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Batman Begins

The film's story is divided into three time-lines:-Blue represents the present-Red represents close flashbacks, which deal with Bruce Wayne 3 years earlier-Green represents distant flashbacks, which deal with Bruce Wayne aged 8 years oldIn the present and close flashbacks, Bruce Wayne is played by Christian Bale and Rachel Dawes is played by Katie Holmes. In distant flashbacks, Bruce Wayne is played by Gus Lewis and Rachel Dawes is played by Emma Lockhart.A large swarm of bats fly from left to right of shot. Back-lighted by a reddish sky, they make the shape of Batman's emblem.Distant flashback: Bruce Wayne and Rachel Dawes are playing in the Wayne Manor garden. Bruce falls down an sealed up well and fractures his arm. He is then attacked by a swarm of bats emerging from a large gaping crack at the well base.Present: Bruce wakes up from the nightmare in a Chinese prison. It becomes apparent that Bruce is regularly attacked by other inmates who brawl with him 6 to 1 at breakfast. Having beaten the majority of them, Bruce is punished with solitary confinement by the prison guards. In solitary, Bruce is approached by a man called Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson). Ducard displays a great deal of knowledge and authority by getting an audience with Bruce from the prison and by stating that he knows who Bruce is. Ducard then offers Bruce a place in the League of Shadows -- a collective of vigilantes and assassins. He deems that the League can offer Bruce a path to true justice instead of 'locking himself away with criminals to take them on one at a time.' Ducard arranges for Bruce to be released in the morning, when he will have to decide whether he will accept Ducard's offer. Should he do so he must pick a rare blue flower from the eastern slopes and carry it to the top of a nearby mountain.Bruce is released, as promised, and carries out his task. After carrying the flower to the top of the mountain, Bruce finds himself at the door of the League of Shadows headquarters. Inside he meets Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe), the head of the League, and is confronted by Henri Ducard once again. Bruce hands over the blue flower and in doing so completes his test for membership. Ducard then suddenly attacks him, warning the exhausted Bruce that 'death does not wait for you to be ready.' Although Bruce fights back he is easily beaten and collapses.Distant flashback: Bruce is still in the well after being attacked by the bats. His father, Dr. Thomas Wayne (Linus Roache), comes down to rescue him and sets Bruce's fractured arm with the help of the family butler Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine). Thomas Wayne comforts Bruce by asking 'Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up'. Later on Bruce admits to his father that he was scared of the bats and is now suffering nightmares. After being comforted further, Thomas shows his son the pearl necklace he'll give to his wife as a gift.That night, Thomas and Martha take Bruce to the opera via monorail. While on the train, Thomas confides that the city is in an economic downturn, and his company Wayne Enterprises funded the construction of the trains, routing them into the center of the city. Thomas, however, leaves running of the company to more interested people, preferring to work as a doctor at the hospital. While watching the opera Mefistofele Bruce is frightened by the bats in the production, which remind him of the bats that attacked him and asks his father if they can leave. Outside, in an alleyway, a man named Joe Chill (Richard Brake) accosts them with a revolver and demands the pearl necklace Thomas gave to Martha. A fight breaks out, and in the struggle, both Thomas and Martha are shot and are mortally wounded. Chill runs away, leaving Bruce alone with his parents. Before dying, Thomas manages to tell Bruce, "Don't be afraid...."That night, Bruce is watched after at the police station by officer James Gordon (Gary Oldman). Midway through, police commissioner Gillian B. Loeb (Colin MacFarlane) comes in and informs Bruce that the police have caught Chill.Bruce is put into Alfred's care. After the funeral, Wayne Enterprises CEO William Earle (Rutger Hauer) tells Bruce that the company will be looked after until Bruce grows up. Alfred tries to console Bruce when the boy confesses that his parents' deaths were his fault because he asked to leave the opera early.Present: Ducard asks Bruce if he still feels responsible for the death of his parents. Bruce responds that his is far too angry to feel guilty. His training with the League of Shadows begins. He is trained in the arts of ninjitsu, stealth, combat theatricality and deception. Bruce is trained not only to fight 6 men but to 'engage 600.'Ducard enforces his belief that all forms of crime must be fought without mercy and pity. Ducard explains that his wife was murdered and that he joined the League when he achieved his vengeance. Bruce reveals that he can't claim his vengeance.Close flashback: 14 years after his parents were killed, Bruce