives are nothing more than helpless pawns to European politicking, and the brutal atrocities to which they are subjected at the hands of the encroaching Portuguese.
The main focus of this part of the story surrounds the acts and deeds of Father Gabriel (portrayed to near-perfection by Jeremy Irons, who may be best known as the villain in Die Hard 3), who is desperately struggling--but succeeding in his struggles--at converting a small tribe of natives, who later work with him in the building of the mission San Carlos.
Robert De Niro changes his South American slave trading ways, and becomes a missionary with Jeremy Irons and Liam Neeson.
While many movies that deal with the exploration of the western hemisphere present a simplified and inaccurate portrayal of the European and Indigenous people's roles in that segment of world history, The Mission is written with a depth and complexity that better reflects what was really happening at that period of time.
Irons plays a Jesuit priest who sets up a mission in the South American jungle which is then threatened by greedy merchants and political factions within the church with De Nero as a converted mercenary and slave trader.
The dialogue, however, is such that none of the performances, except perhaps for Mr. Irons, are very memorable.Apparently The Mission also seeks to give the audience a moral lesson about modern day transgressions against the Guarani and other indigenous people in the Americas, but this is not particularly effective and comes across as cloying and, frankly, patronizing towards the natives, who, as stated earlier, are simply props in this story.Those with an interest in colonial South American history will find this film watchable, as will anyone who enjoys gorgeous scenery.
I remain moved and enthralled by his change of heart in this film, and his ability to constantly, in every movie he has ever made, but this one especially, make you believe and care about him.Jeremy Irons has a wonderfully subdued yet brilliant part as the missionary who brings DeNiro into the flock.
The highlights of this film about Jesuit priests in the South American jungles are beautiful cinematography and an intriguing score.
Jeremy Irons feels right for his role, but it's tough to accept Robert DeNiro in period films -- he's such a remarkable contemporary actor, and he's created such iconic representations of modern urban life, that he feels out of place in something like this.The film is a feast for the eyes and ears though, with Chris Menges, who had won an Oscar for photographing "The Killing Fields", adding a second trophy to his mantle for his work here; and Ennio Morricone providing an instantly classic score.Grade: A-.
Robert de Niro and Jeremy Irons give great performances here as Jesuit priests that yearn to save and teach the Indians.
You know,this is a movie for which its hard to find many words to describe it.Its my favorite Jeremy Irons part and clearly overshadows anything else he has done.De Niro is great as usual and we see a new side of him here.Film features scopes of beautiful nature and also wonderful actors as Liam Neeson and Aidan Quinn.Bravo Joffe!.
I will not bore you with any more details as other reviewers have told you plenty about Robert De Niro's character Rodrigo Mendoza (a slave trader), Jeremy Irons character Father Gabriel (Jesuit Priest).
The director of the film said this, "The first two movies I made The Killing Fields (1984) and The Mission (1986), I loved making, but in some ways they've been an albatross round one's neck.
Like i said earlier braveheart is my all times favorites , but The Mission is now sited next to it at the same level, This is really a great film and the scene when the indians accept De Niro in their group is really touching and one of the best scene ever. |
tt0061811 | In the Heat of the Night | Phillip Colbert, a wealthy industrialist from Chicago, is constructing a factory in Sparta, Mississippi. One night in September 1966, when driving back into town after a meeting at the plantation home of one of Sparta's leading citizens, Eric Endicott, he is murdered. His body is found on the pavement at the front of an alley's entrance onto Main Street by Police Officer Sam Wood at about 3:30 a.m.
Police Chief Bill Gillespie arrives on the scene where the body has been discovered and takes direct charge of the investigation. A local undertaker and a freelance photographer have been summoned to the scene to assist the police with their investigation. The undertaker tells Gillespie that it is his immediate guess that the death occurred no more than a couple of hours earlier than the time of Wood’s discovery of the body, around 1:30 a.m. Gillespie is also told by Wood that his patrol was quiet, without incident, and with no one seen.
Gillespie, speculating that the crime may have been committed by a transient, orders Wood to verify that the pool hall is closed (its hours had it open until 12:30 a.m.), the streets and alleyways are clear, and that the train and bus depots are clear as well.
At the town train depot, Wood finds a black man, Virgil Tibbs, sitting quietly with his luggage in a business suit after 3:00 a.m., waiting for what seems to be no specified train. Officer Wood immediately arrests him (at gunpoint), cursorily searches him, and finds more than $200 in cash in his wallet.
Wood takes him into the Sparta police station, where he presents him to Gillespie. Prejudiced against blacks, Gillespie jumps to the conclusion that he has his culprit and attempts to get Tibbs to confess. But he is embarrassed to learn that Tibbs is a police officer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who happens to make more money in a week than Gillespie does in a month.
Gillespie phones Tibbs' chief to confirm the story. The chief informs Gillespie that Tibbs is his top homicide investigator and recommends that Tibbs stay and assist the investigation. Tibbs wants nothing more than to leave as quickly as possible, and Gillespie politely tells the chief that Tibbs' assistance won't be necessary. But as Tibbs prepares to head back to the train station, Gillespie swallows his pride and asks for help. Tibbs relents.
Leslie Colbert, the victim's widow, already frustrated by the ineptitude of the local police, is impressed by Tibbs' expertise when he clears another wrongly accused suspect whom Gillespie has arrested on circumstantial evidence. She threatens to stop construction on the much needed factory unless Tibbs leads the investigation. Unwilling to accept help, but under orders from the town's mayor, Gillespie talks a reluctant Tibbs into working on the case.
Despite the rocky start to their relationship, the two policemen are compelled to respect each other as they are forced to work together to solve the crime. Tibbs initially suspects wealthy plantation owner Eric Endicott, a racist who publicly opposes the new factory, as its workforce will consist primarily of black people. When Tibbs attempts to interrogate Endicott about Colbert, Endicott slaps him in the face, but Tibbs slaps him back, which leads to Endicott sending a gang of hooligans after Tibbs. Gillespie rescues him from the fight and orders him to leave town for his own safety, but Tibbs is convinced he is on the trail of the murderer, and refuses to leave until he has solved the case.
Tibbs' examination of Colbert's body has already placed the murder much earlier in the night than either Gillespie or the Sparta police had initially thought. He examines Colbert's car, and deduces that it was used to drive the dead man's body back from an as yet unknown location where Colbert was actually killed. Tibbs asks Wood to retrace his steps from his patrol on the night of the murder. Tibbs knows that an earlier time of death for Colbert means that Colbert's body was driven around Sparta and dumped into an alley while Wood was on patrol.
Tibbs and Gillespie accompany Wood on his patrol route, stopping at a diner where the counterman, Ralph Henshaw, refuses to serve Tibbs. When Tibbs notices that Wood has deliberately changed his route, Gillespie starts suspecting Wood of the crime. Tibbs indicates that he knows why Sam has changed his route but will not disclose the reason to Gillespie.
When Gillespie discovers that Wood made a sizable deposit into his bank account the day after the murder (which Wood claims is gambling winnings) and Lloyd Purdy, a local, files charges against Wood for getting his 16-year-old sister Delores pregnant, Gillespie arrests Wood for the murder, despite Tibbs' protests. Purdy is offended that Tibbs, a black man, was present for his sister's interrogation about her sexual encounter with Wood, and he gathers a mob to get his revenge on Tibbs.
Tibbs is able to clear Wood by finding the original murder scene, the site where Colbert's factory will be built, and pointing out that Sam would not have been able to drive his police patrol car and the victim's car at the same time. Tibbs also admits that he knew immediately that Wood changed his route not to hide being a murderer, but to hide being a peeping Tom (peeping on Delores Purdy, who herself is an exhibitionist), and declined to publicly reveal this in order to spare Wood embarrassment.
Acting on a hunch, Tibbs tracks down the local back-room abortionist, who reveals that someone had paid for Delores to have an abortion. When Delores arrives, Tibbs pursues her outside, where he is confronted by the murderer, Henshaw. Purdy's mob has tracked down Tibbs and is holding him at gunpoint when he proves to Purdy that it was Henshaw, not Wood, who got Delores pregnant.
Henshaw shoots Purdy dead before being disarmed by Tibbs. Henshaw is arrested and confesses to the murder of Colbert. He had robbed Colbert to gain money to pay for Delores's abortion but had accidentally killed him in the process.
His job done, Tibbs finally boards the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio train out of town, after being bid farewell by a now respectful Gillespie, "Virgil, . . you take care, . . you hear." | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0433400 | Just Friends | In 1995, Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) is an overweight high school student with a lisp, braces, and a "gentle giant" demeanor who secretly has a huge romantic crush on his classmate and best friend Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart). After confessing his feelings by writing them in Jamie's yearbook, he attends Jamie's graduation party. As he returns the yearbook to her, it is secretly swapped by her despicable ex-boyfriend, Tim (Ty Olsson), who reads the declaration aloud to everyone and humiliates Chris. Jamie doesn't reciprocate his romantic feelings; after they share a brief kiss on the cheek, Tim and the class burst in and humiliate Chris again. While Jamie admonishes them, Chris tearfully leaves the party, announcing that he would never return and vows to be more successful than everyone.
Ten years later, Chris has lost weight, is handsome, and lives in Los Angeles; he is a womanizer who has dated supermodels, starlets, and socialites, works as a highly successful record producer and also holds a position of senior vice president of the same record corporation he works for. Prior to Christmas, Chris's employer, company CEO KC (Stephen Root), asks Chris to accompany an emerging self-obsessed pop singer named Samantha James (Anna Faris) to Paris to ensure she signs with their label, an order to which Chris reluctantly complies. During the trip to Paris, Samantha accidentally sets her private jet on fire resulting in an emergency landing in New Jersey, near Chris's hometown.
Chris takes Samantha to his mother's house to spend the night and re-engages with his teenage past, including his unresolved feelings for Jamie. Samantha meets Chris's mother and 18-year-old brother Mike (Christopher Marquette) who has an enormous crush on Samantha. At the local bar, Chris encounters some old classmates, including his best friend Clark (Fred Ewanuick) and Clark's wife Darla (Amy Matysio); he also encounters Tim, who is now balding, fat, and a heavy drinker. Jamie also appears, working as a bartender to support herself through graduate school.
Chris plans to impress and seduce Jamie. He gets Mike to keep Samantha busy during his date with Jamie, but the realization that Jamie's platonic friendship is important to him hampers Chris's plan. During a friendly ice skating "day date", Chris is taken away in an ambulance after injuring himself. At the scene, Jamie is reunited with Dusty Dinkleman (Chris Klein), a paramedic and former high school nerd who was also romantically in love with her.
That night, in an attempt to rectify his situation, Chris again leaves Samantha in Mike's hands and takes Jamie to a movie showing of The Notebook. Jamie, however, brings Dusty along, and Chris's mother ends up joining them, ruining Chris's plan. Meanwhile, Samantha plays a gig at the heavy metal club that Chris sent her to, gets booed off the stage and assaults a member of the audience.
The next night, Chris goes to Jamie's for a Christmas party, planning to reveal his feelings for her, but he finds Dusty already there winning the guests over with his charm and musician talents. Back at Chris's place, Samantha ambushes Mike and pushes him against the bathroom wall demanding to find out Chris's location; fully aware of his feelings, she passionately tongue kisses him until he tells her where Chris has gone. In a rage, she drives to Jamie's house and crashes through her fence, destroying her family's Christmas decorations. Chris returns home in embarrassment, and Jamie follows him; she tells him she is not mad and they end up spending the night together catching up and looking at photos, but due to Chris's continuing lack of assertion, the two end up falling asleep and no romance ensues.
The next day, Jamie speaks with Darla about the night before and her fear that Chris's lack of affection means that he doesn't like her. Jamie admits that while the two are "just friends", she tried to "put herself out there" to Chris, to show Chris that she is interested in a relationship. Meanwhile, Chris goes to Clark's medical office to get advice, saying that "the timing wasn't right" and Jamie and Chris's history hinders his willingness to have sex with her. Outside the office, they happen to catch Dusty singing to a sexy nurse and then kissing her. Dusty reveals to Chris and Clark that he only plans to have sex with Jamie, as he wants to humiliate her in the same way that he felt she used to humiliate him when he was a nerd and she was the object of his crush.
Chris tries to warn Jamie, but instead ends up attacking Dusty in front of her; Jamie refuses to listen when Chris tries to explain. Chris consequently gets drunk and goes to the bar where Jamie works, finding her there with Dusty. Jamie refuses to listen and Dusty tries to convince her to have sex with him. When Jamie gently turns him down, Dusty storms out of the bar. Chris and Jamie get into another fight, with him blaming her for keeping him in the "friend zone" and saying that she "peaked in high school" and will never amount to anything. Jamie punches Chris and he is tossed out of the bar.
Upon returning to LA and having a frightening reunion with Samantha (who sneaks into Chris's house to "surprise him"), Chris realizes that Jamie is his one and only official and true love. He returns to New Jersey hoping to finally be with her. Chris declares his genuinely intense romantic love for Jamie at her house and the two share a kiss outside, in view of the neighborhood kids. | romantic, entertaining, flashback | train | wikipedia | He returns home with Ditzy Popstar Samantha (batently a Britney spears mimic) who is one of the main contributers to the comedy, (the scene with the toothpaste is hilarious) He bumps into Jamie who is amazed to see Chris, but when they go on dates he puts on a "cool boy" front and Jamie doesn't like it, she wants her original "fat" Chris back.The movie goes on from here, many mishaps and slapstick fights with his hilarious younger brother, and his rivalry for Jamies heart (Chris Klein) Dusty.I left the cinema laughing, not one dull moment in this movie.
If you're tired of the raunchy humor of the likes of 40-Year Old Virgin and want a good movie for a date or just as a stand alone movie, this one is great.
It's got so many things in it that make it wonderful: Tasteful witty humor, good plot, puts you in the Christmas spirit (but also works as a non-seasonal movie), and gives props to any guy who's been put in the "Friend-zone".
"Just Friends" is one of the best romantic comedies I have seen in a long time, but my only problem was on how it ended because it seemed like it just wanted to get it done and over with.
"Just Friends" is about a guy named Chris (Ryan Reynolds) who in high school was an overweight but caring, sweet, and likable guy.
Ten years later, Chris sheds all his weight and is now a big time record producer touring with the hottest pop star Samantha James (Anna Faris).
I actually like the fact that the movie had a nice message in the end which basically said "be yourself and it will pay off in the end." The jokes for the most part worked for me because they were all pretty innocent and didn't really rely on sex gags to sell the movie.I did however get annoyed by the amount of gay jokes in the film which like I always say are never really that funny and get old very fast.
There is only one gay joke in the entire film that works, while there are about 10 in the entire film.As far as acting goes, I must say it's about time that Ryan Reynolds stars in a decent movie!!!
Mr. Reynolds has finally gotten out of his box and played a role that wasn't tailor made for him.As for the rest of the cast, Amy Smart was also very likable as the best friend Jamie.
She basically played Jessica Simpson in the movie and there are a few jokes that really imply that's who they were mocking.The reason I think I actually enjoyed this film was that I could relate to the characters.
The main character Chris was like a few people in high school including myself, a really nice guy who was friends with a lot of very pretty girls but never moved past that point because of their image or how they were perceived in school wouldn't allow them to be more than just friends.
As long as you don't go into the theater expecting a film that is original and thought-provoking you should be fine because this movie is a decent holiday romantic comedy that both guys and girls alike can enjoy.MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Just Friends" is a 7/10 and it will be added to my guilty pleasure section of my DVD collection when it is released on DVD in a few months..
They had Ryan Reynold, playing a former obese guy which i found particularly pecant, and Anna Ferris as a creepy, "Paris Hilton" stalker, which was great because she added a lot of comedy to the film.
Also the gags were classic, and reminded me of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, which is one of my favorites, not to mention being somewhat similar to Van Wilder, in its attempt to Woo a woman while having a "nemesis" in the way of his goal along with Ryan's own personal problems with his past, and dealing with his brother, his "former" crazed girlfriend, and his out of touch mom (just kind of naive to things going on).
Chris's younger brother also does a nice performance of making sure his older brother Chris is well informed that he is a loser that can't "boink" the girl of his dreams while trying to get-it-on with Sam (the crazy girl played by Anna Farris) Either way, this movie appeals to all in need of a good laugh this holiday season.
It's a matter of the actors establishing good chemistry on the set, a real feeling of coziness and cohesiveness among the crew like the director and entire cast had time to grow into a comfort zone and produce a fully matured product with caricatured but detailed characters, an original soundtrack, etc.It's the sort of flick that wouldn't be anything without its very definite humor and gags though, despite the main narrative being actually quite original and a now cult classic theme (if not original, then one of the main "friendzone" concept films surely), and whether you like him or not, Ryan Reynolds brings his personal and unique touch to every movie set he enters.
He and Anna Faris are hilarious here, some scenes genuinely some of the funniest stuff from that entire cinematic era I can think of and surely connected on a purely humorous level where they were completely comfortable around each other and managed some of the best onscreen one-two combo comedy.
They'd also played together in "Waiting..." that same year, so, good chemistry and good complementary back and forth.Amy Smart does well also as the warm college crush/sweetheart many of us had growing up, but it's really the secondary characters that give this movie a major boost and fill in the blanks with comedic gusto when the protagonists aren't hogging up all the airtime: Chris Brander's mom (played by Julie Hagerty) is hilarious and hits so close to home as the overly naive and preoccupied mom ("well honey what on earth are you doing over at Joyce's ?!" -"be yourselllllffff !"), Dusty Dinkleman (Chris Klein): absolutely hilarious character.
And you know the movie makers put in genuine heart and effort when the film has its own batch of original songs that depict a character's flaws: "When Jamie Smiles" as the "stalker's national anthem", or Samantha James' "Forgiveness".
The relationship Brander has with his most annoying and immature little brother also adds to the good fun and the relatable quality of the overall picture.Whenever this film given its nature was supposed to run out of funny-steam, it kept going - whenever it was supposed to finally look like a cardboard Hollywood disposable comedy, it held up well enough - whenever the cheesiness was supposed to kick in hard, it managed to keep its composure and not sell out.
It manages to tell the truest story, deliver a genuine moral that doesn't collapse or sell itself too fast, while being quite honestly very funny even hilarious in parts and never stutter with its pace.This is surely too high a rating, but for this sort of film it indeed doesn't get much better than this: 9/10..
Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) is an overweight teen and he's in love with his best friend Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart).
When she is not on screen the film becomes almost a HALLMARK Christmas MOVIE.What this story is about In this romantic comedy, a recording industry executive (Ryan Reynolds - National Lampoon's Van Wilder, Blade: Trinity) comes face to face with his old high school crush (Amy Smart - Starsky & Hutch, The Butterfly Effect)--a woman whose rejection of him turned him into a notorious womanizer.
This comes naturally instead.Ryan Reynolds plays Chris Brander, a guy who's always wanted to be more than 'just friends' with his childhood pal, Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart).
His outlook on dating and relationships with female are now anything less than sensitive--never get stuck in a position where you're "just friends." Meanwhile, getting stuck having to babysit a brainless and selfish pop singer (Anna Faris as a parody of the Simpson sisters, it seems) that Chris's boss wants on the label, they are coincidentally stranded in his old New Jersey hometown en route to Paris.
It just seems like a chain of disasters is going to keep Chris and Jamie from every being more than 'just friends.' If you're in the mood for a movie to sit around watching with friends on some evening occasion, this is probably a good choice for the slumber party-esquire films.
But on the whole I'd say it's a sweet movie that made it a little easier to be cramped on a flight next to two guys who looked like the "before" Chris.Very fake fat suit and very fake New Jersey.
The film stars Ryan Reynolds as a former fatty who returns to his small hometown in New Jersey ten years after graduating from high school...rich, successful, and most importantly, thin and attempts to rekindle a romance with a girl (Amy Smart)who kept him in "The Friends Zone" in high school.
There are two memorable supporting turns by Anna Faris as a wigged-out client of Reynolds and Christopher Marquette as his little brother, but otherwise I'd take a pass on this unpleasant and unfunny film experience that works extremely hard for laughs but generates precious few..
Regardless, I still felt the need to take a shower after watching this movie; however, let me tell you that the stink of bad movie does not wash off easily.The only thing that saved this from being 1 star was a fat suit, retainer-wearing Ryan Reynolds singing I Swear.
Reynolds plays Chris, a hot young L.A. music executive who goes home to New Jersey for the first time in a decade and reunites with the girl he once loved his "best friend" Jamie (Amy Smart).
When he gets stuck in his New Jersey home town due to bad weather with a superstar singer he is trying to sign (Anna Faris), he finds himself reunited with his high school crush, (Amy Smart) and discovers she is his true love.
When I see her, I think of her being in the "Scary Movie" series, but she is a great actress and could have a future one day.She's funny by the way she talks and, because of her character in this movie, being a singer, I was laughing while she was performing one of her songs."Just Friends" could be a movie that anyone could watch.
Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Chris Klein, and Anna Faris were HILARIOUS!!!!
Just Friends stars Ryan Reynolds in a fat suit who plays Chris, the nice high school nerd who wants to declare his love for hot babe Jamie (Amy Smart) at the graduation party.Jamie likes Chris only as a friend which means platonic only relationship, no sex.
He also sees Jamie and plans to impress her but it always ends up in disaster and humiliation for Chris.Just Friends is an easy going and charming comedy with a few good laughs.
Just in time for the holidays is "Just Friends." The movie opens in 1995 New Jersey with Ryan Reynolds (as Chris) playing the "I'll sign my love in the yearbook" card as a 300+ pound loser.
Finally moving into the plot of the movie again, Chris goes for a drink at the local tavern and runs into old friends who are married, the "ultra-jock" from high school who of course is still donning the letter jacket and drunk, and finally Jamie.
Even though Ryan Reynolds is regarded as Hollywood's "hunky dork", he is an amazing versatile actor- drama, horror and comedy- which I feel is his forte.Getting beyond the whole "fat suit" thing, I don't think my friends and I have laughed so hard in a very long time.
If you're a Ryan Reynolds fan or like a feel good movie or just plain want to see something funny, then don't miss this film.
Ryan Reynolds plays a formerly fat high school nerd who is in love with Amy Smart's character, who is very attractive i might add.
Reynolds and Smart were best friends during high school and when Reynolds returns to his home town, their friendship is rekindled, much to the chagrin of Reynolds...Honostly, don't waste your time, money, life, mind, or anything else on this movie, it was terrible and horribly cliché...
All the funny parts were used in the trailers.The cast does a fantastic job with a lame script, although the character Samantha was just ridiculously over the top.I gave it a 4 for use of good looking guys, but my advice is wait til the DVD.Ryan Reynolds (Chris) is a hottie, and it's hard to believe he played both fat Chris and thin Chris.
Just because you take a traditionally funny actor and put them in some sappy love story situation doesn't mean you have a good romantic comedy and it sure as hell doesn't mean that self respecting movie goers will pay to see it or ever want to own a copy.
He plays a fat high school student(Chris Brander) who is in love with his best friend.
I haven't laugh as hard as i did in a long time before i seen "Just Friends" Ryan Renolds is hilarious as Chris Brander a a man who was a "Geek" in high school who was in love with the most popular girl in school Jamie Palimeno(the very hot Amy Smart)but when he finely gets the guts to tell her she blows him off.So ten years later Chris is a big time record producer who has to take his client Samantha James(the always hilarious Ana Fares) to Paris so she can play a show there.So then something bad happens to the plane and they have to stop in Jersey which is where Chris went to high school.He immediately starts to look for Jamie but when he thinks he has, her another former geek steps in Dusty Dinculmen(wonderfully plaid by the hilarieus Chris Klien)and he wants Jamie for himself.it is a great film with a good story and non stop laughs threw out the movie..
In 'Just Friends' Ryan Reynolds plays Chris, a guy who is in love with Jamie (Amy Smart) and has been since High School back in Jersey.
It was the same old romantic comedy clichés I see again and again, with sex being a rather large part of the film for a movie that is about people who don't have sex.Sure, the film is funny at times.
I don't mind Faris, but if your idea of a comedy is "Scary Movie", you're operating on the level of a third grader.The one thing this film had going for it, aside from the few funny parts, was the fact it rested on a nugget of truth.
'Just friends' stars Ryan Reynolds as Chris Brander, a former geek in high school that's grown up with all the right connections in LA.
It's a non-stop roller-coaster of laughs, interjected with serious themes as well.I loved all the actors, especially Ryan Reynolds and Chris Marquette, both being favourites from previous movie experiences (Van Wilder and The Girl Next Door respectively) I found the funniest part to be the relationship/fights between the two brothers(Reynolds and Marquette) - I watched the fights about twenty times each!
The first time i watched Just Friends, i laughed and i related to the Ryan Reynolds character, Chris Brander.
As a person who watches a prodigious amount of movies, i looked hard at this film to find some aspect that made it different then any other, but in the end, I found that this film robbed other comedies of their slapstick humor, creating the end result: Another big budget Hollywood film that in no way causes the audience to think.The acting was so-so, the plot uneventful, and the laughs forgettable.For a movie aimed at high school teenagers, i see a lot of support from adults, which causes me to ponder on the amount of untreated adult ADD in this country.
It would have helped the Anna Farris storyline a little bit, I think.All in all, it was a good movie - I laughed pretty hard at a few scenes and I can't say that all that often anymore.
The top-the-other-similar-movies high school humiliations go way beyond believable and the character flaws makes it impossible to relate to the lead.In the end it was one of those films that you completely understand by watching the first 5 minutes and the last 5..
Chris is fat, he has almost no friends, except for Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart "Road Trip"), but at the end of high school, he realizes that he wants the friendship to be more than just friends, but she refuses to allow that to happen, and it breaks his heart, which starts Reynolds on a huge womanizing spree, one with which is a musical artist (Anna Faris).
Great movie for all the guys stuck in the friends zone or who have that one girl in their head they've always loved, but couldn't tell her how he feels.
Fat Ryan Reynolds is not worth watching this movie
Just Friends is a rather funny comedy simply due to the presence of Ryan Reynolds and the chemistry he has with both Amy Smart and to a latter extent Anna Faris.
But then we come back around to the real plot, and nothing about these people's emotions seems real.Set in a simple but working plot which is set ten years after he graduated from high school a fat loser whose true love only wanted to be his friend, Chris Brander is now a record-label executive whose smarmy, womanizing ways go over in shallow L.A. Although we might already know what the end will turn out like (most romantic comedies are predictable), and simply by viewing the trailer, the journey and overall adventure is what makes this film better than it should be and better than several rom-coms.
This is the first time I've seen Ryan Reynolds in a movie and I must admit, he's funny. |
tt0972374 | Flatland | The film opens in a two dimensional world called Flatland populated by living squares, triangles, lines and other polygons. It is three days until the celebration of the year 3000. A Square, attorney at law, struggles to instruct his grand daughter, A Hexagon, in the art of sight recognition. The lesson is interrupted by his brother B Squares arrival. As clerk to President Circle, B Square wants to warn his big brother to stay home that afternoon while there is a meeting at the Senate of the Great Southern Republic of Flatland.The Senate session has been called to discuss the increasing hostilities between the Chromatist movement and the government. Senator Chromatistes is the irregular polygon who leads this rebellious movement that wants to legalize the right of Flatlanders to color their sides as they see fit. Traditionally a taboo practice, the laws were previously relaxed somewhat which emboldened the Chromatists to demand legalization against the will of the majority. The Great Southern Republic distinguishes itself from its enemy, the Northern Kingdom, by its stances on Chromatism and Irregulars along with a democratic government. Relaxing the laws has already been perceived as weakness by the Northern Kingdom who are massing on the borders.Unable to heed his brothers advice, A Square meets with his new client, the first female charged as a Chromatist and on his way home finds himself embroiled in the melee issuing forth from the Senate. President Circles soldiers have assassinated Senator Chromatistes along with his supporters thus sparking a riot that has spilled into the streets of the city. A Square barely makes it home safely where he then barricades his family against the chaos for the night.Once asleep, though, A Square has an unusual dream in which he visits a one dimensional world, Lineland, and attempts to convince the realm's ignorant king of a second dimension. A Square finds it essentially impossible to make the King of Lineland see outside of his eternally straight line. After waking uneasily, A Square learns that the riots which killed hundreds originated in the Senate meeting that B Square was attending. A visit to B Squares home confirms that he is missing in action and sends A Square through the city now under martial law in a fruitless attempt to find B Square. Passing through the marketplace, A Square comes upon an unusual merchant selling a fascinating item called a glow point which he purchases for A Hexagon who has been sulking since being disciplined for coloring one of his sides purple.The family prepares for another anxious night in Flatland only to be completely terrified by the sudden appearance in their home of A Sphere, CEO of Messiah, Inc. A Sphere declares that A Square is his apostle of the Three Dimensions and privately begins to explain things him. A Square resolutely refuses to entertain the concept of three dimensions to the point of becoming violent with A Sphere. In desperation, A Sphere decides the only way to convince A Square that there are three dimensions is to show him.Suddenly and quite painfully, A Square finds himself plucked out of his dimension and into Spaceland. After his initial shock, the gospel of 3 dimensions becomes clear to A Square along with the possibility of locating his brother from his newfound point of view. Having business himself at the Great Hall, A Sphere brings A Square to look for his brother there. On their arrival, A Sphere delivers the standard millennial speech espousing three dimensions to President Circle and the Priests who are anticipating this very event. After rejecting A Spheres message and attempting to kill him, the Flatland leaders execute all who have witnessed the event except B Square who is only imprisoned for life on pain of silence while his brother watches from high above Flatland.Realizing that time in Spaceland is short, at least for A Square, A Sphere brings him to Messiah, Inc. to finish his education on the gospel of Three Dimensions. Enthralled by the complex world of Spaceland, A Square posits further about 4 dimensions and so forth to A Sphere who dismisses it as nonsense. Meanwhile, A Squares intrusion into Spaceland has become a national emergency which prompts the Spaceland Senate to call to him to appear for a hearing in the Senate Chambers. The Senators demand an explanation from A Sphere for this serious breach of protocol in bringing a Flatlander into their midst. They insist that it will be viewed as an act of war by their enemies, the X-Axis, who will take the opportunity to launch a full scale war.During the discussion, A Square also learns that the X-Axis considers the Great Senate as weak because they have allowed the continued existence of his own world, Flatland, which they view as an abomination. As the debate in the Senate rages, an ailing A Square tries to explain his theory of multiple dimensions to an unsympathetic crowd. Air raid sirens wail as A Square collapses from the overwhelming effects of gravity on his two dimensional body and chaos ensues.A Sphere manages to send his dying apostle back on his way to Flatland via a mailing tube before bombs destroy Messiah, Inc. but A Squares journey back is fraught with obstacles and he ends up plunging in freefall toward Flatland and through its surface into unknown regions below where he experiences a revelation on dimensionality and infinity.The next thing he knows, A Square finds himself in his own bed on the eve of the year 3000 and his family inform him that the government has issued a proclamation ordering the arrest of anyone claiming to proclaim the gospel of three dimensions. Undeterred, A Square hurries to see his brother in Flatland jail to discuss their new shared knowledge of the third dimension. B Square, afraid of execution, denies the experience and in a panic assaults his brother who falls temporarily into an unconscious state where he encounters the now deceased A Sphere along with the Monarch of Pointland who curiously resembles a glow point. As the Monarch drones on in his monologue of being the all in all, the one in the one, A Sphere informs his former apostle that time is short and A Square must proclaim the gospel of the three dimensions to his fellow Flatlanders although they, like the Monarch, will probably remain trapped within their own perspectives.Returning to himself, A Square manages to escape Flatland prison and the guards that B Square has set upon his brother. Arriving at his home ahead of his pursuers, A Square informs his wife that they are going to defect to the Northern Kingdom where he might be able to spread the gospel of three dimensions to a more open minded populace. The soldiers arrive and A Square makes his escape with the help of Frau A Squares war cry that temporarily stuns them. Before he can reach the border, A Square is cornered by the soldiers whose attempt to dismantle and segment him is thwarted by the Northern Kingdom armys attack. In the fracas, things suddenly begin to disappear as though sucked down through the fabric of Flatland until only A Square remains. He too begins to disappear until there is only his eye, then a point of light, a glowing point of light, which welcomes him into another dimension. | cult | train | imdb | null |
tt0070332 | Lolly-Madonna XXX | This isn't perfect - I'm doing this from memory. But 'til now, there was no synopsis at all.The movie revolves around a minor feud between the Feather and Gutshall families. They dispute ownership of a small plot of land.As a prank and to provoke the Feathers, two of the Gustshall brothers forge a romantic postcard to themselves, from a fictitious girl named "Lolly Madonna." The postcard ends "Lolly Madonna XXX" (XXX meaning kisses).The Feathers find the postcard and decide to kidnap the girl to provoke the Gutshalls. They find a pretty girl, a stranger to the mountain, at a bus stop. The Feather brothers presume she's "Lolly." The girl says her real name is Roonie Gill, but the Feathers don't believe her and kidnap her anyway.Pap (Robert Ryan) decides to save Roonie ("Lolly"), even though he doesn't know her. The two families have minor skirmishes, but each one escalates.The Feathers steal a pig from the Gutshalls, partly as a prank. Sister E Gutshall comes to get the pig back, and seems also to want to visit with Hawk feather, on whom she has a crush. She watches as Hawk, a hopeful country singer, singing and performs as he fantasizes he's on stage.Sister E taunts Hawk, who chases her. He catches her and they start to make out. (I think) Skylar wants to join in, but Sister E resists. Both brothers end up raping Sister E. She goes home to her mom and dad crying. This further enrages the parents against the Feather family.Two Feather sons and their father, Laban, stake the stolen pig out where Pap Gutshall can see it. They threaten to shoot it if Laban doesn't give them title to some disputed land between them. The argument escalates and the Feathers set fire to the grass around the pig. Roonie attempts to rescue the pig, but can't. Pap shoots the pig to put it out of its misery in the fire.Fuming for revenge, Pap has Ludie, his overactive son, and Villum his Vietnam-vet son start an attack on the Feather house.Inside the Feather house, it appears there's a dark secret which has torn the family apart. Laban hates his son Thrush, who goads Laban into beating him up. Through flashbacks during the beating, we see that the two families were once close friends, bonded through the marriage of Zack (Jeff Bridges) and the daughter of Pap. Thrush was good with horses and trained the horse Pap's daughter loved. I found it odd that Zack was the only non-bird named son in the Feather family. Even the mom is named "Chickie."In the flashback, we see there was once love and happiness in the family. It all ended with a tragic accident, in which Zack's wife, who is also Pap Gutshall's daughter, fell off a horse and was killed. Laban kills all the horses including the "guilty" one, and forever blames Thrush, who trained them all. We see at the end of the flashback that Laban has beaten Thrush to death.Meanwhile, Pap's son Zeb (Gary Busey) has come to make peace and is held hostage instead. It's apparent that Laban is losing his mind and the violence will escalate even further out of control.Skylar Feather decides this is all too much. The only way to live is to escape. He offers to take Roonie away to safety, but sees she and Zack are obviously in love. He leaves on his own. Ludie and Villum see the truck. Villum uses his sniper rifle to kill Skylar just as he drives off the property.Ludie and Villum set up a siege of the Feather house. There is gunfire between them and those inside. Hawk is fatally injured. He makes a last stand on the porch, wearing his on-stage jacket. Hawk is hoping to go out in style and perhaps end the battle. Villum shoots Hawk again. As he dies he has one final on-stage fantasy.Laban finally retreats into total insanity. Zack banishes him to his room, where he prepares sandwiches of ketchup and mayonnaise.In revenge for the killing of Hawk, Chickie Feather shoots and kills the hostage Zeb. Now, they have no cards to play and have to battle it out to the end.Ludie attacks the Feather house with egg "grenades" and Zack shoots him. Villum makes an angry charge and is also shot to death.Pap sadly walks back to his home, childless. His wife retreats to her room. It's obvious she is disgusted with this "war" and has no more respect or love for Pap.I believe Finch, the retarded Feather son, is still alive at the end. Chickie is left with him and the insane Laban. It appears that Zack and Roonie will leave the battle-scarred mountain and start a better life together somewhere else.That's the best I remember how it ends. Like Vietnam, there were no winners, except maybe those who ran off (to Canada, in the US case).Hope this has been helpful. It should be close to accurate. Feel free to improve upon it. My memory isn't what it used to be!YouTube has a behind the scenes video of this movie:(add " /watch?v=JabMYjwYO7c " to the their URL)Sister E. Gutshall (I have no idea what the E stands for) is still alive at the end, but she is shown taking off suitcase in hand too. Also, it wasn't Hawk she was in love with. It was Skylar. It was really a good movie, but the ending was so sad. | revenge, prank, murder, violence, flashback | train | imdb | Two rustic families, headed by patriarchs Laban Feather (Rod Steiger)and Pap Gutshall (Robert Ryan), begin a feud.
One such trick gives the Feather boys the idea to kidnap a girl, who turns out to be innocent bystander Roonie, not the made-up girlfriend named Lolly Madonna.
As events escalate, Jeff Bridges' character, Zack Feather, and Roonie fall in love and try to bring the others to their senses.
What Roonie doesn't know is that Zack has a dark secret, which will explain why there is much real pain between the two families that once were close friends.The plot really pushes forward in this movie, which I believe is in part an allegory for the mindlessness of war in general, and for Vietnam in particular (the Paris Peace Talks were about to start when the movie was released).
The touching performances make you feel for and care about every character, from wannabe "Elvis" Hawk Feather (Ed Lauter) and his sensitive brother, Thrush Feather (Scott Wilson), both patriarchs, each with a different cross to bear, to the patient, wise, quietly suffering matriarchs (Tresa Hughes and Katherine Squire).
Relative newcomers Jeff Bridges, Gary Busey and Season Hubley bring focus and hope to the film.
Even the simple melodic score is perfect, coming forward at just the right time."Lolly-Madonna XXX" brings tears to my eyes every time I see it...
This is a movie I, like many others, caught on late night TV.
Being a long-time Jeff Bridges fan, I thought I would give this a whirl when it showed up on TBS back in the 80's.
Scott Wilson, Randy Quaid, Ed Lauter, Keil Martin and 70's staple Paul Koslo all add to the richness of this flick.
I too saw Lolly Madonna XXX very late one night 20 years ago.
I am now 41 years old and still haunted by this film.
When I saw this movie at 21 years of age, I was very disturbed by it - the way these families lived, the misunderstanding and violence between the families, the misunderstanding and violence within each family itself -it was overwhelming.
However, to this day, I consider this to be the best film I have ever seen.
I judge a movie based on the ability it has to make me really FEEL - and Lolly Madonna did that for me like no other film ever has!!
I was fortunate enough to have caught this a second time about 15 years ago on the late, late movie (from the beginning) and was able to video tape it.
I saw this movie on TCM late at night (must be around 2 AM) when I was channel surfing.
But once you see established names like Rod Steiger, Robert Ryan, Jeff Bridges, Randy Quaid, Scott Wilson, Ed Lauter and Gary Busey, you know you are wrong.Though not everybody's cup of tea, Lolly Madonna XXX is a surprise treat - one of those movies that surprise you just when you think you know whats going to happen next or assume nothings going to happen at all.
With terrific performances especially by Ed Lauter, a(very thin looking)Randy Quaid and a very young Jeff Bridges besides a beautiful score thats just right,this is a movie you shouldn't miss..
I can't tell you how many years ago I saw this movie late night on some local station.
The only thing I can tell you is that it has stayed with me for years, haunted me and I can't say why.I'm from Tennessee, so that part may resonate with me, although I'm not from the back hills of the state.I remember how cute Season Hubley and Jeff Bridges were.I don't remember much about the music, but perhaps it wormed itself into my mind.Nope, no particular reason for it, and I've only seen it once..
Robert Ryan (wonderful actor since the 40's) and Rod Steiger (more restrained than usual) are the patriarchs of two rural hillbilly families with an innocent girl standing between them.Jeff Bridges, Scott Wilson, Gary Busey, and Randy Quaid are some of their brood that puts this slightly above the usual drive-in fare.
At that point the Feathers family appears to be only a few generations of inbreeding away from moving down to Texas to make lampshades out of human skin and chase Marilyn Burns with a buzzing chainsaw.Then, as the two feuding families headed by patriarchs Rod Steiger and Robert Ryan begin to spar about stolen hogs and a postcard written to one Lolly-Madonna and a grassy meadow that at one time belonged to one or the other family, something begins to change like a dark cloud passes over the movie.
It's about the creeping realization of a broken life muttering to itself late at night on a rocking chair by the window that "it's too late", that it's too late not for killing and dying but for even words.It's about something that happened long ago which can't be made right again, and it has something to do with a son who never came back from the war, about brothers who can never measure up to that son who never came back from the war because they stayed behind, about a dead wife who was more important to the father-in-law than the son who lost her, that much more important that the father-in-law had to sacrifice that which was the most important thing in the life of the other son (the one who never amounted much for anything) to repudiate the killing.
It's about bitter regret pain and anguish gnawing at the insides and then the grassy meadow is set on fire and the two families meet for a standoff outside the old rundown Feathers home, once probably elegant with wealth happiness and good fortune.In the end, the look on Rod Steiger's eyes turns from anger and sadness to complete madness and Sarafian gives us freeze frames of the main characters that look like portraits of despair, the colors are drained out and the movie turns sepia yellowish as if in memory of something lost, of that small insubstantial detail that involved horses and the dead wife that was the result not of practical design or coincidence but of the pure blind chance of the cointoss that forever changed the lives of two families.
Or like William Faulkner would say, between grief and nothing, Lolly-Madonna XXX will choose grief..
This viewer had been wanting to see this little movie for years.
Not only does it have a strong cast of veterans and then up-and-coming young stars, but it sounded like fun.
Sarafian (of "Vanishing Point" fame).Rod Steiger and Robert Ryan (the latter in one of his final film roles) play Laban and Pap, the patriarchs of the Feather and Gutshall families.
The title comes from a phony postcard, signed by a made-up woman, "Lolly-Madonna", designed to get one family to abandon their still.
This leads the Feathers to kidnap a young traveller (Season Hubley) who they are convinced must be this "Lolly- Madonna".It's interesting to note that this was an early credit for the famed author Sue Grafton, who also wrote the screenplay with producer Rodney Carr-Smith.
And what a supporting cast: Jeff Bridges, Scott Wilson, Timothy Scott, Kiel Martin, Ed Lauter, Randy Quaid, Gary Busey, Paul Koslo.
Bridges plays Labans' son Zack, and as he and Hubley make a connection, you realize that they're the biggest hope for some semblance of sanity and reason in this story.
Still, it's hard to deny the somber feeling of inevitability to everything here.The rough, grainy look is actually appropriate for the mood, and Fred Myrow contributes a very affecting music score.This is an intriguing, now somewhat obscure, movie deserving of another look.Eight out of 10..
Lolly-Madonna XXX is one of the exceptions.
I first saw it about 15 years after its release on late-night TV, and was very surprised at the way the plot held my interest, and the absence of even a slight awkwardness in any of the performances, given the potential for some of them to be taken over the top.
I wish it were available on tape or DVD so I could choose the times to watch it, and not have to wait for it to show up on late-night TV, whenever someone decides to run it..
I wish this movie was available on VHS or DVD..
Two rustic families controlled by fathers (Rod Steiger) and (Robert Ryan), provide for some excellent acting.
Not to mention Jeff Bridges, Randy Quaid, Ed Lauter, and Gary Busey.
Then there is Season Hubley making her movie debut, what a looker in her time.
Lolly-Madonna XXX, you just can not go wrong with this all star cast.
The cast alone makes viewing this multiple title film worthwhile.
Scott Wilson, Ed Lauter, Jeff Bridges, and Season Hubley, really carry the film, with top billed Rod Steiger and Robert Ryan more in the background.
Like a number of movies from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that were made in the first half of the 1970s, "Lolly-Madonna XXX" was hard to see for many years until quite recently.
I'd always been curious about it, so when it popped up on Turner Classic Movies one night, I was sure to record it and subsequently watch it.
After seeing it, I think I can understand why the movie was held back for so long.
It is well acted, both by established stars Steiger and Ryan, as well as by the members of the cast who hadn't become stars yet.
The movie feels authentic; you really get a taste of what run down and poverty-stricken life the characters live.
But as it is, the movie will probably only appeal to film buffs with interest in the cast as well as with major studio movies that are obscure..
Here a dispute over a lovely Tennessee meadow escalates tragically into a shooting war between two patriarchal families that devastates both clans.
Tragically, neither patriarch (Steiger nor Ryan) exercises the kind of leadership to head off the calamitous results.
Thus headstrong elements are allowed to operate at gut level instead of anything reasoned, producing tragic results.Frankly, I'm not sure whether I liked the film or not.
And judging from the dilapidated shacks, their time would be better spent fixing up where they dwell instead of taking each other down.On the movie's downside is the choppy editing that at times makes the storyline hard to follow, especially when the scene shifts from one clan to the other.
Anyway, Steiger is uncharacteristically restrained, while Ryan doesn't get the screen time his talent deserves.
At the same time, a lot of younger talent does get a chance to shine.All in all, I guess I respect the movie more than I liked it, its moral certainly meriting that kind of consideration..
i saw this movie in the early 70's aboard a submarine (ssn669) and since we had it on board for a month or more i was able to see it several times.
i fell in love with the movie in general but also with two things, the soundtrack by Michael Legrande was fanastic!!!!
i would love to know where to buy a copy of this as i'm not a fan of late night TV and i (gasp) don't have cable.
One is run by Rod Steiger, the other by Robert Ryan.
Things quickly escalate and it all ends tragically.This has a great cast--aside from Steiger and Ryan we have Jeff Bridges, Ed Lauter, Randy Quaid, Gary Busey and Season Hubley (a great actress who starred in many B movies well into the 1990s).
However despite all the good acting this movie never really works.
DVD of Lolly Madonna War at amazon.com.
Regarding the DVD version of Lolly Madonna War: I happened to see that the DVD version is for sale on amazon.com (United States).
To find it, type in Lolly Madonna War in search box.
I love this movie.
I saw this movie late at night when I was about thirteen, and loved it.
I am now forty years old and took the time to look this movie up on IMDB, so it seems to have made an impression.
I have always been a fan of Season Hubley and enjoyed the relationship that developed between her character and the Jeff Bridges character.
I would love to see this movie come out on VHS or DVD as well..
Watched it several times.If I would have known then what I know now, I would have kept it period.I have seen it on late night tube but not for years there either and it was seriously cut, cut=slaughtered.
Impressive acting by Steiger and Ryan.
I've only seen this movie 1 1/2 times.
I caught the end half of the movie decades ago on AMC when they didn't have commercials.
From that time on I watched for the movie to come on again, and finally I saw the whole picture so now I understand the plot better and was even more impressed.
A few times I saw a film short on the making of Lolly Madonna (xxx), but no movie.
This movie got me interested in Ryan and Steiger movies and since TCM I usually watch that channel 90% of time so I have come to really appreciate their catalog of movies.
I think perhaps the name with a triple X tacked on end is reason why movie is not shown or well known.
Had I see the listing for it I would not have even watched the movie the first time.
It should use it's less known name, the Lolly Madonna War..
I also saw this on the late night movie channels a few times and then when VHS & DVD became common I tried to get a copy for my collection and found that it is not been released ever !!!
What is with that ???...So I checked Amazon every month and other sites but no luck at all...Then a friend said they might possibly get it for me but it would be $50 or so...I said go ahead and 2 weeks later I got a copy on DVD that has been recorded from TCM and is a 5 in quality (scale of 1 to 10) and I could not have been happier to see this wonderful film again !!!
a great "family feuding" kind of movie, yet with a very "touching" scenario...still one of my favorite movie memories of the 70's!.
I was a runaway at 17, and after seeing this movie, I was so very grateful that I did NOT end up in a situation like Miss Hubley's character (Lolly).
I would love to see this movie re-released, especially in this "cyber" world...maybe an "education" can be achieved by some viewers.
This film is also notable as an early appearance for Randy Quaid - I don't know if it came before or after The Last Detail, but for me it should have made his name in the business..
Lolly Madonna XXX - RARE & INTENSE Flawed Film.
Lolly Madonna XXX was released in 1973 with an all star cast with direction by Richard Sarafin....this juicy film has been a lost movie since that time as it was never released on VHS, laser disk, DVD or pal in the U.K.....I finally watched a treasured print today 1/19/2014 and it certainly was not boring.
One thing to remember is that the title actually refers to a signature written at the end of a letter and should be read as: Lolly Madonna Kiss Kiss Kiss.
The movie appears to be a metaphor for the futility of war and the waste of precious lives over petty feuds.
Though this film is about a hillbilly Hatfield/McCoy type feud it seems to be eluding to the Vietnam War going on at that time.
What we have here is a poorly written violent film with an all star cast and riveting action!
Rod Steiger is the tough and crazed Daddy of the Feather family and his nemesis is Robert Ryan aka Pap Gutshall of the Gutshall clan.
If you like plenty of southern good-ole-boy characters and a chance to see Jeff Bridges, Gary Busey & Randy Quaid very early in their careers then this is the film for you.
These issues could be overlooked by the fine acting as Steiger verses Ryan is pretty wild to see and the talented supporting cast does good work...if only the film was not so depressing.
The famous Hatfield/McCoy feud this film stylizes, is true, FYI.The director --Richard Sarafian--is not a famous name.
And Sarafian also has one of the best ensemble casts ever, to play with: Robert Ryan, Rod Steiger, Jeff Bridges, Ed Lauter, Garey Busey, Randy Quaid, Scott Wilson, Season Hubley.
You haven't seen a cast like that outside of "The Long Riders".The story, two hick families warring over a contested meadow; has some wonderful moments.
Season Hubley (remember her in 'Hardcore'?) is the perfect waif for this film (she's hitch-hiking through and gets snatched by one of the families) but for the focal point of the movie there's not a lot of impact which stems from her presence.
The chance to see a sweating, grizzled, Robert Ryan and slovenly, brooding, Rod Steiger as characters nursing a huge hatred for each other is a helluva treat.
There's strong work from everybody in the film and even one awesome laugh-out-loud moment.What I found very interesting reading the IMDb page for the movie is that the screenplay is by none other than Sue Grafton.
I didn't know she was writing screenplays in the early 70s.Lolly Madonna XXX: worth a look!.
Rod Steiger is the grizzled patriarch of one family, Robert Ryan is the "principled" head of the other.
Steiger and Ryan are, as expected, excellent, but it's the cast of newcomers playing the sons that steal the movie.
Scott Wilson, Jeff Bridges, Gary Busey, Randy Quaid and especially Kiel Martin are outstanding.
The great underutilized Season Hubley plays the title role (or does she?). |
tt0091419 | Little Shop of Horrors | The narrator (Stanley Jones) tells of an event that once threatened the existence of the entire human race. It occurred in "the most seemingly innocent and unlikely of places", Skid Row, in New York. Three teenage girls (Michelle Weeks, Tisha Campbell-Martin, and Tichina Arnold) appear throughout the film as a Motown-singing Greek chorus. They set the scene at the unassuming Mushnick's Flower Shop ("Little Shop of Horrors").Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis), the meek, clumsy employee of Mr. Mushnick (Vincent Gardenia), lives a dreary life among the other unfortunate residents of Skid Row ("Skid Row/Downtown"). Taken in by Mushnick as a young orphan, Seymour lives in a tiny room below the flower shop and is treated fairly poorly by his employer. The light of his life is his co-worker, Audrey (Ellen Greene), a fragile, battered woman stuck in an abusive relationship. The flower shop is making virtually no money, and Mr. Mushnick is on the verge of closing it for good when Audrey mentions the strange and interesting new plant Seymour has been developing, and suggests that if it is properly advertised, it might attract more business. Seymour presents the plant, a large bud surrounded by layers of leaves. Mushnick is pleasantly surprised when customers begin flocking in after seeing the little plant in the window. Seymour has no idea what kind of plant it is, but explains how he got it ("Da Doo"): While he was shopping for odd new plants, his hobby, a solar eclipse occurred. After daylight returned, the strange plant seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Seymour bought it for cheap and brought it home to examine. He shyly admits that he named it "Audrey II."The shop is doing record business until the plant begins to wither. Seymour frantically tries to nurse it back to health, though water, sunlight, fertilizer, and minerals have done no good ("Grow For Me"). When he pricks his finger on a rose thorn and draws blood, Audrey II responds vigorously. Seymour realizes what it lives on, and reluctantly gives it a few drops. Audrey II has a dramatic growth spurt and business picks up, with Seymour becoming a local celebrity ("Some Fun Now"). He does not reveal the secret behind the plant's health.Audrey's boyfriend, Orin Scrivello (Steve Martin), is a sadistic dentist with a leather jacket, motorcycle, and ducktail haircut. He adores his profession because of the constant opportunities to inflict pain on others ("Dentist!"). He enhances his pleasure through his habit of huffing nitrous oxide, or "giggle gas", for a euphoric high. Seymour and Mushnick are concerned, as Audrey often comes to work with injuries or a black eye. Orin arrives at the shop one night to pick up Audrey, and Seymour sees first hand how roughly he treats her. Audrey, meanwhile, secretly dreams of an idyllic suburban life with Seymour ("Somewhere That's Green"), but is too frightened to leave Orin.Seymour angrily paces around the empty shop at night, venting his frustrations to Audrey II, who is now roughly the size of an armchair. To Seymour's great surprise, Audrey II responds with a human voice (Levi Stubbs) and demands more food. Knowing that the plant can no longer live on mere droplets of blood (partially because it is too big, and partially because Seymour is now weak and anemic from feeding the plant from his bleeding fingers), Seymour is reluctant to provide it with bigger portions. The smooth-talking Audrey II promises Seymour money, fame, and the girl of his dreams if he continues to nourish it with human blood ("Feed Me (Git It)"). Seymour initially refuses to murder for the benefit of Audrey II, reasoning that he doesn't know anyone "who deserves to get chopped up and fed to a hungry plant." Audrey II directs him to the window, where he sees Orin assaulting Audrey across the street. Filled with rage, Seymour agrees to bring back a specific meal for the plant.The next day, Seymour goes to Orin's office with a gun in his coat pocket. The patient before him, Arthur Denton (Bill Murray) is a gleeful masochist who frustrates Orin by actually enjoying the oral torture he receives. After Denton's departure, Orin drags Seymour into his office to get the sadistic fix he had been craving. Though he wants to spare Audrey further pain and has promised Audrey II fresh blood, Seymour is terrified of shooting Orin. Conveniently, Orin dons his special gas mask, which provides him with constant nitrous oxide and increases his sadistic pleasure. The mask malfunctions and Seymour watches his nemesis asphyxiate before his eyes. Seymour drags the body back to the flower shop, where he reluctantly chops it up with an axe and feeds it piece by piece to Audrey II.Seymour is understandably shaken by the incident, and sees the police speaking with Audrey the next morning about Orin's disappearance. He tries to comfort Audrey, telling her that she had deserved a better man all along. While Audrey admits that her low self-esteem kept her tied to Orin, she feels partially responsible for his fate because she had been silently wishing him out of her life. Though he does not reveal the truth about what became of Orin, Seymour promises to stand by Audrey no matter what ("Suddenly Seymour").Invigorated from finally winning Audrey's love, Seymour returns to the flower shop. He is confronted by Mushnick, who had seen Seymour dismembering Orin's body the night before. Mushnick assumes that Seymour's devotion to Audrey caused him to murder the cruel dentist, but does not suspect that Audrey II is involved, and knows nothing of its grisly diet. Mushnick leads Seymour upstairs at gunpoint, planning to turn him in to the police. He then offers Seymour a proposition: Seymour leaves town forever, and Mushnick keeps the money-making plant. As Audrey II coaxes Seymour to sacrifice Mushnick to clear his own name ("Suppertime"), Seymour nervously backs Mushnick into the gaping maw of the hungry plant, killing two birds with one stone.With Audrey II grown to enormous proportions, Seymour's celebrity increases ("The Meek Shall Inherit"). However, he is miserable and terrified of the plant's eating habits getting out of hand. He begins to fend off the media and turn down large sums of money, feeling guilty for his part in the secret deaths of Audrey II's meals. He finally puts his foot down, denying the plant any further feedings. He and Audrey plan to run away that night and get married, escaping Skid Row forever. However, he buckles when Audrey II seemingly agrees to accept some meat from the butcher instead of a human corpse. Seymour falls for the ruse and leaves the shop. The plant, with its fully mobile tendrils, uses the phone to call Audrey's apartment across the street, begging for water. Audrey, in her wedding dress, comes to oblige, and is amazed that the huge plant can talk. As she fetches the watering can, the plant wraps its vines around her legs and drags her into its mouth ("Suppertime II").Seymour returns just in time to save Audrey from being devoured. Outside the shop, he explains how dangerous the plant is, and how he only kept it because he thought Audrey would cease to like him if he were no longer rich and famous. Audrey assures Seymour that she loved him from the moment she met him, and still does. They are interrupted by a salesman (James Belushi) who shares with Seymour his idea of collecting trimmings from the plant and marketing miniature Audrey IIs all over the country. Seymour deducts that this was the plant's plan all along: It was an alien that came to earth during the solar eclipse and was bent on world domination. He rushes back into the shop for a final showdown with Audrey II. The plant thwarts Seymour's efforts at killing it, and begins to taunt him as its branches destroy the building and new buds begin to bloom ("Mean Green Mother from Outer Space"). Emerging from the rubble, Seymour grabs a live electric wire and touches it to Audrey II's vine, electrocuting it and causing it to explode into nothing.Seymour and Audrey are married and arrive at their suburban dream home, just as Audrey had imagined. As they enter the front door, a baby Audrey II plant is seen in their garden, a tiny smile on its pod. | comedy, dark, murder, cult, romantic, sadist | train | imdb | The 1986 film version of the Broadway musical LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is an entertaining movie based on the black comedy from the 1960's about a nerdy milquetoast who raises a man-eating plant that gets totally out of control.
Rick Moranis is perfection as Seymour, the nebbish who is at a loss at what to do when his own Frankenstein grows too big for him to control and Ellen Greene (reprising her role in the original musical) is delightful as Audrey, the object of Seymour's affections.
Vincent Gardenia plays the greedy flower shop owner, Mr. Mushnik and Bill Murray is hysterically funny in one scene as Arthur Denton, a man who seems to enjoy going to the dentist a little too much.
I'm talking about the 1986 color musical with Rick Moranis and Audrey II by way of Frank Oz. Like I tell my friends about "Babe," I love a film with a Greek chorus.
I'll watch this film again, just to hear them sing one line: "TO TAL E CLIPSE OF THE SUN!" This is an all-singing, all-dancing science fiction black comedy that features human misery, a sadistic dentist, a masochistic patient, casual murder, girlfriend abuse, and a blood-sucking alien house plant monster.
From Steve Martin's sadistic Elvis-inspired dentist to the early girl-group rock score, "Little Shop" moves with an appropriately cheesy style that lets you in on the joke, yet never insults you for loving those poverty row movies..
How that tiny little woman can shake the walls like that is a great mystery -- my God, what a pair of lungs!Everyone else has sung the praises of Levi Stubbs and Steve Martin, and a raft of other cameo roles, so I'll just say, "Ditto."As I said, I was a big fan of the very dark "original" version, and I never saw the stage play.
Rick Moranis as a geek, Ellen Greene as a bubbly blonde, Steve Martin as a cool biker dentist, Bill Murray as a giggling masochist, Vincent Gardenia as a slob flower shop owner, etc.Fans of the original Corman film will be deeply disappointed.