arrives at Wayne Manor from Princeton University; he's come home for Joe Chill's parole hearing. Alfred still manages the house and expresses his concern over Bruce. Rachel is now an Assistant District Attorney and takes Bruce to the hearing. Unknown to her, Bruce is concealing a revolver, with which he plans to shoot Chill if he is released.In the hearing, Chill expresses remorse for the murder of Bruce's parents and is given parole should he testify against his cellmate, gang boss Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). However, before Bruce can act, a female assassin posing as a reporter comes up with a pistol in hand and shoots Chill. Bruce watches as Chill bleeds to death and the assassin is arrested.Driving away after the incident, Rachel lectures Bruce afterward on the difference between justice and revenge and reveals that Gotham City is still suffering because of Falcone's illegal drug empire. Rachel then slaps him harshly when he reveals that he was planning to shoot Chill. She tells him that his father would be ashamed of him.Bruce, convinced that he has nothing to lose, makes his way to a bar in the Gotham underworld to confront Falcone. Falcone brags about his control over the city's police and judges, even pointing out who he has in his pockets who is present. He then threatens Rachel and Alfred to prove that Bruce does have a lot to lose. His thugs beat up Bruce and he leaves. Left no other choice but to run away, Bruce stows away aboard a cargo ship leaving the port.Bruce is then shown in China stealing food to survive and eventually getting involved in gangster operations in order to infiltrate them. He is then arrested - ironically, in the act of stealing Wayne Enterprises crates - and sent to the prison Ducard discovered him in at the beginning.Present: When Bruce reaches a skill level in which he is an equal to the majority in the League, he faces Ducard in combat. However, he is exposed beforehand to the vapors of the blue flower he brought up to the mountain earlier. The smoke distorts his senses and makes him hallucinate about bats, his greatest fear. Bruce overcomes his phobia and employs a clever trick to best Ducard in a sword fight, passing the trial.Ra's al Ghul sends for him and Ducard. Ra's puts Bruce to one final task before becoming a full member of the League. The task is to execute a prisoner of the League -- a man who has stolen his neighbour's land and killed them. Bruce refuses -- when Ducard tells him that his compassion will be a weakness, Bruce tells him that it's too important to simply deny. Ra's reveals to Bruce that he has been trained in order to lead the League to Gotham City, which is corrupted by evil to such an extent that it must be razed. Bruce sets a diversion, and lights the League's headquarters on fire and is forced to fight al Ghul while the the rest of the League escapes the wreckage to safety. Ducard is knocked out by Bruce who then manages to fend off Ra's, who is killed instantly when a roof beam collapses on him. Bruce picks up an unconscious Ducard and rescues him from the building as it explodes. Bruce leaves Ducard in the care of a villager.Bruce contacts Alfred, who arrives in a private jet to pick him up. Alfred reveals that Bruce, who has been away for seven years, has been legally declared dead by William Earle so that Earle can take Wayne Enterprises public. Bruce says it's a good thing he willed everything to Alfred, who jokes that Bruce is welcome to borrow the Rolls-Royce....so long as he brings it back with a full tank. Bruce explains to Alfred a plan he has to fight the Gotham underworld by taking on a new persona, which all criminals will fear.In Gotham, a serial killer named Victor Zsaz (Tim Booth), who is allegedly insane, is being transferred from a regular prison to the Arkham Asylum on the opinion of Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy). Rachel challenges Crane since Zsaz is yet another one of Falcone's thugs that Crane has had moved to the Asylum and away from prison, and goes unnoticed due to Falcone's corrupt influence. Dr. Crane meets with Falcone later on that night and demands that Rachel be dealt with. When Falcone refuses, Crane threatens him with the knowledge that his unknown boss is coming to the city -- Falcone is clearly intimidated by the mention of Crane's employer.Holed up in Wayne Manor, Bruce begins to work out what has happened since he has been away. While doing so he spots a bat flying around the ceiling. He goes back to the abandoned well and climbs down. Through the crack in which the bats appeared when he was attacked in his childhood, Bruce finds a huge cave filled with bats, which is connected to the lowest foundations of Wayne Manor. Coming to terms with his fear he establishes the cave as his base of operations.Bruce decides to announce his return and reports to Wayne Enterprises, where he makes a dramatic entrance to his own company's building by seducing a secretary into playing office golf. Earle, clearly shocked, warns him that he cannot prevent the company from going public at this later stage. Bruce explains that he is not bothered by this and that all he wants is a job, preferably in Applied Sciences.Earle sets this up and Bruce goes to meet his new 'boss', his father's best friend Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). Fox explains to Bruce that the Applied Sciences Department is a dead end, where Earle can reassign employees he considers troublemakers. Fox introduces Bruce to some of the equipment he's invented, that Bruce finds worthy. One is a special bulletproof Nomex survival suit, a Kevlar suit that will stop knives and any gun but a straight shot. It was meant for military use, but it apparently never caught on because the Army didn't think soldiers' lives were worth the $300,000 cost. Other items Fox shows to Bruce include a grappling gun and a safety harness. Bruce casually asks Fox if he can 'borrow' the gear for spelunking. Fox allows it, considering all the equipment to belong to Bruce anyway, though he is curious why Bruce is expecting to run into a lot of gunfire in the caves he's exploring.Bruce continues to explore the cave where he and Alfred find the lower foundations of the southeast wing of Wayne Manor and an old elevator shaft leading back up the house. Bruce also begins to modify the battle suit he borrowed adding bat-shaped gauntlets and spray-painting it a dark black.A few nights later, Bruce dons a ski mask and the grappling gear, goes to the police station, and breaks into Gordon's office, recognizing Gordon, who since we last saw him has been promoted to sergeant, to be one of the city's few incorruptible cops. By threatening him with a staple gun behind his back, Bruce questions Gordon on what it would take to bring Falcone to justice. Gordon responds that leverage on the corrupt Judge Faden and a D.A. brave enough to prosecute will be needed. Bruce tells him to watch for his sign, then escapes by jumping off the roof across to the next building, injuring himself in the process. Gordon tries to give chase, but it proves worthless to chase a random nut.Bruce realizes now that he needs a lightweight fabric to make a glider wing or parachute. He goes back to Fox and asks if there is any technology there that would suit him for 'BASE-jumping.' Fox shows him a special material called memory cloth, which is designed so that the molecules realign to form any type of rigid shape when an electric current passes through it. Bruce then takes interest in a tank-like vehicle called the Tumbler. As he drives it around an open warehouse floor, Fox explains that it was built as a bridging vehicle for the army. It is able to accelerate to high speeds, is tricked out with a variety of gadgets and weapons, and has a booster rocket that can send the vehicle into a "rampless" jump. At the end of the session, Fox asks Bruce what he thinks of the Tumbler. Bruce only has one question: "Does it come in black?"Back in the cave, Bruce adds further modifications to his suit, adding a radio transmitter, a cowling, the memory cloth, and a utility belt. He makes steel shurikens in the shape of a bat. He explains to Alfred that he has chosen the bat as his symbol because bats frighten him and it's time that his "enemies shared his dread."At the docks, Falcone and a corrupt police officer, Arnold Flass (Mark Boone Junior), are watching Falcone's thugs unload a shipment of drugs from an inbound cargo ship. The drugs are concealed in toys -- stuffed bears and rabbits. The bears are to go to the drug dealers and the rabbits to a mystery man in the Narrows -- a poverty-stricken area of Gotham overrun by crime. However, three of the thugs mysteriously vanish leaving nothing but a loud scream as they vanish into the darkness. As the others investigate, more disappear. The Batman quickly disposes of the remaining thugs and attacks Falcone.Gordon and his officers arrive to find the drugs and disarmed thugs at the scene and Falcone bound to a searchlight with his coat cut in such a way as to produce the shadow of a bat in the night sky.Meanwhile, Rachel is getting off a monorail train, while being shadowed by two of Falcone's thugs. She notices one and threatens him with a taser. He runs in fear when he sees Batman beating up the second thug. As Rachel turns she screams at the sight of Batman. He produces photographs compromising Judge Faden and then disappears as a police officer shows up.The news the next day of a 'Batman' has the whole city talking. Loeb is not happy that a vigilante is doing the job the police are meant to do, in spite of Gordon's defense that the vigilante did hand them Falcone on a platter. Rachel and the D.A.'s office decide that there is enough evidence to put Falcone on trial despite it been given to them by a vigilante.Alfred wakes Bruce up at 3:00pm in the afternoon, despite Bruce's pleas for more sleep, and then frets over the bruises and injuries that he has taken the previous night. He informs Bruce that he must live the life he would normally in public in order not to raise suspicion - doing such things as drive exotic sports cars, date movie stars, buy things that are not for sale, etc.Earle, meanwhile, gets word that a Wayne Tech