"Little Shop of Horrors" really is a movie that is fun to watch over and over again.I'm not a big musical fan but I can appreciate a classic like "Grease", "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and a good Disney movie.
The other most fun character is played by Steve Martin in one of his best and most fun roles I've ever seen him in.I can't say that I'm a big fan of all of the songs but still there are some good songs in the movie which makes it a successful and pleasant musical to watch and listen to.9/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1986) ***1/2 Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia, Steve Martin, Jim Belushi, John Candy, Christopher Guest.
Entertaining musical comedy based on the off-Broadway smash inspired by Roger Corman's cult low-budget horror flick "The Little Shop of Horrors" never lets up on energy in this decidedly camp tale about nerd Seymour Krelborn (Moranis in geek mode) the apprentice florist at a skid row floral shop whose hybrid creation of a Venus flytrap grows in more ways than one when it develops a nasty craving for human blood.
Corman produced the original LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS as a mere joke that he can make a film with a reused set from another movie and a limited shooting schedule of two days.
Still, despite the expenses and some of the criticism toward the film, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is still one of the best times I had in watching movies.
The movie is a funhouse of endless entertainment packed with silly laughs, memorable musical numbers, tuneful songs, fine acting and outrageous special effects (even in this CG era, the Audrey II puppet created by Lyle Conway is still very convincing).Rick Moranis stars as a down-on-his-luck slob Seymour Krelborn, who works in a bankrupt florist shop in the outcast district of Skid Row, where all the outcasts reside, including his bankrupt boss Mushnick (Vincent Gardenia) and battered beauty Audrey (Ellen Greene, reprising her off-off Broadway role).
If your idea of a great musical is less 'Singing in the Rain', 'West Side Story' or 'South Pacific' and more 'Hairspray', 'Rocky Horror, and 'Phantom of the Paradise' then you simply must check out Frank Oz's Little Shop of Horrors.Based on the off-Broadway show, which was itself based on the cult Roger Corman movie, this marvellously entertaining piece of sci-fi schlock horror is funny, romantic, a little scary (well, my kids thought so), and huge fun from start to finish.Rick Moranis stars as Seymour Krelborn, a nerdish shop assistant in a skid-row florists.
no, this sucker wants blood, and lots of it!Moranis makes a likable leading man, and shows off a surprisingly good singing voice, whilst Ellen Greene impresses not only with her incredible vocals, but also with her amazing body, which often threatens to steal the show.
These two leads are joined by a fine supporting cast, which includes top comedy performers of the day Steve Martin, Bill Murray, John Candy, Christopher Guest, and James Belushi.The real star of the film, however, is 'Audrey II', the alien plant creature voiced by The Four Tops' Levi Stubb's; this 'mean green mother from outer space' is a miracle of special effects with its fluid movements and impeccable lip-synching making it one of the finest examples of animatronics I have ever seen in a film.The theatrical release of Little Shop of Horrorsthe one that is currently available on DVD and the one I first saw back in 1986ends with Seymour destroying the monstrous pot-plant and living happily ever after with Audrey; it's a lot of fun and is easily worth a rating of at least 8/10.
This film stars Rick Moranis as Seymour Krelborn, a geeky urban florist who runs a floral shop with his Mushnik (played by Vincent Gardenia) and his flirtatious co-worker Audrey (played by Ellen Green) who he happens to have a crush on, but is in relationship with an eccentric dentist named Orin Scrivello (played by Steve Martin).
Though very different from his previous films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, Frank Oz (when not voicing Kermit or planting cellophane bags of Angel Dust on Dan Aykroyd) does seem right at home and the perfect choice to direct this movie of a giant hungry plant gone mad.Nerdy florist Seymore Krelborn (Rick Moranis) encourages his boss to display a bizarre new plant, the Audrey II, in the shop window in order to entice more customers into their failing business.
Many musical numbers and cameos later (from John Candy, Bill Murray, and Steve Martin) the film forks into two different endings, depending on what version your watching.
Between the hilarious songs, the outrageous plot, and the unexpectedly great performances by Rick Moranis and others, you can't go wrong with this movie if you like a good comedy.Steve Martin is fantastic as the sadistic dentist.
Ellen Greene brings her experience at the role of Audrey from the stage to the film, and it shows.It's a great movie to watch with friends and get a good laugh out of..
It's one of those rare movies that I loved as a child as much as I love it as an adult and that my own children now enjoy watching with me.Rick Moranis is in his ideal element as the unfortunate "born loser" Seymour, he has a perfect helpless sadness about him that almost makes the sincerity of his character seem out of place in this world of other, more wild and colorful characters.Speaking of which, this is my all time favorite of Steve Martin's performances, his evil dentist is so hilarious and well played that it's effortless to forget that the role is being played by such a famous and well known comedian.Throw in the giant puppet plant with an insatiable blood lust and really, what's not to love?.
The characters are great, acting is top notch, the musical numbers of catchy and funny, and it has some of the best cameos I've ever seen in movie history!
I don't know if my strong dislike for this film came from the fact that I mostly loathe musicals, that I found the humor to mostly consist of the same in-your-face not-in-the-least-bit-subtle humor that you see in most crappy TV shows and comedies today, or simply from the fact that I had expected it to be the Roger Corman horror-comedy of the same name, which I have wanted to see for some time(same as just about all of the other Corman-directed films, after seeing, and really liking, The Terror and Frankenstein Unbound) since the ads that promoted the showing of this movie all talked about the Corman version, or some fourth reason...
Plus, of course, there's Audrey II, who still looks and sounds great after all these years; kudos to Levi Stubbs for providing the inimitable voice.LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS might not be high art, but it sure is a lot of fun..
The film was shot in London and filmed in the style of a musical play hence you get this interior staged bound feel to this movie.Rick Moranis plays Seymour a nerdy, hapless and put upon flower shop boy owned by Mr Mushnik (Vincent Gardenia.) Seymour is in love with the blonde, beautiful Audrey (Ellen Greene) but she is going out with psycho, motor biking dentist Orin (Steve Martin.)After an eclipse Seymour discovers a new plant which becomes an instant hit with the customers who all flock to the shop to admire it.
In the tradition of "stupid films with music in them", Little Shop of Horrors offers a great cast, a wonderfully senseless story of a man-eating plant called Audrey II, and stuck-in-the-head music which will make you sing "Feed Me Seymour" on the street every now and then.
For all the horror and music the film features, there is an irresistible touch of sweetness in the on-going romance between Krelborne and Audrey, the first one, played by Ellen Greene, two misunderstood hearts who belong one another and yet don't have the strength to overcome their own fears.
From the catchy opening of "Little Shop of Horrors" to the poignant "Skid Row", there's a genuine quality in the film's songs that gets you totally obsessed with it, as if you wanted the 80's to go back, I don't know if it's about the Greek chorus featuring the three singers, the lyrics, the way the music makes one with the story and never feels dull or forced but I can't get the music out of mind, it's definitely one of the greatest rock musicals and maybe musicals of the last 30 years.8/ And there's this nostalgic feeling, the fact that the film is set in the 60's (the same era of the original) makes the 80's eternally connected with the sweet 60's, now, the 80's are our own oldies, conveying the same innocence, the same notions of pleasure and fun.
And that's exactly what you've got in "Little Shop of Horrors" the joy of a successful Broadway musical gracing the silver screen, as a great entertainment and piece of film-making.9/ And the film doesn't take itself seriously but deals with the story with originality and consideration for every generation, it's definitely pure family entertainment, with enough horror to please thrills-hungry movie-goers, enough romance to make some hearts 'oww' enough fun to please everybody.
It has performances from people like Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, and Steve Martin who are just great in their roles, can be very hilarious, and often-times provide some very good singing.
This 1986 musical version of the classic black and white comedy "Little Shop of Horrors" is actually a great re-make and a re-invention of the classic movie.
There is, of course, Rick Moranis (playing Seymour Krelborn), Vincent Gardenia (playing Mushnik), and some nice appearances by Steve Martin (playing Orin Scrivello), Bill Murray (playing Arthur Denton), John Candy (playing Wink Wilkinson) and James Belushi (playing Patrick Martin)."Little Shop of Horrors" is a nice black comedy that stays true to the original version, even though it is spiced up with dancing, music and singing.And a great deal of the success of this movie, the reason for why it worked out so nicely is, of course, because of Frank Oz's unique and fantastic ability to create puppets and make them come to life and seem lifelike and real.
Based on the off-Broadway musical by Howard Ashman, which was based on Roger Corman's 1960 film that was apparently shot in two days, Little Shop of Horrors sees lonely plant shop worker Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis) discovers a strange venus fly-trap-alike plant while wandering uptown.
The genre has seen its fair share of oddball productions, and Little Shop of Horrors is one of these - one part a lovable homage to B-movies and the work of the likes of Roger Corman, and one part an impressive musical, featuring some very catchy numbers and staying true to the ideals and traditions of the genre.
Best Horror Musical based on a Broadway play that was based on a movie filmed in 2 days ever.
And so the killings begin.This is a great movie with amazing music and good acting, although Ellen Greene is only OK for the most part.
He's also in love with Audrey, a gorgeous, sweet girl, played by the original stage actress, Ellen Greene, also working at the shop, who's in an abusive relationship with her insane dentist boyfriend, played extremely well by Steve Martin.
All of the songs are catchy - standout musical numbers include "Skid Row" (Moranis, though nasal, is shockingly talented at singing), "Feed Me," and my favorite scene, "Dentist!" with classic doll-decapitating Steve Martin appropriately miscast as Audrey's rebel D.D.S. boyfriend.
The movie can come off as painfully campy at times (especially if your high school is one of the millions to do the stage production), but through the astounding puppetry of the Jim Henson Creature Shop (Frank "Fozzie" Oz directed) and some memorable funny cameos by the likes of Bill Murray and Christopher Guest among others, Little Shop gets the passing grade, even if the ending does a complete 180 from the original stage musical's..
But the film is well handled for a sci-fi horror musical comedy, and Frank Oz knows what he's doing with talented comic actors such as Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, and Steve Martin.
Directed by master Muppeteer and brilliant comedy director Frank Oz, the be-bop music, talking plant, romance, humor, and creepiness all work together in unison, something that would not seem likely on paper.The story is somewhat of a fairy tale, albeit a twisted one, about a down and out guy (Rick Moranis) and a down and out girl (Ellen Greene) who wish for a happy life beyond Skid Row, but are forced to live a miserable existence in a ramshackle flower shop.
But Mr. Martin is only one of several comedic cameos in the film, including Christopher Guest who gives a hilarious performance as the flower shop's first customer, Bill Murray as the masochist patient, and a few other surprises.Alan Menken, who is probably best known for his work with Disney on Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, etc., and Howard Ashman present yet another dazzling musical score that sticks in your mind well after the movie is done.
Unfortuneatly, the original ending has been pulled from the DVD's and is very hard to find, so the footage will probably never be seen.Nevertheless, the movie is worth checking out, at least for the performances and the monstrous plant alone.Rick Moranis does what I think is his best work here, along with Ellen Greene, wonderful as the squeaky, big-boobed Audrey.
I've still yet to see the 1960 original that first presented this curiously macabre concept, and the big stage musical it later inspired, so I can't say for sure if this was an improvement or not on either format, but certainly as a stand-alone film this 1986 version of 'Little Shop of Horrors' works surprisingly well.Ellen Greene's exaggerated high-pitched inflection as Audrey (the human Audrey, that is) does get a little grating on the eardrum, and there are a couple of clichés around the end, but otherwise there's little fault to be found in such a quirky B movie that pretty much accomplishes everything it aims for that is, to be merry and light-hearted, and to put smiles on the faces of its viewers.
That, in addition to chomping people, he can sing, dance and make practical phone calls seems all the more fitting for it.While it's probably not going to win any awards for being the Most Prestigious Film of All Time, 'Little Shop of Horrors' still makes for a fun and perfectly enjoyable diversion from the real world whenever you need it having watched it just a few days ago, I know I personally will be humming 'Mean Green Mother from Outer Space' for weeks to come.Grade: B+.
It weaves wonderful acting (Audrey's little squeak when she finds out that Seymore has named the plant after her is priceless every single time I watch the film, which I own on video), great songs, direction, comedy, suspense and set design all together in what I consider to be an ever better cult classic than the over-rated Rocky Horror Picture Show.
"Little Shop of Horrors" has it all: musical numbers, Steve Martin, and a singing plant.
Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis) is a bumbling worker at Mr. Mushnik (Vincent Gardenia)'s flower shop on Skid Row. His co-worker Audrey Fulquard (Ellen Greene) gets beaten by her semi-sadist dentist boyfriend Orin Scrivello (Steve Martin).
The cast do a stellar job, Rick Moranis is wonderfully nerdy and Ellen Greene reprises her stage role with aplomb, but top honours go to Steve Martin as the sadistic scientist and especially Levi Stubbs as the voice of Audrey II.All in all, a delightful, memorable movie musical and so much fun. |
tt0870984 | Antichrist | === Prologue ===
A couple makes passionate love, as their toddler, Nic, climbs up to the bedroom window and falls to his death.
=== Chapter One: Grief ===
The mother collapses at the funeral, and spends the next month in the hospital crippled with atypical grief. The father, a therapist, is skeptical of the psychiatric care she is receiving and takes it upon himself to treat her personally with psychotherapy. But it is not successful, and so when she reveals that her second greatest fear is nature, he decides to try exposure therapy. They hike to their isolated cabin in a woods called Eden, where she spent time with Nic the previous summer while writing a thesis on gynocide. He encounters a doe which shows no fear of him, and has a stillborn fawn hanging halfway out of her.
=== Chapter Two: Pain (Chaos Reigns) ===
During sessions of psychotherapy, she becomes increasingly grief stricken and manic, often demanding forceful sex to escape the pain. The area becomes increasingly sinister to the man, including acorns rapidly pelting the metal roof, awakening with a hand covered in swollen ticks, and finding a self-disemboweling fox that tells him, "chaos reigns."
=== Chapter Three: Despair (Gynocide) ===
In the dark attic the man finds the woman’s thesis studies: terrifying pictures of witch-hunts, and a scrapbook in which her writing becomes increasingly frantic and illegible. She reveals that while writing her thesis, she came to believe that all women are inherently evil. The man is repulsed by this and reproaches her for buying into the gynocidal beliefs she had originally set out to criticize. In a frenzied moment, they have violent intercourse at the base of an ominous dead tree, where bodies are intertwined within the exposed roots. He suspects that Satan is her greatest hidden fear.
Through the autopsy and old photos, he becomes aware that she had been systematically putting Nic’s shoes on the wrong feet, resulting in pain and deformity. She attacks him, accuses him of planning to leave her, mounts him, and then smashes a large block of wood onto his testicles, causing him to lose consciousness. The woman then performs a sex act on the unconscious man, culminating in an ejaculation of blood. She drills a hole through his leg, bolting a heavy grindstone through the wound, and then tossing the wrench she used under the cabin. He awakens alone; unable to loosen the bolt, he hides by dragging himself into the deep, dark foxhole at the base of the dead tree. Following the sound of a crow he has found buried alive in the hole, she locates him and attacks and mostly buries him with a shovel.
=== Chapter Four: The Three Beggars ===
Night falls; now remorseful, she unburies him but cannot remember where the wrench is. She helps him back to the cabin, where she tells him she does "not yet" want to kill him, adding that "when the three beggars arrive someone must die." In a flashback she watches Nic climbing up to the window, but she does not act, thus displaying her essential evil much like her hypothesis. In the cabin she cuts off her clitoris with scissors. They are visited by the crow, the deer, and the fox. A hailstorm begins; earlier it had been revealed that women accused of witchcraft had been known to have the power to summon hailstorms. Finding the wrench under the floorboards, he is stabbed by her with the scissors, but is able to unbolt the grindstone. Finally free, he shows a vicious face, and strangles her to death. He then burns her on a funeral pyre.
=== Epilogue ===
He limps from the cabin, eating wild berries, as the three diaphanous beggars look on. Reaching the top of a hill, under a brilliant light he sees hundreds of women in antiquated clothes coming towards him, their faces blurred. | dark, avant garde, cruelty, murder, mystery, psychological, bleak, stupid, cult, violence, horror, atmospheric, flashback, insanity, psychedelic, romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0414951 | The Quiet | Movie opens with a closeup of Dot (Camilla Belle), a deaf/mute high-schooler as her voiceover describes the more people in the room the more invisible she felt.Dot is sitting alone in a crowded cafeteria. At a table across from her, her new god-sister, Nina Deer (Elisha Cuthbert) and Nina's best friend Michelle (Katy Mixon) are loudly discussing Michelle's desire to have sex with a classmate/friend, Connor (Shawn Ashmore), who walks by. Nina notices Dot watching them and angrily snaps at Dot, who turns away, as Michelle playfully chides Nina for having a loser "freak" move into the family. A guidance counselor, Mrs. Feltswatter, asks Dot if she could join her at the table, at which Dot just ups and leaves. She retreats to her favorite hiding spot, a stall in the girl's bathroom, until Nina finds her and angrily pulls her out for the ride home.Back at the expansive, but cold and incompletely decorated, Deer home. Nina's mom and Dot's godmother, Olivia (Edie Falco), is preparing dinner and implores Nina and Michelle to try and accept Dot, who is sitting over at the table in the dining area, into the family. Nina retorts it wasn't her decision to take her in and insults Dot, who is oblivious to the conversation. Olivia reminds Nina that Dot can read lips. We learn that Olivia is an interior designer and Nina's dad and Dot's godfather, Paul (Martin Donovan), is a successful architect.Paul is at a pharmacy picking up prescription painkillers for Olivia when he bumps into Mrs. Feltswatter, the guidance counselor. She expresses concern that Dot is unhappy at school, and Paul informs her that Dot is living with them now and that her father had just died and her mother died ten years ago.Paul arrives home with the painkillers and greets the girls. Nina is finishing up cooking dinner and informs him that Olivia is passed out (sleeping) in the living room. He makes an irritated face and goes to get her. When he leaves, Nina grabs some painkiller pills from the bag and tries to get Dot to take some. She ignores Nina, who calls her an expletive and proceeds to down the painkillers herself.Meanwhile, Paul collects Olivia from the unfinished living room floor and puts her to bed, where he gives her some painkillers. Paul gives her a look while she's downing them and she insists they're for her hip pain. There is obvious tension between the two as she angrily points out that he thinks she's always doped up and doesn't do anything for the family.Back at the dinner table with Dot & Nina, Paul mentions it might be a good idea for them to go to some sign-language courses. Nina blows off the suggestion and says she can't believe Dot is staying, to her Dad's dismay. She then goes out, telling her Dad he should use the time to bond with his "new daughter".Next day at school, Dot gets paired up with Connor during a piglet dissection in science class. She ignores him, while she slashes away at the dead pig.In the cafeteria, Michelle is complaining to Nina and another cheerleader friend, Fiona, about the pairing of Connor and Dot as lab partners. The conversation turns to Nina, where she's goaded for still being a 17-year old virgin when she can have any guy she wants. Michelle makes fun of Dot at the other table, as she converses in sign language with one of the lunch ladies who has a deaf daughter.Dot is walking the school halls when she notices a piano in the empty music room. She enters and begins playing some slow Beethoven, while doing a voiceover about how Beethoven discovered he was going deaf and managed to continue to be inspired. Meanwhile Connor is walking by with his friend Brian and some others and notices Dot playing through the door window and begins to find himself attracted to her. He quickly pulls away when his friends want to see what he's looking at.Dot heads to off to the bathroom to hide out but bumps into Nina who's applying makeup there. Dot reluctantly allows Nina to put some lipstick on her, as Nina says she feels bad that they stopped seeing each other after Dot's mom died and if Dot had had some female influence while growing up she "wouldn't look like a janitor all the time". She leaves and Dot looks in the mirror to see that Nina had purposely smeared the lipstick all around her mouth like a clown.In her bedroom, unable to sleep, Dot pulls out a box that contains her father's ashes. Through her voiceover we discover that her father was deaf and was recently hit by a truck he couldn't hear and killed. This happened while Dot was with him at a restaurant and he went out to run across the street to a bank. She places some of the ashes on her fingers and then tastes them and places some on her face. She moves to the bathroom to wash it off, as she mentions that she may have been able to save him if she was with him.On the way back to her room, she notices Nina's bedroom door has opened a little and she peeks in and sees Nina and her Dad in bed together, and we hear him sweet talking her. Dot heads back to her bedroom, obviously disturbed, but she keeps it to herself.At the dinner table with Nina, Dot, Paul & Olivia, Nina says she's spending the night at Michelle's. Paul says she can't go since it's a school night. She pleads with her Mom, who questions why she can't go which prompts Paul to snap at her for always contradicting him. Nina then rubs his leg under the table with hers and says she finished all her homework. Her Mom says it's up to Paul, who doesn't answer now, so she gets up and leaves to go out when Michelle calls her cell. Paul gets up and has an argument with Olivia in the kitchen about undermining his authority in raising Nina and storms off. Olivia talks to Dot about her mother, who she was friends with in school, and calls her a "big, old, lucky slut" who didn't marry the first guy she went out with, unlike her and Paul.In the living room, Olivia is flipping through a patterns book and Dot hands her a note asking to go to the movies. Olivia says sure, but Paul overhears, and says she's in no condition to drive and he would drive her. In the car, Dot is obviously now uncomfortable being alone with Paul.In the near-empty movie theater Dot takes a spot up in the back row alone. Nina, Michelle, Fiona, Connor and Brian happen to come into the same theater and sit toward the bottom. Connor notices Dot, and asks if they should invite her to sit with them, where it's met with vehement disagreement from the others. Fiona remarks how screwed up it must be to never have heard anything. Nina says Dot was able to hear until around the time her Mom died when she was seven, and how it was probably worse to have lost it than never to have heard in the first place. As the movie begins playing Nina, begins inconspicuously covering her ears to see what it's like to be deaf, but stops when she sees Dot staring down at her.Back at Michelle's, she and Nina are on Michelle's bed watching a scene of two people passionately kissing. Michelle asks Nina how you would know if you were a bad kisser, to which Nina doesn't know the answer to. Michelle suggests the only way would be kiss someone you really trust and ask them how it was. This advance by Michelle goes right by Nina who is engrossed in the movie.Dot still unable to sleep, sees Paul coming down the stairs. She fakes sleeping as Paul enters her room. Thinking she's asleep, he sits on her bed, and as he's stroking her hair, he whispers to her that he's sick and that he thought things might change when she came to live with them. He says, "I hate it here" and leaves.Back to Michelle's bedroom, she asks Nina if there was one place you could go where would it be. She replies Australia because it's really far away.Next day at the cafeteria, Dot is alone at her table again. Connor, Brian, Michelle & Nina are at the table across from her. They are discussing plans where Brian's parents are going away and he'll have a small party, with drinks for all. Michelle suggests Nina can sneak out and snag some drugs from her mom, since she's a "prescriptoholic." Nina is not amused and is not sure she can come, but Michelle goads her, as she sees this as a chance to get to sleep with Connor.Dot is alone at home playing some classical piece on the piano in the main room. Unbeknownst to Dot, Nina comes home, hears the music and is quietly listening to it in the doorway. While playing, a piano wire suddenly snaps and Dot curses out loud, startling Nina who quickly ducks around the corner. Dot begins to try to find the damaged piano key by tuning along with her voice to the keys, with Nina all the while listening to this, now knowing that Dot's deafness is not at all as it seems. She sneaks back to the door, slams it as if she just came in and greets Dot, who has now stopped playing, without letting on about what she just witnessed.At the cafeteria the next day, Nina, goes over to Dot's table, who is as usual alone, and pulls a chair right up next to Dot. While Dot is eating her sandwich and staring straight ahead, supposedly ignoring Nina, Nina talks directly and angrily into her ear how much she hated her, the love\hate relationship with her own Dad with all the lurid details of their incestuous encounters and her plans to kill him in the middle of the night with a gun (supplied by Michelle, who will steal it from her Dad) while Mom is drugged out and Dot "can't hear". We can see that Dot is disturbed by these confessions, but she keeps her reactions in check. Angry that she couldn't goad a response out of Dot, Nina storms off.Dot is back at the school piano again, when she notices Connor watching her through the door. Connor stops her as she tries to leave and tries to set up a date where they can work on the lab report together. She pulls the already completed report out of her bag, gives it to him and leaves to his dismay.While the Deers are at the dinner table, Connor stops by and surprises Nina who was expecting Michelle. He asks if Dot can come to the library to go over the lab report. Meanwhile Michelle arrives for the secret party with a brown bag and gives it to Nina. Dot notices the bag and is visibly affected. Nina notices and rhetorically asks Dot what she's looking at, at which Dot gets up and leaves with Connor.Dot and Connor are at a diner. He starts off with small talk about the lab report, but eventually begins confessing things about himself and his feelings towards Dot, including asking if she's a virgin like him. She does not respond or acknowledge. Meanwhile Nina and Michelle are up in her room, discussing nipples, when Paul comes up and tells her to send Michelle home because it's a school night. Nina tells her she can't come to the party and Michelle leaves angry.Dot sees an ambulance drive by at the diner and rushes home where she finds the bag Michelle brought over sitting on a chair in the dining room. She opens it and finds it not to contain a gun, but instead porn DVD's. She sneaks over to Nina's room where she discovers Nina and her dad about to have sex. She breaks a statue against the wall to break it up. Nina, taken off guard, comes out and helps her clean it up, while Paul emerges and tells her to be more careful around the house. He goes back to his bedroom where he tries to say something to Olivia, but she is faking being asleep.Nina is back in her bed crying, and she thinks her Dad is coming back in so she says she's tired, but it's Dot, who gets into the bed and puts her arm around Nina to comfort her as she goes to sleep.The next morning Dot is still in Nina's room and Nina is ironing her cheerleader outfit, at which point she infers to Dot that midnight tonight will be the night she kills her dad for sure with the iron, burns the face off a teddy bear for effect and throws it to Dot. She is still unaware that Nina knows she is not deaf, and Nina tells her it's a good thing she's deaf because she could be considered an accomplice.At night, outside the school gymnasium where Connor is playing in a basketball game, Dot dials Child Welfare on a pay phone, but decides to hang up when someone answers. She enters the gymnasium and watches the game where Connor is playing so bad he gets benched. Nina, Michele and Fiona are there as part of the cheerleading squad.After the game, Dot stops Connor and pulls him into the empty and darkened school swimming pool building. Connor is talking to Dot by the pool about going on road trips with her and how quiet it would be, but when she's not looking he's confessing about how many times he masturbates and how he's a sex addict, who sucks at basketball.Meanwhile, back in Paul & Olivia's bedroom, she pops some more pills and mentions to Paul that Connor would be a cute guy for Nina. Paul gets mad and tells her to be careful about pushing her into dating and dressing like a slut. She comes out of the master bathroom and disrobes asking Paul if she's getting fat. Paul emphatically ignores her advances and gets into bed to go to sleep. Olivia calls him mean and says she's sleeping on the floor. Paul tells her to get into bed, but she refuses so he picks her up and throws her onto the bed and he goes downstairs.Back at the pool, Connor and Dot have gotten closer and while she's not looking he is confessing to her how he has kissed lots of girls but has never "done it", at which point she sits up, and to Connor's surprise, takes her shirt off, does the same for him, and they begin to kiss.Back at the Deer house Nina comes home alone and encounters her Dad who is eating ice cream in the kitchen. He tells her he has a present for her and gives her an expensive pocketbook after which he makes advances toward her. She stops him, removes her cheerleader dress and tells him she'll be in her bedroom.Back at the school, Connor and Dot are having sex poolside, though she doesn't seem to be enjoying it. When it's over she notices the clock nearing midnight so she rushes back to the house.Back the Deer house, Paul quietly took a candle out of the bedside table and headed back to Nina's room, though we see that Olivia is definitely awake. Nina is ironing her skirt to put it away, while holding off her Dad's advances. She tells him she has a surprise for him and to sit on the bed with his eyes closed. He does so and she walks up to him and is about to ram the hot iron into his face when Dot comes home and slams the front door. Dot listens by the door. Nina chickens out and ends up telling her dad that she's pregnant with his child. He gets upset and asks if she's sure and what's she's going to do about it. Nina gets mad and says she doesn't want a baby with webbed feet running around the house and needs $1000 cash tomorrow to get an abortion. He agrees and leaves.Nina goes to Dot's room, gets into bed with her and confesses that she's wasn't brave enough to do it.At the lunch line in the cafeteria the next day Connor asks Dot to go to the Spring Fling dance with him, via translation from the lunch lady. Dot says no and that she's wrong for him and she needs to be by herself and leaves. Michelle and Nina, who were in the same line witness it and Michelle begins to curse out Dot, when Nina cuts her off and tells her to back off.Back in Dot's room that night, Nina brings her a dress for the dance to try to get her to go and confesses to Dot that she will be taking the $1000 and running off to get started in Connecticut where she can be a stripper and makes lots of money and even become famous like Courtney Love, who was one. She says it was so hard lying about being pregnant that part of her thinks it's true. She puts the lipstick on Dot again, but this time it's perfectly applied and leaves to get ready.In the bathroom, Dot is holding the dress up to herself to see how it looks in the mirror. Nina comes in and Dot begins to wipe off the lipstick and puts down the dress. She's not going. Nina asks Dot to let her in on her secret, but she walks away.Olivia is downstairs in the dark staring at the blank walls. Dot is downstairs playing Moonlight Sonata on the piano. Nina sneaks into her parents bedroom to steal some of her mom's pills and finishes getting ready in the master bedroom. Meanwhile Paul is looking for Nina and notices tampons in her new bag. He grabs the bag and begins badgering Nina in the bedroom about the "pregnancy". He then confronts Nina about the tampons where she at first says they belonged to Michelle and she was holding them for her since she had no bag. He doesn't buy it, throws the $1000 at Nina and calls her a whore. He begins slapping Nina around and then begins to force himself on her. Olivia hears all this and is crying downstairs, but does nothing. Dot hears, stops playing and rips out a piano wire. She heads upstairs, comes up behind Paul and strangles him with it, while screaming for him to leave Nina alone. Nina drops to the body screaming at Dot for killing her Daddy. Olivia comes upstairs in a daze and says it's a miracle that Dot can speak.Michelle and Fiona show up to pick up Nina for the dance and Dot tells Nina that they have to bury the backpack (presumably with their bloody clothes in it). Dot goes to the dance with them, but gets intercepted there by Connor who makes her dance with him. Nina takes the backpack and hides in the bathroom stall with it.Meanwhile, we see Olivia sitting in the bedroom, contemplating, with Paul's bloody body at her feet.Dot leaves Connor abruptly on the dance floor and he follows her out. He calls out for her to wait and when she stops with her back to him, he knows now that she can hear and tells her to turn around. Obviously distressed, he berates her for actually hearing his dirty secrets, calls her a psycho and tells her to shove off, as she tries to apologize to him.She continues on to collect Nina from the bathroom and they run out through the woods to a creek where they bury the backpack. Nina asked why Dot pretended to be deaf all this time and she replied she wanted to be closer to her father and farther from everyone else. They head back home walking through the creek.When they arrive back at the house police are everywhere, and they are leading Nina's mom out in handcuffs. They run up to her and Olivia tells Nina that she did a terrible thing in that she killed her father when he started going crazy, breaking things and saying he hated her, so she took a piano wire and strangled him with it. She tells Nina she never wanted him to hurt her and if she could ever forgive her, as they take her away in the police car.Fade to the piano in the house during the day where Nina is tentatively playing on it. Dot comes up and joins her as the camera pulls away from them.
Nina used to think she would not even have a funeral....and now, with her Daddy/tormentor dead, she has a chance at life.... | violence, murder | train | imdb | The ending does have some problems which I won't post here since I don't want to give anything away, but overall I think any movie that manages to be this disturbing is worth a look.
The subject matter is one of those ones that some people think should never be dramatised, and it definitely *does* leave you unsettled (catch the scene where Nina confides her plan to Dot in the cafeteria disturbing!), but I would say it will stick in my head, as apart from the twists, and the intense construction of suspense, the characters, who all start out as unsympathetic, go through such brilliantly contrived arcs, that you find yourself empathising with even the most evil.
The two main characters are wicked Elisha Cuthbert from 24 packs a stirring punch as the popular cheerleader from Hell with an unbelievable dark side and a complex set of issues, while Camille Bell puts in a career topping turn as not-so-deaf Dot, keeper of everyone's secrets and work really well together.
I think in some ways we wish we could all do this since we have so much bottled up inside us, that's why I rented The Quiet, I didn't realize how dark this movie truly was until I saw it with my friend today.
This story was so disturbing and horrific in my opinion, even though I'm not sure it's within my tastes, but it actually was a pretty well made movie.Dot is a deaf teenager who has just been adopted by her godparents, she also cannot speak, she is the outcast at school, and lost her parents at a young age.
When Nina spots Dot playing the piano, Dot has a secret of her own that just might out what is happening in their family.The Quiet is a very interesting plot that I found to be unique and pretty good.
The Quiet (Toronto Film Festival Cut) Mr. Black's Grade: B Starring Edie Falco, Elisha Cuthbert, and Shawn Ashmore.Directed by Jamie Babbit, who is apparently known for lighter TV fare.
Dot (Camilla Belle), a deaf orphan girl, is sent to live with a wholesome foster family, but soon realizes all is not cop-acetic.Something about this film really hit me.
This is a story about teenagers, and it is appealing that they act that way, saying stupid things and not being 'wise' beyond their years.The film captured High School for me to a tee, and featured nice pacing and a better than expected performance from the ever-so-lovely Elisha Cuthbert.
The deaf and dumb teenager Dot (Camilla Belle) is adopted by the Deer family after the death of her father in an accident, and her seventeen year-old stepsister Nina (Elisha Cuthbert) gives a cold treatment to her, humiliating Dot in the high-school and at home.
While living with the Deers, the invisible Nina discovers that they are actually a dysfunctional family with a dark secret that approaches her to Nina that also has discovered that Dot has a hidden secret.The classy and erotic "The Quiet" was a great surprise for me, with a dense and solid drama about an unpleasant theme incest that is unusual in American movies.
The dark comes to light, and Nina begins to suspect Dot is hiding a dark secret of her own.When I think of all the possible routes this film could have taken that at least would have made it more entertaining and memorable, it makes me sad.
The Quiet explores taboos in a matter-of-fact way that made me surprised it was entirely American in origin, for it could easily have been Le calme, or something along those lines.I suddenly have a great deal of respect for Elisha Cuthbert, who has most certainly grown up, even if she still plays school girls.
Without giving too much away, I will say that both Nina (Cuthbert) and Dot (Belle) are "daddy's girl"s in their own dysfunctional ways, and the film is about how they help each other move on.
The director of this pile of garbage must a be man-hating lesbian...There is no other explanation for how someone could be that sick and full of spite towards men.The film can be summarized as a long two-hour rape of our senses, feelings and emotions.Curiously, at the same time as the director demonizes men, she uses the body figure and the nymph-like presence of the Elisha Cuthbert as a way to titillate the lesbians in the audience...
So...Mute 'geek' girl moves in with dysfunctional family (God only knows why Edie Falco & Martin Donovan agreed to do this tripe) and uncovers the underbelly of darkness within the household while retaining her own (instantly figured out) secrets.
The script tries to create sympathy for Dot, who is deaf and dumb and whose father (we are told) died in a car accident; but this blatant attempts seem to be part of a futile effort to compensate for the fact that Belle herself cannot play a sympathetic character.
I wanted to see this movie, because Elisha Cuthbert, Camilla Belle and Shawn Ashmore is acting in it.
With the dialogue so out of place in many moments, I was taken out of the film often and it's really too bad because the climax was executed perfectly and almost made me forget how bad everything before it was
almost.By having a plot that basically adds little to what is given away in the trailer, The Quiet really needs to rely on its acting.
That aside, this film is the first I feel compelled to write about.It begins with Elisha's character in high school playing a cheerleader.
I also would not recommend it to certain people who may have been through similar experiences as the characters in the film.Things happen slowly at first and begin to pickup when a major scene happens which signals things to come.The movie does make you wonder what will happen next and the ending is decent.Overall, I'm glad I saw it.
WHAT??I liked a lot of the dialog in the movie- the bickering was well written.PLOT: a deaf girl who is the daughter of a recently dead relative shows up on a family's doorstep and they take her in.
this movie is not what i expected.it wasn't horrible but i didn't think it was great either.i found most of the movie way too depressing and it didn't seem to have a point.it gets a bit better toward the end,but i still found it lacking.i think it tried too hard to be profound,and for me,it didn't succeed.i also found the acting not that great,but it also got better toward the end.i think many critics seem to think that the more depressing a movie is,the better it is.or at least many seem to give ratings that reflect that.to me,that doesn't make sense.but the opposite also seems true(though not always).if a movie is light hearted and entertaining it gets a lower rating because there is not some deep profound meaning behind it.i mentioned that i didn't see the point to this movie.i say that because it seemed liked it was trying to be deep and meaningful.if that is a movies intent,then it should more clearly reflect that.and in this case,it doesn't seem to.For me "The Quiet" is a 5/10.
Plus the film twist when hidden secrets are revealed as it's all tied in with a connection of sex, lies, and betrayal.A suburban couple(Edie Falco of TV's "The Sopranos" and Martin Donovan of "Weeds") are trying to raise two teenage daughters all along while trying to cope with their inner demons of medication addiction pill popping and a girl daddy complex.
The original daughter Nina(Elisha Cuthbert as cute and sexy as ever) is the sexy pretty popular sassy cheerleader who's attracts all the guys, yet it's with the arrival of a second daughter a godchild Dot(Camilla Belle)who was taken in after her parents death that all the attention is focused in on.
Then the film starts to twist as secrets are revealed about both girls, as clearly Dot has kept some big secrets buried for so long and Nina will confess a dark and wicked secret that needs to be addressed even though it will destroy all in the family.
Also just to mention you as the viewer are treated to a couple of scenes of Elisha in a dark purple silk colored bra, I cherished those they were certainly screen savers and worth pausing the film just to get an extended look.Anyway to sum it up "The Quiet" even though no big name movie is worth a watch for it's surprises and twist that proves everyone has secrets and they are best to be revealed as people can only hold lies for so long, because as you reveal them yourself it's less painful in the end.
Dot lives with her god-parents (Martin Donovan & Edie Falco) and their mean-spirited daughter Nina (Elisha Cuthbert), after the death of her father.
Then unexpectedly Dot and Nina do have something in common, while Nina is planning to kill her father.Directed by Jamie Babbit (But I'm Cheerleader) made an interesting moody drama about two different girls, who are coming of age.
The manner in which these two girls eventually bond and accomplish the dastardly deed and the surprising ending of the family's dissolution make up the basis for the plot development.Taken on the basis of the story alone the film is fairly predictable, but it is after the movie is over that in retrospect we recognize how cleverly the writers and director and actors have shown us the fragility of each character: each is not black and white/good and evil but in a misty gray zone, a general statement for just about everyone who is in the cast (Connor the walking failure boyfriend - Shawn Ashmore, Michelle the rowdy slutty girlfriend - Katy Mixon).
all the while lost in suburbia.The film is very well acted by Elisha Cuthbert, Camilla Belle and Martin Donovan.
Teen Dot (Camilla Belle), a deaf-mute who lost both parents, moves into the three-member household of the Deer family: mother Olivia (Edie Falco), father Paul (Martin Donovan), and teen daughter Nina (Elisha Cuthbert).
For that reason I found it hard to buy Connor being attracted to Dot, and that section of the plot only seemed to work in so far as it annoyed Nina and her friends.The film's ending, again, seemed poorly thought out, though I won't go into this as that would give too much of the story away.
Every character is very flawed and has a secret to hide, and well played by the cast.Dot (Camilla Belle; When A Stranger Calls) is a deaf mute who has been sent to live with her godparents (Edie Falco and Martin Donovan) and their daughter, Nina (Elisha Cuthbert of 24 and The Girl Next Door) following her father's death.
Elisha Cuthbert gives another good show as Nina, a girl whose anger is deep seated and she really grows into a character that goes from hated to loved by the end.
I'm surprised at how most people haven't heard of it; this is one of the most underrated movies I have seen in a long time.Elisha Cuthbert, from whom I again didn't expect much, delivered an amazing performance: Nina although appears to be antagonistic and spoiled in the first half of the film, still manages to be likable.
The Quiet is a 2005 teen thriller film and starring Elisha Cuthbert and Camilla Belle.
It focuses on a deaf teenage girl, Dot (Belle) who goes to live with her godparents after her father dies, in which she slowly learns the disturbing secrets of the family, primarily concerning their teenage daughter, Nina (Cuthbert).
The Quiet is a movie which doesn't get made often, with the ick subject of incest lingering in the heavy and must I add, depressing plot, it doesn't fail to give the viewer what it wants, in fact, the only thing that bugged me was that it was too short, too many things were left unfinished, but then I guess not every story ends like Cinderella.For starters, the characters were so created, they wern't pinched from some loopy and thoughtless teenage movie, they forced you to respect them, and care for them which in my opinion, is one of the greatest keys to a successful movie.The ending is very fulfilling, the way everyone stepped into each others shoes was beautifully crafted, things were to be expected, but then some surprises caught you at the most unusual time.The downside to this movie is how predictable it is, some of the scripts were slightly cliché, but then you wouldn't expect a 17 year old girl to think like Shakespeare.This is a must see for every teenage girl who feels excluded from the real world, it might make you want to stay further away, but then it shows you that no matter how different you are from so many people, opposites do really attract.I loved this film, it's not for everyone, but if you can handle a bit of nasty, and some foul language, I recommend this you watch it!.
Dot also could need a lot more practice, in playing deaf mute.Cause her act clearly gives away that she can hear what people say.Overall I would say that,one of the biggest problem with this film is,That is trying to tell you a story by using music and images.=Being artsy.
Well Don't Really Know What To Say. I mean it was all right, i was kind of surprised in Elisha and Camilla though, i though they could act a little better, the plot was OK, the twist at the end is alright, i guess i gave it a 6 because, well, it kept me entertained, it certainly was not boring, and because overall it was a pretty good flick, but i definitely cannot say it was an amazing film, because that it was not.
How long can the two keep things quiet?the film is driven mostly by an astonishing performance from Camilla Belle, backed up nicely by Elisha Cuthbert, and director Jamie Babbett knows how to milk suspense from softness and subtlty.
Their daughter is a knockout cheerleader, Nina (Elisha Cuthbert - The Girl Next Door), who seems like she has more than a few secrets and does have a heart - but hides it.Dot has no friends and sits alone, but seems to always watch what Nina and her friends are doing at lunch.
As a person who had checked ratings for this movie in advance I didn't have high expectations, however I was pleasantly surprised :D.To summarise without giving away too many spoilers, it's about a girl called Dot who's deaf yet still manages to observe so much about the world around her.
both characters had very sad stories, both two different people, both involving their dads.If you are a person who watches a movie, and loves stories, gets involved in it and the characters, you must watch this.the only downside, is that it could have been longer, maybe a scene or two at the beginning of the film where you see Dot and her father, and how he died and so on.Other than that..
The first film from U.T.'s Burnt Orange Productions to get national distribution, The Quiet is about a young deaf girl named Dot (Camilla Belle) who moves into a foster home where the father (Martin Donovan) rapes his 16-year-old daughter (Elisha Cuthbert) on a nightly basis, while the mom (Edie Falco) lies in bed, passed out on prescription pain killers.
The film revolves around Dot (Camilla Belle, "When A Stranger Calls" remake), a deaf and mute teenage girl who goes to live with her godparents, Olivia and Paul Deer (Martin Donovan and Edie Falco), and their teenage daughter Nina (Elisha Cuthbert, "House of Wax" remake).
But Nina reveals a dark and disturbing family secret to Dot, and of her intricate plot to murder her father, and that's when all hell begins to break loose.Probably one of my favorite movies (non-horror) of this past year, "The Quiet" is a masterfully crafted and amazingly executed thriller that never disappointed me.
The main character in Babbit's follow-up is also a cheerleader: 17-year-old Nina Deer (Elisha Cuthbert) is the daughter of an architect father (Martin Donovan) and a pill-addicted mother (Edie Falco).
In The Quiet, Dot's (Camilla Belle) deaf/muteness alters the world around her from a devilish cheerleader sister Nina (Elisha Cuthbert), who terrorizes her, to high schoolers who ignore or taunt her.
Elisha Cuthbert and Camilla Belle did an excellent job, they really got in with their character, I was surprised that Elisha was able to play a seventeen year old.If you don't like any depressing kind of movies or movies discussing mature themes then "The Quiet" isn't for you.
I liked the look and feel of the movie because of Camilla Belle who is stunning to look at,and Edie Falco I thought did a great job with the role she has as the mother, but I had to question the reasoning of the Godparents taking in Camilla's character with her being deaf and mute, she would eventually stumble on to her Godparents and their daughters family secret......................because she can still SEE!!!!!!
THE QUIET (2006) ** Elisha Cuthbert, Camilla Belle, Edie Falco, Martin Donovan, Shawn Ashmore, Katy Mixon.
Dark and Depressing, What It's Supposed to Be. The Quiet is indeed truly a Sony Pictures ClassicPlot: After her father dies, Dot (Camilla Belle) is sent to live with her godparents and their daughter Nina (Elisha Cuthbert).
Elisha Cuthbert has been called by critics an actress who cannot act and what I tell them is to be quiet (ha ha) and go watch this film.
It doesn't take long for Dot to realize that her new family has secrets of its own: the father, played remarkably sympathetically by Martin "Wind Chill" Donovan, has been boffing his cheerleader daughter, Nina (Cuthbert), for who knows how long, all the while rebuffing efforts by his pill-popping wife, the ever-talented Edie "The Sopranos" Falco, to regain his attentions. |
tt0081081 | Luca il contrabbandiere | Luca Di Angelo (Fabio Testi) is a smuggler, one member of an organized team trafficking cigarettes and booze up and down the coast off Naples, Italy. After a run-in with the police in which the smugglers manage to get away by faking a boat explosion resulting in the police motorboats responding to the false emergency allowing the smugglers to get away, Luca and his brother Mickey suspect Scherino (Ferdinand Murolo), the head of a rival gang of smugglers, of passing on their actives. Lucia and Mickey take their accusations to their boss Perlante (Saverio Marconi) a sleazy playboy withy numerous Mafia connections, who agrees to look into it. After a nighttime fire at Mickey's racing stables kills a valued racehorse, he and Luca drive over to inspect the damage. But on the way, they are stopped at a fake police roadblock where the assasins dressed as policemen trick Mickey into getting out of the car and machine-gun him to death over and over again (think Sonny Corlone's death scene in 'The Godfather'), while Luca barely escapes injury by hiding on the floor of the car.Afterwards, Perlante suggests that Luca leave town for a few days, but he refuses. After his brother's funeral, conducted on the gang's speedboats in the Bay of Naples, with the police surveying them, Luca vows revenge. Despite his wife Adele's (Ivana Monti) pleas, Luca goes after the prime suspect: Scherino. That night, Luca breaks into Scherino's house, but gets spotted and severely beaten up by Scherino's henchmen. However, Scherino spares Luca's life and instead has him thrown out of the house. He tells Luca that he's got it all wrong: he had no part in Mickey's killing.After Luca recovers from his injuries thanks to a local doctor named Charlie (Giordano Falzoni) who treats injuries for large bribes of cash, Luca meets with an informant who gives him a tip to who ordered the hit on Mickey. Traveling to a derelict fishing boat in the marina where a hood is making a drug pick-up, Luca tortures him for information about his boss, whom Luca learns is a Frenchman called Francois Jacios, aka: The Marsigliese. Luca calls Perlante, who tells him more about the vicious gangster, and who is muscling into Italian organized crime to deal in hard drugs. At his hideout in Naples, the Marsigliese (Marcel Bozzufi) is meeting Ingrid, a German drug courier from Frankfurt wanting to sell him some heroin. When the Marsigliese sees that the heroin is 'cut', he has her face horribly burned by a blowtorch while he watches with sadistic satisfaction.Over the course of one day, the Marsigliese orders a series of shootings of all the rival Mafia Dons all over Naples as part of his plan to become the sole kingpin of Naples. Perlante barely escapes an attempt on his life when his right-hand man Alfredo (Giulio Farnese) triggers a bomb which has been hidden under Perlante's bed, killing Alfredo and Perlante's mistress. Perlante calls Luca and tells him about the series of hits. He sets up a meeting between them and the Marsigliese at the local soccer stadium where the Frenchman discusses merging their criminal concerns. Afterwards, Luca meets with his fellow smugglers and persuades them not to accept the Marsigliese demands for the inflow of drugs into their community would only escalate the number of addicts and drug-overdoses, plus they would not receive any profits since the Marsigliese would keep most of the money for himself and his close associates.In response to the Mafia killings, the Naples police chief (Fabio Jovine) orders Captain Tarantino (Venantino Verantini) to conduct a massive sweep of the Neapolitan bay area to clean it up of crime. The dragnet has many smugglers arrested. Luca is saved from a police raid on his house by, of all people, Scherino, who suggests they form an alliance to defeat the Marsiglise. They meet that night at Perlante's house to discuss their plans with him. But Luca soon smells the tell-tale odor of the Marsiglieses personal 'parfum' in the room. Luca realizes that Perlante is in league with the Marsgliese just as the gangster and his henchmen burst into the room and kill all of Scherino's henchmen as well as mortally wound Scherino himself. Luca's split-second reflexes of diving out a glass window and running away from the house ensures his escape. The mortally wounded Scherino manages to shoot off one shot from his gun at the treaterous Perlante, hitting him in the neck, before he drops dead himself.The Marsigliese abducts Luca's wife, Adale, and again insists that Luca should turn over the smuggling network over to his drug operation. To help Luca make up his mind, the sound of Adale being beaten and gang-raped are relayed to Luca over the phone. Luca agrees to the Marsigliese demands. In desperation, Luca calls upon the elderly Don Morrone (Guido Alberti), the leader of the old-guard Italian Mafia who has been reading the news throughout the movie of the numerous killings. Morrone is more then happy to come out of semi-retirement to deal with the French sadist. Morrone relays his plans to his various middle-aged associates who swing back into action for their cause.The following morning, at a meeting between Luca and the Marsigliese in a local open square where the handover to Adele is taking place, Luca sees that it is indeed a set up to have him killed. Then Don Morrone and his men, using a series of hit-and-run attacks, appear and blast away all of the Marsigliese's henchmen. Luca then chases the crazed Marsigliese through the deserted streets and allyways where after the Frenchman runs down an alley which is a dead end, Luca catches up to him and shoots the Marsigliese dead who lands on a pile of garbage bags. Across down, the police raid the Marsigliese hideout where they find the tramatized Adele and a large stash of cocaine and heroin, while the rest of the Marsigliese henchmen surrender.The final scene has Captain Tarantino meeting with Don Morrone and his housekeeper at a wharf marketplace where the policeman thanks the elderly Mafia don for his tip leading to the discovery of the Marsigliese hideout and drug shipment seizure. But when Tarantino asks Morrone about the murder of the Marsigliese and his men, Morrone claims to know nothing about it, and also not to know Luca Di Angelo. From Tarantino's sarcastic tone of voice, he knows that Morrone is lying. But out of sympathy, the policeman lets Morrone go without arresting him. | cruelty, murder, violence, cult, revenge, sadist | train | imdb | Although no highlight of the Italian Crime genre, Lucio Fulci's "Luca Il Contrabbandiere" aka "Contraband" is a rough, tough-minded and ultra-violent Gangster flick that certainly delivers, especially for a Fulci fan.
Lucio Fulci is widely renowned as the 'Godfather Of Gore', and "Contraband" is a movie that is certainly not going to deprive him of this well-deserved reputation.
Although the plot may not be as original as it was the case with many other of the (generally violent) Italian Crime Thrillers of the 70s and early 80s, "Contraband" scores in means of roughness, intransigence and gruesome, gory violence.Luca Di Angelo (Fabio Testi) and many of his friends make a living as cigarette smugglers in Naples.
Luca, however, is not the kind of man who gives in to threats...Fabio Testi, who had already worked with Lucio Fulci in "Four Of The Apocalypse" in 1975 (aside Tomas Milian and Lynne Frederick), delivers a good leading performance as Luca, and Marcel Bozzuffi is wonderfully evil in his role of the villain.
(aka: CONTRABAND)Normally I don't comment on non-horror or mondo films but since Fulci directed it, and since there's enough gore splatter in here to finance a small horror film, I'm gonna put my two cents in.Fabio Testi plays a Neapolitan cigarette smuggler who's territory is being muscled in on by the Margliese (Marcel Bozzuffi) who wants a clear way to smuggle heroin into Italy using Naples as an entry point.
One by one, Testi's comrades are being killed off in many different gruesome ways, including the backs of heads being blown off, a rotting cadaver thrown through a window, blood bags exploding in stomachs with intestines flying out, and a pretty female drug courier getting half her face burned off by one of the Margilese's henchman.This has to be one of the goriest crime thrillers I have seen so far.
"Contraband" is Lucio Fulci's sleazy and gloriously violent gangster flick that tells the story of how cigarette smuggler and gangster Luca Di Angelo played by Fabio Testi overcomes the threat of violent cocaine smugglers attempting to muscle in on his operation and overturning the existing order.Being a fan of Lucio Fulci's uncompromising gory mayhem I always wanted to see "Contraband",which is his mix of mafia and poliziotteschi genre.It's undoubtedly the goriest gangster film ever made with its scenes of rape,the brain blow-outs,burn victims and shotgun blasts to the throat.The film has some dull spots and lifeless sequences,the cast is mediocre,but if you are a fan of sadistic Italian gore "Contraband" certainly delivers.Still I prefer early 80's horror movies of maestro Fulci.7 out of 10..
Fabio Testi is the focal point as Luca Di Angelo, an idealistic family man and cigarette smuggler in this tale of mob warfare in economically depressed Naples.
When a rival gang massacres his brother and abducts his wife, Luca goes berserk and triggers an all-out mob war, with virtually every Don in town getting involved.Testi is OK in the lead and Marcel Bozzufi (THE FRENCH CONNECTION) makes quite an impact as "The Margliese", a Frenchman who tries to muscle his way into the Neapolitan crime world.
Nasty French drug dealer, the Marsigliese (Marcel Bozzuffi), is trying to take control of the crime scene in Naples; unable to convince the Neapolitan 'capo's (Mafia crime bosses) to deal in his narcotics (they prefer to smuggle harmless cigarettes instead), he has them bumped off one by one.Eventually, only family guy smuggler Luca Di Angelo (Fabio Testi) stands between the Marsigliese and his total domination of the Naples underworld.
But Luca's wife is kidnapped by the megalomaniacal mobster, and it looks as though all is lostuntil help arrives in the form of several retired Mafia leaders who do not wish to see the Marsigliese succeed.Taking a break from the horror scene for which he is better known, director Lucio Fulci has a go at a different genre, but still manages to gross out the audience with the high level of violence and gore he delivers.
And when he's not trying to turn your stomach with blowtorches to the face, bullets through the throat or shotgun blasts to the abdomen, he chucks in some gratuitous nudity for good measure.It is this sleaziness that makes Contraband watchable despite its mundane story, and even more enjoyable than quite a few of his horror films.
When Luca refuses, the gangster gets mad, and makes Luca's life a Hell, namely by killing his friends and abducting his wife.Like all Fulci movies, this one is pretty slow going some of the time, but wait til the gang war gets started!!!
Fabio Testi, who was solid in "Revolver", plays a very weak character here and I didn't buy his campaign to wage revenge one little bit.The action has a muscular quality to it and Fulci makes the most of his access to half a dozen boats.
When his brother gets killed, Luca and other fellow smugglers are being killed in overly violent ways by a rival smuggler from France, known simply as the Marsigliese (the late Marcel Bozzuffi of "Countdown" and "The French Connection"), naturally he wants some good old fashion revenge.
It comes right at the end of the Italian crime movie phase and is probably the most violent of the lot, right up there with Ruggero Deodato's LIVE LIKE A COP DIE LIKE A MAN.
This flick's got it all: loads of violence, some imaginitive photography, and two of the coolest leads in history: Fabio Testi as the good guy and Marcel Bozzuffi as basically the same guy he was in THE FRENCH CONNECTION, a greasy slimeball.
Luca is ready for revenge when one of the first victims is his brother Mickey (Enrico Maisto), but the bad guys, led by the power hungry Marsigliese (Marcel Bozzuffi) up their game when they decide to kidnap Lucas' wife and son.The script, credited to four people (including Fulci) is ultimately very routine.
A face is burned to a crisp with a torch, a throat is torn open, a head is shot apart, and bodies are continuously riddled with bullet holes.Supporting Mr. Testi are Ivana Monti as Lucas' wife, Saverio Marconi as the cocky young mafia man Perlante, Fabrizio Jovine as a police chief, and Ajita Wilson as Luisa.
The actors are fine, especially Mr. Bozzuffi as a thoroughly nasty and despicable villain.The action set pieces are not spectacular, but they are fun, and Fulci gives this trashy story (complete with full frontal female nudity as well as gore) decent pacing and a visceral appeal.Fans of Fulcis' bloody horror films from this period may also like this feature.Look for Fulci near the end in a cameo as one of the gunmen.Seven out of 10..
Contraband will surely please fans of his work in the horror genre as this film delivers big time on extreme violence and gore.
This film is centered around Luca(Fabio Testi), a cigarette smuggler who is at odds with a ruthless French gangster that is into selling narcotics and looking to dominate the underworld in Naples at any cost.
In this brutal and depraved mob flick, the violence is very extreme and sadistic including scenes of torture and rape.
The film is some pretty solid piece of gangster action, with great direction acting and sick gore f/x.
I will watch a film and if it contains a rape scene that IS integral to the story or it has to be SHOWN graphically to inflict that shock upon the viewer in order to understand the message then yes, I will give credit and watch it as part of the bigger picture without getting too upset.(I still prefer NOT to see it happen) Fulci has done some real bad movies.
Fellow director-friends like Umberto Lenzi ("Almost Human"), Ruggero Deodato ("Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man"), Sergio Martino ("Violent Professionals") and Enzo Castellari ("Street Law") had been making loads of money with their outrageous cop-thrillers since the early 70's already, but Fulci didn't benefice from the profitable sub genre until the release of "Contraband".
Recommended to trained fans of Italian crime thrillers and Lucio Fulci, newcomers to either of them are advised to postpone their viewing of "Contraband" until you've seen some of the aforementioned titles..
And then, of course, we've got all the blood and guts in the shootouts that you'd expect, and it's obvious that Fulci enjoys his gore, as most of it is overly gratuitous considering that this isn't even supposed to be a horror film.
Of course, Fulci never lets this downtime last for long as there's always another brutal and bloody murder just around the corner, and the action scenes are genuinely exciting and well filmed.
Fulci's direction is good enough, and while the film is never as gritty and sleazy as it could have been; Contraband still benefits from a nice atmosphere.
When it comes to gore, Lucio Fulci knows how to deliver, even if this is not a horror movie.
Good performance of Fabio Testi, in the role of "Luca""Contraband" was made after the success of Zombie 2, another Fulci masterpiece.Plot: Luca is a cigarette smuggler, "working" in Naples, Italy.
Contraband (1980) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Luca DiAngelo (Fabio Testi) is a loving husband who also just happens to be a cigarette smuggler.
After his brother is assassinated he sets out for revenge and learns of a new family pushing cocaine and trying to take over the streets.Lucio Fulci was coming off his success of ZOMBIE when his career got a jump start, which led to a number of graphic horror movies.
There's one sequence where nothing happens but one death scene after another.The violence and gore is certainly what separates this from other films of this genre.
Luca il Contrabbandiere/The Smuggler(1980) is a very good Italian mafia flick that is overlooked by the gothic films of Lucio Fulci from that period.
Fabio Testi is good as the head smuggler, Luca Di Angelo.
Lucio Fulci's extremely brutal, gritty and violent crime Mafia action flick.
Easygoing Naples cigarette contraband smuggler Luca Di Angelo (a solid performance by the handsome and charismatic Fabio Testi) ain't having an easy time of it: his beautiful, but fed-up wife (the luscious Ivana Monti) can't stand his law-breaking lifestyle, the zealous local police are closing in for an arrest, and ruthless narcotics baron the Marsiguese (a splendidly hateful'n'heinous villainous turn by Marcel Bozzufi of "The French Connection") wants Luca and his fellow smugglers to start peddling hard drugs.
Things go from bad to worse after Luca's brother gets rubbed out, leading to an all-out ferocious turf war in which various criminals gets bumped off in assorted grisly ways.Lucio Fulci compensates for the occasionally poky pacing, a rather tedious opening third and the grinding predictability of the standard crime/action thriller scenario by pouring on the excessively gory and gruesome graphic carnage with his customary rough and lingering aplomb: One guy gets tossed into a pit of sulfuric acid, another dude has his brains blown out, a lovely lady courier has her face viciously disfigured with a Bunsen burner, yet another fellow has his stomach blasted wide open, and countless crooks bleed several pints worth of blood when they get filled full of bullets.
Topped off with a rousing climax and a perfectly bleak bummer ending (Luca gets his revenge, but it comes at a horrible and substantial personal price), this no-holds-barred cruel and wicked film rates as one of Fulci's most unjustly neglected and underrated movies..
Lucio Fulci's lone foray into the Euro-crime genre stars Fabio Testi as Luca Di Angelo, the brother of a slain mobster who must somehow survive the mafioso takeover of the sadistic Marsigliese(Marcel Bozzuffi)in Naples, Italy, also vowing revenge against him and his sleazy gun-toting henchman.
The Marsigliese is targeting all the mob gangs who run illegal smuggling operations, wishing to take over the whole city as chief crime-lord, but the thorn in his side is Luca, who is willing to do whatever it takes to avenge his brother's murder(..which, adding to the agony, happened not far from him).My very first Poliziotteschi was entertaining for it's graphic blood-letting and enthusiastic staging of gangsters and hoods being killed/beaten in ultra-violent ways(..I do wonder if the slow motion action set-pieces, where characters fall from great heights or through windows, was inspired by Bloody Sam).
Even though Fulci wasn't directing a horror flick, he could still serve up the blood shed unrestrained within a serviceable plot dealing with a criminal world wrought with violence and corruption.The cast and story are quite familiar to what you often associate with mafioso tales featuring betrayal, revenge, & violent methods at securing power, prestige, and wealth.
All of these things are wonderfully true and make Contraband such a weird addition to your Fulci collection.Luca Di Angelo smuggles near Naples with his brother Mickey.
If you haven't realized that you are watching a Lucio Fulci movie, this would be the point in the film where you realize that fact.The Marsigliese starts killing all of the Mafia leaders so that he can become the sole boss of Naples.
Scherino is mortally wounded, but not before shooting Perlante in the neck, killing him.Again, in case you wonder who directed this film, The Marsigliese kidnaps Adele and demands Luca turn over his smuggling operation over the phone...and then plays him the sounds of our hero's wife being beaten and gang-raped.
They take out most of his men and Luca guns him down in a garbage-strewn alley in a scene packed with blood spraying everywhere.Adele and rescued and Morrone, the leader of the old school mob guys, tells the police that he has no idea who Luca is.Contraband was made as Fulci was starting to claim his gore crown.
Contraband is Lucio Fulci trying his hand at the Italian Crime genre, adding his very own touch to the proceedings, and producing what results in a very gory thriller with all his eccentricities intact.
Add to that the very cool scene in the disco (You can see it on YouTube), Fabio Testi's presence, and the overall laid back atmosphere, and you've got a great film right here.There's a good few cameos from Italian Movie land - Romano Puppo, Venantini Venantino and Fulci himself.
With this late-in-the-day crime thriller, made when the Italians were just beginning to ease off from that genre, he came out with one of his most shocking movies.The Mafia operations in Naples are being set back by unknown parties.
He's not long in finding out - a French drug racketeer known as 'The Marsigliese' (Bozzuffi) is killing his way through the Neapolitan crime lords, hoping to replace the penny-ante contraband pipeline with his own drug network.Though CONTRABAND lacks the pace and conviction of the dynamic Lenzi and Di Leo police thrillers, Fulci does well enough and handles the action scenes well.
The rape itself isn't shown, but the convincing turn by the actress involved, and gloating manner of the villain ('This time, we have to do it right!'), make the scene nigh-on impossible to sit through without provoking some sort of reaction.One of the most extreme crime thrillers, CONTRABAND further benefits from a great Euro-funk Fabio Frizzi score and some better-than-usual acting.
Romano Puppo, as the villain's imposing hit-man (who kills off most of the cast!), also makes a big impression, and has a great face that was perfect for crime movies.
Plus, the first third of the film is slow and boring.Since virtually all of Fulci's movies are flawed in some way, at least CONTRABAND does deliver the goods, and is essential viewing for anyone into Fulci or European crime-slime in general..
This attempt at crime drama by Fulci is a success for probably the wrong reasons but Contraband is still an entertaining piece of ultra violent Pasta for the dedicated Fulci-phile and other adventurous film-goers in search of Italian junk-food.Luca and his brother Adele make their living smuggling cigarettes in Naples.
If you surround your blatantly fake fx around enough solid, real world material apparently it's not as hard to swallow.Concerning the rape of Luca's wife, not to mention the loving detail with which the blowtorch scene is filmed (the damsel's face frying to a crispy black in a typical Fulci leering zoom) Contraband is one of the Maetsro's anti-woman exercises.
Fulci makes the most violent Italian crime film ever.
Fulci, best known for his gory horror films like ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS, inserts plenty of his trademark excessive violence into his film with people being shot and hit and spraying blood all over the place.Things really get going with a choppily-edited series of murders, where we get to see people machine gunned for what seems like an endless time - they even turn around halfway through in order to get the full treatment.
***SPOILERS**** Extremely brutal and violent crime Mafia movie taking place in Naples Italy involving a gang of illegal cigarettes traffickers with members of the French Mafia who are trying to take over their speed boat smuggling operation.
It's when Il Marsigliese' goons kidnap Luca's wife Adele and hold her as a hostage, while brutally beating and raping her, that he gets the help of the local Mafia Dons who are still left alive, after all the carnage, who set up a trap for Il Marsigliese' men with the brave Luca using himself as bait.***SPOILERS*** Far more violent and bloody then all the three "Godfather" movies put together "Contraband" never lets up in the action and some of it is way over the top.
Especially when it comes to the women in the film who in once case has her face burned off with a blow torch courtesy of the deranged sadist Il Marsigliese and another Luca's wife Adele getting viciously worked over by him as well as raped by his #1 henchman Nello.
Luca with the help of the Naple Mafia Dons does get his revenge by wiping out Il Marsigliese' goons, both French & Italian,in a mob style like ambush. |
tt0089755 | Out of Africa | The story begins in 1913 in Denmark, when Karen Dinesen (a wealthy but unmarried woman) asks her friend Baron Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer) to enter into a marriage of convenience with her. Although Bror is a member of the aristocracy, he is no longer financially secure; therefore, he agrees to the marriage, and the two of them plan to move to Africa to begin a dairy farm.
Upon moving to British East Africa, Karen marries Bror in a brief ceremony, thus becoming Baroness Blixen. She meets and befriends various other colonial residents of the country, most of whom are British. She also meets Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford), a local big-game hunter with whom she develops a close friendship. However, things turn out differently from her expectations, since Bror has used her money to purchase a coffee plantation rather than a dairy farm. He also shows little inclination to put any real work into it, preferring instead to become a game hunter. Although theirs was a marriage of convenience, Karen does eventually develop feelings for Bror, but she is distressed when she learns of his extramarital affairs. To make matters worse, Karen contracts syphilis from her philandering husband (at the time, cures were uncertain) and is forced to return to Denmark for a long and difficult period of treatment using the then-new medicine Salvarsan. Bror agrees to look after the plantation in her absence.
After she has recovered and returns to Africa, the First World War is drawing to an end. However, it becomes clear that her marriage to the womanizing Bror has not changed, and she eventually asks him to move out of their house. No longer able to have children of her own due to the effects of the syphilis, she decides to open a school to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, and also some European customs to the African tribal children of the area. However, her coffee plantation runs into financial difficulties, and she is forced to rely on bank loans to make ends meet. Her friendship with Denys Finch Hatton develops further.
Despite her expectation and desire to have what begins as an affair turn into a lasting relationship, Karen realizes that Denys is as impossible to domesticate as the wild animals he hunts and often refers to. Although he moves into Karen's house, he criticises her desire to "own" things; this implies even people. He refuses to commit to marriage or give up his free lifestyle and tells her that he will not love her more just because of a "piece of paper". Karen grudgingly continues in the relationship, knowing it will not ever be official. He decides to invite Felicity, a female mutual acquaintance on one of his safaris, which exceeds Karen's ability to tolerate his justifications for his lifestyle and behaviour. Karen asks him to accede to her request to not take her along, and he refuses. She asks him to move out. The plantation finally yields a good harvest at long last, but a devastating fire breaks out in the processing shed, and the crops and all of the factory equipment are destroyed.
Now financially broke, and her relationship with Denys over, Karen prepares to leave Africa to return home to Denmark, just as British East Africa is becoming Kenya Colony. She arranges to sell everything that she owns and empties the house of all her luxurious items for a rummage sale. In the now empty house, Denys visits her that night, and the two of them enjoy a drink and a dance. He asks her if he might escort her to Mombasa in his biplane to begin her journey home. She agrees and he promises to return after a few days. However, Denys never returns, and Karen is told that his plane has crashed and that he has been killed. Her loss now complete, Karen attends his funeral in the Ngong Hills. With Denys gone, Karen's head servant, Farah, takes her to the railway station, for the train to Mombasa.
Karen later became an author and a storyteller, writing about her experiences and letters in Africa, though she never returned there. | dramatic, romantic, storytelling | train | wikipedia | I said to my husband, "We've just seen the Academy Award winner." If I had no other basis for recommendation, I would say the breathtaking cinematography and transporting musical score would make a viewing worthwhile (case in point: the main theme playing as Denys Finch Hatton gives Karen Blixen her first airplane ride, and we what she sees, as God must have seen it).
Also, without an understanding of the historical times, it would be too easy to say simplistically that this is a woman trying to live within the terms of a marriage of convenience and then compensating with pursuit of a doomed passion.What was crafted out of a mishmash of a more-or-less factual account and director Sydney Pollack's vision is still a beautiful love and adventure story in the midst of British colonial rule and an earlier, more racially and sexually biased era.Klaus Maria Brandauer as Baron Bror von Blixen (whew!
"Bare-breasted native women" will unfortunately also make their National Geographic appearance.Even so, Out of Africa is a treasure with a half dozen or more perfect and unforgettable scenes; a movie as long as this review, but I hope you'll agree, worth your patience..
OUT OF AFRICA is based on the memoirs of Danish writer Karen Blixen (pen name, Isak Dinesen) in a coffee plantation in present day Kenya.
But the real attraction of the film is he outstanding photography of the African landscape together with the sweeping John Barry soundtrack that is probably the most beautiful movie soundtrack of the 1980s.
After viewing this film again I'm just stupefied why didn't Meryl Streep win Best Actress in this movie.
You see at it heart it is a well made, timeless epic.Yes there will always be the people who take exception to the accents, dislike the ending or believes it drags on for too long, but that's their lost, I can't help thinking they haven't been patient enough (and this annoys me).You see the thing is in many ways the endless beauty of this film lies in its subtleties.
Yes you have Meryl Streep and Redford flanked by the scenery and music, but for me it's the things like Pollock's direction, Michael Kitchen's performance and Karen's interaction with member's of the tribe that make the film.Part of me wants to tie my mate to a chair and make her sit and watch this until she gets it.
I find the romance between Dinesen (called by her real name, Baroness Karen Blixen) and aviator-adventurer Denis Finch-Hatton, less than compelling, partly because, as the latter, Robert Redford refuses to use a British accent, which gives the movie a Hollywood feel, not a bad thing in itself, but the film was made in Africa, with a mostly British cast, and Meryl Streep as Blixen uses an impeccable Danish accent, which makes Redford seem like a fish out of water.
It is loosely based on the memoirs of Danish aristocrat Karen Dinesen (Meryl Streep), whose failed social endeavors at home drove her to a platonic marriage to a Baron (Klaus Maria Brandauer) and to an eighteen-year exile in colonial Kenya.
The wide skies of Africa enlarged Dinesen's horizons, allowing her to explore the limits of her endurance through business venturing, friendship, and ultimately romance with wildlife hunter Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford).
Fine recitals by Streep (featuring a superb Nordic accent), and Michael Kitchen (as Berkeley) are not dynamic enough to conceal the film's fatal contradictions: Dinesen is a feminist spirit whose self-confidence is dependent on the men in her life; colonized Kenya is a sanitized paradise where noble savages' know their place; and where white colonialists are well-meaning philanthropists with imperfections that have hardly any impact outside of their narrow bwana' circle.
This film is filled with beautiful cinematography especially when it comes to landscape shots, great acting, and enough animals to easily satisfy a naturalist.This film is about a life of a woman when she moves from Denmark to Kenya in 1913 and her story of her time in Africa.The acting is very good especially by Streep and Redford.
I loved the movie on the big screen when it came out and even if the emphasis in the film is on the love life of Karen Blixen, which is not true in the book, it succeeds to convey the main purpose of Isak Dinesen to show the incredible beauty of Africa, specifically Kenya.
In Out of Africa, Meryl's character Karen is a hardworking, independent, strong-willed young baroness/plantation worker later author, while in The Iron Lady, she oscillates between an eighty year old dementia-suffering Thatcher and a middle-aged Thatcher, both authoritative.While I do understand Phyllida's attempt to have Meryl foreshadow others to show Thatcher's dominance, the movie itself became a one-woman show that barely gave a s*** about the supporting cast.
The Iron Lady will always remain Meryl's Iron Lady.Based on a true story, Out of Africa shows Karen Blixen's life as she adjusts to the African lifestyle while romancing Denys (Redford) and divorcing Bror (Klaus).
Karen runs the entire farm, opens up a school and acquaints and adjusts herself with the Africans.Pollack has handled the movie tactfully, and the film is enriched by fine performances.
Meryl Streep is a total wonder as the Danish woman who goes to Africa to find a life but learns about love instead.
John Barry's beautiful score is among the best in film history: a perfect melding of times past and wistfulness and love.
Gorgeous African vistas serve as a backdrop for the love story between Streep and Redford, playing real-life characters Isaak Dineson and Dennis Finch-Hatton.
Having watched this movie dozens of time it never ceases to amaze me how much there is in it...beauty, character, music, a way of life.
(For the full version of the music, stay with the ending credits.)In addition to a greater appreciation of the visuals and soundtrack, I enjoyed the story much more by the third time and Meryl Streep's Danish accent as "Karen Blixen" went from annoying to acceptable.
I even found I could enjoy this 161-minute film broken up into several viewings.One credibility problem, the other main character: " Denys," played by Robert Redford, was supposed to be British but had a 100 percent American accent.
Streep's character wasn't all that hot, either, and I'm wondering if the real Karen Blixen was more Christian-like than shown in this movie.
Character-wise, I liked Blixen's husband, played by Klaus Maria Brandauer, probably best in this movie.This is such a classy-looking film that I can overlook a few flaws and too-secular main characters and enjoy what the rest has to offer: mainly the magnificent African scenery, mellow story and rich music..
The film is based on Blixen's best-known book, telling the story of her life in Kenya, to which she and her husband Bror had moved to take up farming, between 1913 and the early 1930s.
The book also tells of Karen's relationship with the large white settler community in the colony, her divorce from Bror and her love affair with the big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton.Although the real Finch Hatton was an English aristocrat, Robert Redford here plays him with an American accent, although he is never referred to as an American in the film and the audience is probably supposed to accept him as British; he takes part in British military operations in 1914, at a time when America was still neutral.
Although there are some big historical set pieces, such as the victory celebration at the end of World War One, the film is really as much about the African continent and its landscapes, wildlife and indigenous people- Karen befriends the local Kikuyu people who are patronised or neglected by the other Europeans- as it is about colonialism or about the story of Karen and Denys.Streep did not win "Best Actress"- she lost out to Geraldine Page- but the film received seven Academy Awards including "Best Picture", "Best Director" for Pollack and "Best Cinematography".
Another well deserved Oscar went to John Barry for "Best Original Score"; his famous theme tune sounds like the noble slow movement of some great romantic symphony and beautifully complements the mood of the film.
The stilted dialogue, the lack of action, Brandauer's indifference, Redford's wooden acting, the weak story line, the formulaic direction, and the excessive length of the picture trump what may have been an interesting autobiography written by a woman who moved to Kenya in the early 20th Century.
Lots of subtlety in the script and visual symbolism inadequately matched by Robert Redford's neutral performance giving the impression of a huge American film-star doing it by numbers, conspicuously super-imposed onto an otherwise convincing depiction of colonial Kenyan culture in the early twentieth century.
Director Sydney Pollack believed Redford gave the historic character he was portraying an unobtainable quality that couldn't be offered by any high-profile British actor at the time of filming (1984).
Especially the objects in Karen's house take on a symbolic life of their own, which tells a story to complement the main narrative.I'm not sure how central the romantic aspect of the film was supposed to be, but I find it secondary to the development of Blixen's character and her relationship with Africa.
Robert Redford, though a charming man at all times, doesn't interest me much, but each time I see the film, I fall in love with Streep's Karen again..
As Karen, Meryl Streep gives one of her most worthy performances, touched with beauty and great angst.
Meryl Streep provides a performance that is probably one of her best ever and Robert Redford assists in his portrayal as her love interest.
But, Streep maintains control of the entire movie with her wonderful portrayal of a woman who must make her way through a man's world while struggling to keep her farm and help the people she's come to love.
The scenery, especially the aerial views of Africa and the wonderful music make this movie one of my favorites of all time.
Even if we take the cynical approach and say that it's another white-person-goes-to-Africa story, you can't ignore the effort that Meryl Streep and Robert Redford put into their roles.
622 - Adagio - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjzf_cWzlp8 - I realized that director Sydney Pollack' s film Out of Africa, 1985 , which tells Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke (1885-1962)' s life is actually telling highly solid an admirable dream.
Direction was taken by the renowned Sydney Pollack, while Meryl Streep and Robert Redford gave life to the main characters.
Released in 1985 and directed by Sydney Pollack based on Karen Blixen's autobiographical novel, "Out of Africa" chronicles life in colonial Kenya during World War I where a Danish baroness establishes a coffee plantation with her husband-of-convenience, Bror (Klaus Maria Brandauer), and develops a relationship with a free-spirited big-game hunter, Denys (Robert Redford).For some reason it's become fashionable to look-down on "Out of Africa" but, viewing it recently, it's obvious why it won Best Picture at the AA.
Karen Dinesen (Meryl Streep) agrees to marry Baron Bror Blixen, more out of convenience than love.
Good story with superb performances (it is Robert Redford and Meryl Streep though, so one should expect that).
a film with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford could not be more than a good one.
In 20th-century colonial Kenya, a Danish baroness/plantation owner (Meryl Streep) has a passionate love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter (Robert Redford).How accurate this is to reality, I have no idea.
On one hand, it's long and slow; on the other, it's an absorbing story with fantastic acting and breathtaking scenery.Meryl Streep stars as Karen Blixen, a Danish woman, who marries Bror Blixen and becomes a Baroness.
The cast includes Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen, Michael Gough, and Rachel Kempson, all wonderful actors.Meryl Streep does a beautiful job as Karen/Isak.
So many of us don't have a strong picture of Africa; this film displays its great beauty.Interestingly, the story of Isak Dinesen was considered for Greta Garbo, and Audrey Hepburn was offered the role before Streep..
However, despite the lengthy runtime, the movie does not get boring as the actors do a good job and it is interesting to see their characters get revealed and interacted with, and the two main characters played by Robert Redford and Meryl Streep show good chemistry together.
As you watch this movie you realise that this is a story about a white noblewoman from Denmark having love adventures in Africa, against the background of half-naked poor black servants, but the movie redeems itself to some degree by acknowledging the problem of colonialism in its story and dialogue and by making the main character fairly likable and hardworking.Another point of annoyance is Meryl's prominent friend played by Klaus Brandauer.
Robert Redford is just a very handsome man with great acting skills and Meryl Streeps acting is unbeatable, therefore she even won an Oscar as best-actress for the role she played.
Filmed on location in Kenya, "Out Of Africa," is one of the best films that I have ever watched.Based on the life of Danish female Author, Isak Dinessen,also known as "Karon Blixen," wrote many short stories, has some very good and breath taking scenery, such as those of the Flemingoes on Lake Naivasha, Mombasa and not to mention the Ngong Hills.Karen Blixen moves to Kenya, just before the out break of First World War. Upon arriving there she meets the hunter Denys Finch - Hatton but marries Baron Blixen, who has set up a Coffee farm at the foot of the Ngong Hills.Meryl Steep is superb in the role of Karen Blixen as is Robert Redford in the role of Denys Finch - Hatton.
We understand that life and love is a daily struggle, just like the wilderness of Africa.I wish more "Modern Day Classics" could be made for our next generations of movie enthusiast!
Robert Redford (Denys Finch Hatton) and Meryl Streep (Karen Blixen) are the perfect choice for the characters.
Meryl Streep and Robert Redford are beautiful, not just in the sense of glamor, but in the nature of the characters they portray, especially as they dance or share a moment of Mozart.
This movie is a true romantic classic; Meryl Streep and Robert Redford both do a superb job acting (as usual).
Karen sets out for Africa to marry Bror Blixen(Strangely enough that name means brother Flash in Danish, i thought she was off to marry her brother!)when she meets Denys (Robert Redford).
The film envelopes you, the scenery, Streep & Redford, the story and that Barry score - the finest orchestral music - I believe ever written.
Robert Redford really know's how to do film's,this is just breathtaking,think all the cast are superb,story is lovely,i can not watch this film ,even from the opening without crying,as the music is just amazing i try to compose myself to enjoy the film and i just can not stop,the costumes are just beautiful,would really like to know if Meryl enjoyed wearing them?i think they were lovely,the story is great and so romantic,the scenery in Africa,how people conducted themselves back then,and how sad when she left Africa,a must see film,in peace and quiet.Robert as usual is so handsome,and is so perfect for the part he play's as is Meryl she is a wonderful actress,and always's get's the accent's to her part so well,would like to know too if they enjoyed making the film?a must see film..
An incredibly beautiful film with flawless acting (especially by Meryl Streep), breathtaking cinematography, a moving musical score and a powerful script that is romantic, heartbreaking and poetic..
I was not familiar with the writings of Isak Dinesen before this film but, having seen the movie so many times, have become fascinated by her life and work.
Sure, it's got incredible performances by Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Klaus-Maria Brandauer.
To get the full picture, read all the books, including 'Isak Dinensen' the Life of a Storyteller' and 'Silence Shall Speak' to see what a clever interpretation the movie is of the whole story, not just the bits Karen wrote about in Out of Africa.
It is a moving story with fascinating and haunting characters, a beautifully filmed movie, and I loved it.
A 120-minute plot line that moves like Chicago at 5:00In a film that gives good Africa movies bad names ("The Constant Gardener," "The English Patient," etc.), Meryl Streep experiences a star-crossed love affair with Robert Redford.Interesting premise, poor execution.The time span feels as long as it is, as both Karen and Denys fumble toward intimacy.
In 1937, she wrote the biographical work "Out Of Africa".Sydney Pollack produced and directed this film adaptation of Blixen's life with the wonderful Meryl Streep as the Danish writer and Klaus Maria Brandauer as her husband and the handsome Robert Redford as her lover.
This is an excellent film of Sidney Pollack with acting of two greatest of the cinema, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford.
The film steps at different time of the Blixen's life, her love for Denys Finch Hatton (Redford), her sickness, and her relationship with slaves.
Robert Redford is miscast as a British adventurer in Africa wooing married Danish writer Meryl Streep.
While the performances in "Out of Africa" are excellent (I'd expect nothing less from Meryl Streep and Robert Redford), they do not compare to those of Whoopie Goldberg, Danny Glover and the rest of the cast in "The Color Purple."Further, Sydney Pollack's direction is good, a tribute to his craft, but let's be real.
An Endearing Love Story on One Country and One Man. Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Klaus Maria Brandauer give a performance that brings spark and excitement in every move.
The film won a remarkable number of Oscars and other awards in 1986, including the prestigious Best Picture, but in retrospect the movie does not seem all that extraordinary.The story begins in Denmark where Karen (Meryl Streep) is reminiscing her years in Kenya in the early 20th century. |
tt1934231 | Delhi Belly | The story revolves around three roommates, journalist Tashi (Imran Khan), photographer Nitin Berry (Kunaal Roy Kapur) and cartoonist Arup (Vir Das), leading an unkempt and debt-ridden life in a shady apartment in Delhi. Tashi's ditzy fiancée, Sonia (Shenaz Treasurywala), is an air hostess who agrees to deliver a package for Vladimir Dragunsky (Kim Bodnia) to Somayajulu (Vijay Raaz), without realizing its contents or that Somayajulu is a gangster. Sonia asks Tashi to deliver the package. Tashi, in turn, asks Nitin to do so. But Nitin is unable to do so as he is suffering ' Delhi Belly'. Nitin hands Sonia's package to Arup for delivery to Somayajulu, along with a package containing his stool sample for delivery to Nitin's doctor. Arup mixes up the two bags. Somayajulu, furious, tortures Vladimir to find his package.
Meanwhile, Nitin photographs his landlord with a prostitute. He sends an envelope with the photographs to his landlord to blackmail him. Tashi is with Sonia, when his colleague Menaka (Poorna Jagannathan) calls him on the pretext of work. When he reaches the place he realizes that it is just a party and Menaka called him just to have fun. Menaka's ex-husband Rajeev sees them together and punches Tashi in the eye in a fit of jealousy. Tashi retaliates and knocks Rajeev out. As Tashi and Menaka leave they are chased by a furious Rajeev and his friends who shoot at them. The duo barely manage to escape.
Vladimir informs Somayajulu that the mix-up must have been caused by Sonia as she didn't know what she was carrying in the package. Somayajulu calls Sonia, informs her about the mix-up and asks her to give him the address of the person who had delivered the package. When Tashi arrives into his apartment, he walks into Somayajulu who has Arup standing on a stool with a noose around his neck. On hard interrogation, Somayajulu discovers the mix-up and realizes that the package must be with Nitin's doctor.
Nitin gets the package from his doctor's office, wherein Somayajulu finds his thirty diamonds hidden inside. Upon recovering his booty, he orders his henchmen to kill the three roommates. One of them is about to shoot Tashi, when another kicks the stool on which Arup was standing to hang him. Luckily for the roommates, the ceiling of the apartment collapses, since it can't take Arup's weight. The cave-in knocks out Somayajulu and his men, leaving one with broken arms. Tashi, Arup and Nitin escape with the diamonds and spend the night at Menaka's place. The next day they sell the diamonds to a local jeweller.
As the roommates prepare to get out of town with the money, they get a call from Somayajulu who has kidnapped Sonia. He threatens to kill her if they don't return the diamonds. The trio try to buy back the diamonds from the jeweller, who demands double the sale amount.
Without the money, Tashi comes up with a plan. Nitin, Arup, Tashi and Menaka disguise themselves in burqas and rob the jeweller, leaving him the bag of money. They flee in Tashi's car with the police on their tail and go to the hotel where Somayajulu is holding Sonia. As they are about to make the exchange with Somayajulu, the police arrive at the hotel room. There is a shoot-out between the police and Somayajulu's gang.
Nitin, Arup, Tashi and Sonia, who had hit the floor during the gunfight, are left as the only survivors. Menaka, who by now realises that she likes Tashi, is upset to learn about his engagement and walks away from him. Tashi breaks off his engagement to Sonia. Later, it is revealed that Nitin did not return the cash to the jewellery store owner, and had kept most of the money for himself (whereupon he abandons blackmailing the landlord). The film ends when Menaka comes to the roommates' apartment to return Tashi's car's hubcap lost while escaping from Rajeev. Tashi jumps into her car through the open window and kisses her passionately.
Producer-actor Aamir Khan is seen dancing in a song and dance performance as the credits start rolling. | comedy | train | wikipedia | He not only gave a movie that will be talked about for quite a long time , but again came to Imran's rescue, to give him a re-launch he desperately needed!Every thing new has been tried , with the language being 90% English , the occasional Hindi comes out in the forms of those "terms of endearment" , and the lingo is something that we all dig!
Having starred in two back to back Hindi blockbusters in Ghajini and 3 Idiots, I'm guessing Aamir Khan, one of the largest stars of contemporary Hindi Cinema, is looking to spend more time behind the camera to forge a different brand of Hindi film targeted at an international audience, one that's probably sans the usual Masala formula containing song and dance routines, and creating movie magic that is within a comfortable two hour runtime.
His Aamir Khan Productions have already produced the more art house fare in Dhoby Ghat, and now, Delhi Belly continues the trend to appeal to audiences around the world, stating its intention with the predominant use of English, and circling around the crime caper with a generous dose of madcap comedy.And it worked wonders, with a very audacious, tightly knit plot that contains everything including the proverbial kitchen sink, where 3 friends and flat mates go about their usual daily business and routine, until they get inadvertently caught up with a smuggling ring with the smugglers out after their blood following a mix up of their precious cargo, and lumps of watery faeces.
Yes you read that right, this is almost a Bollywood answer to Hollywood's Hangover where the protagonists go on a quest of sorts, only that it's genuinely funnier, and loads more charming, even as it does venture into toilet humour for a fair bit, and a lot more dropping of the F-bombs quite unheard of in Hindi cinema.As far as Hindi adult comedy goes, this is probably my first, and what a ride it was.
And before I forget, Nitin's the catalyst of the film with his contracting of Delhi Belly, which becomes the inevitable running joke throughout the story – watching just how he contracts it, is already worth the ticket price (and a warning we must be wary from which hawker we buy food from).Before you know it you're thrown into the classic mixup involving mistaken identities, misplaced items, little side gags and plots that get thrown around thick, fast and furious (my favourite involves orange juice), a landlord who got blackmailed, romance, and gangsters who very well behave like, well, regular Joes and inadvertent poseurs.
Disco Fighter serves up plenty of retro, disco fun coupled with his fair share of vulgar moves, that I think he'd fit right in if cast in the next Austin Powers film, complete with exaggerated gyrating pelvis to boot.Delhi Belly is the best Hindi film to date for the year, and you will do yourself a disservice if you were to miss this totally.
Those rope of morality, sanctimony and congeniality which had tied down so many of India's almost-awesome films have been cut open and the authentic urban Indian (who does hurl a few abuses here and there every day due to the misfortune happening to him) is now free thanks to Aamir Khan and Abhinay Deo. Still, Delhi Belly is fine filmmaking mostly due to the makers' unabashed vision and the decision to let no stone unturned in making this comedy.To start off, Ram Sampath's mind-blowing music in the promos is what brought the first batch of audience to this movie and it has some really wacky numbers (Bhaag DK Bose, Nakkadwale Disco and Bedardi Raja to name a few).
Imran is in a dream role and this could be his best act ever if he continues to do movies like the ones before he did Delhi Belly.
Great storytelling by Abhinay Deo. As a bonus we're treated to a never-before item number by Aamir Khan in the end, along with some food for our ingenuity-hungry mind throughout the film.Like all of Aamir Khan's house productions, Delhi Belly is an important film in Indian cinema history because the success of this film will directly measure the immeasurable: how much have our minds really adapted to the next generation mentality.
And what all comedy filmmakers should learn from Delhi Belly is that Indians have brains not just while doing math but while watching movies too..
I wouldn't like to associate any known name in Bollywood given the content of this movie, Let alone an Amir Khan production.What appears smart and fresh initially soon starts to get a bit tiresome in the second half — especially the toilet humor and loud crude sounds of a character passing gas.Save your brain cells!.
Much before I watched Delhi Belly, I was told very categorically that the film will reduce to rubble the image of Aamir Khan, the producer, which he has very painstakingly and meticulously built over the years.
One thing I love about Bollywood is it manages to get laughs with having to resort to bad language - and long may it remain that way.The good:The plot is fast-paced and it gets down to business pretty much from the get-go.
The movie, over all, is just like any other comedy in BollyWood eg -Hera Pheri, Awara Paagal Deewana etc, except for the inferior abusive dialogues (Honestly, I think, me and my pals are a billion times funnier, than the sad abusive characters in this film, when it comes to creative abusing); This film is a FAIL, just like Dhobi Ghat.
This movie if full of shitty and absurd comedy.Awful acting Same old story I think IMDb should introduce 0 or -ve ratings for movie like this...Don't waste your time and money.I wonder how this movie has got 8.1 rating.This is not the right way of making an A rated movie..This movie has no class at all.
And i think Imran Khan should stop acting or the future of Bollywood is in disarrayso please don't watch this movie.
I believe even dogs are more responsible to clean their place before they sleep.In the most awful scene ever come across in cinema where a stool sample has been replaced by diamonds and the don checks it out his table is such an indescribable and detestable moment that if that particular time if you are having your pop corns, burgers and coke you will never dare to take them again..Recently one newspaper published that Delhi belly isn't an adult movie said by Aamir Khan.
This may not be the first time that a movie with filthy dialogs has been produced in India, but it is indeed the first time that such a lose attempt at humor is being applauded by critics.This movie can be summarized as follows: 1) Top names - Amir Khan/Imran Khan - to lure in audiences.2) Abuses hurled to make a comic attempt; Vijay Raaz is the only one who delivered it right.3) Rumbling tummies; another cheap comical attempt - not funny 4) A very predictive script that generates a ridiculous storyline5) Fast paced; though again, you can very well predict the next sceneDon't waste another 100 minutes of your life if you've not seen this already..
Delhi Belly is an ensemble piece with three male roommates, Tashi (Imran Khan [ Images ]), Nitin (Kunaal Roy Kapur) and Arup (Vir Das), and two almost wacky women in Tashi's life -- his rich fiancée Sonia (Shenaz Treasury) and a free-spirited colleague Menaka (Poorna Jagannath).
As the promos suggested, this film targets the multiplex audiences who are young at heart and don't find abusive language offensive.Most part of the movie deals with the three leads, Tashi (Imran Khan), Nitin (Kunal Roy Kappor) and Arup (Vir Das) who have their own problems to deal with but a mix-up between a stool sample and a bag of diamonds gets them involved with the smuggling mafia headed by a dangerous Somayjujlu played hilariously by Vijay Raaz and his comic henchman.To start of with, the film's director Abhinay Deo, comes all guns blazing and makes up for his previous miss.
The three lead actors , Imran Khan, Vir Das , Kunal Roy Kapoor have rendered crisp performances .Vijay Raaz has played a suave , droll villain - very amusing .The script, direction and editing is on the money.A refreshing & very 'unbollywood' like movie.
Beyond that, "Delhi Belly" is a pretty silly, predictable, action, gross-out comedy - basically an Indian "The Hangover." Tashi, Arup, and Nitin are underemployed, immature, twenty- something guys living like complete slobs in a shared apartment.
Where to begin,first of all i don't understand why people praise this movie.It is one of the most overrated movies of 2011.Aamir khan has created a brand for himself such that anything and everything he does has to be appreciated(no matter if ghajni was a rip off of memento) and if a person opposes his ideology,he stands to be ridiculed.Secondly,youth in urban cities are aping western culture and thus find abusive words such as s$$t and f$$k cool,this movie captures youth's pulse perfectly and every 2nd dialogue mouthed by the actors is either "balls" or "f$$k".Don't get me started on the acting front,imran khan sleepwalks in most of his movies and here also he does the same.He has the same deadpan expression throughout the movie but people and critics say that its his best performance till date.Female actors are only there to perform sex scenes but during their interview,they said it was part of the script(please explain to me how a cunnilingus scene is part of the script??) The jokes are awful,sorry but i don't find farting and toilet jokes funny.Overall,please don't watch this movie,u will be wasting your time..
Everyone says dehli belly is a super hit awesome movie , but after watching it i don't know why i'm having a different feeling, i think it's mediocre.
the songs are mind blowing but we wanted at least the best song to be featured in that,,,, but it didn't matter much i have the video Delhi Belly is a slick, madly crazy production that is mostly funny -- although the humour will more likely appeal to the 20-something and perhaps 30-something public school educated, English speaking, big city audience that the film targets through its previews, videos and playful songs (from a spoof on K L Saigal's voice, to one that may or may not allude to a curse word).
OMG...Delhi belly is one of the top best dark comedy movies ever created in bollywood...3 best friends of 3 different jobs trying to make up there living suddenly comes in contact with underground mafia...the movie showcases how they survive all the situations that they need to face one after the other ...a must watch movie......
Acting: Imran Khan, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Vir Das, Vijay Raaz and almost everyone associated has done well.Final Verdict: It is hilarious Adult comedy that will make you laugh your a** out every time you watch it!.
The story revolves around three roommates, journalist Tashi (Imran Khan), photographer Nitin Berry (Kunaal Roy Kapur) and cartoonist Arup (Vir Das), leading an unkempt and debt-ridden life in a shady apartment in Delhi.
Tell me when was the last time you actually found a bollywood movie genuinely humorous without the actors requiring "on-the-face comedy" to make you laugh (the laugh I know was full of sarcasm)?
[0/2] Story is shallow.It's Trainspotting revisited.After a few sequences the storyline becomes few quite predictable and second-half contains easy twist and turns.[1/2]Good actors but bad acting.Nothing was much expected from Imran so Vir Dass and Kunal Roy Kapur were expected to to bloom but story constrained them.Shenaz is irritating.Poorna as Menaka is a revelation.Vijay Raaz's acting is under utilized.[2/2]Music is awesome.Ram Sampath successfully managed to catch the tone of the generation."Bhag DK Bose" is better than all rock songs of "Rock On" combined.Chetan Shashital's Saigal blues worth a mention.[2/2]Aamir Khan's shadow maneuvered all over the film."Disco Fighter" sub-plot borrows heavily from the fake-trailers of Tarantino-Rodriguez movies.[1/2]Akshat Sharma's story is more or less from inspired from Trainspotting.Abhinav Deo direction is mediocre..
Its not only the tourists that get Delhi belly and live with the consequences.The camera work of Jason West was exceptional and the director did not waste endless minutes on introducing the audience to the characters or use elaborate editing and music cues and turn the film into a pantomime.
Shot on a meager budget, Aamir Khan would be laughing all the way to the bank as Delhi Belly seems all set to be ranked among this year's most memorable films.
Like the others of its kind, Delhi Belly too would work only in multiplexes and it's only for adults.Set in Delhi, Tashi (Imran Khan), Arun (Vir Das) & Nitin (Kunal Roy Kapur) are friends leading normal lives as a journalist, advertising illustrator and photographer respectively.
Delhi Belly is indeed the maiden attempt to elevate toilet humor to another level and probably it is dirtiest, filthiest comedy at its very best.Delhi Belly is a simple story about three roommates Nitin (Brilliant debut by Kunal Roy Kapoor),Tashi(Imraan Khan) and Arup(Vir Das) unknowingly stuck in a crime whereby a local goon (superb acting by Vijay Raaz) and his henchmen are after them to get back their diamonds and rest of the film is about the trio escaping as the youth anthem bhag bhag dk Bose scores in background.It is sheer genius of writer Akshat Verma to come up with a Guy Ritchie kind of script.
All the creatively outrageously funny songs in the album are used appropriately in the background.Coming to the acting department, casting director Adoore Mukherjee seems to know his job well selecting Kunal Roy Kapoor (who earlier directed the mind-blowing hinglish comedy "The president is coming") as Nitin who suffers a weak belly due to food poisoning.
Vijay Raaz is a fine actor and while watching his subtle villainous act one wishes to see more of him.The henchmen in Vijay Raaz's gang did a fine job specially the one who played "Bunty".The person enacting the landlord has superb potential in situational comedy films.Aamir Khan should be applauded again for taking an independent cinema to this elevating commercial level.
And having gotten that out of the way, one can get down to the serious business of enjoying the movie.After watching drivel like Double Dhamaal, with its sick humor and double entendres masquerading as "family" entertainment, Delhi Belly's irreverence and honesty is like a breath of fresh air.
Its humor is grown-up and not the usual puerile mush you see in Hindi movies; the dialog is unaffected, natural and hilarious; the relationships between people develop in a way that is unforced and casual.This is probably Imran Khan's best role to date - he plays Tashi, a journalist (complete with batty girlfriend) who unwittingly gets into a mix-up involving diamonds and a stool sample.
The only actor I like in the film is Vijay Raaz who has starred in many memorable films like Jungle, Shakti - The Power and Run. Verdict: a good time-pass film to watch while suffering from a Delhi Belly.
Empty bucket is waiting for filling water inside it and also three roommates are waiting for each other that someone will get up early and will fill the bucket.Finally bucket remains empty.And Nitin (Kunal Roy Kapoor)doesn't get water to clean himself in toilet and finally he cleans himself with juice placed inside fridge.Delhi Belly half of the movie is based on Nitin's loose motion problem.Arup (Vir Das) is great fan of disco fighter and buys ticket for his girlfriend for some kind of disco fighter movie.Even he waits for his girlfriend outside theater till completion of movie but his girlfriend doesn't join him.Tashi(Imran Khan)is good looking youngster and lazy too.Tashi has a girlfriend named Sonia(Shenaz Treasury)gives a diamond parcel to Tashi on behalf of her friend and Tashi gives parcel to Arup but Arup delivers it in wrong address.Whole second half is based on wrong delivery of this diamond parcel.Another character of this movie is Menaka(Pooran Jagannathan)is co-worker with Tashi.Menaka is a attracted towards Tashi and Tashi couldn't able to decide weather he loves her or not.Initially when I decided to to see Delhi Belly I knew that it's for adults when i saw it I was completely socked how much abusive language is used in it.Then I suddenly reminded of Hollywood movies only it happens there.This is first Indian adult abusive movie which I have ever seen.The whole credit goes to movie writer Akshat Verma.Also Abhinay Deo has done good work in direction.In acting category I was socked to see Kunal Roy Kapoor performance.Other actors have also done good work in movie.But I would like to say that Delly Belly is based on Nitin's "LOOSE MOTION"..
DB : BOLD Bollywood movie by Aamir Khan .DB is a BOLD , fast paced Action , Comedy and a Daring movie.Story Line : The journey of three roommates in the suburbs of Delhi when the delivery of a mystery package goes wrong, and they unknowingly become the potential prey of a ruthless gangster.
As if a whole generation was waiting for someone to give approval.Delhi Belly a movie about three friends and roommates caught in a perplexing situation is the first of a proper adult comedy from Bollywood (not India) in the category of movies like The Hangover (but still no nudity).
Vir Das and Imran Khan do full justice to their character while the scenes and situations throughout the movie are as original and new as it can get.
I will give 2.5/10 Aamir please come-up with great movies with different actors u have lots of options besides imran............PLOT It revolves around three roommates, Tashi (Imran Khan), Nitin Beri (Kunaal Roy Kapur) and Arup (Vir Das) leading an unkempt and debt-ridden life.
It's not at all for those who like to watch family-films, but for those, who can digest a Dark-Comedy, that comes in-tact with Maa-Behen Ki Gaalis.Abhinay Deo's 'Delhi Belly' scores big time in those 95-minutes it runs for. |
tt0102636 | Parinda | The story revolves around two brothers, Kishen (Jackie Shroff) and Karan (Anil Kapoor), who have spent their childhood growing up alone on the streets of Mumbai. In order for Karan to have a better upbringing and education, Kishen joins Anna Seth (Nana Patekar). Anna owns an oil factory, but it is a mere prop used to cover up his dealings within the underworld. Karan is unaware of the fact that his brother is working for a gang. Inspector Prakash (Anupam Kher), Karan's best friend, is aware of Anna's gang activities and wants to bring him to justice. Anna knows that Karan and Prakash are best friends, so he sets up the murder of Prakash when Prakash and Karan are supposed to meet after Karan's arrival from America. Karan witnesses the murder of his friend Prakash, who dies in his arms.
Karan is devastated by the happenings, and is even more shocked to learn that Kishen is a gangster working for Anna, the man responsible for Prakash's murder. Iqbal, who is friends with Karan, though crippled he keeps all the information of the underworld. This very knowledge is threat to life, since Abdul (one of the three killers of Prakash) is wary of Iqbal. Iqbal briefs Karan about all the internal information of Anna's Gang and his rival gang led by Musa. Determined Karan resolves for revenge.
Karan goes to join Anna's gang. Anna wanting to weigh his credibility, locks him with Iqbal and can come out only after killing him. Anna is sure that Karan won't be able to kill Iqbal. Iqbal then shoots himself so that Karan can execute his plan without any guilt. To everyone else's surprise it appears that Karan has killed Iqbal and he becomes a part of Anna's gang.
Kishen is very disappointed since he wanted his brother to lead a normal life, but is not able to deter Karan from his motives. With the help of Musa, Karan is able to eliminate all the three killers of Prakash. By playing off one gang against the other, he hopes to exterminate both of them at the same time. In a desperate attempt to get Karan away from it all, Kishen gets him married to Paro. But when the couple is brutally killed on their wedding night, Kishen is out for revenge against Anna Seth. Kishen finally kills Anna and lits the pyres of Karan and his wife. | murder, violence, cult, flashback, romantic, revenge | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0046907 | Devil Girl from Mars | Opening scene A passenger plane is destroyed in mid flight in a shower of sparks.Scene switches to an isolated Inn somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. On the radio, a broadcast explains a bright light seen last night was a meteor. Tommy (Anthony Richmond) is then sent to bed by his aunty, Mrs. Jamieson (Sophie Stewart) As he goes to bed aunty explains that despite what the radio said, the meteor has landed some ways a way. The radio report concludes with the announcement that noted astronomer Prof Hennessy, has gone to the area to look for the meteor.Nearby, Prof Hennessy and Michael Carter (Hugh McDermott) an American reporter are stopped on the side of the road. In the background the cars radio warns that Robert Justin (Peter Reynolds) has escaped from jail and is considered dangerous.Back at the inn Doris (Adrienne Corri) hears a knock at the door. It is Justin; shes surprised to see him and asks if hes been released. He explains hes escaped, Doris is still puzzled, but a clear romantic connection pushes her to help him.Mrs. Jamieson interrupts the reunion; panicked Doris introduces him as a stranger on a hiking tour who has lost his wallet. Mrs Jamieson agrees to give him lodgings in return for odd jobs. Left alone again, Doris and Justin continue their conversation. Hed been sent to jail for murdering his wife, Doris laments why he ever chose the other women over her.Ellen Preswick (Hazel Court) a fashion model from London joins the couple for a drink. She takes an instant interest in Justin, and is convinced she has seen his face before. Justin is unsure of Preswicks motives and decides to leave the two women to their thoughtsHennessy and Carter arrive at the inn looking for lodgings. Carter sees Preswick and is immediately attracted to her. The moment is interrupted when Miss Preswick she sees a flash of light through one of the windows. Hennessy is condescending and suggests that she either imagined it or it was nothing to worry about.Dinner is served and Carter recognizes Justin who is their waiter. He is about to tell the others when a huge spaceship flies low over the Inn sending everyone scrambling for cover. They see the craft land in a nearby field. Carter decides it is an alien space craft, and begins trying to contact the outside world. Hennessy is more skeptical and wants to investigate before deciding. He notices the object is red hot and theyll have to wait some hours before approaching.In the confusion Justin slips away and escapes. Carter and Hennessy try to reach a nearby village, but struggle to start their car. Returning, Justin pulls Doris aside, she shows him an abandoned room to hide in, she declares her love for him, and he considers the options the couple may have to escape.Now alone in his room, Justin watches a female figure emerge from the ship. He also catches sight of a worker from the Inn approaching the woman. The alien kills the man without question and continues towards the inn. Giving up on the car Hennessy and Cater return to the inn. They are troubled to find Doris unresponsive and in a zombie like state.The alien arrives at the inn and introduces herself as Nyah (Patricia Laffan) she is from Mars. She explains that she wanted to land directly in London, but the ship sustained damage in the decent. Due to the war of the sexs on Mars, the male population is dropping, and she needs human males to bolster breeding stock. It is realized that a worker is missing, Nyah admits to killing him.Before returning to her ship, Nyla warns the group of an invisible wall around the inn to prevent them from escaping.Carter spends more time Miss Prestwick and learns shes is in the area to escape a relationship with a married man. Shed run away in the past, but her partner always found her. Carter then opens up and tells of his own experiences as a combat reporter. Both seem drawn together by the possibility of their common destructionProfessor Hennessy comes back injured, hed found the invisible barrier by falling against it. Frustrated Mr Jamieson finds an old gun and gives it to Carter. They make a plan to either capture Nyah or kill her. Suddenly she returns to the inn, Carter empties the gun at the alien without result. She orders everyone to the ship so they can understand the power she wields. Still hidden, Justin sees Tommy wandering around. The boy wants to go to the ship and Justin agrees. Nyla triggers another hatch to open and a huge box like robot emerges. Nyla orders the robot to fire a beam that destroys a tree, then car and finally a storage shed.Nyla discovers Justin and the boy hiding and orders the boy into the ship. Justin tries to stop her, but is hypnotizing and sent back to the inn. Hennessy then gets an opportunity to see inside the ship, Nyla wants to show off her power, the professor is looking for any weakness he can exploitAfter seeing the negative atomic energy, and perpetual motion system; Hennessy realizes the sort of power he is up against and returns to the inn. The, rest of the group have set a trap to electrocute Nyla. She triggers trap and remains completely unaffected, but is annoyed enough at the attempt to warn them any further attempts will result in the death of Tommy.Nyla then disappears by transferring herself to the 4th dimension.Carter decides to go alone to the ship and rescue Tommy. Nyla stops him at the hatch and demands to know what he wants. Carter offers to exchange himself for the sake of the child. Nyla agrees to the deal and Tommy returns to the inn. Once there, he tells everyone what he has seen, Hennessy becomes more convinced than ever that he can destroy the ship.Meanwhile Doris finds Justin wandering still in his hypnotized state and muttering about preparing for the new rulers of Earth. Carter returns to explain the deal hes struck with alien. Doris explains Justins unusual behavior; Carter goes to check on him and is violently attacked. He manages to subdue Justin and tie him up.Later Hennessy pulls Carter aside and explains how it might be possible to destroy the aliens craft, but it would mean the death of whoever tries. Nyla comes to the inn and collects Carter, he considers what Hennessy said.At the ship Carter takes Nylas controller but is defeated by her robot. Nyla decides Carter is untrustworthy and returns him to the inn and tells everyone they are going to die because of Carters trickeryDesperate Hennessy offers to be a guide for Nyla in London. Initially rejects the offer but sees some worth in the idea. Nyla will return later and chose someone. The rest will be killed.The thought that the end is near draws Prestwick to declare her love for Carter. They discuss what the future may have been, and decide that it is now all overDoris finds Justin, who appears back to normal. She explains the reason for him being tied up. Meanwhile Hennessy has written down instructions on destroying the ship so whoever is chosen to go, will be able to achieve their aim of destroying the ship.Doris releases Justin and he promises to stay safe, however Nyla comes back and assumes Justin is the person to come with her. Together they return to the ship. All seems well as the craft launches and begins to climb into the air without incident. Just before it disappears from view it explodes.Doris bursts into tears realizing Justin is dead, but his sacrifice saved the world. | romantic | train | imdb | null |
tt0470993 | Crazy Eights | Jennifer Jones (Dina Meyer) is giving a lecture to a college psychology class on the subject of human emotion. After the class ends and the students leave, the projector remains on and begins performing oddly, flashing images that disturb and confuse Jennifer. Meanwhile, other strange phenomena presents itself to Father Lyle Dey (George Newbern), who experiences nightmares of a ghostly unknown presence. At the same time, Beth Patterson (Gabrielle Anwar) is haunted by nightmares of a girl she does not recognize. She has become obsessed with this unknown girl, sculpting her face into clay and repeatedly asking the sculpture to tell her who she is. While sculpting, Beth ignores a call from her therapist, who leaves a message expressing concern over Beth's nightmares and the added stress of the recent suicide of a childhood friend. As the message is playing, Beth becomes more and more stressed, eventually ripping the jaw off of the clay face.
Soon thereafter, Jennifer, Lyle, and Beth gather at the funeral of their mutual childhood friend, along with three other old friends: Brent Sykes (Frank Whaley), Gina Conte (Traci Lords), and Wayne Morrison (Dan DeLuca). After the funeral, the six leave the graveyard and go to their friend's home. Following instructions in their friend's will, they look for and find a box containing a letter and a map. The map marks the location of a time capsule that the group buried together many years ago. The letter apologizes for the friend's suicide but asks that the remaining friends face the past and the things forgotten together. The letter ends by reminding them that they will always be together. The only other item in the box is an old photograph of eight children standing in front of a baseball field. Brent comments that their group must not have been very bright since a baseball team requires at least nine players, not eight, but Lyle chides him by saying that Crazy Eights was simply a name.
The six travel to their childhood hometown and use the map to find an old, dilapidated barn, where the time capsule has been placed in the upper level. The group opens the box to find various items that they owned in their youth, including Beth's paint brushes, a journal (which once belonged to the deceased friend), a slingshot, and a few other items. They decide to move the box outside by using a pulley to carry it out of a nearby window. While Jennifer, Lyle and Brent are attempting to lift the box out, Beth and Wayne talk outside. Beth notices a new scar on Wayne's forehead; when she asks him about it, he confesses that he does not know how he got it, and that the cut appeared right after a disturbing nightmare he had. Suddenly, the box drops behind them and smashes, having slipped from the pulley.
When the group goes to the box again, they find that the bottom has split open, revealing a secret compartment which contains the skeleton of a tiny girl. The group is unsure of what to do, debating whether to simply leave or to involve the authorities. Brent angrily leaves the group, refusing to accept any responsibility or consequences for the unknown skeleton.
Upon realizing that Brent still has the keys to the van, the others quickly catch up to him, although they are still undecided as to what to do about the box and its grisly contents. As the group attempts to drive away, they find themselves lost and continually returning to a large white house no matter which direction they travel in. Brent notices a figure standing near a few trees surrounding the house, and quickly leads the group to her location. The girl disappears once the group heads towards her, so they decide to enter the home to search for her. The group agrees to split up into two groups, in the hopes of finding the girl faster.
Wayne and Gina walk around outside and find the entrance to the basement. Upon entering, Wayne just makes out the shadow of a person, but falls down the stairs and breaks his leg. Gina turns the basement's lights on as Wayne begs her not to leave him alone in the dark, and sets out for help. Meanwhile, the group inside sees that the house does not look as though anyone has lived there for a long time; Brent soon discovers a "Condemned" notice, stating that all trespassers will be shot without warning. Gina finds the others and notifies the rest of the group of Wayne's injury, and the group descends into the basement to aid Wayne, with Brent bringing anything from the van that might help them.
Once all members of the group are in the basement, the door strangely shuts and locks. The group, now looking for any way out of the house, leave with Wayne in tow and travel down a tunnel which they hope will lead them to another exit. The tunnel opens out into an abandoned underground hospital, complete with an empty nurse's station and rooms with hospital beds. The group decides to split up again to search for an exit or anything that might help them. The group leaves Wayne in Beth's care, but she soon abandons Wayne to explore the halls and rooms. She stares into a mirror hanging off a wall at the nurse's station, and is startled to see her younger self staring back at her.
Meanwhile, the abandoned Wayne hears a noise behind him and crawls over to a nearby window to investigate, the window inexplicably opened even though the outside is covered by bars. Behind him, a ghostly figure passes by and the window is suddenly closed, killing Wayne. The group soon returns to find Wayne's body, and upon managing to get him out, temporarily transfer it to the attic. Lyle and Gina take an obviously disturbed Beth to a room serving as a bedroom for multiple children in order to calm her down.
Beth demands to be left alone, and Lyle and Gina reluctantly comply. When left alone, Beth begins sucking her thumb, and lies on a bed. Soon, a horrible creature visits, promising to remove her guilt if she " reaches down, and pulls it out." Beth screams in response, and when the other five reenter the room, they find Beth's bloody body lying crumpled against a wall with her jaw torn off. This is eerily similar to the fate of Beth's sculpture she had crafted at the beginning of the story.
Brent panics and flees the room, running away from the remaining members of the group. He enters a series of adjoined, lighted rooms, before discovering that again, the series of rooms loop in circles, with no exit. Brent yells and curses at whoever is tormenting him, and promises that when he escapes the building, he will burn it to the ground.
Brent eventually returns to the other four. Gina, Lyle and Brent return to the room where they saw her reflection and break the mirror, discovering that it was a two-way mirror used to watch the previous occupants of the home. Brent somehow finds an exit, which leads to a room filled with a plethora of toys, and a large painting on the wall. Brent explains that "compassion is the difference between a man and a beast." The remainder of the group walks along the length of the hall exposed by the broken mirror, eventually arriving at a room containing records. The records document the progress of "subjects," among which were a savant and an autistic individual.
Lyle comes to the conclusion that they were trying to teach these unfortunate subjects guilt. However, Jennifer rampages through the room and exposes a large butterfly graffiti made by the group when they were children. They discover a picture frame containing pictures of all of them as children, including the man who each child believed was his or her own father.
Brent, meanwhile, drops to his knees and reads several quotes from a book in the time capsule, talking about how they cannot run. He comes to some sort of realization but a figure emerges from a pile of toys behind him and kills him before he can express it. Lyle suddenly recollects old, repressed memories hidden by pain and horror, about how the group of eight children escaped this home, where they had been experimented on.
He recounts how they were forced to leave one of the members of the group, a fragile young girl named Karen, in a chest containing meaningful objects, promising to return and rescue her. He realizes that the time capsule is the chest, and that they had come back for the girl long ago, only to find her dead from suffocation. Gina, horrified by this realization, runs into a bathroom, vomiting in the toilet. The bathroom is filled with multiple bathtubs, and she leans against one, moaning. Suddenly, the horrible creature who took the lives of Wayne, Beth, and Brent emerges behind her and blinds her by gouging her eyes out. She begins to scream as Lyle and Jennifer race towards the bathroom, but the door is locked.
Lyle and Jennifer manage to batter their way into the room, and quickly bind Gina's bleeding eyes with strips of cloth. They take her to the storage room, and leave her there, promising to return soon. Lyle convinces Jennifer that they must find and destroy all objects linking them to the dead girl, and implores her to split up to find the objects in a reduced amount of time. Gina reminds Lyle that Brent left a slingshot under a grate, near a truncated tunnel. Lyle finds the area, and reaches down to acquire the slingshot, when a hand grabs his. He quickly struggles and stumbles back, severely wounding his neck on a pike.
Meanwhile, Jennifer finds a paintbrush under a filthy bed, and begins to walk back to the room where Gina is. The blinded Gina, unaware of her surroundings and left with a metal bar to defend herself, inadvertently kills Lyle when he enters the room. In Lyle's last breaths, he tells Gina that yet another object is in the tunnel. Gina runs back to the entrance of the basement, where a horrible creature behind her clasps its hand over Gina's mouth, suffocating her. Jennifer returns to the room, finding Lyle dead. She pleads for the resurrection of the dead man, before gathering the courage to burn the slingshot and the paintbrush in a garbage can.