Enterprise weapon, a microwave emitter, has been stolen from one of their cargo ships, and the crew of said ship has apparently been killed. The emitter is another military weapon, which uses focused microwaves to vaporize an enemy's water supply.Bruce takes Alfred's advice quite to the extreme. This starts with him going to a Wayne Enterprises party at a hotel with two female escorts, who almost get Bruce kicked out by bathing in the decorative fountain, a situation Bruce resolves by writing a check and purchasing the hotel on the spot. There he meets Rachel for the first time since returning from China. Although he tries to convince her that the way he is acting isn't really him, she tells him that "it's not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you."Falcone has cut his wrists in prison to bolster his insanity plea and enable a move to Arkham Asylum. Dr. Crane is brought in to assess his "insanity". Once they're alone, Falcone demands that Dr. Crane move him in return for Falcone not suggesting the police have a closer look at the drugs he has been trafficking for Dr. Crane. Dr. Crane thinks for a moment about what to do. He then asks Falcone if he wants to see the mask he uses in his experiments at the Asylum, which he says the patients can't stand. He pulls a burlap-sack mask out of his briefcase. He releases gas from his suitcase and puts on the mask, which acts as an air filter. Falcone screams with fear at the hallucinations caused by the gas. Dr. Crane is next seen leaving the room with his masked stored away, while Falcone's screams can still be heard. Dr. Crane tells the warden that Falcone isn't faking and should be moved to the Asylum.The following night Batman pays a visit to Gordon and tells him that only half the drugs brought in on Falcone's ship were to be sent to the dealers. He and Gordon conclude that it would help to interrogate Flass, who Batman identified at the docks making his escape. Flass is pickpocketing money from a falafel vendor on the street. As he walks away into a narrow alley, he springs a trap and is flown upside-down to the rooftops, suspended from Batman's grappling cord. Threatened by Batman, Flass tells him about the bear and rabbit shipments, that the rabbits make their way to the Narrows, and that there is some other substance hidden in the rabbits. Batman returns Flass to the ground and disappears. Meanwhile, Rachel's boss, Carl Finch, is quietly murdered by an assassin disguised as a police officer when he finds Wayne Enterprises' missing microwave emitter in one of Falcone's containers.Batman makes his way back to the Narrows and finds an apartment stuffed with cuddly rabbit toys stuffed with the drugs. At that moment Dr. Crane and two of his men enter and Batman hides. At Dr. Crane's orders, the thugs douse gasoline around the apartment. Batman comes out of hiding and beats the two thugs. Dr. Crane, wearing his burlap mask, emerges and gasses him with the same gas he used on Falcone, using gas cylinders hidden in his shirt cuffs. Batman falls helplessly to the floor and scrambles around hallucinating bats and his parents' death. Dr. Crane douses him in gasoline while taunting him. He then lights a cigarette lighter and throws it at Batman's chest, causing his suit to burst into flames. Batman throws himself out of the window into the rain swept streets of the Narrows and hits the street with a thud. Desperately rolling around he puts out the flames, to the shock of the on-lookers, and then stumbles about trying to get his grapple gun. He fires the gun upwards and is carried to to a nearby rooftop. From there he grabs his communicator and calls for Alfred to help him. He's still suffering from the hallucinations. Alfred arrives and takes Batman into the car and drives him to the Manor. Batman tells him to 'take poison...blood...blood poison', before passing out.Hearing his father's voice asking 'Bruce, why do we fall?", Bruce wakes up in his bed as if from a nightmare. Alfred reveals that he has been unconscious for two days and that today is his birthday -- 'many happy returns.' Bruce tells him that he has felt the effects of whatever Dr. Crane used on him before but not as strongly. Fox comes in and warns Bruce against 'hanging out in the wrong nightclubs' and after making a point of how hard he has worked to save Bruce, explains that he has created an antidote to the toxic gas. When asked if he could make any more of the antidote, Fox expresses concern that Bruce is willing to 'go back to the same club' and gas himself again, but he promises to bring what he has. He also explains that the antidote will inoculate people against the toxin.Rachel turns up at the Manor to give Bruce his birthday present and to apologize that she can't make his birthday party that night. Her boss has been missing for two days; she jokes bitterly about searching the river for his body. She cuts away from the conversation as she get a text message informing her that Falcone has been moved from prison to Arkham on Dr. Crane's orders. She rushes off to challenge Dr. Crane's decision. Knowing the she is in danger from Dr. Crane, Bruce