While burning the objects, the horrible creature (who is revealed to be Karen, the dead girl's spirit) who led the other group members to their deaths, taunts Jennifer, reminding her of how she left her in the chest. Jennifer asks, with a raising temper in her voice, what objects are left to burn.
When she does not receive an answer, she deduces that she herself is the only thing left connected to Karen. While Jennifer prepares to plunge a shard of glass into her stomach to kill herself, a flashback is shown where a man talks to Karen about the "project" is shown, and the movie abruptly ends with the words, "Do you know the meaning of guilt? Do you know the meaning of redemption? Choose." | violence, flashback | train | wikipedia | Six people come together after the death of a childhood friend and begin to unravel the secret behind a past they can't remember while trapped in some abandoned hospital kind of place, and thus begins the very many problems with Crazy Eights.The film is basically one very big collection of plot holes, beyond what I tried to sum up never really made sense, because for someone like me who has a long attention span, I can clearly say that barely anything is explained, for example, what was the purpose of the experiments?
I don't know if the director tried to make one of those films that's suppose to stay with you for a long time after you've watched it, wondering about the same things I just pointed out, well he did, only after I watched it, I didn't really like it.Another problem is the score, while watching the film I noticed that the score practically played throughout the film, I can probably account for less than three seconds for when I didn't hear it, and it was more annoying than anything else, for the majority of the film it just played, it didn't help set the tone or create a certain mood or help the film build any kind tension, it just played and muffled a lot of the dialog.The acting was so so, but whatever kind of film the filmmakers tried to make obviously doesn't work, want my advice?
I had higher hopes for Crazy Eights than previous films I had seen from the Afterdark Horrorfests' 8 Films to Die For lines, because after seeing a few, I thought I had acquired the ability to pick out the ones that would be good by then.
It's like the director and writer were drunk on the job, but had potential.I barely remember the climax/ending because I was put off by that moment, and just ready for the film to be over.
When Brax Young dies, his childhood friends Jennifer Jones (Dina Meyer), Gina Conte (Traci Lords), Father Lyle Dey (George Newbern), Wayne Morrison (Dan DeLuca), Brent Sykes (Frank Whaley) and Beth Patterson (Gabrielle Anwar) reunite after twenty years.
my love and admiration for crappy horror films stated, understand that this movie has no place in the horrorfest 8.
It is very cliché, which most B- Movies are, but this one so much so that it seems very amateur, and who likes watching something they feel like they could have written or produced?Please believe that this isn't your average bully picking on someone lesser than him.
I'm of no real merit in the movie review world, but I do watch a lot of crap-horror mainly because I feel like there's nothing better than a movie that accepts itself for what it is, and has fun with it's status, and that's a lot of what horrorfest has come to be.
This movie, however, seems to treat itself like it's the freshest and most original idea ever, when in reality, all they did was combine a series of elements that many movies have used in the past (i.e. house on haunted hill, the ring, saw, the grudge, and yes, as mentioned by others, and somewhat out of place in the previously listed, the big chill) ...SIDE NOTE: if you enjoy, in any way, the previously mentioned movies, and figure that because you liked some of those, that you'll like this, you wont, i'd request that you send me your $9.50 instead, and stop supporting a skid mark of movieThere's very little promise in this movie, I do recall one point where I got an inkling of excitement in thinking that soon and very soon, something worthwhile and exciting was going to happen, but alas, no such scenario.
My opinion of "8 Films to Die For" is steadily lowering after seeing a few really bad movies in their line up.
The deceased has outlined something he wants his friends to do, and that's follow a map that leads them to a spooky building, that they get trapped inside with a little girl ghost that takes them out one by one.
With a cast that has had a somewhat undeserved amount of attention placed on it, "Crazy Eights" is a story of 6 friends, reunited by another friend's funeral, who in following out said friend's last wishes, find themselves trapped in an abandoned medical facility, that as it turns out, holds the key to an event they all shared, but had blocked out of their memories.
Apparently someone forgot to write one of the characters as a skeptic who doesn't believe a spirit could be killing, but don't worry, people will have other things to be skeptical about as the plot progresses.Jump scares cause most problems here because while normally a poor replacement for atmosphere, for "Crazy Eights" lacking atmosphere leaves viewers watching people sitting in a room while daylight pours through the windows talking about how there's no escape.
The building refusing its captives an escape route is a commonly used idea, no atmosphere means the building comes across as nothing more than some building.If it was some big budget Hollywood film this would get four stars on account of its what I expect from them.
"Crazy Eights" is neither something completely new (if you saw some Japanese movies recently), nor a masterpiece, but it captivated me for the whole running time and I can't say anything bad about it.Fortunately I decided to rent the DVD by chance, i.e. without reading any reviews first.
The plot spins off into things-happen-for-no-reason territory shortly after we hit the point where the character's predicament becomes painfully obvious to everyone but them.From there on, all the usual horror film tropes are visited upon us, from the relatively modern cell-phones-that-never-work to the ancient let's-split-up-so-The-Evil-can-kill-us-easier.
As they rummage through lost memories, they discover a ghost that just won't stay quiet...now, they're trapped in their old orphanage and one by one they're succumbing to their past.The cast is fairly decent, however, the show is stolen by character actor Frank Whaley as the narcissistic one.
Just because all of one inarticulate reviewer has sandy privates over other people giving this film good reviews, don't let that deter you.The only thing that's 'off' about this particular flick is the editing -- otherwise, the pacing is VERY steady, the film only seems to drag in places where you can tell they wish they had more time, and there aren't all that many 'boo' scares to speak of.
interesting premise, but so much more is given here.the directing was perfect -- lighting, music, pacing, lack of showy special effects, it all served to build an excellent new take on the "haunted house" or "amnesia" style of plots.
The package he leaves for them to open leads them back to the past they had all forgotten and someone or something out for revenge.The cast contains a number of familiar faces (Traci Lords, Gabrielle Anwar, Frank Whaley) who give strong performances all around.
The screenplay is well written and the characters are believable and don't act like the idiots in most other horror films.
Crazy Eights is an awful waste of time.Six adults end up investigating their past for no good reason.
The movie is well filmed, with a decent cast making the most of a script that should never ever have been approved for production.
At times this movie wants to be a ghost story with a creepy girl, at other times it wants to be one of those lame psychothrillers where the characters are screaming at each other for hours.
At first it looked fine like an atmospheric horror movie with some ghost scares and rather psychological plot.
but as soon as the crazy ass ghost story kicked in the movie got irritating, in many cases ridiculous and random with people just dying here and there.
A really annoying movie with characters that especially in the second half totally overact but luckily die off like flies in a way that makes you care less with every murder.
Well...it's a pretty sure sign that you've seen a bad film when you spent nearly an hour and a half watching it and you can barely think of anything at all to say about it!
Also is the name 'Chuck Hammer' nestling comfortably in the list 'Top Ten Names to avoid giving to your child at all costs or he'll seek his revenge by composing ill fitting musical accompaniments'?Does 'B-Movie" now mean 'Bad' movie?If however you absolutely need to fill 80 minutes, may I recommend the following course of action - get some paint, a brush, one wall and a chair.After enduring the painful experience of watching 'Waz', 'The Happening' and now this film, i fear these may be the last coherent sentences I am able to extract from my tortured mind.*****SAVE YOURSELVES*****READ..
This friend leaves a map to a time capsule left by all of them at their childhood, bringing all of them to an abandoned, condemned hospital with dark secrets from their past.Hard to describe a film like this, but I ended up really enjoying it.
i am not sure if the sort of old fashioned grainy texture to the movie in places was due to low budget or planned but either way it added an eerie creepy effect to the movie.However I have to say , when it comes to the deaths *not giving actual details* it does seem like they were running low on money after the first two...
But i did think, maybe thats what they were going for.I didn't really notice all these major plot holes people are talking about, i think for this movie, any things in it that were mistakes actually added to the phsycological, eerie and unnerving style of the film.Overall i really enjoyed it!
The story tries to play out like Stephen King's It with the group of once-best friends brought together from their separation of time & distance and their attempt to answer mysteries of their past.
I was enjoying the movie, I thought a good ending would make this one something worth recommending, and then it just dies leaving me with the feeling that I had just wasted the last 90 minutes of my life.
Inside the box is a map which leads them to a house where they find a trunk
and more revelations as the group ends up at the ruins of a hospital where things begin to go wrong and they begin to perish.
Its not giving anything away to say that the adults met when they were children taking part in psychological experiments (The opening text implies as much) and that the hospital is found out to be the place where they were "tested".I liked this film a great deal.
Just as I'm not sure about the intrusions of the memories through the earlier parts of the film, but its in a good way since it requires me to think about what I'm seeing.
I think if the director had been less sure of himself the film would have collapsed on itself, something the film is never in danger of doing.The acting by the reasonably well known cast (Frank Whaley, Tracy Lords, Gabrielle Anwar) is good, if somewhat histrionic.
One of the friends hurts his leg & the other's take him inside the house which suddenly turns into a hospital where the vengeful spirit of the dead girl stalks the corridors seeking revenge on those who killed her & left her body in the chest...One of the entries in that annual 8 Films to Die For After Dark Horrorfest festival thing Crazy Eights was co-edited, co-executive produced, co-produced, co-written & directed by James K.
There's no explanation as to why the six friends can remember each other but not the fact that they were orphans or the fact that they spent time in the hospital, we never really find out anything about the dead girl except that she was killed somehow & she blames the Crazy Eights, despite being trapped inside the hospital there are plenty of glass windows that the character's surely could have broke & climbed out of & there's no reason as to why the house suddenly turns into a hospital or why it's abandoned or where all the pictures & clues scattered throughout came from.
The set-up during the second half of the film feels very much like Saw II (2005) as a group of character's are trapped in a single location unaware of what's going on or why they are there & they begin to get killed off one by one, unfortunately Crazy Eights has nothing that made Saw II so good like the twist's & turns, the gore, the clever traps, the surprise ending & quick pacing.
Crazy Eights just doesn't feel like one coherent film, it's very bitty with a poor plot that is badly written & explained.
The special effects are alright but there's hardly any anyway.Probably shot on a pretty low budget somewhere in Maryland this actually has good production values & looks like a proper film.
The experienced cast is pretty good here, to reinforce the Saw connections Dina Meyer who was in Saw (2003), Saw II, Saw III (2006) & Saw IV (2007) stars here while ex teenage porn star Traci Lords continues to try & make a career as a proper actress.Crazy Eights is a mess of a film that feels like a cross between Saw II & a Asain ghost film but without any of the merits of either of them.
No gore, no twist's, a mess of a plot & a slow pace makes Crazy Eights yet another one of the 8 Films to Die For that is quite frankly pants..
Though it looks like a large house on top, there is really 100 miles of underground spooky tunnels with no escape underneath...where of course they get trapped after "exploring"...though why they would do that after it was found to be abandoned is anybody's guess, since they were trying to find directions/phone.Now trapped in the basement, they splinter off into groups where they are picked off one by one by the girl's (trunk skeleton) ghost.
The movie is about eight people who know each other who are led to an eerie house were they find a time capsule containing all of their childhood toys.
A great example of fear with a sense of helplessness would be when the group finds the time capsule in the attic of an old barn and inside is all there precious childhood memories, not knowing how they got there.
The movie starts out like "Without A Paddle" as six friends meet at the funeral of a classmate and are drawn into a scavenger hunt they takes them into a remake of "House On Haunted Hill." After a variety of strange encounters in their lives, the six are drawn to a barn where they left a time capsule as kids and find a skeleton in the trunk, which may or may not be linked to their pasts.
Somewhere in this detritus of scenes and images, the movie establishes the six friends once lived in the old hospital with their deceased friend and one other girl ("The Crazy Eight") where they were victims of psychological experiments, but they escaped after hiding the young girl and promising to return.
(Remind you of "I Know What You Did Last Summer?") This suggests their dead friend is the one getting revenge for forgetting about her in the trunk all those years ago, but at no point does anyone realize, "Hey, this the old hospital where we were abandoned by our parents to be terrorized by those evil doctors?" How could they possibly block something like that out, and why does the girl's ghost look adult and zombified?
It's a promising premise that gets convoluted and confusing without being scary or even making sense, and in my world, that's just a crying waste of what could have been a decent haunted house movie..
It's an angry little girl we hardly ever glimpse, which is a good thing in a film like this, but it's still a lame excuse for 90 minutes of supposed "terror." It's as nonsensical as its big-budget cousin, SILENT HILL, which used the same premise.Don't get me wrong, this isn't a horrible movie.
Childhood friends come together for a dead pal's funeral, abiding by his wishes to open a specific box together which contains a map inside leading to a chest containing the skeletal remains of a little girl, and items each person had at that point in their lives(slingshot, paint brushes, musical notes, etc).
I think the film wishes to explore the trauma of what happens to grown adults effected by a childhood they've buried away, like the corpse of Karen.
"Crazy Eights" is a potentially good movie undermined by a lot of flaws.**SPOILERS**Following a friend's death, friends Jennifer Jones, (Dina Mayer) Father Lyle Dey, (George Newbern) Gina Conte, (Traci Lords) Beth Patterson, (Gabrielle Anwar) Brent Sykes, (Franky Whaley) and Wayne Morrison, (Dan DeLuca) who have known each other since childhood, gather together to go through the belongings left to them.
Wrapped inside this frustrating story is a horror film with some solid scares and imagery, a good dose of atmosphere from the old building and a solid cast.
I was actually expecting that this movie was going to be a little bit better than the other "After Dark Horrorfest" series because there were some familiar stars (Dina Meyer, frank Whaley, and Traci Lords).
The movie made me think how it was possible for all the characters did not know anything about their past and foolishly ended back in this experimental and research building that they once lived in.
~Spoiler~ Crazy Eights is one of those movies that, while you're watching it you just can't believe how utterly awful it is. |
tt0265808 | Stealing Harvard | John Plummer (Jason Lee) is engaged to Elaine Warner (Leslie Mann), and intends to use his life savings of $30,000 to put a down payment on a house. He works for Elaine's father, Mr. Warner (Dennis Farina), who dislikes John. Simultaneously, John's niece Noreen (Tammy Blanchard), daughter of sister Patty (Megan Mullally), is accepted to Harvard University, but needs an additional $30,000 on top of her grants and scholarships. Noreen shows John an old videotape where he promised to pay for Noreen's college. John now has a moral and financial dilemma – disappoint his fiancée or disappoint his niece and ruin her chance at escaping poverty.
John confides in his friend Walter "Duff" Duffy (Tom Green), a landscaper. He convinces John to steal from one of his rich clients, who keeps large amounts of cash in an unlocked safe. The pair set off to steal the cash, but Duff runs away when lights come on in the home, leaving John to get caught by Emmett Cook (Richard Jenkins). Cook forces John to cross-dress and role-play the part of Cook's late wife as the two men lie in bed and "spoon". Eventually, after taking an incriminating photograph of John, Cook releases him. As he is leaving, Mr. Warner rides by and takes note of John's panicked behavior, believing that he has caught John in an affair.
Further capers ensue as John and Duff try to rob a liquor store and later attempt to con a drug lord out of $30,000 by concocting a phony story about running an ecstasy ring. A police detective (John C. McGinley) is on to John and Duff, but never has enough evidence to actually pin any of the crimes on them. Meanwhile, Mr. Warner breaks into Cook's residence in order to get evidence against John, and once Cook catches him, he is forced to "spoon" as well. Before leaving, Warner finds the photo of John from the album, which he then gives to Elaine.
John is forced to confess everything to Elaine, who is not upset and admires the lengths he was willing to go to in order to please her and send his niece to Harvard. Elaine then confides in John that her father keeps a great deal of money at his business, and that it would be easy for them to steal it. John, Elaine, and Duff set out to rob the business in the night. Unfortunately, Mr. Warner had hid his dog Rex inside the vault. Rex latches on to Duff and does not let go. Just as John and Elaine find the money, Mr. Warner tries to attack them but he is caught by the detective who mistakes him for a burglar. John and Elaine escape to Duff's van. The police arrive and the gang unsuccessfully tries to get away. They are all taken into custody by the detective and facing a series of charges. John feels doomed, until the judge in charge of his arraignment turns out to be the gun-toting Emmett Cook.
Upon their mutual recognition, John flashes a written message to Cook, threatening to expose the judge's fetish; upon reading the note, Cook quickly dismisses all charges against John. Finally, Duff comes through as best he can and gives John his life savings, $1,000, which John bets on a long-shot horse which wins and which paid 30 to 1. John and Elaine are married, Noreen goes off to college, and, in the final scene, John is left to ponder how Duff could possibly accumulate $1,000 – the last scene shows Duff offering to "spoon" with Cook for $1,000. | comedy | train | wikipedia | Make no mistake, Jason Lee really is the one carrying this movie, so if you detest Tom Green, don't worry.
I saw this movie because Tom Green and Jason Lee was in it.
The plot is as simple as the film itself: John (Jason Lee) once made a promise to his niece that if she ever got accepted to college, he would pay her way.
Clichés and hi-jinks ensue.The film is surprisingly sterilized, especially when you consider its two stars: Jason Lee, a Kevin Smith alum, and Tom Green, the gross-out king who wrote, directed and starred in "Freddy Got Fingered." Lee is likable and congenial, if a bit soft, while Green relies more on physical humor and less on substance.
I liked the fact that for once, Tom Green didn't play a gross out character.FINAL VERDICT: This is a comedy worth seeing.
I'd definitely recommend it to anybody who likes Jason Lee--he's stellar as always.Tom Green fans may not like it, though, because the comedy is rather subdued and very devoid of gross humor.The jokes rely heavily on the chemistry between the slapstick guy and the straight man--Tom and Jason being phenomenal examples of these categories, respectively.I say give it a try: if you hate it, you wasted less than 2 hours--big deal.
Jason Lee, Tom Green and Megan Mullally are all on fine form, playing the characters we have come to expect from them.In particular, Jason Lee is his typical self here, playing the slightly angry yet humorous good guy.
For some, Tom Green may be too wacky, but his character, Duff, is like a toned-down version of himself, so it will surely prove bearable for his naysayers.Some really good comedy moments and a few nice set pieces are enough to make up for an otherwise silly and clichéd film.
Why else do you go to see a movie with Jason Lee, Tom Green, Megan Mullally and Dennis Farina, directed by Bruce McCullugh from 'the Kids in the hall'?
It doesn't matter if it is Tom Green or Jason Lee making the joke in this movie, chances are it will be funny.
The good thing about this film is that Tom Green does not use as much gross humour as he did in Freddy Got Fingered.
I have never expected much from Tom Green, and after seeing his first box office crash FREDDY GOT FINGERED, I wasn't going to this movie with very high expectations.
As a matter of fact, I would have given it some credit if it could make the audience laugh without using some dull and overdrawn, over the top joke.This movie with its premise, could have been a decently entertaining, however, Tom Green had to be in it.
Other characters played by Jason Lee, Leslie Mann, and Dennis Farina, were a waste of good talent.
None of them were allowed to develop on their characters and thus join Tom Green as pointless and lame.When it comes to movies like these, I ask myself one question, "How in the heck to these movies make it into theaters?"This cheesy, waste of money that could have been better spent tied in a bag and thrown out a window, of a movie should have never made the final cut.
That pretty much goes for all of Tom Green's fans as well.This movie tells the tale of a man who decides to steal a bunch of money in order to put his niece through college.
This has the potential to actually be a funny movie, but then the producers decided to cast TOM GREEN, and the movie is essentially just a longer version of his show.At least I learned something from all of this; Even if a cool actor (Jason Lee) is cast in something, it only requires a lousy actor like Tom Green to mess it up.
Stealing Harvard only succeeds in having a somewhat interesting premise and one funny sequence, which involves shouting, repetition, and randomness - thinks I am known to have a disdain for.Our story begins with John (Jason Lee), a man who is this close to marrying his fiancée and buying a home.
The two half-wits decide to break in to the home and take the money, but when that idea fails, they concoct more, one of which is robbing a liquor store yuet becoming more preoccupied with who has what fake name rather than the actual operation.Jason Lee, an actor who we saw was completely capable of creating a character in Chasing Amy and Mallrats functions with sitcom shallowness here, and Tom Green, an actor whose wide range of performances hasn't allowed him to adopt much likability, is a text book idiotic Neanderthal here.And don't even get me started on the barrage of lackluster plot points and details the film includes, either.
Hanks' character had a screw-up brother, played by Jack Black, who acted much like Tom Green in this film.
But if your a big Tom Green fan as myself your at least thinking you'll never be bored watching his films, right?
Watching Stealing Harvard had me actually thinking about other things I had to do that day, and that I was more than likely wasting valuable time sitting down seeing this film.
Tom Green was not as nasty as in other film but very funny:) Jason Lee is the best he played this role like all the others.
I have no idea....I think it was trying to be one.The plot is basically something for a fun Saturday-night buddy movie.Jason Lee is John Plummer, a home-care worker at Homespital who's engaged to and just looking for a house to settle down and have a family with.
a robbery.The kind of movie you round up your weekend buddies, go to a bar and have a few and go to see during the late-showing.TV shock-Meister turned day-actor Tom Green plays his best friend Walter Duffy, a landscaper who has his own business.
It's more deep and interesting than any other part of the movie.Chris Penn pops up in a brief bit as a thug who is recruited by John and Duff to pull off a robbery, which leads to a scene that could have been funny, but just plain isn't.
Here's a movie that could have been just big-fun disposable Saturday Night weekend entertainment like "Meet the Parents" or "Stuck on You." But this film needed a team of script doctors straight from the ER.The brief gags from the supporting performers aren't much either.
He plays an almost completely unfunny version of his hard-ass cop role from "Point Break." I won't even get into the scene involving Richard Jenkins as the man of one of the houses they break into looking for money, suffice to say it didn't make me laugh and it hurt to watch.
You get the feeling that the movie could have been good, I mean Jason Lee is usually great in everything I've seen him in, but then Tom Greene stepped in and said "Hey, these people haven't suffered enough - let's throw in a bunch of stuff that has no redeeming humor whatsoever.
Even though the critics and some of the viewers come down pretty hard on this movie, I kinda disagree cause the movie was pretty funny and watchable, and the situations that Tom Green and Jason Lee got themselves into were hilarious, there are some scenes which I couldn't bear to watch but if you love to watch crude comedies, watch Stealing Harvard and while it may not be a classic, it can be a good way to relax for about 80-90 minutes..
I was hoping to see another great Jason Lee movie, but I can't tell if it was the screenplay or just the whole air of the film but every single character was flat and predictable.
Tom Green was a disaster, I really wanted to just stop watching this film but I couldn't do that to my pal Jason :).
STEALING HARVARD (2002) *1/2 Jason Lee, Tom Green, Leslie Mann, Dennis Farina, Megan Mullaly, Tammy Blanchard, Richard Jenkins, John C.
Misfire of the highest order in this high concept slapstick laden farce that has Lee as a hapless schnook facing a family promise - to pay for his niece's tuition to college - and his nest egg with his girlfriend be the exact amount needed to hold up his commitment leads to him seeking advice from idiot friend (Green, who gives the film a few manic moments of stupidity) to resort to a string of ill-advised robberies.
This is good for some of the raunchiest but also funniest gags in the whole movie.I think a lot of people will consider Tom Green and John McGinley to be the standout performers in this movie.
The important thing is that Green and Lee are often hilarious together, a couple of bumbling idiots."Will and Grace" fans need not watch for Megan Mullally, because Patty is nothing like Karen.
The movie opens with scenes from that time in John's life, and the funeral scene makes more sense after the scene with the two of them later.Martin Starr is really funny as the liquor store clerk who was more savvy than our heroes may have expected.It could have been better, but I was mostly happy.
I was scanning through StarZ, and seen a movie coming on in 10 minutes, it had Jason Lee, and Tom Green...
so of course i was gonna watch, I actually liked the movie, it was funny and had a great story.A man promises his niece he will pay her way to college, and not really believing she will go, gets into Harvard.
Suffice it to say that even if you love Jason Lee, Tom Green, and/or Bruce McCulloch, you will still be disappointed.
I'm just glad I got this as a $2 bargain bin used DVD (which featured an extended version of the final wedding reception scene which was significantly better than the crap in the actual movie; not to say it was worth the extra two minutes out of my life.)I know, I KNOW there's a masterpiece inside Bruce McCulloch...his faux-cinema with The Kids in the Hall in the later seasons shows he's got it in him, and Dog Park was promising (if also significantly suffering from script problems and the mis-casting of the lead actress).
But I thought, "Hey Jason Lee's in it...can't be too bad." Well...I was wrong.The premise of "Stealing Harvard" is pretty stupid to begin with, and it doesn't get much better.
I think the people who dislike this movie are people who like their humour to conform to a set of rules that Tom Green just doesn't play by.
If you saw the previews, you pretty much saw the movie.BAD!Do yourself a favour and watch some old Tom Green Show, and poor Jason Lee, his part was better in the Sonic Youth video, and all he did was skateboard in that.
So if you don't know who kids in the hall are, if you don't care, if you don't like brainless movies and if you have little time for mediocrity in films don't watch stealing harvard.
The premise of 'Stealing Harvard' (is that Jason Lee's character, John, promised to pay for his niece's college costs) is interesting enough for a lighthearted comedy, since he has to do something illegal to get the money, but the plot is a little thin.
Don't get me wrong, the show has funny parts, but too much time is spent on the antics of Tom Green, whom it seems was type cast and given no direction and permitted to take the character in any direction he wanted to.
Tom Green super-fans will enjoy this film more than most people, but for the rest of us, it's better than watching the grass grow..
I'm no fan of Tom Green, but Jason Lee does a wonderful job and director Bruce (Kids in the Hall) McCullough acquits himself.
Stealing Harvard made very little money during its brief stay in theaters and is now out on DVD where it could possible thrive just as Mallrats- also starring Jason Lee- did many years ago.Both films were panned by critics for being worthless, not funny and overly juvenile.
Fans of Jason Lee will enjoy him in this one.Most of Tom Green's followers ditched him after seeing Freddy Got Fingered.
The movie's premise was promissing and it had tom green in it.Some guy made a promise he'll pay for his sister's child collage and so he goes on this crime wave to get the money and plus tom green is his costar so this movie sounds like it'll be lots of fun....WRONG!!!Nothing interesting happened it was just as slow paced as it's a wounderful life and that's not good for any comedy in this day and age.Tom green could have saved the movie but why they made tom green be good boy is beyond me.I've watched the whole movie because i'am a hugh tom green fan.I'am mad at the video store clerk who recommended this me.
If you wanna see a funny movie go watch Road trip,Freddy got fingered just don't waste your time with Stealing harvard..
It was one of the worst Jason Lee movies I have seen, but that's just because most of his films I've seen were Kevin Smith "masterpieces".Tom Green was funny in his own way and Dennis Farina is always good.
Stealing Harvard, for fans of Jason Lee, is a film that - although unnoticed by critics - will have you reaffirming that all-out good 'yeah, that was a damn funny movie' feeling.In a style reticent of Guy Ritchie, Stealing Harvard twists you one way, then another, employing some of my favorite actors, including John C.
i was expecting something really stupid knowing tom green was in this movie, but i thought it was rather funny and clever.
Tom Green, as Plummer's unconventional friend Duff, tones down his antics for this movie (something I was grateful for), but still comes off as more annoying than funny.
Jason Lee, known for his roles in Kevin Smith's movies (especially "Chasing Amy"), and the goofy Tom Green put on quite a performance.
Don't get me wrong, I love Jason Lee, and have, at times, been a fan of Tom Green.
If you're a fan of McCulloch (of Kids in the Hall fame) or Tom Green, you won't be disappointed, because I believe this film captures the quirky-best of both of them.The movie isn't perfect, it had it share of tiresome comedy clichés, like the mean dog, that unavoidably finds a death-grip on someone's crotch.
Tom Green continues to show that he is one of the young brilliant comics in cinema as he delivers an outstanding performance portraying"Duff." The only way you would not want to see this is if you like serious parts in silly movies, such as the lame Bruce Almighty.
Jason Lee and Tom Green were the stars of this comedy.
And the cast is comedy gold: Jason Lee, Tom Green, Leslie Mann, Dennis Farina, John C.
I believe that a movie with Tom Green and Jason Lee in the leading roles is a dream come true for any comedy fan.What's not so great about this movie is that it basically lacks that crazy spirit that 'Freddy Got Fingered Had' and that the story is a little boring for an 80 minute movie.There are two great elements though.
But I won't spoil it for you.I believe that if a comedy makes you laugh for at least a couple of times it is worth your time and 'Stealing Harvard' is definitely one of these movies..
Jason Lee and Tom Green put on fantastic performances in one of the funniest movies of the past 10 years.
There are no funny scenes here, just a bunch of stupid joke from Tom Green, and it is not even close to funny.He and Jason is the only things that sell this movie other wise there nothing to be looking forward to.Synopsis: It such a total waste of time.
I find it amazing that Tom Green and Jason Lee have not paired up more than this one time -- the comic chemistry between them is a rare thing.
This is the only film I've seen directed by "Kids in the Hall" alumnus Bruce McCulloch, and all I can say is that we should expect great things from this very funny man.
Tom Green was juvenile in that movie 'Freddie Got Fingered', but I'd rather watch that then this.
'Freddy' was a bit over the top sometimes and flirted with bad taste but it was funny in parts, and when Tom Green pulled off some ridiculous scenes in that movie with his energetic over the top delivery, you see what was missing in Stealing Harvard.
In what promises to be a top contender for worst movie of the year, Stealing Harvard proves that Tom Green should just stay out of the film business.
In what promises to be a top contender for worst movie of the year, Stealing Harvard proves that Tom Green should just stay out of the film business.
I have seen lots of Jason Lee's previous films, (all the Kevin Smith films to be precise) and he gave great performances in all of those movies, and in Stealing Harvard, he does the exact same thing.
Tom Green is a very talented actor, and he too gave a great comedic performance in this movie.
Seriously, Stealing Harvard is Tom Green's BEST movie.
Jason Lee and Tom Green do make quite an...interesting comedy team.
Stealing Harvard (2002): Dir: Bruce McCulloch / Cast: Jason Lee, Tom Green, Leslie Mann, Dennis Farina, Richard Jenkins: Pitiful comedy about stealing success, or in this case stealing for the good of another.
John(Jason lee) has a girlfriend which he admires, but can't get enough of his good friend Kyle/Steve/Stan(Tom Green). |
tt1068646 | Entre les murs | François and his fellow teachers prepare for a new year at a high school in a tough neighborhood. Armed with the best intentions, they brace themselves to not let discouragement stop them from trying to give the best education to their students. Cultures and attitudes often clash in the classroom, a microcosm of contemporary France. As amusing and inspiring as the teenaged students can be, their difficult behavior can still jeopardize any teacher's enthusiasm for the low-paying job. François insists on an atmosphere of respect and diligence. Neither stuffy nor severe, his extravagant frankness often takes the students by surprise. But his classroom ethics are put to the test when his students begin to challenge his methods... -JowsieWinner of the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, master French director Laurent Cantet's THE CLASS is an absorbing journey into a multicultural high school in Paris over the course of a school year. François Begaudeau--an actual teacher and the author upon whose work the film was based--is utterly convincing as François, an openminded teacher in charge of a classroom of youngsters from a wide variety of backgrounds. Of course, the mere fact that he's older and in a position of authority causes his students to challenge him on many occasions. François is stuck in the middle. In the teacher conferences, he butts heads with the harsher adults who don't appear to have any sympathy for their students. In class, his attempts to be lenient and understanding are somehow misinterpreted and he finds himself arguing with the kids that he so clearly wants to help. As the school year progresses, tensions rise, until François finds himself in a position he never imagined he'd be in. Unlike his more formally written early films like HUMAN RESOURCES and TIME OUT, Cantet proves that he has an ability to work in a more improvisational manner. Shooting on HD and working with a cast of young non-actors, he allows THE CLASS to breathe, resulting in a fictional drama that has the spirit and energy of a documentary. His startlingly assured ensemble brings the new, culturally diverse France of the early 21st century to striking life. [D-Man2010]François is a tough but fair teacher working in one of France's toughest schools, and his honest demeanor in the classroom has made him a great success with the students. But this year things are different, because when the students begin to challenge his methods François will find his classroom ethics put to the ultimate test. François Bégaudeau stars in director Laurent Cantet's entry into the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. [D-Man2010] | realism | train | imdb | null |
tt0366777 | Millions | The film focuses on two brothers, Damian, and his older brother, Anthony. Both brothers have differences in personalities. Anthony is more focused on money and how much things cost. These matters are of no concern to Damian, who since the death of their mother, has been an admirer of saints, persons who have done good deeds and acquired sainthood. Secretly, Damian feels that his mother may be one.After moving to a new housing development, Damian scavenges the cardboard boxes from the move, and creates a small fort. One day, as a high-speed train thunders past, a duffel bag filled with money smashes into the fort. Believing the money to be from God, Anthony shows his brother.With their newfound wealth, both boys secretly begin to use it for different purposes. Anthony uses it to purchase things and to buy attention from others in school. Damian takes what he can, and tries to help other with it, even going so far as to treat some homeless people to pizza.One day, Damian sees a man down by the train tracks, looking for something. When Damian asks the man if he's poor, the man replies in an affirmative, and Damian rushes back to the house for some money. Instead, Anthony accompanies Damian, and gives the man a jar full of coins. Anthony afterwards lectures Damian for being careless.Another issue arises, in that within several days, the United Kingdom will convert British pounds into the Euro, the currency used throughout much of Europe. Anthony attempts to deposit what they have into a bank, but they cannot start an account without an adult present.One day, a woman named Dorothy visits the school, hoping to collect donations from the children to build wells for people in Africa. The robotic 'bin' that she remote controls eventually head to Damian, who inserts 1000 pounds.Afterwards, one of Anthony's classmates reveals to Damian and Anthony of a daring robbery, in which several men secretly snuck aboard a train transporting old pound notes to be burned. The men had been depositing packages of these bills along the train route, and were being picked up by different men. Damian finally realises where the sack of money came from, but has little time to think of this when he is called to the headteacher's office.The headteacher calls in Anthony and their father to discuss the 1000 pound donation. Anthony fabricates a story that they stole the money from some neighbouring Mormons.The issue is further complicated when their father ends up speaking to Dorothy, who requests his services to fix her robotic 'bin.' Dorothy catches the boys trying to take the extra money to be deposited, and Anthony covers by saying they are taking part in the school's Christmas play. From this moment on, Anthony keeps the twin duffel bags of cash close to them.It is during the performance that Damian sees the man he had seen previously down by the railway tracks. Fearing for his life, Damian leaves the school, taking the bags of money with him, and goes to their family's old house, of which he still has a key.Damian hides in the attic, thinking he's safe. Suddenly, the attic's door is flung open, and his father and Anthony appear. Damian does not explain about the 'poor man,' but finally comes clean to their Dad about the money they found, explaining how he thought it was 'from God.'Returning to their home, they find it ransacked (most likely by the 'poor man'). It is then that the boy's Dad decides to spend what's left of the money. Damian strongly protests that it isn't right since it isn't their money, but their Dad insists that since they have been burgled, it's only fair that it be put to use to fix their Christmas.Damian goes to sleep, upset at his Dad's plans, but before he goes to sleep, the attic hatch opens in his room, and the 'poor man' emerges, who had been hiding in the house the entire time, insisting to Damian that he will return tomorrow to collect the money, before sneaking out of the house.The next day, along with Dorothy, who they let in on the secret, the family goes into town, and after exchanging all the pound notes for Euros, spend what they can, but not all of the money.The family and Dorothy celebrate later on, though Anthony grows angered when it appears that Dorothy and their Dad are getting more and more close. Anthony then blames Damian for this happening.Damian, confused and still upset over the money, leaves the house with the duffelbags. Once he has done so, a number of people show up at their home, asking their Dad for donations and handouts. Meanwhile, the 'poor man' is caught sneaking into the house by the police.Damian takes the bags to the nearby train tracks, and sets the remaining cash on fire. As a speeding train comes by, a woman appears on the other side of the tracks. Damian immediately identifies her as his mum, and insists that even though he knows she's not real, he still is glad to see her.The image of his mum gives Damian some worldly advice, and to his ears, explains that she has become a saint, and that her miracle was him. As they embrace, Anthony appears nearby, and for a brief moment, sees the vision before it disappears.The next day, Damian reveals what he did...though it is also revealed that everyone else hoarded a little of the money, and it was not all destroyed.The film ends in a fantasy-like vision where Damian, Anthony, their Dad, and Dorothy, travel to Africa, where the remaining funds are used for Dorothy's charity of building wells for villages. | fantasy, whimsical, cute, feel-good, psychedelic, inspiring, entertaining, storytelling, sentimental | train | imdb | null |
tt0067361 | Una lucertola con la pelle di donna | Carol Hammond (Bolkan) is the daughter of a wealthy lawyer and politician named Edmund Brighton (Leo Genn). Her husband Frank (Jean Sorel) is a lawyer working for Brighton's practice. They all live together in a large apartment with Joan (Edy Gall), Frank's teenage daughter from a previous marriage. Carol has been visiting a psychoanalyst (George Rigaud) because of a string of disturbing dreams she's been having featuring her decadent neighbor, Julia Durer (Anita Strindberg). Julia's frequent, late-night parties infuriate and yet excite Carol, evoking images of wild sex-and-drug orgies.
During a meeting between Edmund and Frank, they talk about their recent court cases in which Edmund asks Frank if he has been unfaithful to Carol, which Frank denies. Then a phone call is made by an anonymous woman who claims to Edmund that she has damaging information about his family. But unknown to everyone, Frank is indeed having an affair with his personal secretary Deborah whom he meets after work at her country house for some romantic tryst.
Carol's dreams continue which become more complicated during scenes that appear to be dreams or hallucinations. Describing her latest one to her psychoanalyst, they depict a lesbian encounter between the two women, culminating in Carol grisly stabbing the seductive Julia to death. In an enigmatic coda to the dream sequence, Carol sees two kaftan-clad hippies (Mike Kennedy and Penny Brown) who have apparently witnessed the whole thing without intervening.
The following day, it's revealed that Julia Durer has indeed been murdered. Inspector Corvin (Stanley Baker) from Scotland Yard arrives to take charge of the investigation. The room and condition of the dead body are identical to their depiction in the dream sequence. To make matters even more incriminating, there is a discarded fur coat near the body. Learning of the murder, Carol insists that she see the scene of the crime and when she enters Julia's apartment and sees the body, she faints.
After weeding out a false and self-serving confession from a delirious regular at the Durer parties, Corvin focuses on Carol Hammond. In the meanwhile, Carol, during a shopping excursion with her step-daughter Joan, see the two hippies from her dream sequence. Following them to an abandoned theater where other hippies hang out, Joan asks them if they know Carol or have ever seen her before. Neither the hippy man or woman claim that they haven't. As the evidence against Carol mounts, the police surreptitiously obtain her fingerprints, which match those found on the murder weapon, and Carol is soon arrested and charged with murdering Julia. However, doubts begin to circulate with Corvin as he wonders if she is the killer when was she describing the murder to her psychoanalyst in detail before it actually took place. Could it be that someone has read her dream diary that she kept and modeled the killing on dream images she described in order to frame her for something she fantasized about? Corvin also wonders who the two hippies are that she claims to have witnessed her crime without intervening.
As Carol is awaiting trial in the grounds of a maximum security sanitorium, she sees one of the hippies break in and chase her through the grounds. Carol flees into the building and in trying to hide she enters a room containing a hideous experiment: four live dogs, clamped in an upright position, whimper helplessly, their abdomens sliced open and pinned with surgical clamps exposing their glistening innards and still beating hearts. Carol faints in horror. When she comes around, there is no trace of the threatening man. The sanitorium director thinks that Carol's ramblings about the intruder, and the disemboweled dogs, must have been another one of her elaborate hallucinations.
Meanwhile, Carol's father swings into overdrive with her case and manages to elaborate a suspicion that appeals to the police. Edmund Brighton discovers Frank's affair with Deborah and that Julia Durer had been blackmailing him for money as not to expose his extramarital affair. Brighton's argument is enough to get Carol released on bail, but Frank remains free and desperately tries to prove his innocence.
While relaxing at Brighton's country estate, Carol is contacted by the hippy woman and agrees to meet with them at a secret rendezvous, at the Alexandra Palace in North London. Once there, Carol is attacked by the hippy man in the cellar and chased through the building where she gets attacked by bats in the attic and gets brutally stabbed as the hippy catches up to her on the rooftop. But Carol is rescued by the police, forcing the hippy man to flee. Another red herring emerges when Joan meets with the hippy woman concerning her stepmother's wellbeing and agreeing to meet. The next day, Joan is found murdered in a field with her throat cut. Inspector Corvin meets with Carol recovering at her father's estate to ask about the hippie couple and of the blackmail that Julia Durer may have been planning for Frank. Corvin finally tracks down and arrests the hippie couple, Hubert and Jenny, whom he takes to the scene of the crime to interrogate them about the Durer murder. Although Hubert admits to have stalked Carol and murdered Joan, they protest their innocence claiming not to remember anything about that night except for recalling "a lizard in a woman's skin". Then a phone call comes informing the police that Brighton has been found dead at his estate, the victim of a suicide, and leaving behind a note confessing to the murder of Julia Durer which seems to wrap up the case.
A few days later, Carol is at her father's grave when Corvin arrives to offer his condolences to her. When Corvin asks Carol about the phone call that her father got from Julia Durer which Carol admits that she knew about, he asks how did she know that Julia Durer phoned Mr. Brighton on the day before she was murdered since he never told anybody about it. Too late to realize her slip, Corvin deduces Carol's guilt as she was with Julia Durer during that day the phone call was made. As it turns out, Carol Hammond really did kill Julia Durer after she threatened to go public with their lesbian relationship which they've been having for several months. Carol did break into Julia's apartment and stabbed her to death, only to realize that two hippies saw her, which made her panic and leave the scene of the crime. Carol had felt certain that the two hippies would describe her to the police. The murderous, but sane, Carol entered the event in her dream diary immediately afterwards so by combining details of the murder with images from the recurring nightmares for which she had sought treatment, she hoped to avoid a murder sentence and get off with guilt by temporary insanity that the dream diary would provide plausible evidence in court of a split personality. But Carol did not realize that both hippies were high on LSD and unable to register the significance of what they saw that night. Carol is then led away by Inspector Corvin from her father's grave to a waiting police car. | murder, cult, horror, violence, flashback, insanity | train | wikipedia | Unlike other genre efforts that leave the viewer baffled with ludicrous plot twists and impossible endings, "Lizard...", convoluted as it may be, ranks among the most solid crime mysteries the Italian scene produced.Of course that doesn't mean the final 20 minutes aren't bound to give you a headache as the plot unfolds its myriad twists and turns.
Coupled with a languid jazzy score by the maestro, Ennio Morricone, solid performances, intriguing set pieces and delirious dream sequences, Fulci here weaves a beautiful tappestry that will leave no fan of bizarre Italo-horror disappointed.
A Lizard in a Woman's Skin is a very fine example of this most Italian of exploitation sub-genres and is possibly the best film that Lucio Fulci ever made.This is an atypical giallo in that it only has one on screen murder to speak of.
Aside from this opening murder there is a scene later in the film that is not recommended for dog lovers (although seeing that this is an Italian movie I feel I should point out that these aren't real dogs folks, thank God).Lizard – along with Don't Torture a Duckling - proves that given the right resources, Fulci was more than capable of producing stylish, suspenseful and highly polished films.
Like a considerable number of gialli from the early 70's, Lizard benefits from the great pool of talent that was evidently working in the Italian film industry at the time; there seems to have been an abundance of great cinematographers, composers, set designers and wardrobe people, alongside some great directors and appealing actors (not too sure about the writers though!).
Acting-wise Florinda Bolkan turns in a great central performance and she is ably supported by an ensemble that is a whose-who of Italian genre cinema of the time.This is essential stuff for giallo completists.
All the evidences point out to Carol, but was a dream or reality?"Una lucertola con la pelle di donna", a.k.a "A Lizard in Woman's Skin", is a great giallo by Lucio Fulci.
A troubled rich woman Carol Hammond played by Florinda Bolkan is suffering from a series of bizarre sexual dreams where she indulges in lesbian activities with her neighbor Julia Durer(Anita Strindberg).Unfortunately one morning after another perverse sex dream culminating in a gory knifing of Julia,Carol is shocked to find that Julia was murdered in her apartment the stormy night before.When all evidence points to Carol being the culprit she must not only investigate the crime but determine what is dream and what is reality."Lizard in a Woman's Skin" is perhaps the most bizarre and puzzling Fulci's giallo.The cinematography by Luigi Kuvellier is splendid with some gorgeous visuals and the dream scenes are appropriately psychedelic.The eviscerated dogs sequence still shocks unprepared viewers drawn into the murder mystery aspect of the film.8 out of 10..
If you want to see the 'great' Fulci films, you need to go back to his Giallo days with films like Don't Torture a Duckling and indeed this film; A Lizard in Woman's Skin.
Events take a turn for the worse when the young woman dreams that she's killed the hippy, who then turns up dead; brutally murdered in her apartment, in exactly the way that the woman dreamt...While this film isn't as brutal as some of the later Giallo efforts, Fulci succeeds in creating a foreboding atmosphere and manages to keep his audience on the edge of their seats.
This is both a good and a bad thing as I, personally, like seeing brutal murders in Giallo's; but on the other hand it allows Fulci to keep the focus firmly on the central murder and he doesn't get sidetracked with lots of blood and gore, which does the film itself lots of favours.
Although Lucio Fulci is most famous for the atmospheric and very gory series of zombie movies he made in the late 70's and early 80's, this early 70's giallo might very well be his best film.
It has all the strengths of Fulci's best work--great cinematography, brilliant editing, and a powerful sense of atmosphere (although the decadent, garish portrait he creates here of "Swinging London" is quite distinct from oozing sense of dread he conjures up in the rural American settings of his zombie films).
This movie, however, has two things his zombie films do not have: first, a script that is both genuinely suspenseful and that actually makes sense (rather than merely functioning as a means to tie various interesting scenes together), and, second, Florinda Balkan.
That being said, this is one of Fulci's best, if somewhat dated, Giallos It keeps you guessing, and is never boring.My Grade: B Anchor Bay 2-DVD set Extras: Disc 1) USA "Schizoid" version; Radio spots; US Trailer; Trailers for "Zombi 2", "City of the Living Dead", "Touch of Death", "House of Clocks", "Sweet House of Horrors", "Demonia", and "Death Trance" Disc 2) 98 minute Italian version, 33 minute "Shedding the Skin" documentary, and Photo Gallery 1 Easter Egg: go to the 'Scene access', Go to chapter 4, then press right, in the lower-left of the screen you'll see a highlighted bat.Press play for 2 deleted scenes.Eye Candy: Florida Bolken, Anita Strindberg; various extras show boobs and butts.
"Lizard In A Woman's Skin" (1971) is doubtlessly also a very intense, beautiful and creepy Giallo that impresses with a wonderfully uncanny, fever-dream-like atmosphere and a wonderful Florinda Bolkan in the lead.
While "Lizard in a Woman's Skin" is doubtlessly highly atmospheric and furthermore has an ingeniously convoluted plot, it does have its lengths, and, even in regards of atmosphere, it cannot possibly compete with "Don't Torture a Duckling", in my opinion.Tormented by bizarre lesbian dreams about her seductive neighbor (Anita Strindberg), the respectable lawyer's wife Carol Hammond (Florinda Bolkan) regularly visits a psychotherapist.
Carol Hammond(Florinda Balkan)lives in London and is the daughter of a very important Lawyer(Leo Genn), she is haunted by some very strange psychedelic dreams about her noisy and party loving neighbour, Julia Durer (Anita Strindberg),these dreams always contain drug fuelled sexual depravity ,and while she is seeing her Psychiatrist, she tells him of her latest dream in which she has Lesbian sex and then brutally murders Durer.
Carol is reassured by her shrink that this is all quite normal, but when Durer is found murdered in exactly the same way as she described, Carol soon becomes the No1 suspect for Inspector Corvin(Stanley Baker),and when her fingerprints are found on the murder weapon and her fur coat found beside the body
.well its cased closed?...or is it?....is Carol going mad or is she being set up?...Soon after being released on Police bail, Carol is hunted by some drugged up Hippies that she saw in her dream and soon people begin to die.
Lizard is full of red herrings and endless plot possibilities, that adds to the mystery, its trippy psychedelic dream sequences fully capture the feel of the swinging sixties,add to that some gore as only Fulci can do and you have a fine Giallo
.incidentally one particular gory scene involving dogs caused controversy at the time and Fulci had to prove in court on four occasions that the effects were fake.
Lucio Fulci's A Lizard in a Woman's Skin is a very solid giallo but not the best from him.
The hallucinations/dream sequences are well done, creepy and suspenseful and set the tone for an original mystery that unfolds mostly well and peppered with some solid set pieces along the way, two of which involve mutilated dogs and an array of nasty bats.Fulci is a talented giallo filmmaker, his films Seven Notes in Black (aka The Psychic) and particularly Don't Torture a Duckling show he can effortlessly handle murder mysteries with relatively straight forward narratives and create much suspense without his trademark gore set pieces that characterized his later nonsensical Gothic horror films.
Now I'm giving his giallos a go; they're supposed to be good, aren't they?Lizard in a Woman's Skin is a trippy hippy early-70s thriller which sees a woman accused of murdering her promiscuous neighbour.
and plenty of scenes depicting boring police procedure, Lizard in a Woman's Skin is yet another disappointment from the Italian 'godfather of gore'.In true Fulci fashion, the film manages to shock (most notably with a scene featuring several dissected, but still living, dogs; with their bloody organs and guts on display, these whining canines are very effective and are the highlight of the film), but it also bores.And even when Fulci manages to occasionally impress, his hard work is blown with some truly awful moments.
This rarely seen Fulci offering brings to mind many comparisons with Dario Argento's earlier works.A woman (Monti) dreams in slow motion of murdering her somewhat libertine neighbor and relates it all back to her therapist; some time later, her neighbor indeed turns up dead, and the details all match those in the dream.
The line between reality and hallucination becomes increasingly blurred throughout the whole film, as the mentally unbalanced Monti tries to reconcile her shifts in perception.The strength of the movie lies in the visuals, however; Fulci's wild camera work helps reinforce the sense of illusion throughout.Ennio Morricone's score complements the picture's strange mood perfectly.Fulci found himself in court over an unusually ugly scene of vivisected dogs (during a hallucination); his SFX man Carlo Rambaldi had to bring in the animatronic models of the dogs to get him off the hook.At times it's a bit slow, but at other times Lizard in a Woman's Skin is a very wild ride indeed..
I've seen a lot of giallos, but Lucio Fulci's Lizard in a Woman's Skin is way up there with the best!
Films like "Don't Torture a Duckling" and "The Psychic" show a filmmaker bringing a sense of macabre mystery to the mainstream; the same can be said for "Lizard in a Woman's Skin," his first foray into the 'giallo' subgenre...though the result is terribly disappointing.It's hard to ignore the cue Fulci takes from Dario Argento, making an animal-themed (and relatively restrained) film in the footsteps of "The Bird With the Crystal Plumage." There are glimpses of the frenetic (almost invasive) camera tricks and stylistic techniques Fulci would mine with more confidence (and effect) in his gritty horror outings.
While he stages an impressive extended chase through Alexandra Palace (beginning in the underground tunnels and finishing on the rooftop), piques our interest with a smattering of sex, violence, and psychedelics at the very beginning, and gives us a dog-vivisection dream sequence that foreshadows his later work (and is still gruesomely effective today), what lies in between is talky and largely uninteresting.The plot is simple enough: Carol Hammond (Florinda Bolkan--"Don't Torture a Duckling"), daughter of a prominent politician in Great Britain, is afflicted with strange hallucinations that literally bleed over into reality when her next-door neighbor, Julia Durer (sexy Anita Strindberg) is stabbed to death.
Meanwhile, Carol's husband Frank (Jean Sorel) is carrying on an affair with a family friend, and Carol's daughter-in-law, Joan (Edy Gall) is somehow involved with a bunch of hippie types who know something about the murder.I consider Fulci's "Don't Torture a Duckling" one of the finer examples of a giallo done right--it wasn't so heavily stylized that it detracted from character or story, and at times invoked a sense of realism-through-restraint.
"Lizard" is almost the total opposite--the characters tend to become dancing puppets within a plot that's constantly twisting itself into a pretzel; indeed, much like Argento's style-drenched films, the best method of viewing is to just drink in the look and feel of things, and wait for the inevitable Closing Revelation, in which all the convoluted plot points are explained.
After having seen the stylish crime drama "One on top of the Other", followed by this wonderfully psychedelic giallo, it actually becomes difficult to believe that Lucio Fulci went on making so many eyeball-stabbing & gut-spilling gore flicks!
I've been familiar with the films of Italian director Lucio Fulci since I saw his House by the Cemetery in around 1990, then progressed to Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Beyond, New York Ripper, etc, but I have just watched Lizard for the first time.
Yes, I have seen Don't Torture A Duckling, another early giallo, but with Lizard I feel that I have seen Fulci at his best.
Like many of his films there's plenty of sex and very graphic gore here (apparently they had to prove that they didn't use real dogs in a scene that shows them live, cut open with their hearts & guts still pumping by producing the effects in court).
But Fulci also demonstrates great skill in making an incredibly beautiful and stylish giallo movie, coupled with an Ennio Morricone score.
If you were a well-to-do woman in Italy in the 1970s, chances are — based on the movies that I have seen — that you are about to killed, have killed someone, are having a lesbian affair, are on drugs or all of the above.Carol (Florinda Bolkan, Don't Torture a Duckling) is one of those wealthy women.
Suspicion passes from one suspect to another while the dedicated Inspector Corvin (Stanley Baker) works the case.The much admired director Lucio Fulci does well with this sometimes trippy addition to that genre of Italian murder mysteries known as the Giallo.
Penny Brown and Mike Kennedy (as the hippie characters), lovely Ely Galleani (as Franks' headstrong daughter), George Rigaud (as Carols' psychiatrist), and Leo Genn (as Edmond Brighton), all leave favourable impressions.There's one sequence right before the one hour mark that's distressing (and the special effects creators were obliged to prove in court that these were just effects), but overall this is a solid Giallo that newcomers to the genre should take a look at.Seven out of 10..
"Trippy" would be a good description of this film, quite literally in places, and there's plenty of set pieces, like Balkan being stalked around an empty church by a knife wielding biker, the dream sequences, and Baker's habit of whistling a creepy tune all the time.
Whereas those films (The Beyond, City of the Living Dead) are classics in their own right, Lizard in a Woman's Skin is much more cerebral and one of the highlights of the giallo genre (who's highlights for me at least seem to be the more atypical examples of the genre).
If Carol wasn't crazy before, she certainly would be after that scene.As is usual in Giallo, there is always a twist at the end when elaborate plans are revealed and mistakes found.Great Fulci thriller..
"Lizard in a Woman's Skin" (1971) is an early, comparatively goreless giallo from Italian master Lucio Fulci.
In it, Florinda Bolkan (who would go on to play the epileptic voodoo woman so memorably chain-whipped to death in Fulci's 1972 effort "Don't Torture a Duckling") portrays Carol Hammond, a well-to-do wife living in London who suffers from dreams of a very startling nature.
A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971) *** 1/2 (out of 4) The mentally unstable Carol Hammond (Florinda Bolkan) lives a rather good life considering her father and husband are both quite rich.
A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN comes from director Lucio Fulci and if you're only familiar with his horror films then I think you're going to be in for quite a shock.
Look, I really enjoy Fulci's films including some of the ones that he made in the later days of his career but at the same time there's no question that they were all "B" movies that depended on gore and a little style.This giallo is amazingly beautiful to look at and the style that the director captured here is something that I would think was the greatest of his career.
Meanwhile, Carol's state of mind is worsening quickly, with dreams involving the rotten corpses of family members, swarms of bats, and a hostile giant swan...Few films use London locations as well as this one does, and Fulci demonstrates a talent and virtuosity that he'd never achieve again, even though he'd work with much of the same crew on later movies.
But Fulci has actually created a genuinely effective suspense movie, and the dream scenes and chase through Alexandra Palace in particular, are among the best moments in European thriller cinema.Even in its cut version released in the States, it garnished good reviews but was unseen for many years.
Co-written and directed by Lucio Fulci and known more commonly under the title of A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, I thought this was a pretty good murder mystery who dun-nit, probably one of Fulci's better films.
It takes a unique premise using dream logic, the mind's subconscious, blackmail, adultery, lesbianism, and a murder of a hippie socialite and Fulci weaves a web of unpredictability any giallo or horror fan would dream of.The film opens with a dream from Carol Hammond(Florinda Bolkan)concerning her delirious trip through an orgy of naked people standing trying to flee but finding herself in the arms of a woman(the always luscious Anita Strindberg).
But, one such dream shows Carol murdering the woman and it turns out that this occurrence actually happens to the very next door neighbor for whom she speaks of.
His son Glyn later described 'Lizard
' as 'a movie which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.' Stanley himself declared that he enjoyed everything he worked on, 'including the bad pictures'.I love the look Director Lucio Fulci gives this.
An early effort from Italian goremeister Lucio Fulci, this slow-moving giallo has a really odd dream-like atmosphere to commend it.
It's very stylishly shot around London (BTW, Fulci seems to have invented the "you-are-there / shaky-cam" style long before it became fashionable), the story is unpredictable and loaded with red herrings, and the cast is unusually competent for the genre - Florinda Bolkan may very well be the best giallo actress of them all (she's great to look at as well, and so are the other women in the film). |
tt1411232 | 13 Hrs | Sarah Tyler (Isabella Calthorpe) is driving along a winding road one night in order to return to her home in England. after a couple of years of staying in the Los Angeles in the United States. When she arrives, she greets her step-father who is working his way through a couple of paperworks. Sarah told her step-father to rest that night while she takes care of her brothers who are at the barn fixing a jeep. Sarah left the house to go to the family's barn nearby while a storm is brewing. She saw her brothers with their friends having a party at the barn. Among those partying were Stephen Moore (Peter Gadiot) and his girlfriend Emily (Gemma Atkinson), Charlie Moore (Gabriel Thomson), Gary Ashby (Tom Felton), and Doug Walker (Joshua Bowman). Also in the barn away from the noise of the party is their youngest brother Luke Moore (Anthony de Liseo) asleep amongst the hay together with their dog Stoner.
Sarah woke up Luke and learned that their parents were fighting over bills and a supposed love affair of their mother with another man. She told Luke to go back to sleep and sent Stoner back home. Sarah then joined the party where she asked why she was kept out of the loop for so long. Stephen then told her that her step father accused their mother of having an affair with someone and that she is paying this man huge sums of money. Sarah can't believe that her mother is having an affair.
Everyone went back to the house. There was a power outage caused by the storm. Inside, the pack went up the stairs and noticed blood dripping at the top of the stairs. Meanwhile, Gary separates from the group and ended up in the kitchen in order to look for candles. The group upstairs followed the marks of blood on the carpet and they saw that it came from their father's room. When they entered the room, everyone was shocked to see the lifeless body of their father that seemed to have been attacked by some wild animal. The rib cage can clearly be seen with some internal organs missing. Almost at the same time, Gary saw some candles and dropped them. When he reached down to get them, he saw the collar of Stoner and the bloody remains of the dog.
The group upstairs suddenly saw a beast like creature which immediately attacked them. Luckily, they were able to close the door before the beast could reach them. The beast keeps on pounding furiously against the closed door when Gary called out to them. The beast immediately heard Gary and went after him and killed him the same way - ripping his internal organs out. The creature then started to go back to the closed door and furiously tried to break it open. Sarah and group then fled to the bathroom of their father's room and closed the door there. When the beast started to pound the door of the bathroom also, Sarah saw a passageway inside the bathroom going to the attic. Everyone went up it and for a moment in time they were saved.
In the attic, the group contemplated on what they are going to do. Sarah mentioned that they needed to get help and her mobile phone is in her bag downstairs. Stephen's phone is dead. Sarah remembered Luke was left sleeping at the barn. Sarah then said that there is a phone in their father's room. Emily saw a pathway in the attic that leads to another opening in another room. They devised a plan in order to get to the phone. Sarah would go down through the other pathway and make distract the beast while Charlie goes down to their father's bathroom back into their father's room and use the phone there to call for help.
The monster heard Sarah's screams to get it's attention and ran towards her. Meanwhile, Charlie was able to reach the phone and he tried calling the police. Sarah went back to the other opening in the attic when she noticed that the creature had stopped following her. She went outside to look for the creature and realized that it is after Charlie. Charlie was able to contact the police and mentioned about the wild animal in their house before he was attacked and killed by the beast. Sarah saw that Charlie was already being devoured by the beast. It then went after Sarah, who immediately tried to go back up the attic. Unfortunately, the beast was able to get hold and bite her leg before she managed to make her way up to the attic.
On the other side of town, McRae was picked up by police officer May. Apparently they were sent to investigate the call made by Charlie about wild animals being loose at their home. McRae is a trained dog catcher and was enlisted by the police department to help in resolving the situation. May thinks that the report is a hoax but went there instead to be sure.
Back in the attic, Stephen was hysterical while Doug was treating Sarah's leg lacerations. Stephen crawled in the attic away from Sarah and Doug while Emily followed him. Stephen saw another passageway from the attic which lead to another room containing a shotgun. Once inside the room, Sarah and Doug warned them that the beast is lurking outside the room and told them to get out. Emily and Stephen manage to block the door after a little bit of struggle. While Emily is looking for shotgun cartridges, Stephen leaves her and crawls back up to the attic. Sarah armed with a stake makes her way down where she injures the beast before it attacks Emily.
All of them meet up at the attic where an outraged Emily starts screaming and threatening a scared Stephen. She takes the shotgun and says she will kill the beast herself. The beast manages to surprise Emily where she takes a shot at it but unfortunalety falls and ends up shooting herself which results in her death. Meanwhile, McRae with officer May see an abandoned car in the middle of the road and stop to investigate. They come to the conclusion, after finding that the woman did not take her handbag, that the car broke down but the driver seeking for help never made it back so the call they received earlier may not be a hoax. As they leave, a pile of clothes is shown a few feet away from the car.
Luke wakes up and goes back to the house unaware of the situation that is going on. He finds Gary's dead body in the hall way. The beast, now aware of his presence, is after him. Sarah eventually falls through the ceiling. As she quickly recovers she helps Luke and all of the remaining survivors make their way to the roof. McRae and officer May arrive at the house but both get killed by the beast. Sarah manages to reach the police vehicle where she takes the handbag and then all of them run towards the barn where Stephen tries to fix the Jeep. Sarah discovers that the handbag belonged to her mother, it is also revealed that Stephen tampered with his mother's car so that he can delay her from seeing her lover. Sarah says that if their mother is dead then Stephen is the one to blame. An upset Stephen knocks her unconscious but Sarah awakens and hits Stephen. A scared Stephen runs out of the barn and he is attacked by the beast. Inside the barn Sarah starts to transforms into a monstrous figure.
Luke and Doug run back to the house where the beast comes back. They hide under the table and just as soon as the beast is about to kill them, a beast-like Sarah attacks and fights with the other beast. Luke runs back to the car while Doug tries to shoot at the beast but is eventually bitten and killed by Sarah. In the morning Sarah has returned to her human self. The other beast is revealed to be Sarah's mother. Sarah finds Luke inside the car and they both drive off to go somewhere safe. Just before the credits roll, it is revealed that Gary is still alive. | murder | train | imdb | This movie is not the greatest as you would guess with not a very good cast nor an original story line.
The film starts of with Sarah Tyler coming back to England from the United States after a long time.
We find out about each of the characters personalities and their previous relationships before Sarah left for USA.Then the action starts with the creature appearing and the family trying to survive.
Not award-winning performances, but still very good shows of talents here.There weren't really any twists to the storyline, except for one that was revealed at the very end, but you saw it coming, so it wasn't a moment of utter surprise by then.I am not going to spoil it here and say what the movie is about, but trust me, "13 Hrs" will keep you riveted to your chair throughout the entire feature.
I'm glad I watched it (okay I did it mainly because of Gemma Atkinson).The movie is not that bad.
I do not agree with what the last user review says : the actors were acceptable, and despite a few bad choices during the movie, I was never bored.
The special effects are really poor during the movie, except at the end where it is acceptable.Despite what was said in the last user review, the director gave us hints about a few things during the movie, you just have to pay attention !
I think the story in itself is quite common, and at the beginning you can easily guess who will survive and a few other things, but then again, the movie was not that bad !.
I admit I could not stomach the full film as the suspense was noticeably lacking, the plot non-existent, and the acting was amateurish given the cast involved.
A good horror film from the producers of 'Dog Soldiers'..
It is however a good film, with moments of bloody gore and good old-school effects, just like 'Dog Soldiers'.
But overall it was a good movie to fill in 85 minutes if you don't have anything amazing to watch.
So, I was quite interested in watching Night Wolf; it didn't only promise lupine action, but also, its British manufacture suggested the potential of being another European film of a superior quality to its Hollywood counterparts.
As for the actors, they did whatever they could with their poorly written characters.In conclusion, Night Wolf is a deplorable horror film, and a waste of time.
This film disappointed me pretty much, specially considering the many excellent British horror films we have been seeing in the last 10 years (such as Evil Aliens, Wake Wood and the previously mentioned Dog Soldiers)..
13Hrs/Wolf Night – TRASH IT ( C- ) 13Hrs is one of the trashy indie horror movies we see from time to time.
Joshua Bowman (Reason I saw this movie), Gemma Atkinson, Isabella Calthrope, Peter Gadiot and Gabriel Thomson were good in their respective parts.
I will be honest and say that I didn't get to the end of this movie without fast forwarding, and indeed found out the 'whole' story from previous reviews.
Good, suspenseful, horror movie with an interesting explanation at the end.
I'm feeling mischievously creative today, so instead of giving you a straight forward review I'll clue you in this way: There once was a girl named Gutsy who, after spending some time abroad in the States making her fortune, returns home to England to visit with her family.
Yet perhaps another sad case of inflating ratings in order to soothe filmmakers egos.No tension, no pace, no catch phrases, no humour, no wit and unfortunately no "horror".Poor acting, annoying characters, uninspired direction, unoriginal plot = 90 mins of boredom.Credit goes only to the movie poster.
Why is it that all the really bad horror films (not good bad, but bad bad) have really great posters/DVD covers?Simply avoid this clunker, you will be a much happier movie lover for it!.
They feel even more used than that.The effects are OK, but nothing great (especially towards the end, you might not like what you see, in a bad way).
And frankly, doing pretty much anything is better than watching this.Don't waste your time on this, you will be very disappointed even with very low expectations..
If you think you are settling in for a gory well thought out horror film, you should know a few things.
It was still entertaining for me in spite of the weak bits, I would recommend it to any creature/horror genre fan, it's a good time killer.
Well because they don't have guns generally speaking the lower threat level allows the family members to survive longer although I wouldn't be surprised if there were some viewers considering that a bad thing.The characters in "13hrs" are a family (some are friends, actually) who aren't terribly close.
It is a bit predictable (and some of the special effects aren't the greatest), but I found it thoroughly entertaining and that is a lot of times difficult for me since I tend to over think and constantly critique the horror movies since they are my favorite genre of movies.
The girl who plays Sarah is quite lovely and doesn't suck at all at acting, which is always nice since the heroine of most horror movies that aren't commercial seem to over act and annoy the crap out of me.
13HRS is a low budget British werewolf film dressed up as an obscure teen horror.
It's also one of the worst-written films I've watched in a while, with a storyline consisting entirely of a group of annoying teen characters trapped in a clichéd creepy old house with a werewolf on the loose, running around and killing them one by one.
There are twists of sorts here in a bid to enliven the narrative but the combination of lacklustre writing and poor direction help to sink it from the start.It's also an irritatingly noisy film in which the werewolf attack scenes are a jumble of loud effects and disjointed editing.
It's a low budget horror movie with a mostly little known cast, and it's a pretty tense little thriller for the most part.
It starts with Sarah (played by Gemma Atkinson, who I thought did a good job) returning home to the family estate in England from the United States to visit a rather dysfunctional group of family and friends.
Pretty soon, this group finds themselves being hunted down one by one by some terrifying, unknown creature.I thought the movie did a good job of sustaining suspense, and it was rather frightening at times.
After returning home to catch up on the family, a woman and her brothers find the house stalked by a vicious creature that serves as the embodiment of a deadly curse upon the family and must find a way to stop it's deadly rampage.Frankly, this turned out to be quite a decent and potentially above-average British horror effort that really off-sets the series of rather disappointing efforts they've produced lately.
We get the family curse turning someone into a ravenous creature at the dark of night after being inflicted with the wounds of such an animal, the animalistic behavior exhibited afterward and the use of stopping the transforming into one by killing the individual who passed the curse on, which are all quite popular examples of such a film genre and generally work well here as there's a lot to like with this section of the film.
This can be off-putting but the fact that something new was tried is certainly commendable enough here, and works quite well in the later half where the film really gets into high-gear with the extreme pace that features a strong series of stalking scenes throughout the elaborate mansion filled with suspenseful chases down long corridors, trapped beneath walls and crawl-spaces as it tries to break in and a general air of indifference towards doling out the deaths which gets rather bloody and gruesome at times for some good times.
I saw this at FrightFest in London and was engaged right up to the final reel where things came a bit unglued.The film deals with an estranged daughter coming home to visit her father and step-family at their ancestral manor.
A building storm cuts off the power and an aborted party in the hay-barn is moved to the house, where the family discover that something *else* has crept into the house ahead of them.There follows a horror genre cat-and-mouse chase around the house interior where the group of youths are steadily picked off by the monstrous invader during their efforts to contact the authorities and call for help.Much of this section of the film is quite tense and well-played and this second reel is where I found most enjoyment.
The creature responsible for the mounting chaos is never shown (other than a clever Gollum-style silhouette in one shot) and works for the film rather than against, leaving imagination to fill in the blanks.Only in the final act of the movie do we learn the origin of the creature (although this particular twist is not difficult to see coming much earlier in the movie) and see it in more detail, which is where things fall down a bit.When budgets are tight, prosthetics and animatronics typically suffer - the visual effects for the creature are a bit wobbly (which shouldn't really matter that much if the editing is tight or evasive) and although the body count is high and the corpses are suitably eviscerated and mangled (with probably the best effects of the movie) somehow the revelation of the responsible party left me feeling flat.
Many of the actual murders also happen off-screen or in cut-away, which was another source of frustration for a horror fan.Ultimately, this is a decent movie and the second act is where all the tension is rooted, but I found the ending lacking something.
At the festival, the director explained they only had something like 18 days to shoot which would certainly impact on the final film.If you like monster movies and have a free hour and a half, you could do a lot worse than watch 13Hrs..
I'm a huge horror film fan, and watch anything that comes out and doesn't get abysmal ratings on here.
the good.The film had a lot of things done very well.
A girl comes home from the US and in the night - the entire family gets massacred one by one - by a monster.
This movie is very similar to the Howling - where we're guessing who the werewolf is - but its kind of like a slasher where its just one senseless killing after another.
This movie tries to be too many things (werewolf, horror, thriller, slasher, whodunit?) without doing justice to any one main idea.
The twist at the end was a surprise for me, I love twists in films, so on those grounds I suppose the film was successful (although it didn't seem well thought out); however one huge problem with this film - and probably the main reason as to why I just couldn't enjoy the film was the acting.
The mixture of posh English accents, insults and swearing, combined with average acting (at best) and irritating characters makes the film difficult to enjoy.
Problems aside, the idea of this film is pretty good.
I just think it was let down by characters, acting, filming, and writing.
I didn't really get a huge feel of 'low budget', I just don't think that the film overall was very good.
Not exactly in the same league as Dog Soldiers or American Werewolf, but also not having the same budget as those titles, this little flick shows budding directors that you can get released with a low budget horror.
The Director picks up the pace nicely after introducing the aforementioned wooden planks to us and the suspense is kept at a no nodding off level with gusto.For those who like a bit of gore, there are some nice gnarly bits but not too overboard - the creature is acceptable for a low budget flick and the script, whilst no great shakes and somewhat predictable in places, is more than adequate to keep you from snoozing between the teeth gnashing and the inevitable running sequencesThe downside - you are likely to become annoyed with the whining actors.
I gave it 6/10, which is an OK on my scale - I wanted to give it 7/10 (good) but overall performances from the cast could have been better even on a low budget.
some kind of monster appears, hell breaks lose, people act stupid, surprise ending, curtains.well, one could also list all the filler material sub plots that were needed to stretch it into the estimated runtime, but let's face it: what the writer had here was a good basic idea and a rather satisfying and almost clever ending, but he had no idea what exactly to do with it.
now, keeping in mind that this is a restricted budget horror film and even keeping in mind all the clichés that such a movie usually almost guaranteed comes with, why didn't they take a nap and wait until daytime?
bottom line: i can see the effort that went into this and i would for sure like a short film version of this, but as a full length release it is just too boring and too confusing for too long to let the ending alone make up for the rest..
Well no, she doesn't, and that's not the only way in which this Brit-horror disappoints: it's also got bloody irritating characters, a wafer thin plot, shocking acting, briefly glimpsed gore, a nonsensical ending, and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it monster that turns out to be...
The main reason I watched this movie is because Tom Felton is in it.
The wolf is basically hairless which is weird, and like I said Tom Felton only had like 5 minutes of screen time :( but he still looks extremely cute in this movie.
Sarah (Isabella Calthorpe), who has been away from home for a long time, returns to England from LA.
(If you have read the title or looked at the cover, you got a good idea what is there.)The creature makes noises that sound like "Predator" apparently an easy noise to duplicate as all the horror films have gone to it.
The movie was a fairly good idea that was poorly executed and suffered from the lack of decent special effects.
A-Z Horror Movie of the Day..."Night Wolf" (R - 2010 - UK)Sub-Genre: Monster/WerewolfMy Score: 5.9Cast=6 Acting=6 Plot=5 Ending=7 Story=7 Scare=4 Jump=5 F/X=6 Monster=7 Transform=6As a storm rages outside, a group shores up for the night...cut off from the outside world.
'A deadly secret is coming home', reads the tagline to this run of the mill werewolf movie.
The movie wasn't bad...basic story with no twists, decent gore, nice images...blah blah blah.
Story, girl arrives back from America to the family home, her Father meets her and tells her, "the half brothers are getting drunk in the barn" there is a lot of tension and due to a poor script and awful sound quality we never get this fully explained.
Decent low budget Brit horror flick.
All i can add as someone whose been activley watching and often suffering at the hands of low budget horror for over 25 yrs is that this movie is worth catching if you come across it on the horror channel or any other broadcaster, if you don't expect too much you might be pleasantly surprised..
Taking into account the time they spent filming and editing,and low costs,also these actors may be on to look out for.i gave it a 10/10..
In the past we have enjoyed LOW budget movies that are now considered classics/cult.Who remembers "The thing" or "Evil dead" "Hellraiser I and II" there were all pretty low budget even for there time.
For the ones that love horror and are pretty keen on details and good plot developments and good effects.Just let it be your wasting 1h and 20 min of your time..
Girl goes home for a family reunion but finds that a creature (werewolf)is in the house.
There is a good premise here and there could have been a good story and the film could have worked as a tense 'what do you do?' horror scenario...but unfortunately this film did not have lot of funding and it comes through BIG time.Ignore any references to Dog Soldiers.
There are good ideas and given more money, better actors and a more polished script, I'm sure this could have been good.Instead we are left with a cast of characters who are family and friends but trying to link who's related to who is hard work as we have short introductions.
The acting for the most is below average but this may be due to the script which, rather than giving engaging conversation between siblings which might have elicited a connection between them, decides to go with the standard cliché dialogue.The thing that really hampers the film is the direction and editing.
There is no real sense of danger - yet this is the situation that they are supposed to be in.If you don't see the 'twist' by half way through the movie then....All in all, there's nothing engaging in the film to keep your interest.
Although the family dynamics aren't quite as good as she would like them to be she soon gets reacquainted with her four half-brothers and a former friend named "Emily" (Gemma Atkinson) who are getting quite drunk in a nearby barn.
Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this movie had a good premise but it was seriously limited by exceedingly poor special effects.
I like horror movies a lot and have watched many over my life.
They are all hackneyed characters but come one this is a horror movie. |
tt0072354 | Vampyres | It is getting dark. John [Brian Deacon] and Harriet [Ally Faulkner] have not yet found a place to park their camper. They pass two mysterious women in the road and pull up beside a deserted castle where they intend to pass the night. For days they camp there, not knowing that during the days the two women, Fran [Marianne Morris] and Miriam [Anulka], lie asleep in the cemetery while at night they pick up men and take him to their castle. There, they feed them wine, have passionate sex, and then stab them to death while drinking their blood. The only exception is Ted [Murray Brown], who manages to survive for three nights in a row. One evening Ted escapes. He runs to the camper to enlist John and Harriet's help. When John goes to start the car, Fran and Miriam get him. When Harriet goes to check on John, the girls get her. Ted apparently gets away. | pornographic, gothic, murder, violence, cult, sadist | train | imdb | This film is pretty much alone in the Lesbian Vampire genre in that it has real zeal - the girls really seem to get into their roles and the result is the most erotic non-porn feature I've ever seen.
Jose Ramon Larraz's "Vampyres" is easily one of the best erotic horror movies ever made.This is surely a cult classic and should be treated with respect.A pair of sexy bisexual vampires played by Marianne Morris and Anulka live in an abandoned castle.Both stunning beauties lure passing motorists to their lair."Vampyres" is a very remarkable horror film that perfectly mixes creepy atmosphere with delicious sleaze.There is also a nice amount of blood and gore,so I was pleased.The acting is great and the sex scenes are truly arousing.There is nothing overtly supernatural about the 'vampyres' for example they lack fangs and go about freely in daylight.So if you are a fan of erotic horror you can't miss this masterpiece.10 out of 10..
VAMPYRES Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound format: MonoA motorist (Murray Brown) is lured to an isolated country house inhabited by two beautiful young women (Marianne Morris and Anulka) and becomes enmeshed in their free-spirited sexual lifestyle, but his hosts turn out to be vampires with a frenzied lust for human blood...Taking its cue from the lesbian vampire cycle initiated by maverick director Jean Rollin in France, and consolidated by the success of Hammer's "Carmilla" series in the UK, Jose Ramon Larraz' daring shocker VAMPYRES pushed the concept of Adult Horror much further than British censors were prepared to tolerate in 1974, and his film was cut by almost three minutes on its original British release.
Daubeney') uses these commercial elements as mere backdrop to a languid meditation on life, death and the impulses - sexual and otherwise - which affirm the human condition.Shot on location at a picturesque country house during the Autumn of 1973, Harry Waxman's haunting cinematography conjures an atmosphere of grim foreboding, in which the desolate countryside - bleak and beautiful in equal measure - seems to foreshadow a whirlwind of impending horror (Larraz pulled a similar trick earlier the same year with SYMPTOMS, a low-key thriller which erupts into a frenzy of violence during the final reel).
However, despite its pretensions, VAMPYRES' wafer-thin plot and rough-hewn production values will divide audiences from the outset, and while the two female protagonists are as charismatic and appealing as could be wished, the male lead (Brown, past his prime at the time of filming) is woefully miscast in a role that should have gone to some beautiful twentysomething stud.
If you like 1970s erotic vampire movies then you will LOVE Jose Larraz's 'Vampyres'!
The gorgeous Marianne Morris (brunette) and Anulka (blonde) play a couple of very hot vampires who between seducing men and draining their blood, share a passionate relationship.
In 1974 director José Ramón Larraz released this blood-soaked erotic film called Vampyres , which told the story of a lesbian vampire couple who would waylay and kidnap various passers-by, both male and female, to take them captive at their luxurious rural manor .
This horror as well as semi-exploitation movie deals with a lesbian vampire couple (Marianne Morris , Anulka) abducts motorists and drivers , (Murray Brown , Brian Deacon , Michael Byrne) , to hold them at their large mansion in the English countryside in order to kill and feed on them to satisfy their insatiable thirst for chew their blood .
A couple that has not yet found a place to park their camper attempts to find out the rare events leading to an old mansion in bloody results which end in death .This frightening movie deliberately told contains thrills , chills , suspense , sleazy images and lots of violence and gore , including obnoxious killings .
Jose Ramon Larraz master of arty gore and soft-core , brings this ghastly and stylish story plagued with eerie intrigue , nudism and depraved gore murders executed in a luxury mansion ; in fact , the house is Oakley Court, used for exteriors in several Hammer films , and for The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) , it was later turned into a resort hotel .
His most successful film is this ¨Vampyres¨ about bloodsuckers who get victims to pull over hitchhiking , played by Playboy young models with sexy bodies , blending arty house , horror and erotic situations .¨Vampyres¨ rating : Acceptable and passable terror movie .
The lesbian vampires are the sexy and gorgeous Anulka Dziubinska, who is the Playboy´s Playmate of the Month in May of 1973, and Marianne Morris, and they spend great part of the film naked.
The are quite a few things that don't make an awful lot of sense and there are some moments that the movie just drags on for far too long, such as all the erotic scene's, which only all felt totally pointless.I am also ashamed to admit that I actually rather liked the unusual musical score by James Kenelm Clarke.All in all it is a movie that is worth seeing but granted that you have to be a fan of the genre to be able to appreciate this movie.
Though filmed in England, high-spirited Spanish director Jose Ramon Larraz works hard not to bring a coy, prurient perspective to this joyous celebration of steamy eroticism, lesbianism and vampirism.
If he had failed (he doesn't), we would have been saddled with a sexless, potentially arousing work such as Jimmy Sangster's LUST FOR A VAMPIRE, a non-classic that wasted the carnal talents of the smoldering Yutte Stensgaard.Featuring some of the most delicious scenes of rampant, sexually-charged blood drinking ever, VAMPYRES (not to be confused with John Carpenter's raw but uneven vampire entry) is a minor classic hampered only by a half-baked, meandering script and static dialog.Negatives aside, it still manages to be poetic, sensual, dream-like and gloriously subversive.
Afterall, it is a film of genuine atmosphere.The vampire leads, exuberantly played by the beautiful Marianne Morris and Anulka Dziubinska, are extraordinary, a horror fan's wet dream made flesh.
Images of them haunting country roads in search of victims or dashing through a cemetery in the late afternoon tattoo themselves into your psyche.One sequence, where they brutally and bloodily ravage a "lucky" victim, is almost pornographic in its single-minded intensity and intention.Sometimes titled VAMPYRES: DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS, it has little in common with Harry Kumel's superb telling of the Elizabeth Bathory story and nothing in common with Hong Kong's gleefully vile sleazefest of the same name.Harry Waxman's stylish cinematography is a major asset, as is James Clark's subtle score.Stronger than any Hammer film.Recommended highly for exotic tastes..
It eschews traditional bloodsucker conventions in favor of atmosphere and eroticism, and the result, though English in origin, seems more like one of the Continental horror films being made at the same time--probably thanks to Spanish director Jose Larraz.Marianne Morris and Anulka are gorgeous and sadly sympathetic as the two undead lovers.
Now, after the title, we get the idea that it's years later, and for whatever reason, the hot ladies, Fran and Miriam, are now hot vampyres, hot vampyres who hitch rides on the side of the country road, only to lure their victims back to their lair, in the castle, to be loved on, and of course, to be drained of all blood.
Director Jose' Ramon Larraz brings a stylish and effective aura of Gothic horror to it, somewhat akin to that found in the Hammer films (the fact that it was actually partly shot at a stand-by set for that studio's vampire films may have contributed to this).
Due to its plot being rather thin, the film's editing style could not perhaps forego a certain sluggishness to the proceedings; yet, despite its occasional repetitiveness (like the lengthy passages where Murray Brown is seen inspecting the castle grounds scenes which reminded me a lot of CASTLE OF BLOOD [1964]), I never found it to be boring as this was often countered by the number of effective shock cuts interspersed throughout.The two leading ladies Marianne Morris and Anulka were very well-cast in my opinion, proving themselves surprisingly compelling screen presences, and this was aided a great deal by their highly contrasting personalities.
Still, while it is perfectly understandable that Miss Morris had more screen time than Miss Dziubinska given her dominant personality and her ongoing relationship with Murray Brown, I must say that I preferred Anulka (an opinion with which, I'm happy to say, even director Larraz concurs) and I would have liked her to be in a couple more scenes.
However, I have yet to check out the lengthy essay 'VAMPYRES: A Tribute to the Ultimate in Erotic Horror Cinema' accessible only via DVD-ROM which, in turn, promises to be quite interesting.The film compares favorably with Blue Underground's other 'lesbian vampires' release Harry Kumel's DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (1971) though it does not have that film's thematic density, sophisticated artistry or its lingering dramatic power, but then I didn't expect it to!
But, as those familiar with grindhouse movies will be fully aware, that doesn't mean it's particularly good.In an old mansion isolated in the woods, lesbian vampire couple Fran (Marianne Morris) and Miriam (Anulka Dziubinska) stalk the surrounding area in search of men to prey upon.
Harriet notices strange behaviour from the vampire couple and witnesses the physical deterioration of Ted (Murray Brown), a young man taken in by Fran.Shot at Oakley Court, location of many a Hammer horror and Dr. Frank N.
Vampyres is a film about two vampire women luring men into their house, killing them and drinking their blood.
For those looking for a horror movie with nice atmosphere, blood and sex - Vampyres has it.
But if they all turned out like this, that is not a bad thing.The movie basically consists of the two lovely vampires picking up "johns" along a country road, taking them home to their castle, having crazy sex with them, and then eating them (except the first victim, who they keep around for no particular reason).
The references to other movies and filmmakers isn't place in here because the year of this film, in 1974, nobody had made anything similar; this genuine and naïve masterpiece of the horror recent history of the macabre is in essence a tragical love story, a male fantasy as "The phantom of the Paradise", in the same year -by Brian De Palma- did it too.We have to recognise the abilities in Joseph Larraz's movies to create a unique and very personal vision of the spiral of terror that never appeared before: "Vampyres" is the part of a trilogy that emerges with "Scream...and die!
"Vampyres" features a lot of sexual footage and nudity, naturally, but the difference with similar contemporary movies (mainly from the hands of the two aforementioned directors) is that this film also has an intriguing plot, a tense Gothic atmosphere, amiable characters, professional cast & crew members and a stunningly beautiful photography.
Vampyres is one of the movies from the early '70s sex-horror female vampire sub-genre.
Two female vampires lure unsuspecting men back to their remote mansion, where the unfortunate chaps meet with a bloody climax (no pun intended).While the dialogue and acting is, at times, not too great the movie does conjure up some effective sequences.
After so many Vampires movies aimed for men, this new kind has another target to reachs under lesbianism aproaching, for a new generation of vast range of the sexual orientation, the news signs of the times, exploitation more endless sexual appealing than vampirism,this picture is some sort of soft porn production, not bad but a lack of a specific plot drift to nowhere, the vampires don't bit, they are a blood sucked, implying a subjetive assessment, the sexy's scenes is quite hot for a horror movie, so to speak that it fit in this new genre, a soft porn horror!!Resume:First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 6.25.
Factory, they pick out some real winners.In 2019, Arrow Video took the film and added even more to it than Blue, packaging it with other Larraz-directed works such as "Whirlpool." Perhaps the man will finally get his due; as Kim Newman has said, both the horror folks and "sex movie" folks have tried to disown him..
The film is also deliberately paced, with not much in the way of story other than Fran and Miriam luring a series of men into their web, but director Jose Ramon Larraz has directed his picture for maximum atmosphere, and that creepy atmosphere is just delicious.
The nudity and sex are as omnipresent (and essential) as the eeriness and haunting atmosphere, which makes "Vampyres" a mesmerizing gem of 70s erotic Horror.The film is about a couple of female vampires, Fran (Marianne Morris) and Mirjam (Anulka), who hitchhike in order to satisfy both their sexual desires and their thirst for blood...
Sultry brunette Marianne Morris and sexy blonde Anulka Dziubinska play Fran and Miriam, hitch-hiking vampiresses who lure motorists to their remote country house where they seduce them and then drain them of blood.Opening with a lesbian sex scene in which the two naked stars are shot dead mid-fumble, the film starts as it means to go on, mixing sex and death to great effect.
Both babes indulge in sexy romps at regular intervals, either with each other or with the men that they cadge a lift from.The story is quite mundane, and revolves around one of the bloodsucker's victims (who is inexplicably kept alive so that Fran can shag him and drink his blood) and a couple who have parked their caravan in the grounds of the house, and who eventually come under attack from the undead lesbian duo.
But who cares, when there is so much T&A on display and quite a few steamy scenes of carnal lust.The violence is limited to a few frenzied scenes in which the vampires sate their blood-lust; they are brief but bloody, and the last couple of killings are particularly unsettling.Vampyres is definitely one of the better 70s lesbian vampire movies, and fans of the genre should find enough to enjoy to warrant giving this one a go.N.B. The Blue Underground DVD release has a great interview with the actresses who played the movie's two undead loveliesand they still look pretty good 30+ years after the film was made!.
The two female vampires don't have fangs, don't turn into bats, don't seem to have any major supernatural powers, and don't turn to dust in the sunlight.Instead, these two women seem to mainly be a couple of women who don't like sunlight and like to bring hitchhikers home to their manor house for a little wine a blood letting.There are some gruesome sequences and some moments of absolute horror, but overall the film is more of a mood piece.
To the pantheon of erotic 1970s horror flicks we can add "Vampyres", about hot lesbian vampires Fran (Marianne Morris) and Miriam (Anulka Dziubinska) who thumb rides from unsuspecting travelers, take the travelers to the English estate where they dwell, and go into full orgy mode.
The film isn't a world away from Jean Rollin's efforts, but its shot with far more conviction, and despite the thin plot and equally thin characters, with Vampyres it does actually feel you're watching a movie as opposed to simply witnessing a load of random events.
They need these people to feed from in order to satisfy their thirst for blood; but, naturally, there's also room for a lot of bloody murders and over the top, yet erotic, sex scenes.The title is made inspiring by the alternative spelling of the word 'vampires', and that really fits the film as despite the fact that their are others like it; Vampyres seems to occupy a niche of it's own.
The woman in the caravan (Sally Faulkner) notices the two 'vampyres' running around outside, heading to the road at strange hours of the morning, and she mentions it to her husband who is oblivious to the whole thing and doesn't think it's a big deal.In the meantime the vampire ladies hitchhike in order to lure businessmen back to the castle so they can drink their blood.
Of course the couple wind up getting killed in the end for harboring a man the vampyres have held in captivity and drank most of his blood.Nice atmospherics, spooky fall English countryside, this has to be one of the most erotic (non X-rated) vampire moves ever made.
When I rented this movie, the synopsis on the back of the DVD read: In this controversial cult classic (also known as Daughters of Dracula), two beautiful bisexual women -- played by Marianne Morris and Anulka -- roam the English countryside, luring unsuspecting men to their estate for orgies of sex and blood.
The footage that had been cut has been put back in for this excellent dvd release from Anchor Bay. It was directed by Spanish director Joseph Larraz and filmed in England on Hammer Studios sets.The story goes something like this: Two women are making love in a bed and someone walks in on them and shoots them.
A 1970's British film about two bisexual vampires (Marianne Morris and Anulka Dziubinska) who live in old mansion preying victims...
In that aspect, the movie delivers expectations because the sex scenes are steamy and very well done.Marianne Morris and Anulka Dziubinska are impressive beauties.
The castle is the very definition of secluded, and an ideal place for a vampire couple's lair..particularly when they look as gorgeous as Fran(Marianne Morris) and Miriam(Anulka Dziubinska).
An attractive young lesbian couple are gunned down in the mansion where they live and, for some reason, then become vampiric creatures who seduce passers-by from the nearby road.Husky, busty Marianne Morris and blond Anulka Dziubinska (billed as Anulka) as Fran and Miriam seem very at ease with the plentiful nude/sex scenes – even though the DVD extras refute this.
At any rate, rather than detail the entire plot I will just say that this is an erotic vampire movie which has plenty of nudity and sex. |
tt0877732 | ZsaZsa Zaturnnah Ze Moveeh | Ada (aka Adrian) is a lonely gay man in Manila, and after yet another heartbreak he takes his beauty parlor and his niece, Aruba, to the provinces to start a new life. One night while singing in the shower, Ada is hit on the head with a strange meteorite with the word "Zaturnnah" printed on it. His best friend Didi is convinced it will give Ada superhero powers, and convinces him to swallow it. He does so, and after shouting, "Zaturnnah!" he turns into a beautiful woman!Together Ada - as the newly discovered superhero ZsaZsa Zaturnnah - and Didi go out to explore her newfound powers, which include super strength, super jumping, and a strange energy imbued in her ample bosom. On their way back home, they discover one of their neighbors, Dadong - who has come to like Ada, but Ada is reluctant to give her heart again - being robbed by three thieves. Zaturnnah easily defeats them, and Dadong is amazed by her prowess and beauty, but she and Didi quickly leave.The next day Didi gives Ada a costume for Zaturnnah, and just in time - a giant frog attacks the town, and, after swallowing the rock again, Zaturnnah is able to defeat it to the delight of the entire town.Watching from above in her spaceship, however, is Queen Femina and her henchwomen, the Amazonistas. After seeing Zaturnnah in action they decide to test her to see if she is worthy of joining them.Later that night, the town is attacked by zombies, and Zaturnnah comes to the rescue. While battling she discovers her dead father, and even though she pleads with him to accept her for who she is, he rejects her. Zaturnnah then gathers all the townspeople in the local church and arms them with holy water, and they all face the zombies and destroy them.The next day Queen Femina and the Amazonistas land on Earth and begin turning the local men into women. Confronting them, they tell Zaturnnah that the women on their planet had been enslaved and all but wiped out by the men, but they fought back and are now dedicated to eradicating men throughout the galaxy.Zaturnnah vows to battle them to the death in a climactic battle. She finally coughs up the rock, turning back into Ada, and confronts them with their hypocricy of becoming just like the men they had defeated. Queen Femina ends up swallowing the rock and turning into a man, forcing the Amazonistas to destroy him while they leave Earth altogether. Dadong, having witnessed all this, takes Ada back home for her to rest.Ada decides it's time for her to return to Manila alone, but Dadong stops her and confesses his love. Together they all return home, but while singing karaoke in their new beauty shop, a strang object falls from the sky... | comedy | train | imdb | null |
tt0119908 | Poison Ivy: The New Seduction | In 1985, Ivan and Catherine Greer live with their 9-year-old daughter, Joy, their housekeeper, Rebecca, and her two daughters, Ivy, 9, and Violet, 8. The three young girls live as sisters, but the more rambunctious Ivy is bored by their childish games of tea and rejoices at Ivan's unexpected early day return from the office, saying, "There's going to be fireworks."
Ivy's prediction soon comes true. Ivan catches Rebecca in bed with the handsome pool boy, and the two men scuffle. As Ivan tends to his wounds, he and Rebecca begin a loud argument about their adulterous affair. The shouting brings Catherine's attention from the garden. Upon learning of the affair, she immediately evicts Rebecca and her children.
In 1996, Violet returns to the Greer home and is reunited with Joy for the first time in eleven years. Violet states that she is looking for a summer time residence while working as a waitress at Denny's Restaurants and planning to attend the local junior college. Joy suggests that she reside with them and stay in the late Catherine's room. Joy is an amateur tennis star and engaged to her boyfriend from Princeton University, Michael, who will be working as an intern for Joy's father's bank.
During a late night party, Violet feels isolated and ridiculed by Joy's Ivy League friends, and excuses herself for late shift work. Afterward, Michael takes Joy to her room and initiates foreplay, only to be rejected. He accuses Joy of being sexually frigid, and insultingly says he understands her father's infidelity. As Michael is on his way out, he runs into Violet, who is dressed in a sadomasochistic costume, which causes him to question her employment at Denny's. Violet states that the two have gotten off on the wrong foot, and proceeds to perform oral sex on him.
Violet's obsession with Joy motivates her to destroy all of her other relationships. When her tennis partner, Jaimie comes over to practice with Joy, Violet spikes their drinks with alcohol and then undresses into her bra in bed with the unconscious and handcuffed Jaimie, convincing her the two have just engaged in sex. A horrified, half clothed, and handcuffed Jaimie flees the Greer house, thus ending their friendship.
Michael is Violet's next target. While by the Greer pool, she convinces him Joy has been unfaithful and seduces him into sex, while she provides him with cocaine to reignite his former addiction. Michael is not appreciative of her vices and vows never to see her again, thereby confirming her prejudiced belief that all men are uncaring and deceitful.
Ivan is the next to be seduced as Violet sabotages his date when she swims topless in his pool, and dresses in his late wife's clothing. The two wish to rekindle the passion that existed during Ivan's affair with Rebecca.
The Greers' housekeeper, Mrs. B, quickly catches on to the recent events, and makes enemies with Violet in her attempts to thwart her schemes.
Michael confronts Violet while she is "street walking". He then reveals to her that he has lost his internship at the bank because of drugs and that he knows of her schemes, including working as a sadomasochistic prostitute, her false employment at Denny's, and her dark family history including the death of Ivy (alluding to the original film). He threatens that she must leave the Greers' before he tells Joy the truth.
When Michael arrives at the Greers' later that day, Violet knocks him unconscious, ties him to a bed and gags him, and injects him with a lethal dose of drugs, killing him.
Joy returns from a failed tennis match distraught at the recent drama of events, only to learn of Michael's death and walk in on her father and Violet in sadomasochism. As Joy flees, Ivan tells Violet she must leave, to which she accuses him of repeating the abandonment of her mother. She hides the drugs for Ivan's heart condition and places him in the garage fatally poisoning him with carbon monoxide by leaving a car engine running.
After a drive, Joy returns that same night, to now discover Mrs. B is also murdered. Violet induces Joy to dress up and play tea like they did when they were children, where they will commit suicide by drinking poison. Joy violently resists by splashing the poison on Violet's face, and the two wrestle around the room. Violet attempts to stab Joy with a pair of scissors, but Joy is able to knock her back before she strikes. Joy races out of the room to the stairway, where she leans on the banister and cries out for help. Violet regains her senses and goes to resume her attack. Violet is spun around by Joy and begins to lose her balance at the top of the stairs. Joy grasps the end of Violet's pearl necklace to keep her from falling.
Still holding on to the pearl necklace, Joy pleads with Violet to reach out and save her. Instead Violet leans her head back; the necklace shatters and Violet's feet slip, causing her to fall backwards down the stairs. Violet lies motionless at the bottom of the stairs, lifeless. Joy calmly exits the mansion. The loss of her entire family circle is saddening, but it may provide her with the opportunity to begin anew, and leave behind the darkness of her family past. | revenge, murder | train | wikipedia | Jaime Pressly is ridiculously goddess-like hot and meant for worship in this standard erotic thriller.
Jaime Pressly a beautful talented actress portrays an awful character for the first time, she plays it good, but i rather her as the good girl.Decent sex scenes, Beautiful surroundings and young talented actors is the ingredients this film needed to survive, the plot stunk and so did the ending.
Is any of the Poison Ivy movies ever going to be viewed as great achievements in motion picture history, not likely.
But if you want to see a bunch of steamy scenes with the hot seductress Jaime Pressly who's using all of her conniving powers to get retribution then that's what you'll get.
When you get to see Jaime Pressly nude on multiple occasions then it's definitely accomplishing what the movie set out to do.Honestly I think that Jaime is way hotter then Drew Barrymore and Alyssa Milano who were the two previous stars in this franchise.
Jaime Pressly stars as Violent, a teenage vixen who feeling betrayed that her mother (who was also this family's maid) was fired for having an affair with the father , a decade or so later decides to move in with the family who 'wronged' her mom and proceeds to use her best asset, her body, to get revenge.
In fact the only true reason to see this is Jaime Pressley herself, who ups the T7A quotient exponentially.Eye Candy: Athena Massey gets topless once; Jaime Pressly shows hers multiple times and her ass once.My Grade: C Where i saw it: Thriller Max. This movie puts the first two to shame!
Violet(Jaime Pressly) is the sister of Ivy. Like who needs the diary of Ivy, this hottie is one fast learner.
surprisingly,very surprisingly,i didn't mind this movie at all.it was certainly head and shoulders above number two,and quite a bit better than the first one.this one had a somewhat developed storyline,with pretty decent acting.the villainous is stronger and much more developed in this one.she is certainly more sinister,if that's the right word.but i also noticed some humour in this one,which the first two didn't have,in my recollection.there is of course,no lack of nudity in this one,but i think it served a bit more of a purpose.it still at times seemed like a soft core porn flick,but at least it had other dimensions to it.and as an added bonus,(especially if you're a guy)it had Jamie Pressly in a prominent role.anyway,for an entertaining 90 minutes,i think you could do a lot worse than the third installment in the Poison Ivy series.my vote for Poison Ivy:The New Seduction:7/10.
Violet's mom (Athena Massey) and the pool boy don't waste any time in getting down to business, and we aren't 10 minutes into the movie when a grown up Violet (Jaime Pressly) is showing us everything she has in the bathtub.
This is a good start.Soon she is servicing Joy's (Megan Edwards) fiancée Michael (Greg Vaughan), and getting daddy (Michael Des Barres) all excited swimming topless.It is so fun to see what Violet's devious mind will come up with next.I enjoyed seeing Susan Tyrrell (Buddy Boy) again.This is definitely Jaime Pressly's most skintastic performance and one you will never see again now that she has hit the big time..
It offers you the best about the B-movie industry: great sex scenes, an easy plot that many people would like to experience, and the best of all, beautiful (I mean, BEAUTIFUL!) women.The plot is similar to "Friend of the Family II" and "The Hand That Rocks the Craddle".
This wonderful, satisfying film stars Jaime Pressly's nipples in dual lead roles.
Jaime Pressly wonderfully channels a southern belle who bangs her way through everyone in the nabe, including some old dude who looks like the dad on 70s show and some d*ckhead Chippendales stripper who has the presence of a can of Starkist.
No, Godzilla was a god awful movie because it TRIED to be good.Poison Ivy 3 was not trying to be good in the sense of acting, or a plot, or anything other than what it should be.
There should be a Poison Ivy 3 channel that shows it all the time, over and over and over again.Look, if you're disappointed in this movie, fine.
(NO OFFENSE MISS BARRYMORE, you DO have talent and you were the first poison ivy!)Well, this formula of good looks, up and coming and no talent points only one direction.
Jaime Pressly did a great job in this movie.
Released to video in 1997, "Poison Ivy: The New Seduction" is another Lethal Lolita flick after the success of the original 1992 film and 1993's "The Crush" (I never saw the 1996 sequel with Alyssa Milano).
Trash exploitation or not, it's good fodder for a movie, particularly if it's done stylishly or effectively, like "Poison Ivy" and "The Crush." Of course, such stories are always overdone in movies, but that's the nature of the beast.This second sequel seriously ups the ante with the nudity (explicit T&A yet no frontal nudity), but simply lacks the artistic melancholy and style of the original, not to mention the budget.
Be that as it may, Jaime Pressly was 19 during filming (the same approximate age as the girl she plays) and looks superb, although her facial features never did anything for me.
Okay, so it's not the most cinematically perfect film ever made but I think people can lose the point of watching movies these days.
I like thought-provoking, or striking films as much as the next guy but there are some times you just want entertainment and the Poison Ivy films do that.
Jaime Pressly looks fabulous and the plot is a bit contrived but heck, there have been a lot of far more stupid ideas that have cost ten times as much and featured A-list stars.
I usually wait until they're on video as part of 2 for 1s.Like these movies, Pressly first staring role is also in a BAD film.
A sequel to the Poison Ivy movies, Pressly plays the sister of Drew "Available" Barrymore who's come to wreak havoc on the family who ruined her life.
Much like others in this genre, she seduces family members and a woman's fiancé to ruin the family.From Pressly's first scene, where she gets out of the car and the camera pans her from her well-developed legs to her face, to the end, she dominates the film.
However, if this movie is on T.V., at least take a short look at it, because whether she's clothed or nude, there are very few, if any women in show business who are as much as a SEXBOMB as Jaime Pressly.
This movie would have been worn out during all of the Jamie Pressly scenes and this tape would have been issued to all guys reaching puberty.
The last thirty minutes of the movie are excruciatingly bad with absurd plot twists, terrible acting and stupid characters doing incredibly stupid things.
Jamie Pressly is the reason to see "Poison Ivy the New Seduction", and not for her acting as a revenge seeking vixen either.
Although, it WAS a valiant effort.Even though this was Jaime Pressly's fourth movie in 1997, it was her first in a lead role, thus she earned an introduction in this film.This one tried to utilize two aspects of the first two movies: drama / suspense from the first, and nudity / sex scenes from the second.
However, this was more of a soft-core porn movie than a suspense / drama / thriller...every time they shot a sex scene, crappy music started playing at twice the volume of the rest of the movie.
This would have made a much better follow-up to the original than "Lily" did.And if you fantasize about Jaime Pressly, you'll like this one, despite her mediocre acting ability...she's nude quite often, and wears several different dominatrix outfits..
It's simply an excuse for husky Pressly to show off her nipples and moan a lot on screen - roughly the entire gamut of her acting chops.If that isn't bad enough, count on a soundtrack meant to function as a kind of virtual lobotomy - you know, the typical sleaze movie muzak.
She's got that exotic face, killer body, and can act, but not so well that it will get in the way of her sexuality.Her performance here shows that we have a seductress with a capital "S".I really hope she gets her really, really big break.
Jaime Pressly plays the younger sister of Ivy (whom the first flick is about).
(Is it just me, or does Jaime Pressly look a LOT like Traci Lords?) Watch this flick real soon, today would be a good day.
With no voice [does she really think she's sexy with that whispering?] Jamie Pressly gets my thumbs down for all time.
The final scene with the daughter walking around like a zombie has got to be a second for bad acting.
Whoever wrote this movie was clearly high at the time, and he, like Jaime clearly has nowhere to go but down in the business.
Well...if you want to waste your time watching Pressly take off her clothes, which is the only thing she is good for, maybe you'll like this movie, but personally I would rather watch paint dry..
Jamie Pressly makes the movie!!!.
I think Poison Ivy 3 was an incredible movie.
Jamie Pressly my favorite actress, who I think is stunning, portrayed that character very well in this movie.
Poison Ivy: The New Seduction is set in Los Angeles & starts as a powerful banker named named Ivan Greer (Michael Des Barres) arrives home at his palatial mansion, looking for his wife Catherine (Marete Van Kamp) he finds his young & beautiful housekeeper Rebecca (Athena Massey) having passionate sex with the pool guy.
Jump forward eleven years & Catherine is dead, Ivan is a single man living with his daughter Joy (Megan Edwards) when a grown up Violet (Jaime Pressly) comes calling looking for her childhood best friend Joy. Admitting she has nowhere else to go Violet is invited to stay at the Greer residence by Joy who is happy to see her again after over a decade but Violet has sinister motives for her sudden reappearance & has revenge on her mind...Directed by Kurt Voss this is the third entry in the Poison Ivy series of films that began with the dull & uneventful erotic thriller Poison Ivy (1992) where a young Drew Barrymore played the manipulative Ivy who is implied to be the sister of Violet although never really mentioned in any significant sense, that was followed by the truly terrible Poison Ivy II (1996) which was more of a moralistic bore than a steamy thriller with the central female character portrayed more as the victim than the evil aggressor & then we come to this, Poison Ivy: The New Seduction which the makers didn't even bother to number & is in fact easily the best of the series to this point by far.
Having recently watched the first two I am surprised at how closely this follows the original Poison Ivy plot with some vampish young woman preying upon a rich family, manipulating the weak daughter & seducing the rich father while playing on the death of the mother right down to sleeping in her bed & wearing her clothes.
On the negative side the rushed beginning feels like an afterthought, it's hard to believe that Joy would invite Violet to stay in her house & just suddenly pick up being best friends after eleven years & it's never really made clear why Violet wants to ruin Joy's life so much despite her main gripe being with her father Ivan who she has revenge on anyway although it's not entirely clear what happens to him as he is merely seen sat in a car supposedly having been suffocated by exhaust fumes which is hard to believe & never confirmed one way or the other.Quite well filmed the one aspect of Poison Ivy: The new Seduction that stands out as another huge improvement over the original Poison Ivy is the casting of the lovely Jaime Pressly, man she is really sexy & just plain hot looking in this as opposed to Drew Barrymore who didn't fit the part of manipulative teen temptress that well at all.
An added bonus is that there's lots more nudity than the previous two entries, again Pressly is just hot whether she's wearing something or not, her body is just great & is a real asset to the film as she has several nude scenes to show it off.
I wouldn't say Poison Ivy: The New Seduction or Jaime Pressly are particularly erotic in a sensual way but they are hot in a sexy slutty top shelf magazine sort of way that is great to look at & admire if you know what I mean.Although the acting is alright it's the super sexy & hot Jaime Pressly who steals every scene she's in, sh seems to be having great fun playing the lying manipulative best friend home wrecker out for revenge & Pressly just look plain gorgeous in every scene she's in.
Acting pro Susan Tyrrell has a small role role as a suspicious housekeeper & has some amusing moments facing off with Pressly as they trade insults & derogatory looks.Poison Ivy: The New Seduction is a massive improvement on the previous two forgettable & bland entries even if it follows the original in plot quite closely, it adds a little motivation & a dark humorous edge as well as the lovely Jaime Pressly who is super hot as Violet.
*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*The most important thing to know about "Poison Ivy: The New Seduction" is that Jaime Pressly does get naked.
If you like Jaime Pressly, you should definitely check it out.
In 1985, Rebecca, a maid working at the Greer mansion as well as living there with her two young daughters, Ivy & Violet, is caught by Ivan Greer having sex with the pool cleaner.
The first sequel was nothing to do with the story of the original, instead being a flimsy piece of drama, this one manages to tie in the story of the original with a new story for this entry (although I found it somewhat dubious that the name of Drew Barrymore's character here named Ivy as she was in the original, were it not for the fact that the name was given by her friend), having a similar plot with a young woman tearing apart a rich family mainly by seducing the father & killing anyone who interferes with her plan.The big difference between the original & the sequels is that the basic setup of the first film was never going to open the doors for the sequels to exist.
While not a remarkable film in any aspect & definitely going to be seen as a classic, Poison Ivy: The New Seduction is an interesting film that has enough T&A to satisfy those who like this sort of film genre..
If you think Poison Ivy: The New Seduction is amusing in it's original form, watch it edited for network television.The movie was so intriguing; it left me with many questions about life.
It's as if, while editing, the creators worried that we might not understand Violet was successfully manipulating Joy, so added the voice-over at the last minute to simplify the already trite and shallow scene: that way, any slime mold that happened to be watching the movie would understand what was going on in that particular 30 seconds.
And even if they have, why do they make movies like Poison Ivy, not once, but thrice.
But only do so if you have lots of time on your hands, have lost your job, are waiting for your flight, or basically are bored out of your mind and decide to have a little competition with the movie to see whether you were more bored earlier or after watching the film.I hope they make a Poison Ivy 4 cause it will be fun to see who will be the actress in that.
I think the only reason to see or buy this movie is Jaime Pressly.
Okay, so back in the early 90s, Drew Barrymore was in an erotic thriller called Poison Ivy. She, and some nameless body double for the nude scenes, played a troubled young woman who deviously inserts herself into a family and wrecks havoc in their lives.
A few years later they did Poison Ivy II, which is one of those Fraudulent Sequels where an original script is altered just enough to be barely connected to the first film.
Poison Ivy II starred Alyssa Milano and, I believe, no body double for the nude scenes.
Just a year after that they came out with Poison Ivy: The New Seduction, which is one of those Fraudulent Sequels where they simply remake the first film and slap different names on all the characters.
This one starred Jaime Pressly as the sister of Barrymore's character and she also deviously inserts herself into a family and wrecks havoc in their lives.
Not only did Pressly have no body double for the nude scenes but her nubile form is the best thing this flick has going for it.
By the time they got down to this movie, no one had any illusions about what they were making except, perhaps, the young Miss Pressly.
Michael Des Barres gives the yeoman's performance you'd expect and Megan Edwards is awfully appealing, though even more awfully is never nude.As crap movies go, Poison Ivy: The New Seduction isn't that bad.
*Few Spoilers Ahead,But dosent matter anyway cause this is a bad flick.you wont regret hearing some spoliers*Ok This movie is more confusing than Vanilla Sky.It Makes no sense.FIRST OF ALL: Violet (pressly) Is supposed to be Ivy (barrymores) sister.OK NEWS FLASH! |
tt2166834 | Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 | === Part 1 ===
After the death of his protégé Jason Todd, billionaire industrialist Bruce Wayne was forced to retire from his Batman persona. Ten years later, Gotham City is overrun with crime and terrorized by a gang known as the Mutants. The 55-year-old Wayne maintains a friendship with 70-year-old retiring Police Commissioner James Gordon, while the Joker (Batman's archenemy) has been catatonic in Arkham Asylum since Wayne's retirement. Arkham inmate and former district attorney Harvey Dent undergoes plastic surgery to repair his disfigured face. Although he is declared sane, he quickly goes into hiding following his release. Dent's disappearance, news stories of the crime epidemic throughout the city and the memory of his parents' deaths drive Wayne to become Batman once more. He combats serious crimes, rescuing 13-year-old Carrie Kelley, but now struggles with the physical limitations of age.
Public reaction to his return is divided. Dent's psychologist Bartholomew Wolper blames Batman for creating his own rogues gallery. Dent resurfaces, threatening to blow up a building unless he is paid a ransom. Batman defeats Dent's henchmen, learning that the bombs will explode even if the ransom is paid; he realizes that Dent intends to kill himself. Batman disables one bomb, and the other detonates harmlessly. He defeats Dent, who reveals that although his face was repaired he still thinks of himself as Two-Face. Kelley dresses as Robin and looks for Batman, who attacks a gathering of the Mutants with a tank-like Batmobile (incapacitating most of them). The Mutant leader challenges Batman to a duel. He accepts to prove to himself that he can win. The Mutant leader (who is in his prime) nearly kills Batman, but Kelley distracts him long enough for Batman to subdue him. The leader and many gang members are arrested. Injured, Batman returns to the Batcave with Kelley; he allows her to become his protégée in spite of protests from his butler, Alfred Pennyworth.
Batman has Kelley disguise herself as a Mutant, and she lures the gang to a sewer outlet at the West River. At the Gotham City Police Department, the Mutant leader murders the mayor during negotiations. Commissioner Gordon deliberately releases the leader, providing an escape from the building, which leads to the sewer outlet. Before the amassed Mutants, Batman fights the leader in a mud pit; the mud slows the leader, removing his physical advantage, and Batman overpowers him. Seeing their leader's defeat, the Mutants divide into smaller gangs; one becomes the "Sons of Batman", a violent vigilante group. Batman's victory becomes public and the city's inhabitants are inspired to stand up against crime. Gordon retires after meeting his anti-Batman successor, Ellen Yindel. In Arkham, televised reports about Batman bring the Joker out of his catatonic state.
=== Part 2 ===
Feigning remorse for his past, Joker convinces Wolper to take him on a talk show to tell his story; he makes plans for his escape with an old henchman, who supplies him with mind-controlling lipstick. Meanwhile, Superman, who works as a government operative in exchange for being allowed to covertly help people, is asked by the President to end Batman's vigilante activities. Framing these events is a growing hostility between the USA and the Soviet Union over possession of the island of Corto Maltese. As Batman's continued presence humiliates the national authorities, Yindel becomes commissioner and orders Batman's arrest, and Superman warns Batman that the government will not tolerate him much longer.
Joker makes his talk show appearance on David Endochrine's show as Batman fights with the GCPD on the studio roof; while they fight, Joker kills Wolper, gasses everyone in the studio to death and escapes. He finds Selina Kyle and uses one of her escorts and his lipstick to take control of a congressional representative, who calls for a nuclear strike on the Soviets before falling to his death. Batman's investigation leads him to Selina, whom he finds bound and dressed like Wonder Woman. Kelley notices cotton candy on the floor, and Batman deduces that Joker is at the fairgrounds. There Kelley accidentally kills Joker's henchman while Batman pursues the Joker, who indiscriminately guns down dozens of people. As Batman corners a wounded and partially blinded Joker, he admits to feeling responsible for every murder Joker has committed and intends to stop him permanently. In the ensuing fight, Joker stabs Batman repeatedly, and Batman breaks Joker's neck in front of witnesses.
Content that he made Batman lose control and that he will be branded a murderer, the Joker finishes twisting his neck, killing himself. The GCPD arrive and Batman, bleeding profusely, fights his way to Kelley and escapes. After Superman deflects a Soviet nuclear missile, he is hit with the blast and badly injured; the detonation creates an electromagnetic pulse that wipes out all electrical equipment in the United States and causes a nuclear winter. As the city descends into chaos, Batman, Kelley and Gordon rally the Sons of Batman and the citizens of Gotham to restore order, and Yindel accepts that Batman has become too powerful to take down. While the rest of the powerless U.S. is overrun with crime, Gotham becomes the safest city in America, embarrassing the President's administration and prompting them to send Superman to finally stop Batman. Batman and Superman agree to meet in Crime Alley.
Wearing a powerful exoframe and supported by Kelley and former superhero Oliver Queen (Green Arrow), Batman fights Superman, using various tactics to make the fight even. When Superman gains the advantage, Queen hits him with an arrow made with synthetic Kryptonite, severely weakening him. Batman defeats Superman, and claims that he intentionally made the Kryptonite weak, to defeat Superman without killing him. Batman then apparently dies of a heart attack, while Wayne Manor self-destructs, and Alfred dies of a stroke. In the aftermath, the world learns that Bruce was Batman; all of his secrets are destroyed with the manor and his finances disappear. As Superman leaves Wayne's funeral, he gives Kelley a knowing wink after hearing a faint heartbeat coming from Bruce's coffin. In underground caves, Bruce is revealed to have faked his death and makes preparations to continue his mission more discreetly, allied with Kelley, Queen, and his followers. | realism, suspenseful, dark, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | Casual movies goers will want to head to their local comic shop for the first time ever.The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller is among the most acclaimed graphic novels ever.
Superman has been hired as an assassin by the president....All of these events come together beautifully (and with many surprises) in a well-paced, brilliantly written, thought provoking, elegantly animated, and savagely action-packed epic played out by fascinating characters.
NOT EVEN FOR A MINUTE ,the battle between BATMAN AND JOKER was mind blowing and to be honest my body was shaking but to my surprise the end battle between BATMAN AND SUPERMAN was even more brutal and thrilling .What else could you ask for I have watched almost all the batman anime ..
WB/DC's Direct-to-DVD Animated Film "BATMAN : THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS" is an Adaptation of Frank Miller's comic published in 1986.
I haven't seen many Batman animations and this just makes you want to watch more.The plot is great and dark, the way it should be.
The animated adaptation of Frank Miller's epic classic Batman tale concludes in "The Dark Knight Returns: Part 2".
The producers continue their policy of adapting 100% the critically acclaimed graphic novel while expanding on story elements that could not have been expanded upon due to a lack of space in the original 4 issues worth of comics.Spurred on by Batman's actions in the first part, The Joker uses a clever ruse to return to crime and senseless murder.
One such scene involves superman taking on a naval fleet; the way the ships are drawn look pathetically cheap compared to the rest of the movie.And the final fight between Superman and Batman has some laughable dips in quality too.Telling a story in a new medium would warrant some tweaks.
Events flow naturally into each other and scenes that were slightly confusing to the casual reader makes perfect sense: scenes like Joker's final moments, the war with the Russians, why Gotham is suddenly snowing when it was a heat wave in the first movie etc.
Oh well.....It can be said that Dark Knight Returns, when both parts are viewed as one whole movie, is a true animated epic worthy of some awards.
The joker gives this film a very dark side which you might not expect from a cartoon but all the stories involving Batman in the comics are dark so it is true to the those.
DC animation presents the whole of Frank Miller's "Dark Knight Returns" series in two parts, as the second half somehow excels amazingly above the first.The second half takes place only a short time after the end of the first.
There are some moments of shocking violence in this movie, but that is the point of the Joker's character, and how far he is willing to delve into chaos, to taunt and insult the Batman until the evil, bitter end.This film should not be watched without the predecessor however, nor without reading the Frank Miller comic from which it is based, but is a beautiful story to watch.
Clearly tired and with a new young Robin protege he is forced to contend with the return of the Joker, civil unrest, an increasingly hostile police force and Superman himself.I went into this expecting more of the same, little did I realise it would be a contender for the best Batman movie out there.Well written, thoughtful, very dark & with some genuinely game changing moments this second (And likely last) part really delivers.
If Batman vs Superman had been like this the DC Universe would be looking a whole hell of a lot more promising right now.The Good:Dark, gritty and violentThe Bad:Robin, really?!Odd version of the JokerTimeline is weirdThings I Learnt From This Movie:More movies need topless villainess'sCatwoman becoming a Madam, not really surprisingThe bat glider scene made me just plain uncomfortable, good soldier, good soldierOne day DC will need to explain how Supermans outfit is impervious to damage as well.
Second part of the animated adaptation of Frank Miller's classic comic book miniseries, The Dark Knight Returns.
This part deals with the return of the Joker, Batman continuing his war on crime with a new Robin by his side, and Superman being sent by the President to stop Bats.
A must watch, anyone who doesn't like it, fair enough, its just i haven't read a single review where the reason for it being terrible is because of a character who appears in the last 15 minutes.Amazingthe best animated superhero film of all timeThe story is on point Animation on point Voice Acting on point Action on pointA film for anyoneAn animated classicThe fights done to perfectionBetter than most live action films.
In preparation for the upcoming Batman V Superman film, I've decided to revisit a few of each of the heroes' feature films, especially those where they come in direct conflict with one another.With the first part of The Dark Knight Returns being as good as it is, it almost seems unfathomable to think it could be topped by part 2, but for the most part, it is.
It's a fast paced and brutally graphic take on the Dark Knight's last stand in a Gotham City that is just about at the brink of decimation.Batman and Robin's plan to turn the mutant followers into "sons of Batman" was working quite well and Batman seemed to have the upper- hand on the city, that is until Joker came out of a little retirement of his own.
Michael Emerson's voice performance as the incredibly creepy Joker works very well alongside Peter Weller's Batman, especially in the tunnel of love sequence.
Everything else in this Frank Miller story, is absolutely brilliant.Seeing Batman result to beating the crap out of cops and Superman virtually killing for the government in war was an interesting and ground breaking way to tell the story.
The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 is quite simply one of the greatest superhero films of all time.+Epic scope+Batman/Superman fight & dynamic+Score+Last 30 minutes+Oliver Queen's inclusion+Brutally graphic-Corto Maltese side arc with nuclear crisis wasn't entirely necessary10/10.
If the Snyder's Batman vs Superman can even be half as good as The Dark Knight Returns, it will kick all the Marvel blockbusters right in their faces..
Since I read the comic book when I was younger, watching this was like watching a masterpiece coming to life, and with only a budget of 3.5M this cartoon blows most of the big picture wallops like "Dark Knight rises, Total Recall etc and the Hobbit movies with ease" I can recommend these two movies to anyone, because it holds the true viewpoint of how dark the movies should be.The fact that all the blood and gore and the mortality of man is in these pictures, just prooves the more realistic the touch the better the movie, kissing and nudity just put it all in, it makes the movie more to the heart, because that is the world we live in at the moment.Love it, recommend it, gosh darn it just watch it already !.
Something else about how bad the movie is, is scenes like the one where 20 or more police officers try too shoot Batman up-close with machine guns, in various situations, and they all miss, every time, even when he doesn't move, they don't get one shot!
The story is strongest when Batman's arch nemesis, The Joker (Played here for the first time by Michael Emerson, who makes the character his own in a solid turn) is involved.
'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part II (2013)' acts more as a sequel to the first film, rather than a straight continuation, but still recreates Frank Miller's acclaimed graphic novel with a striking accuracy, in terms of tone, story and style.
There is no doubt about it, Batman is the best there is, these Dark Knight Returns series is a classic and a DVD collection that should be on your shelf.No one tries to take on "The Bat" thinking he can just walk all over him; even Superman almost got killed by The Bat for trying to tell him what to do.
Now the bat wants him and the authorities want them both so the showdown between the three is a most watch.After the showdown has lapsed the DC universe boy scout Superman got a call to go take down The Bat, a call I bet if he knew what was coming his way he would have not even bothered trying.There aren't enough words to describe the intense violence and the wonderful work done by Bob Goodman (screenplay writer) and director Jay Oliva in this movie (animation) adaptation.
The other cool thing about this comic to video work is the way the makers took their time to make sure that the movie is close to the original source.The characters Oliver Queen and the new 13 year old Robin, Carrie Kelley were well captured in this movie making you feel like you are truly reading the comic.
To sum up, I like The Dark Knight Returns and I recommend it to Batman fans and fans of the source material, but I think it could have been stronger if some scenes were shortened in Part 2.
Meanwhile fervently hostile political relations between the USA and Soviet Russia, force the President of Western nation to exploit the formidable powers of Superman; who who's actions inextricably will lead to a stand-off between he and the Dark Knight; while Gotham City descends in to anarchy.Commencing with the second half, and with his presence being teasingly hinted at within the first; there is the inexorable inclusion of the once camply referred to; Clown prince of crime; The Joker who's vocals are brought to life by Michael Emerson of TV's; Lost and Person of Interest fame.
The animation is good, the voice performance is excellent, every combat or outcome in the movie is epic, and there's that amazing hunting score.FINAL CONSENSUS: Reaching the height of big ones like Mask of the Phantasm and Under the Red Hood, this dark and epic conclusion is a more than welcomed addition to Batman's animated pantheon..
10/10) and EPIC fight scenes - I had to watch batman vs joker and batman vs superman because it was AWESOME, it took animation to another level.
just saw the DC Comics Animated DVD movie, "The Dark Knight Returns Part 2" (2013) based on the Frank Miller comic of the same name.
The other threat well is written in the title(!) the Man of Steel, this one fight that in Batman versus Superman everyone wanted to be like the one from the comics and this movie.
Crazy, this one of the few times of my life that I am unable to add something more to what I am saying or in this case writing, for I already gave praise to this part of Batman Mythology in the first part of the Returns ans feel free to check my review out.To summaries the best way to watch this two part movie is to watch one after the other or find the DVD version which has them combine.
While face-offs with Harvey Dent & the Mutant Leader in Part 1 was great, battles with the Joker & Superman in Part 2 takes animation movies to a whole new level.
While face-offs with Harvey Dent & the Mutant Leader in Part 1 was great, battles with the Joker & Superman in Part 2 takes animation movies to a whole new level.
For me, it's fine, but not much more, grit and apocalyptic stakes and all.The animation work is still among the strongest and coolest in the DC animated cannon, but the logical gaps in Miller's storytelling - which I think Christopher Nolan carried over a bit too much into his Dark Knight trilogy (or to put it another way, he learned about as much as he could from Miller, all the good AND the bad) - are too much to ignore, even when he does some clever things like the satire with Superman (he has a friggin' Bald Eagle perch on his arm and fights the Ruskies almost single-handed!
Not only does Batman have the Joker to contend with, but put Superman together in the mix, and you get another level of awesomeness.I feel like the animation in the second part is more fluid, the fighting choreography was smoother and the direction, especially the "camera" work was definitely better than the first.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, not to be confused with the live action film The Dark Knight, is a two part animated straight to DVD release by DC Comics and Warner Home Video based on the classic graphic novels by Frank Miller.
Joker's role in this film was important to its success, in my opinion; the whole "I made you loose control" bit was a vital part to the story, because without it this movie is just a massive battle between Superman and the Russians, and then with Batman.
This part 2 to the faithfully replicated 2 part "The Dark Knight Returns" animated movie from the comic books.
Once again, all Miller's iconic images are incorporated into the animation, and the film nicely translates the final fight and rather poetic conclusion into moving images.Voice work is quite good (and yes, I wouldn't have minded Kevin Conroy as Batman, but Peter Weller does a good job).
Now I understand that talking about realism within comic book animations is not exactly a popular point of discussion, BUT, things like this simply make the scenes laughable as they have no sense of immersion.Now for the most infuriating Superman you will ever have to watch:In all honesty I felt that superman in this was probably the most hateable super hero character I have ever seen.
I know that there has been a lot reviews about this title,some where positive some negative (mostly positive),but i couldn't help myself not to write one.First of all i encourage who ever is in charge of making DC animation movies for the last year and half do keep doing it,because this is everything i want for kind of movies that are suppose to be in DC dark universe,not some handy cake for children,we have enough of it already.As i said this is not at all animated movie for younger auditions.It is brutal,full of bloodshed,packed with action...Its so dark and twisted to the point where (warning don't read any further if you don't like spoilers)in this part (you should also check part one) Joker murder his doctor with broken cup,by slicing his throat and you could see every detail about it.To narrow,both parts of this animated movie is nothing like you ever see,unless you read Dark Knight comics.Again its very brutal and full of dead,there isn't super heroes vs bad guys here.There isn't any kind of moral story in movie,like good guys beat bad guys and everyone is happy.No it isn't that kind of story,its kind of story where you are fighting for your place in world,but world hates you.I can keep going on but i just cant find words to continue.So for such dark twisted and brutal world i will give it 10/10Character design is very decent,its not top notch but its good.Animation,voice acting and character expressions are excellent,you will enjoy it.There isn't much left say about it its 10/10.OK now story is very good.But there are some flaws,which i have to wrote down.First one is ,when you watch first part you have little clue about what really happened,you find yourself in world where almost whole world hates superheroes (nothing new you might say but ...
keep reading),but the hate is so strong,that government is willing to kill them unless they settle down or leave planet.So first part is all about some kind of warming up,you have no idea what is going on or why is going on,you will find that near the end of second part.That's what i didn't like but it small thing compare to everything else,but some people can find that a little bit concerning.I won't go any further,i want to keep without spoilers as much as possible but if you like brutal action,great visual effects,strong voice acting,solid story and if you are fun of Batman or even you start getting into universe of Batman than you should check this,because this the best damn animated movie i have seen since Hood.I will give 8/10 for story because there are few things i didn't like it..
DC Comics has again dodged what could've been a fatal bullet with "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2." What fans get is a faithful animated feature that captures the spirit of Frank Miller and Klaus Janson's critically acclaimed graphic novel.There's no break for the Dark Knight (Peter Weller) after his defeat of the Mutant leader.
Taken almost word for word and shot for shot from Frank Millers timeless graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns is one of the best comic book movies ever made.
Part 1 made some intro in some characters and showed us that Batman is as good as new but Part 2 introduced us characters like Superman and Joker and it was glorious.
That mostly has to do with Batman dealing with the Joker and Superman in this one.Dark Knight Returns Part 2 takes place a few months after the events of part 1.
This fight is my favorite fight of both movies.Overall if you are a fan of Frank Miller's comic and of Dark Knight Returns part 1, you need to watch this..
I as I said in Part 1 I would recommend this movie to any who likes the comics and is a long time Batman fan.This is probably one of Micheal Emersons best voice over I have ever seen ever since the Ben 10/Generator Rex Crossover.
This could easily be a replacement for almost any AAA superhero action movie today, in fact, I think I'd prefer this to movies like "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Batman vs Superman".. |
tt0048380 | Mister Roberts | In the waning days of World War II, in the South Pacific, the men of the Navy cargo ship USS Reluctant are hard at work moving supplies and resupplying other ships of the US Navy. The men are led by Lieutenant Doug Roberts, who is well-liked by the entire crew and acts as a liaison between them and their captain, Morton, who is a mean-spirited, exacting and tyrannical officer. Recently the Reluctant was recognized for moving the most cargo of any resupply ship in the fleet. The reward for their efforts is a single palm tree, which was really given to Capt. Morton. The tree is displayed proudly on the foredeck by Morton.The result of the recognition is that the Captain has become more tyrannical than ever. He stolidly refuses to let the crew have a standard liberty and micromanages Roberts' duty to keep them engaged while they complete their missions.Roberts himself feels that, knowing the Pacific war is winding down, he'll never have the chance to serve in naval combat. He's also become quite fed up with the Captain's oppressive attitude and has written a number of letters to the Captain requesting transfer to a combat vessel -- requests that have gone unfulfilled by the Captain.Doug's closest friends on the ship are Ensign Frank Pulver and the ship's doctor, known as Lt. "Doc". Though he likes Pulver immensely, Roberts is quick to point out that Pulver isn't a very effective leader and is a disorganized person in general. Pulver despises the Captain as much as the rest of the crew and talks often about schemes to annoy the Captain but never follows through on them. When he meets the Captain face-to-face one day he cowers before him.The ship is due to make port at a small Pacific Island, one where there is a full hospital. Pulver sees his chance to find a pretty nurse and possibly woo her. He invites her to tour the ship, however she brings her assistant nurses with her, ruining any chance Pulver has at romance.Roberts goes over the Captain's head and requests liberty for the crew. The Captain allows the ship to make port at Elysium, an island tropical paradise but announces that the liberty has been cancelled. Infuriated, Roberts storms into the Captain's quarters and demands to know why liberty was cancelled. Morton tells Roberts a bit of his own history: he was a busboy for several years and received poor treatment from his customers. He then became a ship's steward and the poor treatment continued. He sees Roberts, a college graduate, as representative of those who treated him badly as a youth and now seeks to pay them back.Before he grants the crew liberty, the Captain demands that Roberts quit his efforts to obtain transfer and that he become a model officer, essentially becoming a more by-the-book leader and work the crew to their limits. Roberts reluctantly agrees and the Captain allows the crew to go on liberty.That night the crew become highly drunk, raucous and destructive on the island. Many of them are arrested and brought back to the ship by Army MPs (in some cases, Roberts lets them go right back out again). The men break into the home of the French Colonial governor and wreak havoc there. A small detachment of Army MPs show up and form a cordon around the ship, preventing any other men from leaving. The commanding officer has requested that Morton see the Rear Admiral stationed on the island in the morning.Morton returns from his meeting furious -- he and the crew have been ordered to leave port immediately. He commands Roberts to make good on his promise of becoming a stricter officer, which Roberts does. When one of the crew, Dolan, approaches Roberts with what may be good news -- that officers that have a requisite number of months experience may apply for transfer uncontested -- he viciously puts Dolan on report. Upset that he'd had to enforce discipline when a crew member didn't deserve it, Roberts talks to Doc. The Doc tries to reason with Roberts, who stops short of revealing the deal he'd made with the Captain. Just then, Pulver bursts in with the news that Germany has surrendered in Europe. Roberts is overjoyed about the news and Pulver tells him he'll celebrate by putting a powerful firecracker under the Captain's bunk. However, while he gathers his explosives, they go off in the bowels of the ship, causing the laundry to become flooded with soap suds. Roberts is still overjoyed, thinking that Pulver can make another firecracker, however, all of Pulver's supplies were destroyed in the accident. Roberts is very forgiving of Pulver and goes out to be alone on the deck.On the deck, Roberts listens to the radio broadcast of the victory celebration coming in from New York City. The broadcast then changes to a man giving an inspirational speech about how the war isn't over until it's won in the Pacific. Roberts is moved by the speech and marches up to the Captain's palm tree, salutes it and throws it overboard. When the Captain finds out, he sounds the ship's general alarm which musters the crew to their battle stations. When they've all assembled, he demands to know who destroyed his palm tree. After having his adjutant read the muster list, he determines that Roberts is the culprit. Roberts is called to the Captain's room, but before the Captain can even charge him with the crime, the Captain is overcome with nausea. Roberts calls in Doc to help the Captain, who vomits into his own wastebasket. Doc puts the Captain in his bunk to relax. As Roberts walks down to the deck the crew, knowing that he'd destroyed the palm tree, all salute him and politely bid him goodnight.A few days later Mister Roberts is packing his things. The Captain has approved a transfer for him and he'll be going to the front line in the Pacific. Before he leaves, Dolan informs him that the Captain has replaced the palm tree and has put a 24 hour guard on it. As he gets ready to meet the transfer vessel, a few of the crew give Roberts a medal they'd made: it is a gaudy brass palm tree with a ribbon. Roberts is overcome with gratitude, pins it to his blouse and walks with dignity out to the boat that will take him off the ship. He salutes the entire crew and leaves.Several weeks later, Pulver has taken up Roberts' duties as deck officer, managing the moving of cargo. A few of the crew approach him and tell him that the Captain has cancelled the movie that was to be shown that night. Pulver reluctantly tells them he'll do what he can. The ship's mail arrives and Pulver receives two letters. The first he reads is from Roberts, who seems happy that he's finally in the war and that his unit has been involved in a number of air raids. He talks about the brave crew that served him on the Reluctant and the ridiculous ribbon they gave him. The second letter is from a friend of Pulver's who is serving on the same ship as Roberts and has become friendly with him. Pulver's friend writes that their ship suffered a surprise attack and that Roberts was killed while eating a meal. Pulver is overcome with grief and plans to announce the news to the crew. Doc stops the communications officer and tells him to read the letter that Roberts wrote, saying "it belongs to them".Pulver suddenly becomes enraged and marches up to the palm tree, grabbing it and throwing it overboard. He continues to the Captain's quarters, banging on the door until he's told to enter. Angrily confronting the Captain, he tells him that he'd thrown the palm tree off the ship and demands to know why the movie has been canceled for the evening. The Captain groans knowing that he'll have the same trouble with Pulver that he did with Roberts. | prank | train | imdb | Take a run down cargo ship with a motley crew, throw in a pacific island paradise and sign on board four of the biggest Hollywood heavyweights ever, then you are bound to have winning motion picture which stands the test of time.Henry Fonda re-creates his Broadway role as Lt.Douglas Roberts a navy cargo officer, desperately aching to be transfered from what is nothing more than a floating warehouse, to a destroyer and a chance to get into the fighting.James Cagney in what is arguably the best of his later roles, plays the selfish and ambitious Captain, who knows that Roberts' work is the key to his own success.
His comic timing and sophisticated presence was an invaluable asset to any film he made and Mister Roberts is no exception.Whether he is wise cracking with the crew at sick call or making illegal scotch with his shipmates, Powell steals every scene in which he appears.
A must see on the newly released DVD (with commentary by Jack Lemmon himself) is a clip from a 1955 Ed Sullivan show where Fonda and Cagney re-create the scene live and the acting cannot be faulted.In more than just plot, this film has high points and low points.
How can you go wrong with Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell and Jack Lemmon?What always struck me about this film was its realism.
I definitely believe that this is one of Henry Fonda's finest roles.When my now nineteen year old nephew was younger, he would ask to watch my copy of 'Mister Roberts' on VHS just for the hilarious scene where Pulver blows up the laundry and the ship starts to fill up with soap suds.
I can't imagine better casting for any of these parts--Henry Fonda as Doug RobertsJack Lemmon as Ensign PulverWard Bond as DowdyWilliam Powell as DocThis is an excellent story of a man who yearns to serve in a war, but yet not to be a hero.
The cast and story of "Mister Roberts" are both of high quality, and they fit together well to produce one of the best war movies to be set in the Second World War. It effectively and thoughtfully presents many facets of military life - from boredom to conflict, from slapstick to sadness - without resorting to any labored or overblown material.The cast is excellent in its own right, and the main characters are ideally matched with their roles.
Henry Fonda could be no better in portraying Roberts in all his interactions with the other characters, Jack Lemmon is always entertaining as Pulver, and in Doc, William Powell gets the kind of role he played better than anyone.
Through the collaborative efforts of John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, Joshua Logan and Henry Fonda the film version of Mister Roberts finally got made.
Mister Roberts became his career signature part.According to the book In the Company of Heroes by Harry Carey, Jr., Henry Fonda because this was his signature part, the part that won him a Tony Award on Broadway, he had a certain proprietary interest in seeing a faithful adaption was done for the screen.John Ford however wanted to put his own individual stamp on the picture as he always does.
Mister Roberts is the only film I know that ever made boredom a component of a successful production.William Powell who was a player for over 40 years on stage and screen put a cap to his career as Doc, the ship's medical officer and confidante of Fonda.
The war is long over, but the spirit of men rotting under a vicious squirt of a Captain, with only an intelligent cargo officer (Lt. Doug Roberts) protecting them, remains an image that people retain sixty years after Japan surrendered.In another review, I mentioned that (ironically) the American naval mutiny everyone recalls is that on board the U.S.S.Caine in the Herman Wouk novel and the film made as a result.
ROBERTS), and Roberts getting transferred to the battle zone where he dies after Germany's surrender in May 1945.Despite problems between John Ford and star Henry Fonda, that led to Ford's removal as director, the film actually is one of those movies where several hands were involved and the results were good (like GONE WITH THE WIND).
Ford, before he was fired, set up the film perfectly - he was an old "navy" man himself, so he brought a sense of reality to the project that (mercifully) was not damaged.One thing that Ford did which was worthwhile was casting Jack Lemmon (then at the start of his film career) as Ensign Frank Thurlow Pulver, would-be sex object and would-be pain-in-the-ass to the Captain.
He would have some great moments here, singing "If I can be with you" several times in the film, watching Fonda and William Powell turn a bottle of Coca Cola into Scotch, explaining to an amazed Jimmy Cagney that he has been the laundry officer on the boat for over a year but has managed never to see Cagney, causing a massive explosion in the ship's laundry on May 8, 1945, and finally pulling his guts together and taking up where Fonda left off as the movie ends.Fonda, Cagney, Powell, and Ward Bond were all old hands in film.
Mister Roberts (1955) - CO-Directors: John Ford & Mervyn LeRoy Enough time had passed that Americans were able to laugh at some of the kookier aspects about military life and Hollywood provided just the right amount of seriousness and irreverence with this 1955 hit.Henry Fonda gave one of his career making performances in this film as a lieutenant in the Navy who feels that the action of the war is passing him by.
For one small example, I'd never noticed the detail of the warships passing by during the opening credits before.The story of "Mister Roberts" is a bit melodramatic for my taste -- after all, it started out on Broadway -- but it doesn't matter because you have five huge headliners to carry it, all at different stages of their careers -- William Powell in his last feature film; James Cagney, James Fonda, and Ward Bond in their mid-career phases (though Bond would be cut down too young in 1960); and Jack Lemmon in practically his first movie.
To put James Cagney, Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Ward Bond, and the great William Powell all in one Movie, you couldn't miss having a Classic Film..A suberb Film and Terrific cast and writing, make this my all time Favorite...
The movie features sterling performances from Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell and Jack Lemmon.
He is a quiet, strong, fair, courageous man in a story sure to mist up your eyes even if you're watching it for the twentieth time.Jack Lemmon won a supporting Oscar for his performance as Ensign Pulver, a kind of lazy, but slyly resourceful Walter Mitty type who talks a great game but never follows through...
William Powell, in his last film, plays the ship's wise and ever diplomatic doc with graceful precision.Marty (1955) starring Ernest Borgnine, a kind of politically correct (for its time) love story about ordinary folk, won the Academy's honor for best picture in 1956, the year Mister Roberts was nominated.
I also loved the careful concocting of the "scotch whiskey" by Doc. The weekly letters requesting a transfer, the Hoot Gibson films we (thankfully) never see, the ever worshipful palm tree, Pulver's marbles in a tobacco tin that he shakes in Roberts's face, vowing to prove his manhood by putting them in the captain's overbin, his "firecracker," his "If I could be with you/One hour tonight/To do the things I might/I'm telling you true/I'd be anything but blue," the giddy nurses, and the infamous liberty are other unforgettable bits.
Fonda as always who can seemingly accommodate any role, Cagney as the (symbol of) evil in the film excellent, Jack Lemon and his top seamless acting (it seems you could drop this guy anywhere, comedy drama lead role second dense script light script, he'll get it done anyhow just as well) and the rest of the cast.
The men aboard ship, which includes (William Powell, in his last film), Jack Lemmon and Ward Bond as Chief Petty Officer Dowdy, admire Roberts and decided to help him with a secret plan.
MISTER ROBERTS (3+ outta 5 stars)Funny, kind of sentimental war movie starring Henry Fonda as the title character, forced to serve on a Navy vessel for one of the worst Captains ever (James Cagney).
But the characters he created, the Captain, here played with verve and near-genius by James Cagney, Doug Roberts, ably and intelligently borough to life by Henry Fonda, wise old Doc in the person of charismatic William Powell and Engisn Pulver, energetically played by Jack Lemmon do not give up, nor despair.
This is the story of how the human spirit is threatened not only by the brutality of war but also, in more subtle ways, by boredom and bureacracy as well as the egos of small-minded people.Fonda and Cagney are wonderful as the battling duo who fight over the morale of the ship's crew.
Other great performances come from William Powell as the ship's doctor,Jack Lemmon as the irrepressible Ensign Pulver and Ken Curtis as Dolan,one of the ship's crew.Curtis, by the way, would later play Festus Haggen on the long running Gunsmoke series.
I only saw this once and it was quite awhile ago but I remember being very disappointed for two main reasons: (1) - I got it because I wanted to see a good comedy and it wasn't very funny; (2) the great cast of James Cagney, Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, William Powell, Betsy Palmer and Ward Bond made me anticipate a super movie.Well, the drama in here - particularly at the end - was it far more pronounced and effective than the comedy was throughout the 123 minutes.
A brilliantly written, consummately acted wartime comedy drama which offers four legendary actors (Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, William Powell) some of the most memorable moments of their illustrious careers.
One crewman, Mr. Roberts (Fonda) longs to be transferred to a "real" warship in the action zone, but his transfer requests are repeatedly rejected by the formidably stern ship's captain.The film veers from drama to comedy to tragedy, but whatever mode it is in at any given point, it works perfectly.
One can also more generously look at it as a 1950's version of MASH without sex or blood.The cast is great, but everybody, James Cagney, Henry Fonda, William Powell and Jack Lemon all did tons of better films.It is a talky play without much action.
As in most of his films, women are basically off the radar or just hanging around the edges.Again, the four lead actors are pros and could make reading the phone booth exciting, but the material is geared towards a 1950's middle-class mentality.I think people were saturated with World War II action movies, so making a World War II movie without any action must have seemed like a real daring thing in the 1950's, but it just comes off as boring today.I wish the character of the captain had been expanded.
Jack Lemmon gives the proceedings a touch of whimsy as wacky Ensign Pulver (for which he won a Supporting Oscar), and William Powell is amiable and low-keyed (as always) as the lieutenant, but James Cagney's overacting as the captain is insufferable.
Put them together and add James Cagney, William Powell and Jack Lemmon and you have yourself the amiable Mister Roberts (1955), a movie whose backstage drama should have been called Clash of the Titans.Ford had always been known as a tough man to like yet he did have a stable of reliable actors willing to work with him including Fonda and the legendary John Wayne whom he called the "big idiot".
Only the wise ship doctor (William Powell) and careless Ensign Pulver (Jack Lemmon) know his motivation to fight the good fight and aspire to help their friend make it to the front.It's hard to tell which director did what to make Mister Roberts the sum of its parts.
A comedy-drama about life on a not particularly important ship of the US Navy during World War II...Henry Fonda makes a solid leader (I mean, gee, he played Abraham Lincoln) on board a ship with a selfish, almost hermit-like captain (played effortlessly by James Cagney -- some of his best work, albeit in a small role).
with drama, sentiment, and laugh out loud comedy.Lemmon is wonderful as the irrepressible junior officer, Ensign Pulver, trying to be a normal young man, prove his ability to stand up for himself, and survive in the oppressive environment created by the ship's Captain.Henry Fonda and William Powell are priceless as the older, wiser, and more settled officers seeking to both provoke and settle down Pulver.Cagney is completely believable as the bitter Captain whose idea of having a taut ship is to make sure everyone on board is miserable as often as possible.This film is a series of amusing vignettes woven around Mr. Roberts desire to get off the cargo ship and "into the shooting war", where he feels he can make a difference.The ending is poignant in the face of war, and at the same time uplifting in its portrayal of the maturing Pulver.This film is a must see for all serious movie fans..
And, of course, the grand old man of cinema, William Powell (as Doc) injects just the right amount of lecturing to Mr Roberts to get his point across about caring for others...It's a good film for teenagers and young adults to see, despite the World War Two setting.
Cagney and Fonda are perfect foils, and William Powel and Jack Lemmon just about steal the movie from them.
The film mostly works thanks to the tremendous acting of the four leads: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon.
Entertaining naval comedy-drama.Lt (jg) Doug Roberts (played by Henry Fonda) is an officer aboard a US Navy supply ship.
In "Mister Roberts," that captain is James Cagney, and the executive officer is Henry Fonda (Mr. Roberts), beleaguered by the notion that he's missing out on the important parts of the war, and that his time aboard a supplies ship stationed in the safe zone of the South Pacific is wasted.
Cagney, Jack Lemmon and William Powell fill out the other major roles, and this is one of those instances where an entire cast just clicks -- the chemistry between all of them is palpable.The film gets a bit maudlin and treacly towards its conclusion, and it tries to race through too much plot in its last moments, but I forgive it these flaws, since it did come out at a time when there would still have been an intense nostalgia for and a great deal of sentimentality surrounding WWII stories like this one.Grade: A.
On a US cargo ship with no battle action called the USS Reluctant, Lieutenant Junior Grade Doug Roberts (Henry Fonda) is an honest and good officer who cares for his men.
Consider that it stars Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, and William Powell.
Mister Roberts, played by Henry Fonda, is kind of like the first mate, and the Captain is played brilliantly by James Cagney, in a harsh but comic role.
HENRY FONDA reprises his stage role and does a good, if not inspired job as the title character.But it's really JAMES CAGNEY as the martinet captain who bellows out orders or harsh punishment over loud-speakers, and JACK LEMMON as Ensign Pulver, so afraid of the brash captain that he keeps a low-profile until the final hilarious moment when he does finally confront the man.
Mervyn Leroy & John Ford directed this hit comedy based on the successful stage play that stars Henry Fonda as Lt. Doug Roberts, who is stationed on a cargo ship in the Pacific during WWII.
Mister Roberts was a stage play with Henry Fonda and the movie is filmed very much like a stage play.The script is pretty much a comedy.
Even James Cagney, when he is supposed to be angry, seems to be suppressing a smile.I'm not fond of any of the Fonda family so Henry Fonda's performance seems dull.Jack Lemmon is the comic relief but he's not nearly as good here as he is in Some Like It Hot.William Powell's last film and he seems very tired in it.The scenes with the female nurses are sure to make you laugh or cringe.For a much better film about a screwy ship captain see The Caine Mutiny with Humphrey Bogart..
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy (after John Ford left the project), it earned Jack Lemmon his first Oscar – Best Supporting Actor – for playing Ensign Pulver, who finally grows a backbone in the film's final minutes, uttering one of movies' most unforgettable closing quotes in the process.
In the title role Fonda is really good at being both laid back and objectionable to the thundering moments from Cagney, and of course Lemmon nearly steals the show with his fantastically Oscar winning eccentric physical and vocal laughs, I will admit there were moments where I lost track of the story, but the actors and characters were great, the Second World War setting and stuff is interesting enough, the visual and dialogue based jokes are funny, and overall it is an enjoyable comedy drama.
The film is set on board the USS Reluctant (The Bucket to its crew) towards the end of World War Two. Henry Fonda plays Lieutenant Doug Roberts, the ship's cargo officer.
Eventually, the crew becomes aware of the deal, and this sets in motion events that make the final half-hour of this film moving and memorable.Fonda had played Mister Roberts for many years on the stage and the role had become like a second skin.
ROBERTS (1955) **** Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon, William Powell, Betsy Palmer. |
tt0469623 | Things We Lost in the Fire | Audrey Burke (Halle Berry) and her warm and loving husband Brian (David Duchovny) have been happily married 11 years; they have a 10-year-old daughter named Harper (Alexis Llewellyn) and a 6-year-old son named Dory (Micah Berry). Jerry Sunborne (Benicio del Toro) is a heroin addict who has been Brian’s close friend since childhood.
Audrey gets tragic news delivered to her door by the local police: Brian has been killed in an attempt to defend a woman who was being beaten by her husband. On the day of the funeral Audrey realizes that she has forgotten to inform Jerry of Brian's death. Her brother Neal (Omar Benson Miller) delivers the message to Jerry and takes him to the funeral.
Audrey invites Jerry to move into the room adjacent to their garage, which he does. During his stay at the Burke home Jerry struggles to remain drug-free and also becomes very fond of Harper and Dory. The relationship between Jerry and Audrey is fragile and complicated. Jerry helps Audrey cope in many ways, including lying with her in bed to help her sleep. But Audrey, upset and confused, takes out her grief at Brian's death on Jerry. She becomes angry when Jerry helps Dory overcome his fear of submerging his head in the pool, as this had been something Brian had tried to do for years. Eventually her rudeness to him causes Jerry to move out and relapse with heroin. Audrey and Neal rescue and rehabilitate him and he agrees to admit himself to a specialized clinic. At first Harper, who has come to love Jerry, is angry that he is leaving, but after he leaves her a heartfelt note she forgives him. At the close of the film Jerry is still struggling with his addiction but seems to be well on his way to recovery. He leaves flowers on Audrey's doorstep with a note that reads, "Accept the good", a phrase which Jerry had said to Brian and Brian had subsequently said to Audrey. | romantic, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | In the course of events, she discovers the redeeming qualities her husband had always seen in him.Del Torro gives a poignant performance of a drug addict who struggles to change his life after the loss of his best friend - with quiet dignity.
Although we could have been beaten over the head with the cute as heck kids, the story is actually more focused on the heroin addicted best friend played by Benecio del Toro.
Go see this film, it's a shame they didn't promote it better!I was so impressed with Bencio Del Torro he gave one of the best male performances that I have seen in a movie in a while.
It is one of the best films of the year.Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro give amazing performances and it is unfortunate that there are not more films that take advantage of their talents.
Most importantly, the order in which the events have been played was needed to be done that way for the characters develop, and, more importantly, for us to feel for them.Halle Berry is sooo natural and perfect as Audrey Burke that by the end, you forget that she's an actress and you'd address her as Mrs. Burke!
Anyway, pretty soon I heard so many wonderful things about it and I decided I might as well give it a try, because it at least sounded like it would be entertaining if anything else, and it had Halle Berry, who I always enjoy watching, regardless of the film.
Few films released last year have the quiet sensitivity in writing (Allan Loeb), direction (Susanne Bier), cinematography (Tom Stern), and acting (Berry, Del Toro, Duchovny) as this gem of a movie.
Taking on a subject of grief after a sudden traumatic death and the way it affects family and friends would seem like a tedious subject for a two hour film, but THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE proves again that care and devotion in telling a difficult story with restraint and tenderness is far more compelling that many of the 'big' movies that fill the theaters with more superficial topics.Brian Burke (David Duchovny) is a generously warm man to his beautiful wife Audrey (Halle Berry), their son Dory (Micah Berry), and daughter Harper (Alexis Llewellyn) as well as to his longtime, childhood friend Jerry Sunborne (Benecio Del Toro) who is constantly struggling with an addiction to heroin.
'Things', such as those items lost in a fire at the Burke's in the past, are simply 'things': interpersonal connection, hope, and the 'light from within' are what truly matter.Berry and Del Toro give finely nuanced performances in these difficult roles, further establishing their credentials as being two of our finest actors in film.
If you've seen her 2006 melodrama, "After the Wedding", you can clearly tell this is a Susanne Bier film as her signature style can be seen in the hand-held camera-work, the unexpected jump cuts and the heavy use of close-ups on the physical features of her principal actors during the most cathartic moments.
Alexis Llewellyn and Micah Berry (no relation to Halle) believably play Audrey's children, while John Carroll Lynch (the prime suspect in "Zodiac") provides welcome comedy relief as the Burkes' jogging neighbor, a real estate broker who wants to help Jerry turn his life around.
Even though his character is supportive to the point of being idealized, Omar Benson Miller effectively plays Audrey's too-good-to-be-true younger brother, and Alison Lohman ("White Oleander") shows up late in the film as a persistently inquisitive recovering addict.The 2008 DVD is relatively sparse on extras.
There is no commentary track from Bier or the principal actors, but there is a twenty-minute making-of featurette, "A Discussion About 'Things We Lost in the Fire'", which features comments from Bier, Loeb, producers Sam Mendes ("American Beauty") and Sam Mercer, Berry, Del Toro, Duchovny, Lohman and Miller.
While many have criticized the film for its slow pace and yes, Bier does take her time to tell the story, I did not see that as a disadvantage because this allows the viewer to really see the depth of the characters and how these people were deeply affected by tragedy.A lot of it depends on the actors' performances.
What could have been a run of the mill TV movie turns in to an acting tour de force for the always magnificent Benicio Del Toro and also surprisingly for Halle Berry (is it just me or does she need a better agent to steer her more towards roles that will show of her acting prowess rather than the tripe that she normally ends up in).
The basic premise of the film is that of Berry's character loosing her husband David Duchovny (good to see back on the big screen) and how to help her deal with the grief she invites Del Toro's character Jerry, Duchovny's best friend and a recovering heroin addict to live with her and her children.
There is an excellent supporting cast who all do well with their limited roles and even Berry's children are good and have a decent amount of restraint (a quality I wish we would see in more American child actors) The films reaches a nice subdued ending leaving multiple options open for the lead characters and although it is not easy viewing I would recommend this to everyone and will definitely give the movie multiple viewings..
There was no plot, no suspense, no excitement, nothing really unexpected happening, none of the characters had real depth.And as for exploring personal interactions again the script was as if written by a twelve year old child there was nothing of real substance in it and everything about it felt artificial and pretentious, duh.So for those that don't like such shallow, pointlessly wondering films don't bother wasting time or money on it..
Brian's best friend Jerry Sunborne (Benicio Del Toro) is a recurring drug addict, kept away from the family, but he nonetheless visited and helped out despite the spiralling downfall.
Nonetheless "Things We Lost in the Fire" feels at times like a compassionate top shelf family drama, occasionally glossy and with hints of soap opera, where the overall impact is increased by the powerful performance of Benicio del Toro.
It is definitely the best story i have seen in a long time, and not to mention the fantastic acting of Benicio Del Toro.
You can almost be assured of quality acting here in having both Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro play off each other as an unlikely couple who find strength in each other to overcome a major loss in their lives.
But she shares her husband's time, to much of her dislike, with his best friend Jerry Sunborne (Del Toro), a recovering drug junkie who's known him since young, being the only person who cares for Jerry when everyone else shuns him.But of course, the bulk of the movie dwells on how these 2 character adversaries have to come together to deal with the void left behind by a senseless street crime.
John Carroll Lynch, last since as a probable suspect in Zodiac, is that neighbour next door who comes by looking for a jogging partner, while Alison Lohman's Kelly also plays a recovering addict and almost unrecognizable because she ditched her blonde locks for a darker colour.From grief and despair to a slow plodding towards new hope, Things We Lost in the Fire ignited during a scene around a dinner table in the last act.
A conventional piece of drama, with great acting by Halle Berry and especially Benicio Del Toro, and definitely not to be missed by fans of either..
This film should definitely fall into Best Male Lead (Del Toro) ,Best Female Lead (Berry), Best Supporting Actor (Duchovny) and best Original Screenplay (Loeb) categories at the 2008 Oscars.If you want to see a "feel good" movie, avoid this one.
Alongside the ever-brilliant Benicio Del Toro, Berry reminds us here that she can add dimension to a character, herein conveying an unrestrained sense of heartbreak with maturity and fiery zest.The central theme of the film is coping, and moreover, surmounting one's problems, as Audrey Burke (Berry) experiences the irredeemable loss of her husband, Steven (Duchovny).
The picture Bier paints is a highly authentic depiction of the fallout surrounding catastrophic loss, and amazingly, she also succeeds in engaging the viewer.Jerry Sunborne (Del Toro), a long-time friend of Steven's, is a picture of depravity himself - a Heroin addict, yet, particularly in his interactions with Steven and Audrey's children, is a rather likable fellow.
Del Toro's performance is equally gritty and authentic as he attempts to once-and-for-all conquer his demons - his Jerry is as heartbreaking as he is well-acted.The film does begin to lose its steam in the final scenes, namely with an overly-sentimental dinner scene, yet steamrolls this with one of marked intensity, showcasing Berry's acting chops at their most mature and schooled, thus allowing much-needed catharsis for her character.By its end, Things We Lost in the Fire does become too bogged down in predictable sentimentality, but in the overall scheme of the narrative, it never takes a melodramatic, or predictable sexualised approach to the friendship between Jerry and Audrey.
Benicio del Toro and Halle Berry play two persons devastated by the death of a third,who try to stabilize their lives with the help of each other.Luckily the film never succumbs to the easy solution of a conventional romance and stays open till the end.The acting generally is excellent,also in minor roles by Duchovny and Lohman, but it's really del Toro's film.In every pore of his face we can feel the fight of a drug-addict to get clean and stay so.
But the film also has its drawbacks.As a member of the Dogma Movement Bier always had a penchant for extreme close-ups.This can be very effective,but here she clearly overdid it.The amount of mostly eyes, cheeks and hands takes away the concentration of the viewer and makes the film in parts too slow.The development of the scenario is sometimes schematic and predictable.The smoothing influence of Hollywood is clearly noticeable.I would have liked to see this film as a danish production, written by Anders Thomas Jensen and played by Mikkelsen and S.B.Knudsen in the main roles.I'm sure the result would be rougher and nearer to life.What also annoyed me was the character of Duchovny: He is way too perfect, a superhuman good samaritan.To resume: For a Hollywood drama the film is quite good, for a Bier film it is slightly disappointing..
That's a question that lies just under the surface of Suzanne Biere's Things We Lost in the Fire, a melodrama about a sudden death and those who are left behind to fumble in the darkness for an answer.Most certainly the despair falls on Audrey (Halle Berry) a beautiful housewife who, as the movie opens, is arranging a funeral for her beloved husband Brian (David Duchovney) who was shot to death while trying to stop a man from beating his wife in a parking lot.
There are moments in this movie when she quivers very lightly, until the end when the full grief hits her.Things We Lost in the Fire was directed by Susanne Bier, a Danish director whose specialty is creating family bonds.
Halle Berry shine's in the movie "Things we lost on the fire." Halle plays a widow who is now faced to raise two children after her husband was killed; she then invites a friend to stay with her who is a a recovering heroin addict.
However, unlike "Ordinary People", "Things" was directed like a music video or a druggie movie with lots of smash cuts, hand held camera movements, and extreme close ups of eyeballs which distracted from the drama rather than trusting it and enhancing it.
Wow!What a story!Benicio del Toro is brilliant as a chain smoking heroine addict.He proved once again after his great performance in "Traffic" that he can be one of the big ones in Hollywood.Halle Berry's acting is also outstanding worth the comparing of her Oscar awarded play in "Monster's ball", but if this movie has an Oscar worthy performance its definitely Del Toro's.This is one of the best films from 2007 and I am giving it only 9 stars because there are some weak spots in the plot that are not exactly realistic: Berry's character invites her dead husbands best friend in her bed to help her get asleep by massaging her ear.Del Toro's character (once a lawyer)started using cheap types of drugs to end up as a heroine junkie.
ultimately making me drum my fingers on the table rather than keeping me glued to the screen.Let it be said: Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro are two fine actors, and the people they play here are very nice characters who'd you'd be happy to live next door to and borrow some sugar from.
Brian Burke (David Duchovny) is best friend to junkie Jerry Sunborne (Benicio Del Toro).
The plot is realistic and intelligent, and viewers can ponder and think through lots of things; addiction issues, raising children, fragility of human life - among others.But the main pearls are the leading actors - Berry and Del Toro.
Thigns We Lost in the Fire is a very interesting movie which has many positive points,specially the performances.Halle Berry and Benicio del Toro both bring monumental performances which were sadly ignored at all the pathetic awards.These two actors could express complex emotions without the necessity of dialogs or exaggeration.The screenplay is also very good.It is very detailed and it makes a very precise portrait of every character,so we can perfectly know them.Another good point from this movie is that it never falls on cheap sentimentalism.It is always very honest.The fail I found on this movie is that it needed a better edition on some parts.Some scenes are redundant and they are a little bit tedious.Things We Lost in the Fire is not an excellent drama but it's a very interesting one and it also counts with two extraordinary performances.Rating:8.5.
I did get fired up that there was one cinematic item that I am glad got recovered in "Things We Lost in the Fire"; and that would be the intense authentic performance of Benicio Del Toro portraying Jerry Sunborne, the drug-addicted best friend of Audrey's deceased husband which she turns to to put out the fire!
Susanne Bier's 2007 movie, Things We Lost in the Fire sees Halle Berry as Audrey Burke, a recently widowed woman, who enters into an unexpected relationship with a figure from her late spouse's life.
What could easily be over sentimentalised, Lifetime drama is a well-handled and compelling tale of love, loss, grief and recovery.Benicio Del Toro performance as Jerry Sunborne, the deadbeat heroin addict whom everyone gave up on, except Burke's late husband, is well nuanced.
Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro have never been better but then there simply isn't a bad performance in this movie.
Benicio del Toro, at his most engaging and natural, is the addict best friend of Halle Berry's husband (a slightly too saintly David Duchovny.) Benicio comes to mean a lot to Halle and her kids, as, in a naturally messy way they forge a bumpy familial relationship from the ashes of a major tragedy.
When Susanne Bier's "Things we lost in the fire" begins we find out Brian (David Duchovny) has died and his wife Audrey (Halle Berry) wants to make sure that Jerry (Benicio del Toro), a friend of his, attends the funeral.
Danish director Susanne Bier's first American venture, "Things We Lost in the Fire" is one of those surprisingly good human dramas that often gets lost in the shuffle and doesn't receive the credit it deserves.When Audrey (Halle Berry) loses her husband (David Duchovny) in a tragic Good Samaritan act gone bad, she deals with her grief in an unexpected way by inviting his drug-addicted best friend Jerry (Benicio Del Toro) to come live with her and her two young children while he "gets on his feet." Featuring a music score designed to remind people of "21 Grams" (which also starred Del Toro and played with many of the same themes) and interesting cinematography full of extreme close-ups and small visual details designed to evoke intimacy and realism, "Things We Lost in the Fire" delicately mirrors Audrey's grief process against Jerry's rocky recovery.The film is far from perfect as it sometimes deals with subjects (especially the scenes where Jerry is withdrawing from heroin) in a clichéd manner.
Fortunately, the focus is largely on the incredible Benicio Del Toro an inspired piece of casting whose natural, if eccentric acting skills manage to deflect attention away to some degree from Halle Berry's more pedestrian performance.Berry plays Audrey, loving wife of Brian (David Duchovny), whose is gunned down in the street after preventing a man from beating his wife.
The main story here is how they will be able to deal with it.Benicio Del Toro is superb as Brian's friend since age 2, Jerry Sunborne, who also happens to be a former lawyer who has messed up life by becoming a heroin addict.
Audrey is soon drawn to one of her husband's life-long friends Jerry Sunborne(Benicio Del Toro).
Berry's talent can transcend her looks in the right director's hands.Benicio del Toro is riveting as the addicted best friend of Berry's late husband (played very well by David Duchovny).
Things We Lost In The Fire is a very fine film and the performances of del Toro and Halle Berry were just spot on.
The direction of Susanne Bier was perfect and seemed to bring out the best in the actors.The film tells the story of a woman (Berry) who loses her husband ((David Duchovny) when he tries to stop a man from beating his wife.
Also the scene where Audrey (Berry) finds him in a filthy squat smacked out of his mind.This is definitely one of Benicio del Toro's best films and one worth watching.
He was great.I hope that Benicio del Toro makes more films like this in the future.. |
tt0037219 | The Return of the Vampire | The film begins with Sir Fredrick Fleet (Miles Mander): The following events are taken from the notes of Professor Walter Saunders of King’s College, Oxford...
The first scene takes place in a mist-shrouded cemetery at night. A werewolf (Matt Willis) enters a tomb and tells his vampire ‘Master’ that it is time for him to awake. A hand reaches out of the coffin and lifts the lid. A shadow appears on the wall, and the voice of Bela Lugosi asks what happened while he was asleep. The werewolf replies that his latest victim has been taken to Dr. Ainsley’s clinic.
Baffled by her patient’s anemic condition, Lady Jane Ainsley (Frieda Inescort) has called in Professor Walter Saunders (Gilbert Emery). While they are discussing the patient, two children enter. They are Lady Jane’s son, John, and Professor Saunders’ granddaughter, Nikki. Lady Jane and the professor send the children to bed and return to their patient. The figure, finding that his victim is not alone, attacks Nikki instead. After the patient dies, Professor Saunders sits up the rest of the night, reading a book on vampires written two hundred years ago by Armand Tesla.
The following morning, the professor shows Lady Jane the bite marks on their dead patient’s neck, and tells her that he believes they were caused by a vampire. Lady Jane is skeptical until they discover similar bite marks on Nikki’s neck. Professor Saunders and Lady Jane go to the cemetery and search for the vampire’s coffin. As they are about to drive a stake through its heart, the werewolf returns and tries to stop them; but once the vampire is staked, the werewolf returns to his human form.
Twenty four years have passed and Professor Saunders has just died, though his account of these events was found among his effects. Sir Fredrick Fleet (Miles Mander) sits in his office at Scotland Yard, reading the professor's manuscript. Sir Frederick tells Lady Jane that he intends to find the body of the man whom she and Professor Saunders staked. If the man really was alive when they staked him, Lady Jane is guilty of murder. Lady Jane tells Sir Frederick that the man she and the professor staked was two hundred years old. He was none other than Armand Tesla, whose lifelong fascination with vampires ended with his becoming one himself.
The scene moves to Lady Jane’s clinic. Her son, John, and Professor Saunders’ granddaughter, Nikki, are now adults and plan to marry. It is World War II, and Nikki (Nina Foch) is in military uniform. John (Roland Varno) is in civilian clothes, having been discharged from the RAF due to a war injury. When she and John are alone, Lady Jane tells him about her meeting with Sir Frederick. John asks if she is worried about being arrested for murder. Lady Jane says that, when Sir Frederick finds Tesla’s body, he will see that it hasn’t decomposed. That will prove Tesla was a vampire. They agree not to tell Nikki about this. They don't want to remind her of her childhood trauma when she was bitten by the vampire. While they are talking, Andréas enters. He used to be Tesla’s werewolf servant. Freed of the vampire’s power, he has become human again, and is Lady Jane’s assistant at the clinic. Andréas is visibly upset when he hears that the vampire's body is going to be dug up.
During an air raid, a bomb falls on the cemetery. Gravediggers are assigned to rebury the disturbed coffins. They find Tesla's body, assume the stake driven through his heart was part of a bomb, and pull it out.
Back at the clinic, Lady Jane tells Andréas that Hugo Bruckner, a famous scientist, has escaped a Nazi concentration camp and is coming to Britain to work with her. She sends Andréas to meet Dr. Bruckner’s boat and bring him back to the clinic.
On his way to meet Bruckner, Andréas fully sees the risen vampire face to face. Fixing Andréas with his hypnotic eyes, the vampire says that he was responsible for Professor Saunders' death. Now he will take his revenge on Lady Jane. Andréas, once again under Tesla’s power, becomes a werewolf. Following the vampire’s orders, he kills Bruckner and Tesla takes his place.
The following morning, Sir Frederick and Lady Jane come to the cemetery to look for Tesla’s grave. When they find there is nothing left of it but a hole where the bomb fell, Sir Frederick declares the case is closed.
That evening, Lady Jane throws a party to celebrate John and Nikki’s engagement. Sir Frederick arrives, with Professor Saunders’ manuscript. He asks Lady Jane whether he should give the manuscript to Nikki, since she is the professor’s granddaughter and only living relative. Lady Jane takes the manuscript and locks it in a drawer because she doesn't want Nikki to be reminded of her childhood trauma.
Tesla arrives, pretending to be Bruckner. He charms everyone except Sir Frederick, who seems suspicious of him. Lady Jane discovers the drawer has been forced open and the professor’s manuscript stolen. She calls in Sir Frederick. He finds some hairs stuck to the drawer, and puts them in his pocket. Upstairs, Nikki finds the manuscript lying beside her bed and begins reading it. Later, she hears Tesla’s voice calling to her. She asks who he is, and he replies that she already knows.
The following morning, John and Lady Jane find Nikki lying unconscious on the floor of her bedroom. John is upset when he sees the bite marks on Nikki’s neck, but Lady Jane assures him that everything will be all right.
Lady Jane returns to the cemetery and speaks with the gravediggers. They tell her that they found a body with a stake in it. They pulled out the stake and reburied the body, but now it's missing. She tells this to Sir Frederick, but he dismisses it because he doesn't believe in vampires. Instead he assigns two plainclothes men to shadow Andréas.
While the two men are following him, Andréas changes into a werewolf. He runs away, dropping the bundle he was carrying. The two men take the bundle to Sir Frederick, who opens it and finds it contains the personal effects of the real Hugo Bruckner. Sir Frederick’s suspicions of Bruckner/Tesla are now confirmed. While Sir Frederick is examining the contents of the bundle, another man comes in. He says that a laboratory analysis of the hairs Sir Frederick found on the drawer show them to be wolf's hairs.
That night, as Nikki sleeps, Tesla calls to her again. He tells her to go to John’s bedroom.
The following morning, Lady Jane finds John lying on the floor of his bedroom with bite marks on his neck. Nikki is convinced that she is becoming a vampire, but Lady Jane tells her that Tesla bit John, hoping to make Nikki believe she did it. Sir Frederick and Lady Jane question Andréas about the bundle. His hands become hairy and claw-like, but before he completes his transformation into a werewolf, he flees.
Sir Frederick assigns the same two plainclothes men to follow Bruckner/Tesla, but the vampire eludes them. Bruckner/Tesla goes to the Ainsley house and stands in the shadows, watching Lady Jane as she plays the organ. He tells her that, now she knows who he really is, he will take his revenge. He will turn Nikki into a vampire, and she will then do the same to John. Lady Jane pushes the sheet music aside, revealing a cross on the organ. The vampire disappears. Again Tesla calls to Nikki. She rises from her bed, leaves her bedroom and walks down the stairs. Downstairs, Sir Frederick and Lady Jane are once again arguing the existence of vampires. When they see Nikki coming down the stairs, they stop arguing and follow her.
Nikki goes to the cemetery, where Tesla and Andréas (who has now completed his transformation into a werewolf) are waiting for her. The air raid siren goes off and bombs start falling. Nikki faints. The werewolf picks her up and is carrying her to safety when Sir Frederick shoots him. The wounded werewolf staggers into the tomb, still carrying the unconscious Nikki. He lays her down and asks Tesla for help. The vampire says that he no longer needs him, and tells Andréas to crawl into a corner and die. The werewolf obediently crawls into a corner, where he finds a crucifix. He picks it up, and returns to his human form. An explosion fills the screen, indicating a bomb has hit the cemetery. When Nikki awakes, she sees Andréas dragging an unconscious Tesla out of the tomb.
It is now dawn, and the vampire begins to decompose in the daylight. After Tesla dies, Andréas also dies of his bullet wound. Sir Frederick and Lady Jane had taken shelter from the bombs, and continued quarreling. They now rush back to the cemetery and find Nikki, who tells them that Andréas saved her. Lady Jane asks Sir Frederick if he now believes in vampires. He says that he is still an unbeliever. He turns to the two plainclothes men and asks them ‘You two fellows don't believe in vampires, do you?’ To his surprise, they both reply that they do. Sir Fredrick then breaks the fourth wall and asks ‘Do you people?’ | good versus evil, paranormal, revenge | train | wikipedia | The movie was basically a sequel to Dracula but the vampire played by Bela Lugosi could not use the name Dracula because this was a Columbia picture and Universal Studios had the legal rights to the Dracula character.
Bela Lugosi stars as Armand Tesla vampire, but this is the only movie I've ever seen that had a talking werewolf who carries the vampire's laundry in a package tied up with string.
It's interesting that even though Bela Lugosi enjoys an eternal reputation of playing the most imitated vampire of all (the legendary Count Dracula), the actor really didn't star as a true bloodsucker in that many motion pictures.
But he's nothing less than the real deal here, in an enjoyably misty and moody horror offering which was produced by Columbia Pictures, yet could be easily mistaken for any one of the 1940s classics that Universal Studios was churning out at this time.Though Bela looks and sounds much like Dracula with his trademark flowing cape and piercing eyes, this time he plays a different character called Armand Tesla, a vampire who rises from his grave in ravaged WW II times to seek revenge many years after being destroyed with a metal spike.
Frieda Inescort is a welcome change of pace as a female "Van Helsing" type of protector, and the Lon Chaney-ish Matt Willis is cast as a pitiable servant named Andreas, who becomes corrupted by Tesla and is transformed into a werewolf that TALKS!
After preying on the young niece of the intrepid scientist Walter Saunders, who immediately deduces a vampire is on the loose, Saunders and his colleague Lady Jane Ainsley find the vampire in his lair & drive a spike through his heart.Twenty-five years later, German bombers disturb the cemetery where Tesla lays at rest & two cockney civil-defense workers remove the stake from the vampire's unearthed body.
The vampire sets out to take revenge on those responsible for his quarter-century dirtnap, but like all malevolent beings in these types of horror films, his cruel mistreatment of his servant will eventually come back to bite him..."The Return of the Vampire", while no masterpiece, is chock full of some wonderful atmosphere & images: the fog-bound cemeteries, Lugosi's outstretched cape, the entranced young beauty (Nina Foch) hypnotically walking through the graveyard.
As for his servant, was there any point in subjecting Matt Willis to a werewolf makeup, aside from Columbia feeling the need to jump on the bandwagon in light of that "Wolf Man" character that was making money for Universal Pictures.
This beautifully shot B&W 1940s vampire film is loaded with the kind of old fashioned, spooky atmosphere that fans of classic Gothic horror will love.
Lugosi isn't offered anything new to do here but he is suitably authoritative in his role of Armand Tesla; until he reprised the role of Dracula one last time in ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948), this was arguably his best work of the 40s (which I admit isn't saying much).
Matt Willis is not bad as a man enslaved by Lugosi and turned by him into a werewolf(!) and, even though the character's psychological torment is as palpable as that of Lon Chaney Jr.'s Larry Talbot in the Universal "Wolf Man" saga, the actor is defeated by the shaggy-dog make-up, the fact that he is allowed to speak when transformed(!!) and, well, the very pointlessness of his presence since he never does much at all except serve Lugosi (a task which could easily have been handled by a mere human, who would certainly have aroused a great deal less suspicion than a werewolf)!
In 1918 Lady Jane Amsley (Freida Inescort) helps kill Armand Tesla (Bela Lugosi) with a stake through the heart and reform his werewolf helper Andreas (don't ask).
26 years later Tesla's stake is accidentally removed during a Nazi bombing and he decides to take revenge on Lady Amsley--through her son and his bride to be (Nina Foch).I saw this many times on TV as a kid and loved it.
I LOVE the glowing crucifix on the organ (always impressed me as a kid) and the final scene is memorable.This is probably remembered as one of the three times that Lugosi played an actual vampire--the other two were "Dracula" and "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" ("Mark of the Vampire" doesn't count).
In "The Return of the Vampire," Lugosi plays a hickeymeister identical to old Dracky, but because this is a Columbia picture and not a Universal, he is here saddled with the name Armand Tesla.
The picture's setting--1941 London during the Blitz--and the bloodsucker's assistant--another sympathetic werewolf--add some novel touches to the usual vampire fare, and Frieda Inescort makes for a very pretty and no-nonsense adversary for the nocturnal neck nosher.
Columbia Pictures decided to get into the horror film market that Universal had a corner on and did it with one of the stars that gave them that corner, Bela Lugosi.
At that time Universal had the copyright to the Dracula character so Lugosi played Armand Tesla who was every bit as sinister as the Count himself.
Her actions free the soul of Matt Willis as Andreas, Tesla's werewolf sidekick and he becomes Inescourt's assistant.Over 20 years pass and Tesla's grave is blown open by bombs from the visiting Luftwaffe and a couple of gravediggers who take the stake from the well preserved body's heart.
In this movie Bela Lugosi plays a vampire with a talking werewolf assistant who looks more like a puppy than a terrifying wolf.
Underrated Gem. The Return of the Vampire (1944) *** (out of 4) After being destroyed during WWI, the vampire Armand Tesla (Bela Lugosi) is brought back to life after someone removes the stake from his heart.
Soon he is stalking a new group of people with the help of his werewolf servant (Matt Willis).Columbia Pictures really weren't into the horror game but after the success Universal was having, it was a no-brainer that they'd try to cash in.
Seeing Nina Foch is never a bad thing either.Yes, there's no doubt that the story itself is a bit jumbled up at times but the atmosphere itself is something unlike any other horror film of this period.
In 1918, a Dracula copycat vampire named Armand Tesla is preying upon young women in London England, but this all stops when Professor Walter Saunders and his colleague, Lady Jane Ainsley drive a metal spike through his heart, destroying him and freeing his werewolf servant Andreas.
Lady Ainsley must save the professor's granddaughter Nicki from being vampirized by Tesla, and Andreas, who has been enslaved by him again, must decide whether to serve good, or evil.To start out, this movie has plot holes.
Bela Lugosi returns as the dreaded vampire Count, here going under the name of Armand Tesla due to Columbia being unable to get the Dracula copyright (owned exclusively at the time by Universal).
Despite this, Lugosi here gives in my opinion his finest Dracula performance - much improved over his halting and stagey efforts in the Universal classic twelve years previously.Dracula / Tesla returns from the grave to wreak vengeance upon the vampire hunters who staked him decades previously, after a Nazi blitz raid unearths his tomb and a comedy Cockernee (played as usual by the reliable Billy Bevan) mistakes the stake through his heart for shrapnel and removes it.
Lugosi gets more top do here than in most of his 1940s horror movies, and rises to the challenge with a great performance.We also get Matt Willis (not the one from Busted!) as Lon Chaney-a-like werewolf Andreas, in thrall to his vampiric master my night, but yearning to destroy him whilst in tormented human form.
This is another great Classic Film because Bela Lugosi put his heart and soul entirely into being a Vampire or Dracula.
This is a very well made picture from Columbia and deals with the period during WW II in London, England where Bela Lugosi (Armand Tesla), seems to come back to life twice and manages to make sure that every one gets a Blood Transfusion young or old!
Lew Landers directed Bela Lugosi as Armand Tesla, an 18th century researcher into occult matters who ended up becoming an evil vampire upon his death.
Do not look upon this film as a horror movie, but as a history lesson.In it you will see the great Bela Lugosi as Dracula.
THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE (Columbia, 1944), directed by Lew Landers, was the studios contribution to the horror genre made famous by Universal, acquiring many of its ingredients right down to the services of that studio's very own Bela Lugosi, whose legend began with "Dracula" (1931).
While THE RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE could very well be a pale imitation of a good horror film or a "Dracula" sequel featuring his twin brother accompanied by a werewolf instead of Mr. Renfield, this new idea of a vampire tale, though not entirely original, is actually a pleasant surprise.
Enter Andreas, (Matt Willis) a werewolf, walking through the Priory Cemetery, entering the crypt of his master, Armand Tesla (Bela Lugosi), a 200 year-old vampire, who rests in his coffin by day, while living off the blood of his victims by night.
Armand Telsa, under the guise of Dr. Hugo Bruckner, stalks once more, returning poor Andreas back into his werewolf slave ("I shall command and YOU shall obey!") and plans for his next mission to terrorize Lady Jane and have Nikki his future bride of the living dead.A neat little thriller that contains many effective scenes to rank this a truly good horror film of its day, from howling sounds of dogs around the cemetery to the vampire's call to his victims through the echoing of his whispers.
His vampire character is accidentally resurrected during the Blitz, and he picks up where he left off, putting the bite on people and re-enslaving his old werewolf servant (Matt Willis as a poor man's Lon Chaney Jr.).
Willis reverts to his human guise as Andreas and becomes the helpmate to Lady Jane Ainsley (FRIEDA INESCOURT) who runs a research lab with Sir Frederick Fleet (MILES MANDER).The thrills begin when the stake is removed from Lugosi's chest by Willis (a big, hulking man who makes a good werewolf), who then sets out to assume a new identity so he can use his vampire powers on lovely young NINA FOCH and others.Lugosi has quite a lot of screen time but it's Frieda Inescourt who really is the mainstay of the story, courageously willing to destroy Lugosi before he takes any more victims.Nicely photographed in appropriately atmospheric B&W settings and building towards a suspenseful climax.
This was Columbia Studios attempt at a horror film in the same vein as those Universal were making around this time ("Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man", "House of Frankenstein" etc.), as it features both a vampire and a wolf man.Bela Lugosi plays a vampire (this time Armand Tesla) and when he is not busy being evil at night and sleeping all day, he is treating patients as Dr Hugo Bruckner.
It's up to the strong, determined Lady Jane Ainsley (Freda Inescort) to put all the clues together and rid the world of Tesla's evil ways.There are a few atmospheric scenes typical of this type of film and Lugosi is suitably menacing and hypnotic, but the script isn't very good and many of the performances are quite stilted.
For me, it just wasn't much fun unlike most of the Universal monster films of this era which were more satisfying dramatically, and as spectacle.Lugosi would play a vampire once more a few years later in "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" alongside other horror icons Frankenstein's Monster and the Wolf Man, whose design looks much better in those superior films..
So many great touches in this movie, from the means by which the Dracula surrogate Tesla is "unearthed" (by means of a German bomb during WW2!) to the inventive use of an articulate werewolf (masterfully portrayed by character actor Matt Willis) as Tesla's Renfield.I'd love to see a "director's cut" of this film because obviously a whole lot of backstory wound up littering the floor.
And indeed, Return of the Vampire does borrow a great deal from the Universal film, not the least being Bela Lugosi himself in a virtual reprisal of his celebrated role.
Lugosi will be remembered forever for Dracula, but his portrayal of this film's vampire--Armand Tesla--arguably surpasses even that.
1918: Ruthless and cunning 200-year-old vampire Armand Tesla (a strong performance of subtle menace by Bela Lugosi) terrorizes the countryside.
This film further benefits from credible acting by a sturdy cast: the lovely and poised Nina Foch makes for a very attractive victim as the fetching Nicki Saunders, Matt Willis contributes a respectable portrayal of Tesla's tormented talking werewolf servant Andreas Obry, and Miles Mander does well as dour skeptic Sir Frederick Fleet.
Although a bit slow and talky, this movie still manages to work thanks to Lugosi's dignified presence, a few amusing novel touches (you gotta love a werewolf that speaks, does his vampire master's laundry, and can transform at any given time of the day), and the supremely spooky'n'misty ooga-booga mood.
There are some funny parts that really are funny, such as when two befuddled Scotland Yard men report to their chief that they were trying to apprehend a suspect, but he got away when...The chief irritably asks what happened next and they report that " He turned into a wolf, Sir." The werewolf in question is the long-suffering Andreas Obry, played by Matt Willis, who in face and manner of dress suggests Lon Chaney, Jr. This movie is worth seeing if for no other reason than the wonderful scenes in which the chatty werewolf discusses their plans with his vampire boss.
He has a werewolf assistant named Andreas(Matt Willis)whose Full Moon Curse is controlled by the vampire.The location is London during WW2 and Tesla's greatest adversary is Lady Jane Ainsley(Frieda Inescort) and, Sir Frederick Fleet(Miles Mander)is one in the making, though he has a hard time believing in vampires despite all the chaos that surrounds him.With his werewolf assistant lending a hand, not to mention his powerful way of hypnotizing the control of young Nicki(Nina Foch), Tesla will be quite a difficult vampire to kill.What could be considered the film's major weakness is that Jane actually put a spike through Tesla's heart, yet this didn't turn his body into dust as so often happens in the vampire pictures.
A Hungarian vampire(Bela Lugosi)poses as Armand Tesla/Dr. Hugo Bruckner and with his werewolf servant Andreas(Matt Willis)brings a reign of terror to WWII London.
Columbia had wanted this to be a sequel to the 1931 Universal "Dracula", but when Universal threatened legal action, they ended up changing the names.Bela is in fine form, playing the doomed Armand Tesla, a vampire expert of centuries ago who became a blood sucker himself.
This picture has all of the creepy atmospherics and moody feel of the original 1931 "Dracula", even if Bela Lugosi is a completely different character wearing the vampire cape.
At this point of B-production shockers of the 1940s, no studio was making vampire pictures that had really anything to do with Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula," though, and most of them are a far cry from the classic 1930s Universal monster movies, which began with Lugosi's "Dracula" (1931).
Among them was "Dracula" (1931) with Bela Lugosi in the title role, which forever cemented the image of Bram Stoker's character as an elegant man in a flowing black cape.With the character in the public domain, Columbia Studios apparently wanted to do a sequel of sorts with Lugosi reprising the role but the threat of possible action from Universal led to Columbia shifting their plans somewhat and so the vampire that Lugosi plays in this film is named Armand Tesla.
But make no mistake, he is Count Dracula in all but name.Made relatively cheaply, even for the time, it would be a bit of a stretch to label this film a classic, but nevertheless it stands as an effective, solid and occasionally innovative horror flick of its era.The story commences with a prologue sequence set in 1918 which depicts how the vampire, wreaking his accursed evil in London, is put to rest by scientist Dr Saunders and his assistant Lady Jane Ainsley.
But can Lady Jane and a disbelieving Sir Frederick possibly stop him in time?If Bela Lugosi wearied of playing vampires, he doesn't show it here and produces the same type of commanding performance that originally endeared him to the movie-going public in Dracula.
After thinking they've put an end to the evil, Tesla returns during the next World War after his grave is opened in a bombing and attempts to steal our heroine to be his eternal bride.Bela is really the only thing good about this movie.
***SPOILERS*** Having his secret resting place found out by Dr. Saunders and his young assistant Jane Ainsley,Gilbert Emery & Frieda Inescort, Vampire Armard Tesla, Bela Lugosi, has a spike driven through his evil heart putting him out of action, in sucking peoples blood in order for him to survive, forever.
Awakened, Tesla vows to get revenge on the family that had "killed him" years before.Bela Lugosi once more takes on the cape of a vampire in a Columbia programmer.
"Return of the Vampire" isn't all that bad of a vampire film.**SPOILERS**Dr. Jane Ainsley, (Frieda Inescourt) manages to kill vampire Armand Tesla, (Bela Lugosi) during the first World War. Years later, when her son John, (Roland Varno) and his fiancée Nikki Saunders, (Nina Foch) are about to be married, the German Blitz on London uncovers his grave, allowing his return.
As expected, Bela Lugosi plays the vampire as to the manner born and receives excellent assistance from a first-rate support cast including Nina Foch and Frieda Inescort. |
tt1682181 | Bully | This documentary is about five teenagers and the varieties of bullying or harassment that they went through. The film jumps from each teen and describes their lives in parts.The film starts off by telling the story of Tyler Long and how he died. Tylers father speaks to us about his sons certain social issues and how he knew early on that Tyler may be a subject of bullying. Mr. Long mentions that kids took his clothes when he showered, forcing him to leave naked. They shoved him into lockers and demoralized him vocally as well.
This is what was said to have lead Tyler to his action of suicide in 2009 at the age of 17. The mother found him hanging in his closet with a note on the bed and then proceeded to call the family in.Alex is thirteen years old, he is being interviewed about his family and how nervous he is to return to school, as he has issues making friends.
The cameraman follows him to the bus stop and onto the bus, where the bullying begins and doesnt stop. The boy sitting beside him on the bus is seen violently threatening him.At school, the camera captures instances of bullying that do not directly pertain to Alex, but do show the principal of the school noticing and simply saying the children should get along but doing little to put an end to it.A boy named Cody is pulled from class to discuss being bullied at lunch, but pulling him out of class was simply a move by the school to give the appearance of attempting to address the issue at hand.Kelby is a young teenage girl has come out to the town as a lesbian. She states that she is not welcome anywhere in the town, due to the towns religious standpoints and ideas of cultural society. Kelby states that as she was walking in the road a group of boys hit her with a minivan, not slowing down, knowing it was her.Kelby admits that she used to cut and has tried to commit suicide three times now. The family mentions that when Kelbys sexuality came out even the people they were close with had stopped talking to them as well as her.During the school year kids would harass and bully her or sometimes they would just outright ignore her. She mentions how even the teachers would bully her and disclude her from events and even categorize her in a separate roll call list.Her parents have offered to move several times, but Kelby disagrees stating that, If I leave, they win.After Tylers family found him hanging, they decided to repaint and redesign the layout of his room as a way of coping. They also took down the shelf Tyler hung himself on.Alexs mom reveals that he was born prematurely, at about 26 weeks and that the doctors said Alex wouldnt live more than 24 hours.They later on show JaMeya, a 14 year old teenage girl who lives with her mother. She went to school in Yazoo County Mississippi. JaMeya was an honor student who had many awards in basketball as well. The children harassed her mentally and picked on her for quite some time. As this was going on JaMeya was planning on going into the Navy to help out her mother.JaMeya stated she finally had enough and took her mothers gun onto the bus. She didnt want to hurt anyone, just to scare them enough to leave her alone. She was eventually tackled to the ground by another student, who retrieved the gun from her. The police took her away and she was sentenced to juvenile justice.Tylers parents used their sons death to focus on the issue of bullying at the schools in their town. They held a town meeting, trying to find a way to fix the problem and a way to show the schools and the officers that it was a serious problem. The administrators often stated that kids will be kids and the teachers shrugged it off, not really taking a stance on the problem even if they knew of bullying in the classroom.During the town meeting Tylers family arranges another child speaks up about the bullying issue and how the teachers dont pay attention. His name is Devon. Devon had finally taken the chance to stand up for himself and the bullies left him alone and treated him like another kid in the hall.Later they show that all the charges against JaMeya had been dropped, if she would be held in a psychiatric hospital for 3 months. After that she was allowed to go home, unless a doctor stated otherwise.While at home, Alexs father asks what had happened that day at school. Another student strangled him, and was verbally abused as well. He believes these kids are his friends. His younger sister is afraid she will be bullied as well when she attends school.Ty Smalley is a younger child who was bullied relentlessly until he committed suicide at age 11. The school officials claim that bullying wasnt a factor, even though his friend could state otherwise. Trey, his best friend, claims that Ty was extremely sad the last time that he saw him; he said he was crying.They show pieces of Tys funeral and his parents are tucking in their baby one last time. Trey is overcome with emotion and is crying at Tys casket. Trey assists adults in carrying Tys casket.Trey speaks to us on how he used to be a bully when he was in second grade, but as he got older he realized the harm and hurt that he did to people.
Eventually Trey had stated that he wants to be friendly with everyone. He also says that when he would try to stand up for Ty, he would always tell him that, they arent worth it, or, dont be like them, getting Trey to back down.We later see Mr and Mrs. Smalley together and Mr. Smalley is expressing their pain and how they miss their son.We see Kelby rather happy talking about the rain with her current girlfriend. She claims she would not be here, or be able to go to school, without her friends and girlfriend.
She refuses to let her bullies win.Alex is shown being bullied while on the bus. He has been stabbed, punched, and had his life threatened. He claims to not feel anything anymore.The filmmakers, worried about Alexs well-being, showed the footage to the administrators and his parents, and when his parents confronted the administrators, they claimed that there was nothing they could do to help.
Other students are shown lying about what happened, Alex is told to tell someone if he is being bullied again. Alex claims he doesnt because in 6th grade he told adults and nothing was done.We see a few months later JaMeya arriving at home with her mother. She is excited to be home again and states how different everything looks.It is Alexs last day of school. Other students are shown being friendly towards him, signing t-shirts and laughing with him. He makes a comment about how girls are like candy, and you never know what you want.Kelbys parents pulled her out of school because on her first day back, everyone moved their desks to be away from her, showing that nothing had changed at all.Tylers family is later shown hosting rallies to gain awareness for the other children around the world who committed suicide to due bullying. Eventually the father starts and they started an online group and meet others who had children of a similar fate. They started a memorial service called Stand for the Silent to help reach out to children and adults alike to be together on the bullying problem.Kelby, while also in attendance, stands for the support of the fallen children as well. Tys parents set off groups of balloons to symbolize the lost lives throughout the country. They also give out wristbands to help gain awareness for their cause.Tys father stands before the crowd giving a speech, in which he states that he will forever fight against bullies everywhere because, [his] son will be 11 years old forever. | cruelty, violence, revenge, romantic, prank, sadist, home movie | train | imdb | Other parents deal with the loss of their child through suicide stemmed from bullying and their efforts to change the school systems and law enforcement that ignore the problem.
Never have we seen bullying in its rawest form, and capturing that on film is one of the hardest, most emotion-testing things one could do with the art form.In the documentary, we follow around five people from all across the U.S. who have encountered bullying in some way or shape in their school.
He is a quiet soul, bottling up his rage and hatred for people and coldly tells the camera "sometimes I want to become the bully." The other two children's stories are told through their parents, because they committed suicide for continuing arrogance to the problem.
The film was released for two weeks with an "Unrated" rating, rejecting the MPAA's suggested rating, before the edited cut, the one now in theaters, was released moderately theatrical with a few of f-words subtracted to try and garner more revenue and viewership.With that being said, the documentary is definitely worthy of recognition and is almost required viewing for not only young children, but parents as well.
"Bully" makes the point that these things will continue until we as a society say that it's not acceptable for anyone to let this to happen to people, especially in settings where children expect to be safe.
"Bully" is a cut and dry example of subject matter superseding the MPAA's fundamentally rigid beliefs of counting the number of F-bombs in a movie.Now, here is my review of "Bully": Like a real time therapy session for anybody who has ever been bullied in school, "The Bully Project" or "Bully" as it has been retitled, may not only be responsible for stirring up more pre-release controversy than any documentary in recent history, but also be one of the timeliest documentaries ever released.
Hirsch films Tyler's parents as they discuss the dire epidemic that is school bullying today, and then we get to see bullying through the eyes of a child in a heartbreaking reality, as Hirsh introduces audiences to Alex, age 12.
And what's worse is Hirsch's depiction of how out of touch the adults are with their children, in conjunction with how seemingly unflinching school administrators act when confronted about bullying in their own schools.Final Thought: Unfortunately at times the subject matter of "Bully" is better than the film itself, even though Hirsch does daring work.
So much of the "emotion" seems staged and forced, almost to the point of whoring out the people involved.Basically, this disjointed documentary follows the lives of a handful of families effected by bullying, all in backwoods towns.
Have experts give testimony as to how to solve the problems, and give advice on what works and doesn't work.As it stands, this film is emotional masturbation for the families victimized by bullying, and that doesn't serve any real purpose other than their own catharsis.
In that sense, "Bully" is a prime example of what's wrong with our society in general - it's very good at identifying problems, pointing fingers and assigning blame, but it's not at all good at proposing solutions.There is also a not so subtle political message - the film implies that bullying only occurs in Republican "Red" states such as Georgia, Oklahoma, Iowa and Mississippi.
However, on the minus side, it gave no suggestions for solutions or possibilities for control, no statements of judgment regarding incompetence or inadequacy of school officials and parents toward ending the bullying, thus I became less involved as the film progressed, as there was no progress made toward anything other than progressively showcasing the bullied kids and what can result if nothing is done about it.A few things I saw that were consistent in the bullied boys were that all their fathers were nice, quiet and perhaps weak men who did not take any action themselves toward ending the bullying, but left it up to the mothers.
Wouldn't anyone seeing those scenes, even those moronic and lazy school officials, think something was wrong and needed immediate and serious correction?Overall, the film was a pretty good slice of life of this serious problem but a pretty bad suggester of possible solutions to it.
But thanks to a school system increasingly filled with ignorance and indifference on children's well-being, parents not standing up for anyone but their own kid, the Internet and texting, bullying has gotten a little worse since when I was in high school.
But by putting it out there for the world to see....to see the ambivalence of the school system and the lack of concern of parents of non-bullied kids...I know it made me wish I could do something.
But I want to sit down with every bullied kid in the world and not simply tell them it gets better, but to try to help them deal with the hell they are in now.
Throughout the film we feel a sense of empathy with these four children, all of whom are in difficult situations.But the real story is about the adults.Throughout the film, parents, school administrators, law enforcement officers, court personnel, and even the school bus driver all encounter children being bullied.
I went to a free screening of this movie and I walked out feeling guilty that I hadn't paid to see it, it's an extremely important and relevant story that all parents, teachers, principals, kids and pretty much everyone should see, in my opinion it should be compulsory viewing in high school, particularly in Australia where school bullying is indeed a big problem.The film is presented as a fly on the wall documentary, it follows about 6 different families and their experiences with bullying, all of these stories are equally important, however I have to say I found the story if Alex an absolutely heartbreaking thing to watch.
One thing that really impressed me about the film was that the filmmakers didn't shy away from presenting it how it is, and I'm glad they had the guts to show the problem in a realistic way, and not get too preachy, considering this film is from America I thought it would be full of religious propaganda but thankfully it wasn't.The principal in alex's story should be ashamed of herself, I don't know how these people get these jobs, her screen time is minimal but it was enough to make you realize that the school system is ridiculous and the staff they hire are incompetent.This really is a hard film to review, it really just needs to be seen, I strongly advise everyone to watch it, I'd you can't get through it unmoved, you mustn't have a soul.
We know it can happen in private schools too but the problem tends to be smaller in those schools, as the parents have paying power and can stop paying into the private school if their kid was bullied, or afford other alternatives like homeschooling/tutors or charter schools etc.
If they'd wanted this documentary to have real impact, they needed to choose more relatable, realistic examples and shoot in bigger school districts where bullying is far more prevalent and life-changing.
Stopping the behavior is also far more involved than just having a rally here and there and showing pictures of deceased kids who died needlessly because they were not taught how to stand up for themselves -- I mean, seriously, if your child isn't mentally equipped to handle being bullied, do they have any real chance of surviving the real world?
The documentary does nothing to address educating parents of these weak kids on what they need to do to make their own kids stronger and less likely to be bullied.
Some stuff simply makes you want to punch those bullies, or the teachers/officers/principal who let this happen - they can easily stop the bullying (by punishing them), but instead they do nothing.The film shows you how far the results can go - up the the point of little kids killings themselves.
The director really wanted people to see and understand that bullying happens everywhere and some of the teachers just don't care or sometimes they don't believe the student when they tell them.In the beginning of the movie they started with a boy named Tyler, he had been bullied to the point where he took his own life.
One thing that stood out during the film was that it showed that bullying is a real problem that needs to be solved.
The film opens with part of the heartbreaking story of Tyler Long, a 17 year old that committed suicide because he was constantly bullied at his school in Murray County, Georgia.
I wasn't bullied like the kids in this movie, and so far, my kid is not either, but it WILL effect and touch you just the same.I confess, I kind of avoided watching it for a while thinking I just wasn't in the mood for it, but once I started, I couldn't stop, and I wish it had been twice as long.
If this is so, then it certainly gave this viewer the impression that there actually might be a direct correlation between the act of bible-thumping and the desire to be a nasty, little bully.Of course, there can be no denying that this decidedly cruel business of bullying is a mighty tough and touchy subject to tackle and deal with both in an objective and responsible manner.For one thing, producing a documentary (like this one) that completely concentrates on the victims of this viciousness only results in an imbalanced viewpoint and doesn't offer one any reasonable solutions to the problem.What a documentary of this one's nature really needs to do (and this one didn't) is to offer the viewer some clear insight into the motives of bullies and, with hidden cameras (of course, a big no-no), go into the homes of these bullying culprits to expose what it is there that breeds this sort of behaviour from behind closed doors.Though I believe that this documentary was made with the very best of intentions in mind, one of Bully's main problems was its inability to hold its audience's rapt attention, throughout.
Patton ("Americans love a winner, and will not tolerate a loser.") and NFL coach Vince Lombardi ("Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing").People in authority, as the film shows, often don't take the kind of proactive steps to stop bullying that the parents of those victimized do, and thus seem to sanction the bullying—much of the times, that abuse is more verbal than physical, with the use of sexual, racial, and homophobic slurs.
I also believe the schools need to be tougher, because honestly, does anyone really think that giving a bully detention, telling them they're not nice, and that their hurting other kids really does anything?
But people that have been bullied before, may find this film a little frustrating and lacking since the conclusion implies that children need to tolerate living in a world where they are constantly denied of justice.
This doc named "Bully" follows different stories of kids all around the country it captures footage of actual cases at schools and interviews with the kids and parents, it's sad to hear of kids be driven to suicide over bullying.
This is a documentary where I couldn't help but be moved and feel for the people that got bullied in this film.
It's heart-breaking, heart-wrenching, hard-to-watch-but-impossible-to-look-away documentary film-making.As someone who was bullied throughout my time in school, this is a picture I waited eagerly to see.
The three remaining stories are as follows: Ja'Meya, 14, of Mississippi, grew so frustrated with the constant torment of her peers that she brought her mother's gun with her on a school bus and was incarcerated in a juvenile facility as a result of her actions; Kelby, 16, from Oklahoma, is an "out" lesbian who is the butt of cruel jokes not just from her other classmates, but teachers, as well; and finally Alex (whom the film spends the most time with), 12, of Iowa, is called "fish-face" by his peers, is a socially awkward loner, a victim of some particularly cruel mental and physical abuse, and can barely contain his rage when he coldly informs the camera, "...They...
I also understand that documentaries themselves are many times inherently biased (supposedly to help them prove their point) in some way, but, reflecting back on it, I think it would have been quite informative to at least hear why some bullies feel the need to prey on others and why they do what they do to make someone else suffer.The way I see it, the strong love to prey on the weak, and no one ever really does a damn thing about it.
Hirsch's documentary focuses on three young students who have been subjected to merciless verbal and physical attacks during the school year and on the parents of two victims who committed suicide as the only way they could see to end their torment.The film opens with a look at the grieving parents of Tyler Long of Murray County in Georgia watching home videos of their son when he was a little boy.
The Longs have become activists, organizing town meetings to let other parents know how the school system failed in its responsibility to protect their son.In another tragic situation, we see Kirk and Laura Smalley of Perkins, Oklahoma as they attend the funeral of their eleven-year-old son Ty who committed suicide after being relentlessly bullied for a long time.
It tells the story about a man named David Long and his wife named Tina Long who are doing their utmost to keep the voice of their 17-year-old son named Tyler alive, a woman named Laura and her husband Kirk who are doing the same for their 11-year-old son named Ty and a 12-year-old boy from Sioux City, Iowa named Alex who is being bullied regularly both on the school bus and at his school whilst his younger sister is being bullied because he is her brother, a 16-year-old girl named Kelby and a 14-year-old South-African-American girl named Ja'meya from Sioux City, Mississippi who has been marred by similar experiences.Finely and subtly directed by American filmmaker Lee Hirsch, this finely tuned documentary feature which is narrated by the children and their parents, from multiple viewpoints and through interviews with friends and school officials, draws a humane and intimate portrayal of bullying and how it affects the children who are exposed to it, their education, their families, other students, teachers and communities.
While notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions, fine cinematography by Lee Hirsh and unsettling scenes of bullying, this mindful examination of a global theme contains a good score by American composer Ion Michael Furjanic and American indie rock band Bishop Allen.This conversational activist independent film which is set on various schools in the United States of America during the late 2000s and where parents who have suffered loss are constantly worried about their children, their safety and whether or not the schoolteachers are listening to them and doing anything to prevent the ongoing harassment of their children, is impelled and reinforced by it's fragmented narrative structure, poignant comment by a 14-year-old boy who experienced losing one of his friends who was a victim of bullying, interrelated stories, home-video recordings and use of music.
Hirsch has said that he was bullied as a child and that was his main inspiration for the film; he wanted to show the world what it's like to be a bullied child in hopes of working towards a solution for the problem.The documentary was filmed during the school year of 2009/2010 at high schools in Georgia, Iowa, Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma.
The film also pays special attention to the families of two students (Tyler Long and Ty Smalley) who committed suicide due to bullying that school year.
Those kids who don't have the strength to shake it off or stand up for themselves have simply accepted it as an everyday occurrence, bring weapons in defense of themselves, or have gone so far as to kill themselves, seeing no other way out.Bullying is an important issue that a lot of people acknowledge, but few seem to genuinely take action against.
I personally think this was nothing more than smart publicity because even though you feel sorry for the kids in this movie BULLY just falls into a trap with so many recent documentaries in the fact that it shines the spotlight on a subject but then does very little with it.
That, and my wife and my other kids." The Longs take action, organizing a town-hall meeting to address the ways in which the school system failed to protect their son.Later in the film, we meet Perkins, Oklahoma residents Kirk and Laura Smalley as they attend the funeral of their eleven-year-old son, Ty, who also committed suicide after years of bullying.
An overarching theme throughout is that society as a whole actually promotes those who are aggressive and the subtext in the film is that school officials are often tacitly behind the abuse of kids who do not fit the mold or are completely inept in dealing with the situation, they themselves just cogs in a hierarchical machine.While it is true that the first and only real line of defense against bullying is from the victim's family, there are a few problems with the above 1) What happens if for whatever reason the parents do not provide the support that the child needs to stand up for himself?
Yet when the exact same act is perpetrated on children by children, no one acts.The film is very good because it shows several different scenarios of bullying, from kids who committed suicide to those who are dealing with it.
One child's parents tell her about the bullying occurring on the bus, after watching videos of it happen, and her response is that the kids on his bus are good as gold.
What I love about the film is that they show that in fact, schools do really do care for the children, and are indeed trying to stop bullying from happening. |
tt0112950 | Empire Records | Empire Records is a small independent record shop managed by Joe (Anthony LaPaglia). His employees are all high-schoolers and young adults. The store, like the employees, is eclectic and unique. The staff is very much a self-created family, with Joe as the reluctant and perpetually exasperated father figure.Joe selects Lucas (Rory Cochrane) to close the store for the first time. While counting the days receipts, Lucas discovers that Empire Records is about to be converted into a branch of Music Town, a large and generic franchise music store. Lucas has an epiphany, and in an attempt to save the store, takes the day's cash receipts to Atlantic City. While initially very lucky, he loses the entire amount. The next morning, Mark (Ethan Embry) and AJ (Johnny Whitworth) find Lucas asleep behind the store, still perched on his motorcycle, and quickly deduce that Lucas has made a grievous mistake while entrusted with the store money. Lucas adopts a bizarre, almost zen-like attitude towards his actions. AJ and Mark feign ignorance as to the missing money when Joe discovers the night deposit was never made, and the money is missing.Joe is distracted from dealing with this immediate crisis due to a scheduled publicity stunt. Rex Manning (Maxwell Caulfield), a pompous, fading pop singer, is due to arrive to sign autographs and promote his new album. No one is really looking forward to "Rex Manning Day" except cashier Corey (Liv Tyler), a overachieving student headed for Harvard University who has a schoolgirl crush on Rex, and plans to lose her virginity to him. Corey's friend and fellow cashier Gina (Renée Zellweger), a more adventurous and free spirit than Corey, encourages Corey in her pursuit of the much older Manning.Empire's owner, Mitchell Beck (Ben Bodé), arrives to collect the missing deposit, but Joe covers for Lucas and plays for time by handing Mitchell a bag full of loose receipts. AJ confides in Joe that he loves Corey, and has chosen Rex Manning Day as the day he tells her. Lucas returns and rather than show repentance or guilt, calmly and repeatedly insists that everything will somehow work out, much to Joe's growing confusion and frustration. Joe forbids Lucas to leave the store (or even the couch in the break room) until he is able to repay the $9,000.Deb (Robin Tunney), another store employee, arrives. She, as usual, is hostile and anti-social to the rest of the staff. She immediately locks herself in the bathroom, where she impulsively shaves her head. As she exits the bathroom, AJ sees that her wrists are bandaged and she admits that she attempted suicide. It's revealed that Berko (Coyote Shivers), a local rock musician and another store employee, has just broken up with her, but Deb insists that he wasn't the reason for her suicide attempt.A young shoplifter who identifies himself only as Warren Beatty (Brendan Sexton III) is apprehended outside the store by Lucas. Soon after, Rex Manning arrives with his assistant Jane (Debi Mazar). Manning is condescending toward Joe, the rest of the staff, and his fans. Corey, after demanding (at the top of her lungs) that she be allowed to bring Rex his lunch, awkwardly attempts to seduce him during his lunch break. When Manning responds with a crude pass, Corey runs off, crying in embarrassment. A lovesick AJ finally attempts to tell Corey how he feels about her. Corey, emotionally overwhelmed by her encounter with her idol, tells AJ that she cannot handle his admission. Crushed, AJ abandons his plan. When Corey later attempts to assuage AJ's feelings by telling him she doesn't think of him that way, he rebuffs her. In the meantime, both Joe and Berko attempt to reach out to Deb, who refuses to explain her behavior or the circumstances that led to her bandaged wrists. Deb buries herself in work, but is clearly upset. As the afternoon progresses, the plan to convert Empire Records into a Music Town is revealed, and Joe admits that he had hoped to buy Mitchell out. However, Joe will now have to use his money to replace what Lucas lost, and Empire Records is now doomed to become a Music Town. Joe finally pummels Lucas in frustration.The afternoon continues to spiral downward. Corey accuses Gina of encouraging her ill-advised behavior around Rex, implying Corey's effort to emulate Gina's promiscuity was Gina's idea and ultimately at fault for the failed seduction, and that Corey doesn't have to 'behave that way' around men. Outraged at the accusation and seeking to hurt Corey, Gina seduces Rex Manning, much to the horror of her friends. AJ attacks Rex, who leaves after getting in a lucky punch against AJ. When Corey confronts her, calling her a slut, Gina retaliates by revealing Corey's secret amphetamine habit, which helps her stay up all night studying. Corey has a hysterical episode and has to be physically restrained by Joe. Uncharacteristically, Deb shows sympathy towards the always perfect Corey having a near melt-down and helps calm her. Corey, after hearing about Deb's suicide attempt, arranges a "funeral" for her where all her friends gather around and say they'll miss her & talk about what they love about her. Lucas reveals that Joe actually rescued him from the orphanage as a teen, and was trying to repay him for his kindness. Deb admits she tried (and failed) to kill herself with a disposable razor...with a moisturizing strip.During the mock funeral, "Warren" returns with a gun and holds up the store. Deb boldly confronts Warren, confusing him and distracting him from his plan, and the rest of the staff persuade Warren into admitting that he only returned because he because he felt kinship with the rest of the misfits in the store, leading Joe to offer him a job. After the police leave, Lucas admits defeat, and suggests calling Mitchell. However, his friends and co-workers (along with Jane, who has quit working for Rex), pool their resources to replace the missing money. Despite their best efforts, they are thousands short. Suddenly inspired, Mark runs out of the store and impulsively jumps in front of a news crew covering the hold up and announces a late night benefit party/concert to save Empire. Between AJ's art, various money raising efforts by the rest of the staff, a rooftop concert featuring Berko and Gina (who is finally fulfilling her longtime ambition to front a band), enough is made to replace the money Lucas lost. Joe and Lucas return the money to Mitchell, and promptly quit. Mitchell, appalled at the debacle and the prospect of managing the store without Joe, offers to sell it to him...cheap. Joe agrees. Corey tells AJ that she really does love him too, but that she now hates him for waiting so long to tell her how he felt. AJ tells her he has quit the store, and has been accepted to an art school in Boston, and they finally kiss.Underneath the closing credits, Mark and a local pizza restaurant employee and friend, Eddie, discuss music while sitting on the curb outside the store. | cult | train | imdb | the characters in empire records, yes, are submerged in their overdramatic romantic escapades, but their main prerogative in the film is to prevent a large corporation from buying out their independent record store.
There is a very strong soundtrack for the movie, but you appreciate it more the second time through, because you better understand how the music applies to the scene.
The plot is simplistic and the "neat" ending (all problems solved perfectly in just one day) is unrealistic (not that this bothered me....I personally loved the ending....if I want "reality" I'll watch the evening news).
It stars, Anthony LaPaglia, Maxwell Caulfield, Debi Mazar, Johnny Whitworth, Liv Tyler, Renée Zellweger, Rory Cochrane, Robin Tunney & Ethan Embry.
For on the day that the store will be visited by a fading pop star, they are forced to confront their personal issues, and maybe, just maybe, learn something about the people they work with.The film was a box office failure and was met with mostly negative reviews from the professional critics.
So unless you are judging it against the superior, record shop set, High Fidelity, you may find it's a film that's hard to dislike.Some of the complaints against it are fair, with the main one about it not having fully developed characters being as true as day is a day.
LaPaglia has always worked since 95, playing a number of different supporting characters, and Embry has appeared in big release's such as Vacancy and Eagle Eye. Caulfield has turned into the go to guy for TV shows and Whitworth, who quit acting for a while, pops up from time to time in minor roles such as in 3:10 To Yuma and The Rainmaker.
So, not a career killer then.Stick it to the Man, Baby, Empire Records is a vibrant and funny movie.
Renee Zellweger, Liv Tyler, Anthony LaPaglia, Robin Tunney, Johnny Whitworth, Max Caulfield, Debi Mazur, and Rory Cochrane, one of the coolest people alive.
This movie follows the stories of many people who work at Empire Records, a music store on the brink of closing.
Anyways, take the movie for what it is: teenagers working at a record store, dealing with life issues with good music playing in the background.
thisis th ebest film ive seen in ages and i watch alot of movies..
i wore an outfit scarily like the one liv tyler sports (although without the hideous unders combo, im sure), i knew people like every one of the 'archetypes' from the movie and i really, really wanted to work in a record store.
and doesnt everybody want there to be a cool record store like this in their town?i guess for me it is a nostalgia thing, but i watched it (again) the other night with my boyfriend, and we both still laughed during the funny parts and cuddled during the sweet parts and, well, danced during the dance parts.
its just fun to look back on such a 'time-period' movie like that ...
how good is it to hear the gin blossoms again, eh?im sure many would disagree, but for someone who was right there when it was all happening, so to say, its a gentle reminder of the days before mtv committed suicide, before liv tyler started making 'real' movies, and when phrases like 'whats with Today, today?' could travel through a junior high faster than mono..
A rock and roll good time of teen movies.
But I'd like to work at Empire Records, they can actually dance in the store!
This was the time where there were some actual good teen movies.
You also get the early glimpses of Rene and Liv. They actually look good in this movie!
Empire Records is funny and slightly offbeat teen movie.
How about the perfect cast with actors including Anthony LaPaglia, Maxwell Caulfield, Debi Mazar, Rory Cochrane, Johnny Whitworth, Robin Tunney, Renée Zellweger, Coyote Shivers, Brendan Sexton, Liv Tyler, James 'Kimo' Wills, Ben Bode, and my personal favorite actor Ethan Embry (credited as Ethan Randall)Thus making this the best movie ever..
Ug, it makes me sick just thinking back about it to review it.Gwar are on screen for a couple of seconds which is good, but even they are tarnished by this cinematic turd.Whichever cynical film company put together this mockery of alternative teen life should feel ashamed and should probably be taken outside and shot..
Way back in 1997, at the young age of 17, I wandered into my local Hollywood Video store with the family, looking for a comedy to get me through the night.At the time, I had been trying to get a job at one of the music shops in the mall (for the record, I never got one there).
We've been together nine years next month and have a four year old daughter together.But the love for 'Empire' doesn't end there.After moving to Alabama, I got a job at a movie theater.
This movie has it all: great acting, cool music, and a wonderful plot.
Here we have several very mixed up kids full of angst and various problems making life miserable for a record store manager....and, at times, each other.
Maxwell Caulfield is so sleazy, yet so awesome.Renee Zellweger, Liv Tyler, and Robin Tunney work so well against each other in these classic teen stereotypes that actually end up breaking the stereotype in believable ways.Rory Cochrane steals and carries the show, but Ethan Embry and Brendan Sexton just add to the layers of hilarity..
I found myself identifying with every single character in some way, and Empire made it easy to laugh at the true insanity of what people who work retail go through: obnoxious customers, bosses that are cool, higher ups that suck, etc.The movie made me a lifelong fan of Coyote Shivers' music (check out his CD if you haven't already -- it's a scream) and many of the talented players, but especially Ethan (Randall) Embry and Kimo Wills.Highly recommended by this ex-record store clerk!.
Very funny, the characters you get interested, has a good script, a good development of film, attracts and keeps the spectator entertained, apart if you like films a little old, this you will love, and especially Liv Tyler looks incredibly hot and beautiful.
Empire Records is arguably the closest the 90s came to channeling one of those memorable 80s teen ensembles like the Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles or Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Occurring almost entirely within the confines of an independent music store and utilizing some then fairly unknown, but quality, young actors like Liv Tyler, Renee Zellweger, Ethan Embry, Rory Cochrane, Johnny Whitworth, and Robin Tunney with an excellent older cast Maxwell Caulfield, Anthony Lapaglia and Debi Lazar.Lapaglia stars as Joe Reaves, the manager of Empire Records, an independent music store facing hard times and on the verge of selling out to the Music Town franchise thanks to the evil owner Mitchell Beck (Ben Bode).
With a past his prime 80s rock star Rex Manning (Caulfield, brilliant) visiting the shop to sign autographs the confused staff work through their various issues and try to come to terms with the coming change.The film has an excellent soundtrack and some great comedy scenes.
It goes a little more deeply into some significant issues faced by the characters, without getting bogged down by them, though it does offer some too easy solutions.In the end if you take good performances, a great soundtrack, and an basic plot, you get a good movie..
now, don't get me wrong, i hate being labelled as a gen-x'er, but this is a great movie to watch with friends.
i simply love this move for the mere fact that it is a wonderful "feel-good" movie-- not to mention its many quoteable scenes, and hilarious characters.
This is a movie with stars at there best (such as Ethan Embry and Liv Tyler).
It's about teens that work in a record store that is going out of business and they are trying to save their favorite place to be.
Empire records is by far one of the greatest movies I have ever seen!
Not because of the cinematic quality but just that its a great film to watch over and over, with an amazing soundtrack and a great young and talented cast.
It really makes you want to work in a record store (even though i don't know many like empire records!)I just have to say watch it or miss out on a real fun movie with no serious messages attached to it, except to be young, free and live for music (as they say "music is the glue of the world").
The critics seemed to have missed the whole point of this movie.It is meant to be about these kids and how they depend on the people in their lives and how they are willing to go out of their way to help those around them.Whether they think of each other as friends or not.Whether they even like each other or not.Plus ,of course,nobody could deny the pure energy of the sound track.If you want to get your blood pumping,this is the sound track to buy..
Empire Records is a really fun, light movie that you could watch over and over and not get sick of!
If you're looking for plot, serviceable acting, continuity, and general viewing satisfaction, you would be better off renting a copy of "The Garbage Pail Kids Movie." Poor Anthony LaPaglia.
Roger Ebert pretty much summed this movie up best when he described it as a soundtrack in search of a film.
Please do people really think life is like this movie ?
I've never worked in a record store but i've seen High Fidelity enough times to know it's not like this , and the difference between a good movie and a bbbbaaaaadddd one ..
Seriously, how can you make such an aweful film when you add such fantastic movie elements as speed freaks, goth chicks, whores, pot heads, and a music store all in to one?
A decent soundtrack is not enough to justify seeing this movie - I think I would have been better off spending my 2 hours doing just about anything other than seeing Empire Records..
Had it not been for Ethan Embry and Renee Zelwegger, I probably would have turned it off, but I thought that they did great jobs, and I commend them for working so hard on a bad movie.
The director also, I much prefer his old work, such as Pump Up The Volume with Christian Slater...That was a real movie, Empire Records is like, Pseudo-intellectual, pseudo-teenage crap...I don't know anyone that is above the age of eleven that acts as immature as they do...
And, sadly, it's also not the best movie about people hanging out in a record store -- "High Fidelity" is a better contender in that category.
All fine actresses, but nothing worth seeing the film for if that's all you want to see.There's nothing new about the idea of trying to get a store saved from going under (or a school, or a radio station -- see "UHF").
I like mostly old punk and some new stuff as well, and this movie had tunes from AC/DC and even cool original music (at least I think its original) that Renee Zellwegger sings.
Now, we do usually have a very similar taste in films, but oh dear God I hated Empire Records!!I could kinda tell i wouldn't like it from the video jacket, which makes a lot of fuss about the film's soundtrack, and this brought to memory a piece of advice I'd heard before which everyone should take heed of:BEWARE OF MOVIES THAT VALUE A SOUNDTRACK HIGHLY IN THE TRAILER OR VIDEO SLEEVE - THEY ARE ALMOST ALWAYS RUBBISHOh how I wish I'd listened to this!
I did try to like this movie for my boyfriend's sake, but unfortunately I found every character to be bland and undeveloped; the one day setting meant that plotting was thrown out of the window, indeed I'm not even sure that there was a plot; the dialogue was almost 99% cringe-worthy 'teenspeak'; for a comedy there were no laughs; and worst of all, the lauded soundtrack was appallingly thrown at the movie with no relevance to scenes.Watch this film if...
Everyone I spoke to who had seen this movie at that time really liked it, but I thought it looked totally lame, so I never saw it.Fast forward to last night, when I did!
This is my first movie review so i through i would start with one of the best films of all time!
Every time i have a bad day i watch this to cheer me up!With a great sound track and some pretty great acting for the stars of tomorrow (well now the stars of today!).SO if your looking to feel good about the 90's and want to listen to classic tunes as well this is one for you.
One character blows all the record store's money at the beginning of the film, no reason given.
Nothing about the film feels consistent or worth caring about.If you want to watch a good film about music try High Fidelity or Almost Famous, where the characters are actually entertaining and well written and the stories not the stuff of ridiculous adolescent fantasy..
Empire Records is the worst movie about music there possibly can be (with the exception of possibly 8 mile).
If you really want to see what a real small time record store looks like in the form of a movie (with good acting and an actually interesting plot), see High Fidelity.
It's probably because I have such a high appreciation for music, that I though it must get better at some point (Steven Tyler must have disowned his daughter after such a disgraceful movie).
I wanted to like this film - I really did - but from the outset, I couldn't help but notice how cliched the characters were.
Empire Records is one of the most abysmally annoying films I've ever seen in my life.
I want to say Empire Records is so bad it's good, but that would require actual enjoyment from the film.
The dumb script centers around a Tower Records-like store where the characters all work.
Corey Mason (Liv Tyler) and flirty friend Gina (Renée Zellweger) have a crush on 80's pop star Rex Manning (Maxwell Caulfield) who is coming to the store.
Empire Records is a movie set in such a place.
The young employees of Empire Records band together to try and prevent their quirky, independent store being sold to one of those big, bad corporations which will turn the place into a soulless, generic Music Town.
All the clichéd characters we've come to expect from a movie like this are here.
Watching this movie it's easy to see why Renée Zellweger, Robin Tunney and Liv Tyler were destined for bigger and better things.
The best thing the movie has to offer is its soundtrack, a nice mid-1990s musical time capsule.
Most of those other movies have been much better than Empire Records..
Empire Records has everything: the music, great and likable characters, comedy, romance and drama.
Believe me, when you watch this film, you will be wishing you too worked at Empire.
This movie is a classic and needs to be shown more on T.V. Some of my all time favorite quotes are from this movie.I think everyone in the 25-35 age group love this movie.It reminds me of High School and all my friends.I love the plot line and the characters they are all so love able including Mitch"the Man" you just wanna shove him from the Roof while the band is playing!!!The individual quirks of all the employees was brilliant and added so much drama to the movie.Favorite scene was the chase and arrest of Warren it was so funny.I watch this movie every time it is on which is not that often.DAMN THE MAN SAVE THE EMPIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
The first time I seen this movie was at film school.
I love this movie for the soundtrack and cheesy teenage love between Liv Tyler and A.J. My favorite character is Deb, played by Robin Tunny.
Then there is a couple other characters along with the cool boss Joe. The main plot of this story is about Lucas, assistant manager wanting to save the store from being bought out by Mega Mart or whatever cheesy corporate company wants to buy out Empire Records.
I was also strongly reminded of "High Fidelity".Besides being hilarious, touching and nostalgic all at once, Empire Records also had another effect on me and that was making me want to call all my old buddies from that time period to yell at them to see this great movie....immediately.
I have a friend who forgot what a great movie it was and she just watched again for the first after a long time and she and her daughter watched together and she and her friends just love it and now it is one of there favorites like it was to her mom and me.
A really fun, funny and touching look into the lives of people who work at a record store.
It is funny, has great characters (that do things that one would never guess) good music and the acting is very good.
If you haven't seen this movie and love music, love record stores and play real records, definitely rent it.
This film is one of the best teen movies, I first watched it ten years ago when I was 12.
Joe, Lucas and Warren by far are the 3 best characters I've seen in a movie.
A great movie with a now-famous cast that was young at the time.
I hope many people watch this film and come away that the early and mid 90s were a great time to be young and in college.
One day in the life of several teenagers who work at a record store. |
tt0095897 | The Presidio | At the Presidio Army base in San Francisco, MP Patti Jean Lynch (Jenette Goldstein) is shot dead while investigating a break-in on the base, and two San Francisco Police officers are killed in the getaway. Jay Austin (Mark Harmon), a San Francisco police inspector, is sent to investigate. He clashes with Lieutenant Colonel Alan Caldwell (Sean Connery), the base Provost Marshal.
Years ago, Austin and Lynch were partners while serving as MPs and Caldwell was their commanding officer. When Austin arrested Lieutenant Colonel Paul Lawrence (Dana Gladstone), Caldwell did not support him. In the aftermath, Austin was demoted and decided to leave the army. Austin and Caldwell share a dislike for one another.
The murder investigation casts suspicion on Lawrence, as Lynch was killed with a Tokarev, a Russian pistol. Lawrence is the registered owner of a Tokarev, but claims he lost it in a poker game. Austin also learns that the getaway car used by Lynch's killer was registered to a civilian named Arthur Peale (Mark Blum), who is wealthy and owns a holding company that, in turn, owns other companies.
Austin tries to question Lawrence about the Tokarev, but Caldwell intervenes. This fuels Austin's suspicions that Caldwell will do anything to protect a fellow officer from civilian authorities, even if he is a killer. Recognizing that part of the case is under Caldwell's jurisdiction at the Presidio and part is under Austin's jurisdiction in San Francisco, they uneasily team up to investigate the case. Caldwell states that if the Tokarev bullet that killed Lynch were to match a bullet fired earlier from Lawrence's Tokarev at the Presidio firing range, then Caldwell will arrange for Lawrence to surrender to Austin for arrest. In the meantime, Caldwell and Austin visit Peale, who claims his car was simply stolen and has an alibi for the night Lynch was shot. Caldwell, though, noticed Vietnam-era paraphernalia in Peale's office. Using his own contacts, Caldwell learns that Peale was previously in the CIA, and a spy and military advisor in Vietnam at the same time Lawrence was there as an officer. It becomes clear that Lawrence and Peale knew each other.
Austin gets the ballistics report back on the Tokarev, which confirms that Lawrence's gun killed Lynch. Ignoring his agreement with Caldwell, Austin corners Lawrence when he leaves the Presidio, resulting in a lengthy footchase through San Francisco's Chinatown. Ultimately, Lawrence is killed in a hit and run. Caldwell is furious that Austin disregarded their agreement. Compounding their past tension, Caldwell is also upset that Austin is dating his daughter Donna (Meg Ryan). Their relationship is rocky, with Donna alternately teasing and pushing Austin away. Caldwell confides in his friend, retired Sergeant Major Ross Maclure (Jack Warden), who runs the Presidio's war museum. It is revealed in backstory that Caldwell was Maclure's lieutenant during the Vietnam War. Caldwell was very green and relied heavily on Maclure. In one sequence, Maclure saved an injured Caldwell and attacked a Vietcong platoon waiting to ambush American soldiers, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. In various scenes, Caldwell's close friendship and affection for Maclure is demonstrated.
Caldwell and Austin both figure out that the killer at the Presidio was trying to break into a storeroom to retrieve a bottle of spring water that was delivered earlier that day. Following that lead to the water company which delivered the water, Austin gets the name of the driver who delivered the water, George Spota (James Hooks Reynolds). Caldwell recognizes the name as someone who served under Lawrence in Vietnam. Austin confirms that Spota's car hit and killed Lawrence during their footchase, and Caldwell learns that the water company Spota works for is owned by Arthur Peale, thus confirming that Spota, Peale, and Lawrence were working together. Austin and Caldwell follow Spota during his daily water deliveries. Spota makes a delivery to Travis Air Force Base. Under surveillance from Austin and Caldwell, Spota picks up a bottle of water that was transported to the Air Force base from the Philippines.
Austin and Caldwell follow Spota and the bottle of water back to the water company. Unsure what is in the water bottle that makes it so valuable, Austin and Caldwell see the edges of the conspiracy come together. Spota, Lawrence, and Peale all knew each other in Vietnam. Spota apparently picked up a delivery of water from the Philippines, but accidentally left that water bottle in the storeroom at the Presidio. When he realized his mistake, he went back to retrieve it, but Lynch surprised him during the break-in, and he shot her.
Just as they figure this out, they see Maclure drive up to the water company. With a terrible realization, Caldwell figures out that Peale and Lawrence would have needed someone like Maclure to carry out the smuggling, because Maclure had excellent contacts within the US military in Asia. Inside the water company, Spota and Peale open the water bottle that came from the Philippines, revealing that diamonds were smuggled inside--the diamonds being invisible in the clear water. Maclure comes in and surprises them by holding a gun. Peale reveals that Lawrence was blackmailing Maclure about something Maclure did while in Vietnam. Peale tries to convince Maclure to let the smuggling operation continue, but Maclure is disgusted with himself and heartbroken over the death of Lynch, whom he knew. He says the smuggling must stop, but then is stripped of his gun by Peale's men. Just as Peale is about to kill Maclure, Caldwell and Austin enter the water company to save him. A gun fight ensues, during which Peale and his men are killed, and Maclure is fatally wounded.
Caldwell asks Austin to delay his police report by 48 hours to give Caldwell time to bury Maclure with his honor intact. Austin agrees and the final scene is at a military cemetery where Caldwell tearfully eulogizes Maclure. At the end of the film, Caldwell reconciles with Donna and grudgingly admits Austin into the family. | comedy, mystery, neo noir, murder, violence, suspenseful | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0071562 | The Godfather: Part II | The Godfather Part II presents two parallel storylines. One involves Mafia chief Michael Corleone in 1958/1959 after the events of the first movie; the other is a series of flashbacks following his father, Vito Corleone from 1917 to 1925, from his youth in Sicily (1901) to the founding of the Corleone family in New York.The film begins in 1901, in the town of Corleone, Sicily, at the funeral of young Vito's father, Antonio Andolini, who has been murdered for an insult to the local Mafia lord, Don Ciccio. During the procession, Vito's older brother is murdered because he swore revenge on the Don. Vito's mother goes to Ciccio to beg for mercy, but he refuses, knowing that nine-year-old Vito will seek revenge later in life. The mother takes Ciccio hostage at knifepoint, allowing her son to escape, and Ciccio's men kill her. They search the town for the boy, but he is aided in his escape by the townspeople. Vito finds his way by ship to New York, and at Ellis Island an immigration agent chooses Vito's hometown of Corleone as his surname, and he is registered as "Vito Corleone".In 1958 in a scene similar to the opening of the first film, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), Godfather of the Corleone family, deals with various business and family problems during an elaborate party at his Lake Tahoe, Nevada compound to celebrate his son's First Communion. In his office, Michael meets with corrupt Nevada Senator Pat Geary (G. D. Spradlin) to discuss the price of the gaming licenses for the hotel/casinos the Family is buying. Geary, who has obvious contempt for Michael and other Italian businessmen who are moving into his state to take advantage of gambling opportunities, promises to make Michael's acquisition of his gaming license a difficult process. Michael ends his conversation with Geary when he refuses to pay the outrageous fee Geary demands, telling the senator he'll get nothing.Michael also deals with his self-indulgent younger sister Connie (Talia Shire), who, although recently divorced from her second husband, is planning to marry a man named Merl Johnson (Troy Donahue) with no obvious means of support and of whom Michael disapproves. He also talks with Johnny Ola (Dominic Chianese), the right hand man of Jewish gangster Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), who is supporting Michael's move into the gambling industry. Belatedly, Michael deals with Frank "Five Angels" Pentangeli (Michael V. Gazzo), a business associate who took over Corleone caporegime Peter Clemenza's territory in New York City after his death, and now has problems with the Rosato Brothers, who are backed by Roth. Pentangeli leaves abruptly, after telling Michael "your father did business with Hyman Roth, your father respected Hyman Roth, but your father never trusted Hyman Roth."Later that night, Michael barely escapes an assassination attempt when his wife Kay (Diane Keaton) notices the bedroom window drapes are inexplicably open, which allows two unseen hitmen to spray the bedroom with bullets. The two hitman are found dead having been killed by a "mole" within the compound. Afterwards, Michael tells his lawyer and associate Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) that the hit was made with the help of someone close, and that he must leave, entrusting all his power to Hagen to protect his family.Flashback: In 1917 New York City, the adult Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) works in a grocery store in the Lower East side with his friend Genco Abbandando. The neighborhood is controlled by a member of the "The Black Hand," Don Fanucci (Gastone Moschin), who extorts protection payments from local businesses. One night, Vito's neighbor Clemenza (Bruno Kirby) asks him to hide a stash of guns for him, and later, to repay the favor, takes him to a fancy apartment where they commit their first felony together, stealing an elegant rug.The film flash-forwards to Michael's time. Michael meets with poushal Hyman Roth in Miami, Florida who tells Michael that he believes Frank Pentangeli was responsible for the assassination attempt, and that Pentangeli will pay for it. Traveling to Brooklyn, Michael lets Pentangeli know that Roth was actually behind it, and that Michael has a plan to deal with Roth, but he needs Frankie to cooperate with the Rosato Brothers in order to put Roth off guard.While sleeping, Fredo gets a phone call in the middle of the night from Johnny Ola, Hyman Roth's right hand man, revealing that Fredo is the traitor in the family. Johnny Ola conspires with Fredo, telling him that Frank Pentangeli is going to make peace with the Rosato Brothers. Johnny Ola asks Fredo information about the meeting between these two parties, and whether or not Pentangeli will be alone. Fredo disagrees to cooperate and tells Johnny Ola to never call him again.When Pentangeli goes to meet with the Rosatos at a local bar, he is told "Michael Corleone says hello," as he is attacked from behind but the attempted murder is accidentally interrupted by a policeman. Pentangeli is left for dead, and his bodyguard, Willi Cicci (Joe Spinell), is struck by a car while shooting at the Rosatos as they drive away.Back in Nevada, Tom Hagen is called to a brothel in Carson City run by Michael's older brother Fredo (John Cazale), where Senator Geary is implicated in the death of a prostitute, and Tom offers to take care of the problem in return for "friendship" between the Senator and the Corleone family.Meanwhile, Michael meets Roth in Havana, Cuba, in late 1958, at the time when dictator Fulgencio Batista is soliciting American investment, and communist guerrillas are trying to bring down the government. At a birthday party for Roth, Michael mentions that there is a possibility that the rebels might win, making their business dealings in Cuba problematic. Earlier that day, Michael had witnessed a communist rebel kill a Havana policemen by detonating a grenade that also killed the rebel himself. The comment prompts Roth to remark, privately, that Michael has not delivered the two million dollars to firm their partnership.Fredo, carrying the promised money, arrives in Havana and meets Michael. Michael mentions Hyman Roth and Johnny Ola to him, but Fredo says he has never met them. Michael confides to his brother that it was Roth who tried to kill him, and that he plans to try again. Michael assures Fredo that he has already made his move, and that "Hyman Roth will never see the New Year."Instead of turning over the money to Roth, Michael asks him who gave the order to have Frank Pentangeli killed. Roth avoids the question, instead speaking angrily of the murder of his old friend, Moe Greene, which Michael had orchestrated (as depicted at the end of the first film).Michael has asked Fredo, who knows Havana well, to show Senator Geary and other important officials and businessmen a good time, during which Fredo pretends to not recognize Johnny Ola. Soon after, at a sex show, Fredo comments loudly that Johnny Ola told him about the place, contradicting what he told Michael twice earlier, that he didn't know Roth or Ola. Michael now realizes that the traitor is his own brother, and dispatches his bodyguard to deal with Roth.Johnny Ola is strangled, but Roth, in a delicate state because of his heart condition, is taken to a hospital, where Michael's enforcer is shot trying to kill him. At Batista's New Year's Eve party, at the stroke of midnight, Michael grasps Fredo tightly by the head and kisses him: "I know it was you Fredo; you broke my heart." When guerrillas attack, the guests flee, but Fredo refuses to go with Michael, despite Michael's pleas that Fredo is still his brother and that it's the only way out.Flashback (1917): Don Fanucci of the Black Hand is now aware of the partnership between Vito, Clemenza and Sal Tessio (John Aprea), and wants his share of their profits every week. Clemenza and Tessio agree to pay, but Vito is reluctant and asks his friends to leave everything in his hands so Fanucci will accept less and indeed, Vito manages to get Fanucci to take only one sixth of what he demanded ($100 out of $600). Immediately afterward, during the neighborhood festa, Vito murders Fanucci in the hallway outside his apartment and then rejoins his wife and four children on the stoops outside his apartment building where Vito tells the infant Michael that his father loves him very much.In January 1959, Nevada, Michael returns to his snow-covered Lake Tahoe compound after fleeing Cuba, where Tom Hagen tells him that Roth escaped from Cuba after suffering a stroke and is recovering in Miami, that Michael's bodyguard is dead, and that Fredo is probably hiding in New York. Hagen also informs Michael that Kay had a miscarriage while he was away. Michael is distraught at the news and furiously demands to know the sex of the child, but Tom is unable to tell him.Flashback (1920): with Fanucci dead and with no one else apparently to take over the Black Hand, Vito earns the respect of the neighborhood and begins to intercede in local disputes, operating out of the storefront of his Genco Pura Olive Oil Company (named after his friend Genco Abbandando) which he manages as well as give out "favors" to others in the community such as a local young woman threatened with eviction. Vito intimidates her landlord into letting her stay for a few extra weeks... rent free.In Washington, D.C. of 1959, a Senate committee, of which Senator Geary is a member, is conducting an investigation into the Corleone family. They question disaffected "soldier" Willi Cicci about his role as a button man in the Family, but he cannot implicate Michael, because he never received any direct orders from him. When Michael appears before the committee, Senator Geary makes a big show of supporting Italian-Americans and then excuses himself from the proceedings. During questioning, Michael denies all criminal allegations against him, from the murder of Sollozzo and Captain McCluskey back in 1946 (in the first Godfather movie), and to his business status of operating several gambling casinos in Nevada. Michael makes a statement challenging the committee to produce a witness to corroborate the charges against him. The hearing ends with the Chairman promising a witness who will do exactly that.Frank Pentangeli, who did not die in the attack by the Rosato Brothers, has made a deal with the FBI, and will testify against Michael. Tom Hagen and Michael discuss the problem, observing that Roth's strategy to destroy Michael is well planned. Michael's brother Fredo has been found and persuaded to return to Nevada, and in a private meeting he explains to Michael his betrayal: upset about being passed over to head the family in favor of Michael, he wants respect and his due. He helped Roth thinking there would be something in it for him, but he swears he didn't know they wanted to kill Michael. He also tells Michael that the Senate Committee's chief counsel is Roth's man. Michael then tells Fredo: "You're nothing to me now. Not a brother, not a friend, nothing", and privately instructs soldier and button man Al Neri (Richard Bright) that nothing is to happen to Fredo while their mother is still alive.At the hearing in which Frank Pentangeli is to testify, Michael arrives accompanied by Pentangeli's brother, brought from Sicily, and whose presence causes Frank to recant his previous statements about Michael. When Pentangeli is pressed, he claims that he just told the FBI what they wanted to hear. With no witness to testify against Michael, the committee adjourns, with Hagen, acting as Michael's lawyer, loudly demanding an apology.At a hotel room afterwards, Kay tries to leave Michael, taking their children with her. Michael at first tries to mollify her, but loses his temper and hits her violently when she reveals to him that her recent "miscarriage" was actually an abortion to avoid providing another child into Michael's criminal inheritance. She also tells him that the baby was a boy, further infuriating Michael.Flashback (1925): While visiting Sicily for a family vacation for the first time in 20 years, Vito Corleone is introduced to the elderly 90-year-old Don Ciccio as the man who imports their olive oil to America, and who wants his blessing. When Ciccio asks Vito who his father was, Vito says, "My father's name is Antonio Andolini, and this is for you!", cutting the old man's stomach open with a knife, avenging the death of his father, mother, and brother. As they make their escape from Ciccio's compound and his men, Don Tomasello is shot in the leg by one of Ciccio's bodyguards... the injury gives him a permanent limp.In April 1959, Carmella Corleone (Morgana King), Vito's widow and the mother of his children, dies, and the whole Corleone family is reunited for her funeral. Michael still shuns Fredo, who is miserable, but relents when Connie implores him to. Michael and Fredo embrace, but at the same time Michael signals to his capo that Fredo's protection from harm, in effect while their mother lived, has now run out.Michael, Tom Hagen, and Rocco Lampone discuss their final dealings with Hyman Roth, who has been unsuccessfully seeking asylum from various countries, and was even refused entry to Israel as a returned Jew. Michael rejects Hagen's advice that the Corleone family's position is secure, and killing Roth and the Rosato brothers for revenge is an unnecessary risk. Later, Hagen pays a visit to the imprisoned Frank Pentangeli on a military base and suggests that he take his own life, in the manner of unsuccessful ancient Roman conspirators who, in return, were promised that their families would be taken care of after their suicide.With the connivance of Connie, Kay visits her children, but cannot bear to leave them and stays too long. When Michael arrives, he coldly closes the door in her face.The movie reaches its climax in a montage of assassinations and death, reminiscent of the end of Part One:As he arrives at an airport to be taken into custody, Hyman Roth is killed by Rocco Lampone, disguised as a journalist, who himself is immediately shot dead by Roth's bodyguards.On the military base, Frank Pentangeli is found dead, having followed Hagen's instructions and committed suicide in his bathtub.Fredo is murdered by Al Neri while they are fishing on Lake Tahoe - while Fredo is saying a Hail Mary to help catch a fish.The penultimate scene takes place in 1941, and the Corleone family is preparing a surprise birthday party for their father Vito. Sonny (James Caan) introduces Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo), Connie's future husband and betrayer of Sonny, to his family. They all talk about the recent attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, and Michael shocks everybody by announcing that he has just enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. Sonny ridicules Michael's choice, and Tom Hagen mentions how his father has great expectations for Michael. Fredo is the only one who supports his brother's decision. Sal Tessio comes in with the cake for the party, and when Vito arrives, all but Michael leave the room to greet him.The final shot in the film is Michael sitting by himself at Lake Tahoe, in silent contemplation. | suspenseful, cruelty, murder, psychological, violence, flashback, action, romantic, melodrama, tragedy, revenge, sadist | train | imdb | They are now cold , ruthless and unemotional and betray the price which Micheal Corleone has paid for power .Watch this movie and learn why it is the greatest gangster film of all time..
Without spoiling, I will simply say the Robert DeNiro as the young Vito is the best acting performance of all time, a role for which he won a richly deserved Oscar.The screenplay is full of delicious little underworld nuggets ("Keep your friends close .....", "I don't want to kill everyone, just my enemies"), while it blows a dense, twisted plot past you at a dizzying and merciless pace.
The film is divided into two main parts - the story of a young Vito Corleone (flawlessly acted by Robert De Niro and a worthy Oscar winner) and the rise to power of Michael as the head of the family.
The acting performances are outstanding, hence three supporting oscar nominations for acting guru Lee Strasberg (Hyman Roth), Michael Gazzo (Frank Pentangeli) and Robert De Niro (young Vito Corleone).
As well the film shows us the early years of Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) played flawlessly by Academy Award Winner Robert De Niro, and how he created his empire of money, gambling and respect.
Beautifully directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Godfather Part II exceeds every expectation with outstanding performances from Academy Award winners Al Pacino,Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall and Robert De Niro.
The film flip-flops graciously and beautifully between Michael's struggle over the family business and the life of young Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro, in a brilliant, Oscar-winning performance) in his rise to power as well.
We see Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) "in the role" of his father, Vito (Marlon Brando), from the first film, accepting prostrating guests while a party is going on outside.
Perhaps during this segment, perhaps a bit after, we realize that maybe the beginning wasn't so clever after all, because the structure of The Godfather Part II parallels The Godfather from a broad perspective, as if Coppola and co-writer Mario Puzo used the first film as something of a template to create this one.After the party is over, there is an attempted hit on Michael, and we quickly learn that not everything is rosy in the Corleone's mafia world.
The Michael Corleone story has a lot of fat, including much of the Cuba material (for example, sitting around the table with the President, laboriously passing around a solid gold telephone), the Senate hearings (which go on far too long to make and provide the dramatic points), and so on.The film begins to feel more like a couple seasons of a television show that Coppola tried to cram into a 3 and a half hour film, or worse, a collection of deleted scenes.
There isn't a bad performance in the film, but Pacino, De Niro, and some relatively minor characters, like those played by Diane Keaton, Talia Shire and John Cazale, really stand out.The second outstanding point, similar to the first film, is the beautiful visuals.
Just like in part I, his performance in this movie is absolutely worthy of an Oscar, but the Academy once again robbed him of the glory.Robert De Niro in his Oscar winning portrayal of Vito Corleone, gives a great performance without uttering a single word in English.
The acting is every bit as great, and the cinematography is about as good, but the story wasn't exactly as good as the first; had it not been for the flashbacks that showed Vito as young(beautifully portrayed by De Niro), it wouldn't have gotten a perfect rating from me.
I finally looked at the second film and I want to share my impressions and thoughts on this matter.The second film was no less a legend than the original, not only having earned a well-deserved viewer's success and recognition of the members of the American Film Academy, but also entering the history of cinema as the best "sequel" of all time, in a number of polls - even bypassing the brilliant first picture.
All the actors here are in unity and show how it is necessary to plunge into the role, in all to see a lot of work for what each of the actors thank you very much.Verifying: A great movie that is recommended to watch everyone as an example of clear, competent and well-coordinated work of the creators' team, the whole mechanism works like a clock and as a result of hard work we get no less legendary film, somewhere even ahead of the original.
Consider several operas with ridiculous stories and lyrics yet contain arias that literally move us to tears.The devolution of Michael Corleone is adjacent with flashbacks to the youth and young manhood of his father, Vito, played with paternal, home-loving subtlety by Robert De Niro.
There is even a parallel between two elderly dons: Revenge must be had.I admire the way Coppola and Puzo require us to think along with Michael as he feels out fragile deliberations involving Miami boss Hyman Roth, his older brother Fredo, and the death of Sonny in the previous film.
Personally, I think that Pacino gave the best performance of the film.Francis Ford Coppola won an Oscar for his direction but I feel that the first film was a better effort.
I'm guessing that much of its popularity lies in the fact that it is not just a sequel, following Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) as he continues to expand his family's 'business', but also a prequel, charting Vito Corleone's life from a child in Sicily at the turn of the 20th century to powerful New York mafia don.
But unlike the first part where they had broken all the rules (the characters are established first before the place and time) in this film they've come back to the rules (the locations are established before the characters) Francis Ford Coppola should definitely be given another chance to make a sequel to the trio-logy so that the present generation can also experience the 'Magic of the Movie' and for anyone who's not seen this film, I bet they're surely missing something in life....
Keaton is good but she is not given as much time as I would have liked, even if her scenes are important and powerful.Overall this is a great film that is based on a classy pair of stories that bring the subtexts with them and a collection of characters that are well developed by a script and some great actors.
(The true greatest sequel of all time, of course, is The Empire Strikes Back - superceding the original in so many ways and on so many levels it's unbelievable.)Now, I'll concede there's an awful lot of artistry on display in this movie - the acting is all great, the cinematography and production design, etc.
Compare this sequence to the movie's in order to see just how much Coppola has omitted and how much he has romanticized what he's kept.) Coppola wants to save all his rage and condemnation for Michael, you see - almost as if the Corleone crime family was kind of a Mom and Pop store started by the old man in the good old days, and was great and wonderful until the young whippersnapper came in with all of his newfangled ways and started screwing everything up.
But there are a lot of things making Pacino hesitant about this move into Cuba under the Battista dictatorship.The prequel parallel story is how young Vito Corleone came to this country as an orphan and worked his way up to establish himself as a crime boss.
The Godfather films (I presume we may ignore the third) are now a quarter of a century old, and if you haven't seen them, chances are that two snippets of information will leap into your mind when you think of them: they are about the Mafia, and the sequel is as good as the original.
Similarly, Michael Gazzo takes a seemingly annoying and one-note character (Pentangeli) and works in so much depth and humanity, that at the end he's one of your favorite people in the entire Godfather story (doubly amazing, since he didn't have any automatic goodwill from the audience by being a carryover from the first film).
There are bound to be comparisons to 'The Godfather',but it definitely comes close to surpass its predecessor but to no avail.But that doesn't take away any credit from another gem from Francis Ford Coppola.There would have definitely been immense pressure on Coppola to deliver the second time after the first one was a huge hit.Robert De Niro was outstanding as the young Don Vito Corleone and truly deserved his Oscar.John Cazale delivers on getting more screen space.But I was disappointed to see that Al Pacino as Michael Corleone after having overshadowed his previous work in the first and having reached greater heights in this one, did not get an Academy award.The film does not disappoint and matches the original in every aspect.Truly outstanding cinema..
An excellent follow up to the original, The Godfather Part II continues where the first film left off and explores the rise of Vito Corleone in a series of flashbacks that, for the most part, correlate with what is presently happening to Michael Corleone (Pacino) his son and successor.
Expertly presenting two story lines, one sequel and one prequel to the original, half of the film follows late-1950s Michael Corleone, now as the head of the Corleone crime family, expanding his power and picking off his enemies, becoming less and less like the man at the beginning of the previous film.
I have no doubts that Pacino in this film would be right on there.Before watching this, I had doubts as to how the movie would make do without screen legend Marlon Brando, as his character is twenty-five years younger, and so played by Robert De Niro.
(I have no idea how Pacino didn't get Best Actor, but, according to "Some Like It Hot," "Nobody's perfect.") Clearly topping the original, "The Godfather Part II" is the Best Film of All Time, so of course, I have to give it a 10/10 rating..
The final shot of Michael sitting alone is one of the most memorable of all time.The Godfather Part II is a breath taking achievement in film and has possibly the greatest story ever put on screen..
The film, breathtaking in its scope and tragic grandeur, shows two parallel stories extending two different time periods: the early career of young Vito Corleone seen first around the turn of the 20th century in Sicily, and then in 1917, building his criminal underworld in the Italian ghettos of New York City, post World War I, plus that of his son, Michael (Al Pacino) desperately trying to keep his family together...Al Pacino's performance is quiet and solemn.
Here he's a calculating and frightening force, seeking to expand casinos into Pre-Revolutionary Cuba and consolidating an empire surrounded by perfidy and treason, maintaining total confidence in his ability to control the situation whether testifying before enraging Senators or trying to outface his worst enemies.The film's haunting final shot of a lonely, isolated paranoid Michael in his empty compound, is an unforgettable movie scene, a tragic portrait of a lonely and fully damned person, emotionally empty and finished, far from a waspish wife, more distant from a faithful lawyer...De Niro's rise, from an orphan child by a family feud back in Italy to a hood in New York and his position as a respected Don, provides a welcome break from Pacino's relentless attitude...
Since the people he kills seem to deserve it, Vito comes off better than Michael does, and it was wise of Coppola to shuffle the two stories together despite lengthy flashbacks and the disturbance of continuity.Coppola's motion picture is not just a mere supply with new characters and events from the original, it's a far more complex and intimate movie than its predecessor.
The screenplay is flawless, Coppola and Puzo seamlessly moving back and forth in time to show us the origin and fate of the most beloved cinematic family that's ever shown up on a screen.The family theme emerges off-screen as well, as the director's father, Carmine Coppola, helps Nino Rota with the superb, tragic score.But let's not forget the extraordinary actors who made each member of the Corleones memorable: Pacino steals the show with his best performance alongside Scarface's Tony Montana, while Duvall, Cazale and Talia Shire (not to mention James Caan in a priceless flashback cameo) display the same charisma they had in the previous installment.
It's one of those rare times people don't complain about the fact that a thespian was replaced in a sequel (okay, so Marlon Brando wouldn't have looked young enough for the part, but otherwise he would have been perfect): De Niro's star-making turn has the power of not making you miss the older Don for the entire movie.
This film was so good because it continues the story of Don Michael Corleone's rise to the top, and then slowly to the bottom at the end.
Plus another cool thing about the movie, is that it has several flash backs on the life of younge Vito Corleone, played by Robert DeNiro (who also gave a great performance).
It's spectacular in many ways, masterpiece in fact, and has become as important as the first one (it is the only sequel to win an Oscar for best picture in those terms) and the acting all around is well-knit (even the pioneer himself Lee Strasberg is on hand as Roth), the score is possibly better in some ways to the first film, and most of the scene work is fantastic.
The movie is the sequel and prequel to The Godfather as you all must know and shows the rise of Vito and Michael Corleone in two separate story lines.
The other tells the story of a young Vito Corleone (Robert deNiro) who is the godfather from the first film.
The score is also perfect for the film.All the performances are great, but Robert deNiro and Al Pacino go above and beyond in this movie.
They are the final piece in the puzzle for telling the coming up-story of Vito and the tragic tale of Michael.It's films like this that truly deserve a "perfect" score of 10..
The Godfather: Part II (1974, Dir. Francis Ford Coppola) It's the 1920's and young Vito Corleone (De Niro) moves to New York to his life and new crime career, whilst in the future, his son Don Michael Corleone (Pacino) continues to further his father's legacy.Francis Ford Coppola pulls off another epic classic which this time focuses' on two different story lines.
This, perhaps the greatest sequel ever, tells the parallel stories of Michael's struggles as the new Godfather and the rise of the legendary Vito Corleone.
There are many critics who regard the second part of the Corleone saga as not only equal, but superior than the first, and while I don't think Part II is as "classic" as it's original, I can concede without hesitation that this is the more ambitious and grand in scope, and certainly more powerful as an exercise in tragedy.The Godfather: Part II continues the story of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), established in the end of part one as the new Don of the Corleone crime family, who has moved all their interests out to Nevada.
A skilful direction from Francis Ford Coppola, outstanding performances from the likes of Pacino, De Niro, Gazzo, Strasberg, Cazale, Duvall, Keaton, Shire, memorable cinematography from Willis, a soundtrack by Rota, Coppola and Curet Alonso, and an ingenious script by Coppola and Puzo (partly adapted from his novel), make "The Godfather: Part II" stand out as a story of courage, love, treachery, and devotion, crafted in the life of the Corleone saga.The plot follows the consolidation of power of Michael Corleone, and his desire to gain the legality of his business, and the consolidation of power of a young Vito Corleone, and his desire to build a better life for his family.
Part of the film is a pre-quel, with Robert De Nero playing a young Marlon Brando (is that a dream casting or not?) partly it's the story of Michael Corleone as he grows into the role of Godfather.
The original Godfather was more about Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) than it was about Michael (Al Pacino), his son.
This time it's Vito that's rising to become the most feared and respected man in New York, whereas Michael is the one to suffer and watch as his life is torn down all around him.Superb storytelling from Francis Ford Coppola, and the main reason why this is such a beloved movie.
And that is saying a lot.Probably the most fantastic and well made sequel of all time.Some consider it to be even slightly better than the original but for me the first Godfather is still the best mainly because of Marlon Brando.Despite of that The Godfather part 2 is a flawless movie,a timeless masterpiece with countless qualities that crabs the viewer and never ceases to impress.Al Pacino delivers simply a stunning performance and deserved an Oscar for best actor.Here he isn't the fragile,insecure young man he was in the original film.Here he is wiser and more respectful.Perfect Michael Corleone.The rest of the cast is amazing too.Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen and John Cazale as Fredo shine once again.Cazale as the treacherous Fredo has a bigger role and makes an even greater impact on the audience.But a lot of the credit has to go to the brilliantly cast Robert De Niro who indeed deserved to win the Oscar for best supporting role.His portrayal of the young Vito Corleone and his rise to power is simply stunning.Excellent work.Director Francis Ford Coppola is simply one of the greatest directors not only of his time but of all times and shows once again that he is the biggest fan of the novel and shows great respect both towards Mario Puzo and his work.. |
tt0040725 | The Red Shoes | Based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a pair of enchanted crimson ballet slippers, 'The Red Shoes' follows the beautiful Vicky Page (Moira Shearer), a young socialite who loves ballet, the rising composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring) whom she loves, and her dictatorial director, Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook).After attracting the attention of the famous Director, and earning respect and admiration from her colleagues, Vicky is promised by Lermontov that- ''You shall dance, and the world shall follow'' -but only on the agreement that she will dance, and he will control everything else.On this basis, Vicky rises to fame as the prima ballerina in a world- class Ballet Company. However, Lermontov discovers the romance between his talented composer and his beautiful protege, and he cruelly dictates that Vicky must give up Julian or the dancing. He is shocked, and hurt when she marries Julian, and leaves the company, but remains convinced that she will return to him.Vicky does miss her dancing, and when she is offered the chance to dance 'The Red Shoes' show once more, she attempts to resist, but eventually gives in to Lermontov's alternate bullying and coaxing. Julian is in London, preparing for the premiere of his new work 'Cupid and Psyche', and discovers that his wife has been coaxed back into dancing with the Lermontov Ballet. He is furious, as it appears that Lermontov has convinced her to leave him, and chases after her, arriving as she prepares to dance 'The Red Shoes' ballet, dishevelled and disbelieving in her dressing room shortly before the performance. She explains that she has missed her dancing, and embraces him, trying to convey wordlessly that she did not want to leave him, but Lermontov enters, and crows his victory over Julian, reinforcing Vicky's apparent betrayal until Julian gives an ultimatum, dancing or their marriage.Vicky is so distressed at the rapidly escalating tension and the competition between the crucial two men in her life that she can only cry broken heartedly, seemingly unable to contemplate losing either part of her life. Lermontov takes this as victory and gloats, causing Julian to leave, telling her he is not coming back. Lermontov comforts her a little, promising ''...And from now onwards, you will dance! Like never before!'' He then leaves to introduce the show.Vicky, completely distraught, commits suicide by throwing herself off a balcony in front of the train that Julian was about to catch. (Or does she? Another explanation is that the Red Shoes, as in the fairy tale, magically take over, and make her dance off the balcony.) Julian cradles her crushed body, and obeys her final request- ''Take off the Red Shoes ...''Lermontov, obviously shaken and knowing his part in the tragedy, announces that Vicky will never dance again, but that they will perform the ballet once more, without her, because: ''We think that she would have wished it...'' A lone spotlight will take the place of Vicki onstage, but no understudy will actually dance the role.A ghostly ballet follows, showing the parallels between Vicky and the little girl 'Karen' of the fairy tale, and showing the regret and loss of the entire company, but also pointing out that ''Life rushes by, but the red shoes dance on...'' . | fantasy | train | imdb | null |
tt0790663 | The First Grader | Kenya, 2003: A radio DJ announces that the Kenyan government is offering free primary school education to all. Maruge (OLIVER LITONDO), an 84 year-old villager, hears this and decides he wants to educate himself. Arriving at his local school, with a newspaper clipping about this change in policy, he meets Jane (NAOMIE HARRIS), the schools principal, and expresses his desire to learn. Her colleague Alfred (ALFRED MUNYUA), in an effort to get rid of him, tells him all pupils need two pencils and an exercise book.The next day, Maruge returns, telling Jane he wants to learn to read. He has a letter from the Office of the President that he wants to understand. Exasperated, she tells him the school already has too many pupils. Later that night, she tells her husband Charles (TONY KGOROGE) about Maruge. Cautious of his own position, working alongside the government in Nairobi, he advises her to fight the battles she can win.After cutting his trousers and turning them into shorts, Maruge returns to the school again. While Jane tells the school inspector Mr. Kipruto (VUSI KUNENE) on the telephone that she currently has five children to a desk, when Maruge re-appears, she relents. Alfred is reluctant, yet Jane is defiant, claiming Kipruto is not the head of the school. Allowing Maruge into her class, she seats him near the front after he admits his eyesight is not so good and begins to teach him, and her other charges, how to write the alphabet.Plagued by memories of his time in Kenya in 1953, when he fought with the Mau Mau against the British, it even impacts upon Maruge in class, when Alfred scolds him for not keeping his pencil sharp. Made to sharpen it, he breaks down as he recalls a time when the British tortured him using a sharp pencil brutally thrust into his ear. Apologising to Jane, saying it wont happen again, Maruge later educates his fellow pupils, patiently explains about the fight for land that he and other Mau Mau undertook and teaching them the word for freedom.Resentment brews over Maruges education. At home, people shout that he should stay away from the school, while in the playground, covert photographs are taken of him. Soon enough, the story that an old man is going to school hits the radio airwaves. Kipruto arrives, furious that he has learnt in the press that Maruge is attending his school. Jane tells him that Maruge fought against the British. She later learns from Maruge that the same soldiers killed his family.Desperate to keep Maruge in school, Jane calls Charles, but he advises her not to go over Kiprutos head. She wilfully ignores him, visiting the head of the education board to plead Maruges case. Her protests fall on deaf ears and Maruge is made to attend an adult education centre, where he soon finds himself surrounded by people with no ambitions to learn. He goes to see Jane, telling her he must learn to read because he wants to be able to understand the letter hes been sent. Refusing to go back to the adult education centre, Maruge nevertheless must say his goodbyes to the children. Yet Jane offers him a reprieve as her teaching assistant.As the story breaks, the press descends on the school, surrounding Jane and wanting to question Maruge. He tells the reporters that the power is in the pen. Nevertheless, his presence in the school is beginning to cause anger amongst the parents of the young pupils. One mother confront Jane, accusing her of seeking fame and fortune from all the attention, while another father proclaims to Alfred that the school is spending too much time on Maruge. Again, Kipruto arrives with the school in chaos, telling Jane that her special pupil cannot stay and that plans are afoot for the government to compensate the Mau Mau.Resolute, Jane decides to teach Maruge to read after school has finished despite receiving threatening phone calls. A delegation of politicians arrive at the school, keen to cash in on the free publicity surrounding Maruge, while secretly demanding that Jane cut them in on any money she has received. Events begin to spiral - people attack the school with sticks while Charles receives an anonymous telephone call, noting his wife is now out of control. Jane soon receives a letter that she is to be transferred to a school 300 miles away. Charles tells her that events surrounding Maruge are tearing them apart, explaining that hes received calls claiming she has been unfaithful.Jane explains to Maruge that she is being transferred, and then undertakes an emotional goodbye to the children, who all bring her gifts. Meanwhile, Kipruto introduces the class new teacher. Enraged, the children padlock the school gate and throw missiles at her and Kipruto. Meanwhile, Maruge travels to Nairobi, heading to the Ministry of Education, where he confronts the board on behalf of Jane, showing them the scars he sustained as a young man tortured by the British.Jane returns to the school, where Maruge is there to welcome her back. He wants her to read to him his letter, which explains he will be compensated for his time in the prison camps. As the film draws to a close, the radio DJ announces that Maruge the Guinness Book of Records holder for the oldest person to go to primary school will speak at the United Nations.
thefirstgrader-themovie.com/synopsis/ | violence, avant garde, cruelty, murder, flashback | train | imdb | A fine film, but not a feel-good movie for kids.
The First Grader (2010), directed by Justin Chadwick, is a serious and important film that is being advertised as a feel-good movie, suitable for kids.
The film is a portrayal of the true story of Kimani N'gan'ga Maruge, an 84-year-old Kenyan man who successfully enrolled in a first grade.
When the Kenyan government announces "free education for all," he accepts this literally and tries to enroll in the first grade.This neglect of former revolutionaries has occurred in many countries, and, at least in the film, Kenya is no exception.
As portrayed in the movie, the Kenyan government officials aren't that different from the British colonial officials, except for skin color.
They're certainly not enthusiastic about large numbers of adults following Maruge's example and enrolling in school.
The behavior of the dedicated teacher who accepts Maruge in her class is too good to be true, and the other education officials are all "bad-guy" cardboard cutouts.
A subplot involving the teacher (Jane Obinchu) and her husband is contrived and leads nowhere.The torture scenes are horribly graphic and almost certainly realistic.
(See the entry about Kenya in Wikipedia for the terrible details.) Those scenes make the movie completely unsuitable for children, in my opinion.The film is still worth seeing because it is based on a true event.
Who cannot be moved by an 84-year-old who is determined to read?
In addition, the acting by the two principals, Naomie Harris as the teacher Jane Obinchu, and Oliver Litondo as Kimani Manuge is superb.Although the film will work better on a large screen, it will definitely be worth seeing on DVD as well.
I just saw this movie yesterday, and I felt that it was so well made, so touching, so inspiring, and so important.
It is a rare kind of movie that teaches you history, shows you other people's struggles, and moves you emotionally because it captures the strength of the human spirit.This movie is important because it shows that it is possible to overcome adversity and makes you believe that it is never too late to attain those things that are valuable to you.
It also really brings into focus the power and importance of education.I'm really glad that I saw this movie, and I hope that many other people will go see it as well..
An Important Film on Many Levels.
This is a very good movie which operates at various levels.
Ostensibly about an 84 year-old man going to primary school for the first time, it also covers (in graphic detail) a dark period in Kenya's and Britain's past: The Mau Mau Rebellion.The issues raised are complex: the right for an old man to an education even if it excludes another child in a country of stretched educational resources; the fight for freedom and the integrity of an oath; and the battle against officialdom are but a few.
Above all, it's a struggle against adversity on a variety of levels, both past and present.The Mau Mau Rebellion is often overlooked in histories outside Kenya and this is well portrayed in the film.
At times it is frightening and certainly very threatening and the director contrasts the flashbacks of the past with those of the present.The acting, cinematography, editing are excellent.
And even though it becomes a tad clichéd, it is still an impressive and inspiring story.
Certainly worth a watch and better than a lot of movies I have seen this year..
This is a wonderful and inspiring film.
It's about a teacher and an eighty year old pupil who wants to learn to read who has never had a formal education.
It's also about history, Africa, colonialism – it takes in a lot of diverse topics and it does it all rather well.
It's not one of these syrupy films where all the villagers unite behind the teacher and her new elder pupil – in fact the opposite happens.The film has a distinctive African authenticity – the classroom, the village, the different tribal groupings...
My Emotional and Spiritual Journey through life is forever Sweetened by this Evocative, true-life story~ it is as if i've learned to find a Hero, all over again, for the first time.i know i can never have anything in common with this man, and yet i feel as though i love him...
his strength, courage, tenacity, need, and generosity of spirit make me feel shame at being human and find redemption in humanity at the same time.
i've gained so much by giving just these few moments to this film, his story will stay with me until the End of Time.
It's a fantastic story, and what makes it all the more amazing, as confirmed by Justin Chadwick at the festival, everything you see in the film is true and actually happened.I am not ashamed to admit that I was moved to tears, and these were not tears of joy.
It covers, in flash back, a part of our history that I am sure most of my fellow countrymen would wish had never happened.I would strongly recommend that every Britain and every Kenyan watches this film.
However, I think this kind of caricature may be derived from Kenyan culture.I thoroughly enjoyed the character development as well as the pacing of the story.
Having visited Kenya briefly in 2006, this brought back a lot of good memories of the country and the people.
As others have said, it isn't a movie for children, but should be on the "to watch" list for adolescents and adults..
Glorious acting by the leads, a charming yet affecting screenplay, taut direction and above all stunning cinematography - all making for a gem of a film.Due the nature of the story (daww, an 84 year-old guy in Kenya learning his ABCs with all the little kids...) some scenes skim dangerously close to being too cute and sentimental but thankfully the harrowing background to the story and gutwrenching depiction of conflicts in the past, along with the personal tragedy at the heart of the story make this such a moving film.
Both Naomie Harris and Oliver Litondo deliver phenomenal performances, the latter in particular I think deserves Oscar consideration..
The first grader, a true story about an 84 year old Kimani Maruge (Oliver Litondo) and his quest for education.
The first grader is a true story about an 84 year old Kimani Maruge (Oliver Litondo) who decides to go back to school after learning that the Kenyan government has introduced free education.
He goes back to school so he can learn how to read the bible and a letter he received.
The head teacher Jane Obinchu (Naomi Harris) undergoes the struggles with Maruge, which rocks her marriage and also gets her transferred to another school.
The movie's theme is the struggle a person undergoes when attempting to accomplish his or her goals.
The movie's plot combined with good acting from Oliver Litondo and Naomi Harris shows his journey and struggles.
Maruge and Obinchu fight the parents, villagers, education board, and teachers that are against his going back to school as they see do not see the reason why an old man about to die needs education.
Conviction, a movie about Carl Upchurch, a felon who turns his life around while in prison by getting an education and discovering his identity has a similar theme to that of the First Grader.
The first grader uses low-key lighting to create a somber mood and especially when Maruge has flashbacks of his days in the forest as a MauMau soldier and the torture he endured.
The movie also uses high-key lighting with the difference between light and dark areas being wide thus creating powerful dramatic images.
The movie also employs motifs, which is in form of Marugue's struggle and journey.
The flashbacks about Maruge's days as a MauMau veteran and the suffering he and others endured in order to help Kenya achieve its independence is the motif that reflects the movies theme.
In the movie, Maruge is suffering and is also being ridiculed by other due to his decision to get an education.
The first grader is an inspirational story that takes the viewer through the struggle of a man to achieve his goal of learning how to read so he can understand the bible and a letter he received..
This film is about a 84-year-old man who insists on attending primary school, when the Kenyan government announces that there is free education for all."The First Grader" is about an elderly man who wants to be educated.
His action provokes debate within the viewer, as we have to decide on how to interpret the Kenyan government's promise, ethical issues, effective allocation of public resources and opportunity costs.
There is also a subplot about the dark colonial history of Kenya, which probably aims to enhance the viewers' connection with the protagonist.
However, I find the subplot ineffective without more detailed background history of Kenya, and more development on this subplot.
Despite the shortcoming, "The First Grader" is still a touching and inspiring tale..
A good retelling of a valiant journey for a hero in the twilight of his life.Great depictions of African people and culture.Stunning photography..
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning The Kenyan government suddenly announces free education for all- something 84 year old former Mau Mau warrior Maruge (Oliver Litondo in his debut role) takes rather literally, turning up at the run down school meant to teach six year olds to get what he should have had as a child.
Meeting fierce opposition from parents and teachers, the only one who comes round to giving him a chance is teacher Jane (Naomie Harris) with whom he takes a rickety journey with various twists and turns.Justin Chadwick's little heard of drama is another drama for the 'fact is stranger than fiction' staple, detailing the true life story of Maruge who really battled for his right to what he should have been given as a youngster, and died in 2009 at the age of 89, 84 surprising enough an age given the average life expectancy for a male in Kenya can't be more than late forties?!?
In all ways, it's a bizarre tale made even more bizarre by the fact it's true.
But true it is, and while Chadwick's effort doesn't go beyond the genre conventions of the 'triumpth against all odds' formula, it plays to them as competently and effectively as it should, never becoming too drowned in sentiment or too clichéd and predictable to care about it.
In what is ironically his debut acting role, in the lead Litondo feels very much like the character he's playing, an old and confused man with what seem to some like eccentric expectations, haunted by a devastating past he still hasn't come to terms with as a very old man, while the always impressive Harris nails the role as the driven, determined teacher.The only real, and notable, criticism of The First Grader is that it's just been done before, and doesn't really do anything to make it stand out from the loads of other films there have been about someone struggling against the odds to achieve the seemingly impossible.
It's very difficult not to be sympathetic to the lead character, an 84-year old man who wants a basic education.
But my antenna went up about 1/4 of the way into the movie when they start exploring the main characters Mau-Mau past.
Then about 3/4 of the way through the movie my BS alert went into overdrive when one of the "extras" excitedly mentions Michelle Obama.
And I finally realized, at the end, when another tangential character (stolen from the movie "Vanishing Point; Cleavon Little's "Super Soul") asks, "What's next?
A black man in the White House?" Remember -- this movie was made two full years after there WAS a black man in the White House.
And the point of the movie?
And the point of the movie?
Just remember, the movie was a production of the propaganda department - the BBC - of a socialist government..
The producers of The First Grader have missed a great opportunity to really inspire the primary schoolchildren on the world ..
I spent most of my life in Africa (so far) and loved the sweeping shots of rural Kenya and the enthusiasm of the Kenyan children and of course Maruge.
It's a feel good movie that lost its way.
The person I would most like to see it – my son - will be denied the opportunity because I feel that the torture scenes are too extreme.
I realise that the Mau Mau uprising resulted in terrible recrimination in Kenya (especially for the Kikuyus) and should not be glossed over.
But feel that the producers of The First Grader have missed a great opportunity to really inspire the primary schoolchildren on the world – that you should only stop learning "until you have soil in your ears!".
The desire to learn is so deep in the main character--which has been a desire in many who did not have the opportunity.
The movie also shows that youth can learn from seniors-therefore I would recommend it for middle school and up.
Opportunity to learn about powerful piece of African History-don't miss it.
We especially can appreciate it when we see it through the eyes of eager children trying to learn the their ABCs in a dusty one room class room in Kenya where the government has decreed, for the first time, the right of everyone to be educated.
We are taken to a new level of appreciation when we see it from the point of view of an 85 year old man Kimani Ng'ang'a Maruge (Oliver Musila Litondo) who is determined to join this class and get the education he never had and learn to read.
This is based a true story of a man who became a national hero in Kenya and a symbol of the universal desire for education as his quest ultimately brought the real Maruge from his country village to address the United Nations.
However important this theme may be, there also was another story going on here.
This proud man had been part of Kikuyu tribe, which produced the Mau-Mau rebellion, which ultimately led to the Kenyan independence from British colonial rule.
He demands and gets the respect as others realize that he had been one of freedom fighters who took a sacred oath to return the land controlled by the British back to the native people.
As a young man he endured torture and witnessed the death of his wife and children at the hands of the British who demanded that he give up his oath of resistance.
The movie flashes back from the present day of this old man trying to learn to read to when he was resisting the powerful British.
This is a poignant and dramatic story about a piece of history that most of us do not know much about.
It is all the more remarkable because it paints an extremely negative picture of colonial Britain by this British Director with the initial support of the BBC, which took the project into development.
The school children and most of the characters were not professional actors but all real life Kenyan people.
The exception was Naomie Harris an outstanding English screen actress who had a major role-playing Jane Obinchu the schoolteacher who believed Maruge deserved the opportunity to learn to read.
The performance by Litondo as Maruge is totally believable, as he seems to embody this "Mandelaisk" persona.
Litondo is a native Kenyan who used to be a news anchor with no previous acting experience.
Harris, Chadwick and their entire crew spent several weeks in Kenya working with locals and preparing to shoot this movie there.
The result is an extremely, sensitive effective and emotional film.
A middle school teacher in our audience mentioned how she was inspired to go back into her classroom and we all could feel the awe and the thirst for learning that young people and a deprived older man might feel.
We also have had our interest peaked to learn more about this very interesting and complicated piece of African history about which this story only scratched the surface.
It is a movie that should not be missed.
I was impressed that the UK Film Council went ahead and did this movie despite Britain's ugly history in Kenya.
Oliver Litondo and Naomi Harris deserve an ovation every morning.
PTSD is real; despite, Maruge broke through.
A great story.
And - oh yes graphic torture scenes unsuitable for children.And let's not forget the classic breakthrough boardroom scene with astounded and receptive officials who never call security when the intruder appears like a crazed lunatic to Bring.
I homeschool my 12 year old daughter.
This film opened our eyes to the struggle happening in Kenya while the British were fighting over land.
This is a great follow up movie to The Good Lie. Although completely different storyline, there is a familiarity and almost mirroring between the two films.
This story follows Maruge, an 84 year old gentleman who was part of the Mau Mau tribe and taken into custody after his family was brutally murdered before his eyes.
Maruge never received an education, as was true for the majority of adults during this time period.
The First Grader follows Maruge's struggle to receive an education and learn to read well after his release from the detainee/work camp in 1963.
Maruge appeals to adult and teenaged viewers.
Jane Obinchu is the primary school teacher in this remote location in Kenya.
The viewer feels her pull to help Maruge despite her husband's insistence that it will be nothing but trouble.
I would recommend this movie to open up lines of communication between yourself and your child. |
tt0141926 | U-571 | After sinking a merchant ship from an Allied convoy, German U-boat U-571 has her engines badly damaged by depth charges from a British destroyer. U-571's skipper Kapitänleutnant Gunther Wassner makes a distress call that is intercepted by American intelligence, so the US Navy has submarine S-33 modified to resemble a German resupply U-boat to steal the Enigma coding device and sink the U-571. As the crew of S-33 receive their assignment, the submarine's executive officer Lieutenant Tyler is unhappy about his promotion being blocked by commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Dahlgren.
During a storm, S-33's boarding party surprises and overwhelms the crew of U-571. After securing U-571, the American S-33 is torpedoed by the German resupply sub that was sent to aid U-571. Lieutenant Commander Dahlgren is blown off the deck of S-33 and seriously wounded, while struggling to stay afloat he refuses rescue and orders the boarding party on the captured U-boat to submerge. Lieutenant Tyler takes command of U-571 and dives below the surface where they engage and sink the resupply sub in an underwater battle.
After making repairs and restoring power Tyler decides to route the disabled submarine to Land's End in Cornwall, England. They are spotted by a German reconnaissance plane which is unaware that U-571 has been commandeered by Americans; a nearby German destroyer sends over a small contingent but right before boarders arrive, Tyler gives orders to fire a shot from the deck gun, destroying the German destroyer's radio room, and preventing it from reporting the capture of a German sub and its Enigma machine and code books. The sub dives underneath the German destroyer, which then begins to drop depth charges to sink U-571. U-571's original master Kapitänleutnant Wassner escapes captivity and kills one of Tyler's crew but he is subdued before he can sabotage the boat's engines.
Tyler attempts to trick the destroyer into stopping its attack by ejecting debris and a corpse out of a torpedo tube, faking their own destruction, however the German destroyer continues dropping depth charges. The crew then realizes that Kapitänleutnant Wassner, despite being shackled, is using Morse Code tapping to signal to the destroyer that the submarine was captured and knock him out. U-571, hiding at below 600 feet (180 m), is damaged by the high water pressure. Control of the main ballast tanks is lost and the ship ascends uncontrollably. Tyler orders crewman Trigger to submerse himself in the bilge underwater to repressurize the torpedo tubes.
Trigger uses an air hose to enter the flooded compartment. He closes the air valve to the torpedo tubes, but a second leak and broken valve are found, which Trigger can't reach. U-571 surfaces heavily damaged and begins to flood, unable to fire its last torpedo from its stern tubes. The destroyer gives chase and fires upon U-571 with its main guns; the first hit causes pipes to collapse, pinning Trigger's leg, after he has left the air hose behind. Unable to turn back, he reaches for the valve and closes it before he dies. The second the pressure is available, Tyler orders Tank to fire the final torpedo. The German destroyer is unable to take evasive action and is sunk. As the crew sigh in relief, Tank reports Trigger's death. U-571 has taken severe damage and will not remain afloat for long. The crew abandons the submarine with the Enigma in their possession. The crew watch U-571 as she slips beneath the waves. Floating aboard an inflatable lifeboat, they are eventually rescued by a US Navy PBY Catalina flying boat. | suspenseful, action, psychedelic, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | The British captured the enigma first, the Canadians caught another later and the U.S. WASN'T EVEN IN THE WAR YET!This is beyond "just entertainment" as Americans are now laying quasi-historical claim (and we all know how many will take some or all of it as true - most) to victories and sacrifices purchased by people of other nations.
Those are the films where north american soldiers are the only ones capable of any wit, wisdom, intelligence and courage.Unfortunately, by now the rest of the world is a bit brighter, and we know that, really, Ben Affleck didn't save Great Britain from the Germans.
If a future historian only had U.S. war movies to base history upon, he would decidedly declare the rest of the world sub-human idiots, and the U.S. civilization as a more evolved race.A theory Hollywood debunks quite nicely..
The American boarding party ends up trapped on the U-boat and must figure out how to get home with their prize.The special effects, including sound effects, are good, and there are lots of satisfying explosions and interesting underwater camera views.
The plot is a bit predictable, and seems to owe a lot to many previous submarine movies, including Das Boot.
There are a few technical issues that purists will notice; for example, American S-boats were not actually equipped with radar, an awful lot of bullets were sprayed around the interior of the U-boat without appearing to damage anything vital, and the plan to open the torpedo tubes at a depth of 200 meters seemed ill-advised, to say the least.One scene was disturbing, however.
The truth about the Laconia order is it did forbid picking up survivors but did not specify that they be shot, simply that they not be rescued or aided as well as the only case on record in World War II in which a U-boat purposely fired on survivors in the water.In general, this is a good action film.
In an interview in the 23 April Washington Post, the director, Jonathan Mostow, states that the movie Das Boot was "based on a lie" because "[...] it pretended that the captains and crews were submariners first, and only incidentally Nazis.
The REAL story behind the films exploits is far more embarasing & not one that Hollywood is going to tell the great American public.The British cracked Enigma before the US even entered the War!
This tripe was perpetuated by a director who has no appreciation for history, and who sets himself up as an authority on "what appeals to American moviegoers..forget for a moment the fact that the British first secured enigma from U-110.
If you want a good Submarine movie, try Das Boot, or The Enemy Below.
Of course a hand-full american sailors, who even can`t read the (german) instruments of the different machines in U-571 probably manage to get away with the submarine immediately.
I´m really not a german nationalist and there were a lot of good and even great movies about WWII ( e.g. Saving Private Ryan) but U-571 isn`t.
As for its mindless entertainment value, if you have only ever seen one u - boat movie you will essentially have seen U-571 because it goes to great pains not to miss any cliché in the book; the first third in particular is an almost exact copy of "Das Boot".What really angers me about U-571 though, apart from it being a really bad movie, is the premeditated way it tries to remanufacture history.
perhaps acceptable when the propaganda was necessary (in the 40's), but certainly not 50 years after the fact.The film also fails to capture a good sense of life in one of these submarines...
since the film concentrates on military glory and good triumphing over evil, the potentially powerful, subtler moments of suspense are hopelessly lost, and the film degenerates into a muffled confusion of trumpets and excessively justified violence.It is impossible to watch this without thinking of Das Boot, and how much more powerful the cinematography and directing are, not to mention how much more tolerant and accurate a picture it paints of the morality of warfare and of Germans as real people during the war.My rating is 2/10 on this film, because it has wasted a potentially powerful concept on mindless and destructive entertainment, questioned Germans as human beings, took millions of dollars to do it, and is essentially a cultural regression from its ancestor Das Boot, made 20 years prior..
The German movie Das Boot was criticized by former U-boat sailors for its portrayal of depth charges being too close to the U-boat and not sinking it.
The movie's feel and ambience was never quite involving enough.Because of my complete lack of history knowledge, I didn't know what happened in the real events relating to this film.
In fact, a typical plot-twist in this movie would have been that the Enigma device was actually given to the Germans by a pro-Hitler OSS faction within the US government.
Yet again, Hollywood rewrites history to make it look like America alone won the Second World War!
This really is an awful movie that spectacularly distorts the history of the Battle of the Atlantic and, as a proud Briton, I find it downright insulting to my nation and it's efforts during the Second World War. It totally ignores even the basic historical facts concerning the true story of the breaking of the Enigma code, apart from a little mention in the end credits at the point where most movie-goers have already begun to walk out of the theatre and are unlikely to ever see it.
And with all of the other factual errors, distortions, and cultural stereotypes, this is about as far from being even a semi-accurate depiction of the war at sea as you will ever get.If you want a movie that has no basis in reality and just panders to national stereotypes and American patriotic jingoism, then you'll probably enjoy this movie - Just remember that what you are watching is complete fiction and not in any way a representation of true history.
However, if you want something that accurately depicts submarine warfare in the Atlantic during the Second World War, you'd be far better advised to watch Das Boot instead..
Most action movies exaggerate those things - and heroes mostly don't die - but there's one thing that I absolutely didn't like: the distortion of the truth as the British captured the Enigma but not the Americans..
This movie for some reason had lots of people complaining about how Americans were not the first to find the decoder depicted in the film.
The decoder was just a way to get some guys on a German U-boat so we could have a pretty good action movie.
So a nice action movie, with some good submarine battles, I preferred "The Hunt Red October" and I have heard the German film "Das Boot" is the superior submarine film of all of them, but have never seen that one.
It is based (loosely) on history (history being that there once were German and Allied submarines that fought in a war known as World War II, and that there was a German code machine the Allies called the "enigma").Not only is it not historical regarding the event (the capturing of U-571 and the enigma code machine by Americans) but in many other areas such as what submarines of that era and their weapons could and could not do (such as dogfighting underwater with torpedo's).Don't look for character development either.
The German U-Boats are wreaking havoc in the North Atlantic, sinking every Allied ship in their path and threatening to cut off the critical supply line from America to Britain that is saving the Allied War Effort.
In a Special Operation Mission a US Submarine Crew, headed by Captain Dahlgren (Bill Paxton), are sent to capture the Enigma Code (the German Code that is allowing them to position there submarines without alerting the Allies) which will change the course of the war.The main plot of the movie, thought completely fictional, works well and maintains a viewers interest.
As a fan of 1981's Das Boot I don't think the ending of any submarine film could ever be as good.
That's like a nightmare most of us have had at one time.This movie is the doofus-y little brother of films like "Das Boot" and "Hunt For Red October".
Somebody looking for an intense World War II film that has a few shocking twists, can't go too wrong with this movie.
Rent Das Boot (preferably the directors cut) to see a truly great U-Boat submarine movie.
Perfect production design by Gotz Weidner who also made 'Das Boot' .The film belongs to submarine genre, along with : ¨ Torpedo(1958) ¨ by Robert Wise with Burt Lancaster and Clark Gable 'Torpedo run(1958)' by Joseph Pevney with Glenn Ford and Ernest Borgnine; 'Das Boot(1982)' by Wolfgang Petersen with Jurgen Prochnow; 'Hunt for red october(1990)' by John McTiernan with Alec Baldwin and Sean Connery ; 'Crimson tide' by Tony Scott with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman; 'K19' with Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson and in similar style ¨U-Boat(2004)¨ by Tony Giglio with Scott Caan , William H Macy and of course Tomas Kretschmann who in U-571 also stars a German officer , as usual .The movie produced by the great producer Dino De Laurentiis is based on historic deeds , thus the construction of new U-boats continued at a record -breaking during WWII.
The cost was great on both sides .In the six years of war ,the Germans,by their own statistics,destroyed more than 2000 British,Allied ships in the sea.Hitler had built 1162 subs ,of which 783 were lost.Of the 41000 men recruited into the underwater service ,between 28000 and 32000 lost their lives and 500 were taken prisoners.The film provides a realistic detailing of life aboard and a portrait about the crews subjected to stressful and psychological tensions .
I felt it did a good job with depicting what it would be like to serve on a submarine.It saddens me to see several reviews that are scathing in nature because the reviewer felt the movie slighted all nations other then the US.To the credit of the movie makers, at the end of the movie was a message that went something like this, "This movie is dedicated to all the brave sailors of the allies who risked their lives during WWII." I will agree this movie makes the Americans appear to be head and shoulders above the Germans they were fighting, but it was made by Hollywood, don't be mad at the whole USA.The ending credits make it clear the British were the first to capture an enigma.
Some of the many errors: -The British captured the first two enigma machines, and the Americans didn't get their first until 1944 -In reality, U-571 sank 7 ships and was sunk with all hands off England, and S-33, sunk in the movie, was in Alaska (it survived the war) -The Germans had no surface fleet in operation during the war (other than the Bismark's ill-fated sortie)so why would they have a destroyer to chase U-571?
Let's start by saying as a historical document it sucks - everyone knows that it was a British crew that found the naval Enigma machine and code books, fact.
There have been many submarine films including the superb German made "Das Boot" and an old British black and white film made on a shoestring budget - "Morning Departure" - based on the true story the sinking of HMS Truculent and the attempts made to rescue her trapped crew..
If you like sub movies do yourself a favor and watch Das Boot.
In a movie like this one, it's hard to separate facts from fiction if you don't know the true history in advance.
Despite the director's denials this film is based on the true story of U-110 which was captured by the British destroyer Bulldog on May 9th 1941 - several months before the US entered the war.
There was an attempt to replicate the tense atmosphere of Das Boot with a true life story.The film takes place in 1942, a US submarine is in the Atlantic looking for a stricken German U-boat.Posing as a German supply crew, they plan to board the U-571 and steal the Enigma machine, the device the Nazis used to send coded messages.The film ends with the director putting on a title card dedicating the film to the memory of the real sailors who captured Enigma machines who were British sailors to be more exact, something this film glosses over.Historical accuracy and this film are total strangers.However this is not to say the film is entertaining, it is well made, McConaughey does his bland best but is out-blanded by Jon Bon Jovi.Stern support is provided by Bill Paxton and Harvey Keitel..
Three of my top ten favorite films are submarine movies (The Hunt for Red October, Das Boot, and Crimson Tide).
My one concern was that this movie was going to completely distort the true history of the capture of the enigma machine in World War II.
However, they easily alleviated that concern at the end by describing the actual events.Set near the U.S. entry into World War II, this is the fictitious story of an American submarine outfitted to look like a German submarine and assigned the task of capturing a crippled German sub's code-decryption machine (enigma).
And this film likewise accomplishes its mission quite well.The picture is inspired by actual World War II missions on which American and British soldiers recovered Enigmas, secret German coding devices which allowed the Allies to read encrypted messages, and thus to anticipate the Nazis' moves.
Sometimes seeing how people handle the situations they find themselves in is all it takes."U-571" is not a great war film, but it's an effective and engaging thriller, and I think audiences will enjoy it a great deal as long as they're not expecting the "Saving Private Ryan" of submarine movies..
I had great expectations before watching this movie, but when I came out of the cinema, I was totally shocked, how BAD a film can be.In addition to this opinion of mine, I want to tell, what really happened to U-571: Commander of U-571 was Kptlt.
See the information filmmakers clearly provide at the end of the film.Did the Brits rely on fake duplicates of German subs to capture an enigma machine?
Have i seen the film ....no, i will not watch something so made up when it does not honour the real guys who died carrying out this mission, come on how does the English dropping the 2 atomic bombs on Japan thus ending Japans involvement in WW2 sound for a film......no!, see what i mean, yes by all means make war films but do it right or if you care not for those that died so we might live keep making films such as this, take a leaf out of our history in films......not one WW2 film made by Uk has any changes in who took part and who died in the name of freedom.SAY WHAT YOU WILL ITS FACT LOOK IT UP FOR THOSE WHO CAN READp.s line above is only for those fools who will just write back saying blah blah brits this brits that, have no miss givings with people who know what i mean, we all did great things ENGLAND AND USA just show them as it happened..
At least they did mention the real heroes who captured the Enigma machines during the war (about the only thing done right in the entire film).Joe. God Bless America (sarcasm implied).
The main plot about the enigma is not true in that way (Touring has cracked the enigma code earlier) and beside from that, the royal navy has recovered the enigma first.2.There are many typical sub-movie-cuts i have seen already in "Das Boot".3.
torpedo fired from a range much too far from the sub.a direct ship-artillery hit from the destroyer on the subs deck has only left a black spot.the destroyer in the movie itself was obviuosly a grey painted tender-boat.the underwater views does'nt look like state of the art.There are simply too much of this mistakes, so i cant' say it's a good film..
The movie circulates around the capture of the enigma device (the code device for deciphering the secret codes of the German Navy) from a Nazi U-Boat.
The director has taken plot from actual WWII event, the capturing of Enigma Coding machine, and reworked history to Hollywood standards.
But of course, this is a fictional WWII adventure film, so who cares about minor details?The first scenes look like direct rip-offs from "Das Boot", with Germans sinking British ship.
Happily they paddle into sunset with their small raft.For a moment I really hoped a German sub would surface and machine-gun them to the bottom.But the movie reaches The End and tries to give some credit to the British who in fact stole the Enigma coding machine and won the battle for Atlantic.
And while "Das Boot" was an excellent and accurate depiction of submarine warfare, "U-571," is just a depiction of what we've already seen in submarine movies (depth gauges going off the line, sailors looking upward, waiting for depth charges to explode, leaking sea water spraying everywhere.) Jonathan Mostow is a very good director; he really kept us guessing and on the edge of our seats in "Breakdown," but he tries way too hard here, and isn't half as successful.
I don't hate Hollywood per se but this is the stereotypical example of what they do to history and heroism.Oh how I was praying that those depth charges would drown them all, but no, even when the sub is hit almost directly by several depth charges, everyone is fine apart from a few popped rivets.If you want to watch a really good submarine movie, watch Das Boot. |
Subsets and Splits