changes to Batman, despite the guests who will soon arrive for his party.Rachel arrives at Arkham and watches Falcone -- now genuinely insane -- mumbling the word "Scarecrow" over and over. When she questions Dr. Crane on the meaning of scarecrow, Dr. Crane explains that a significant number of inmates focus their paranoia on an external tormentor, such as a scarecrow. Both are unaware that Batman is listening from outside. When Rachel demands that Falcone be evaluated by Dr. Lehmann, the court's psychiatrist, Dr. Crane leads her into the lower floors of the Asylum, where he reveals inmates who are pouring a toxin into the water pipes below. Rachel runs for it but Dr. Crane catches her, now wearing his burlap mask, and gasses her with his toxin. A terrified Rachel is interrogated by Dr. Crane in the basement. Suddenly the lights go out. Dr. Crane acknowledges that the Batman has arrived. He tells the guards not to worry about Rachel as she has been given a concentrated dose and will not last long, but to phone the police. He explains that the police can't stop the toxin, but Batman might -- unless the police stop him first.Although Dr. Crane's henchmen are prepared, Batman appears in the basement and overcomes them all easily. He gasses Crane with his own toxin. He interrogates Dr. Crane, who lets slip that he is working for Ra's al Ghul before passing out. Batman picks up Rachel and takes her high up on the landing before the huge stairway at Arkham's entrance. The police arrive. Not willing to wait for backup in the form of a SWAT team as Flass is, Gordon goes into the building and is grabbed by Batman. The SWAT teams arrive. Batman explains to Gordon that he needs to get Rachel to his hideout so he can give her the antidote to the toxin. But Batman can't escape the SWAT team while carrying Rachel, so he asks Gordon carry her to the alley outside on the Narrows side. He then activates a device in the heel of his boot, which emits a high-pitched scream. Gordon takes Rachel down the stairway as the SWAT crew raids the building. As they begin to set up, a huge swarm of bats breaks into the building in response to Batman's signal. With bats everywhere distracting the SWAT officers, Batman drops from the stairway using his cape to land safely. He breaks into the prisoners' area, courteously apologizing for disturbing the inmates, and uses explosives to break outside. There he meets Gordon and takes Rachel from him.Batman refuses further help from Gordon, knowing he can't take him too, and gets into the Tumbler. He hurries Rachel back to the Manor, with police cars and helicopters in hot pursuit. A very dramatic car chase ensues as Batman weaves through parking garage ramps, over church roofs, underground tunnels, and highways, destroying multiple police cars with evasive manuevers and caltrops to blow out their tires, and makes it back to the cave. He finds that Fox has delivered three vials of the toxin antidote, one of which he uses to save Rachel.Gordon gets a report from the detectives studying the toxin in the water. Gotham's whole water system is laced with the stuff; it must have taken weeks to prepare the material. No one has noticed anything up to now because the toxin apparently has no effect unless it's inhaled.Meanwhile, Rachel wakes up inside the cave and Batman explains what has happened. He tells her he is going to sedate her and when she wakes up she will be at home with the two remaining vials of the antidote. She must get them to Gordon -- one for him to inoculate himself and one for mass production. He sedates her and gets changed for his party.Bruce tells Alfred about Rachel and asks him to take her home. He goes to the party downstairs to a chorus of Happy Birthday. He meets Earle ,who tells him that the stock offering was a success; the buyers were mostly trusts and brokerages. Bruce finds Fox and thanks him for the antidote vials that he delivered. Bruce then tells him what has happened. Fox interrupts that the water won't help disperse an inhalant. He stops and thinks. He says the stolen the microwave emitter could vaporize all the water in the mains, releasing the toxin. He reveals that he has been fired by Earle for asking too many questions about it. Bruce asks him to break into Wayne Enterprises and begin making more antidote.Bruce is carted off unwillingly to another section of the party by Mrs. Delane. When she insists that he must meet a man called Ra's al Ghul, she suddenly has Bruce's attention. As the figure turns around, it is clearly not Ra's. Bruce whispers that he watched Ra's die. A familiar voice from behind asks 'but is Ra's al Ghul immortal? Are his methods supernatural?' Bruce turns around to the sight of Henri Ducard. Bruce thinks slowly before figuring out that Ducard is the true Ra's and the man Bruce fought back at the League of Shadows HQ was a decoy. Ra's muses that they both have double identities. He then lectures Bruce on the weakness of compassion. Even though Bruce had saved his life, he will still destroy Gotham.Ra's gives Bruce a chance to get the innocent guests out of the house, which he does by acting drunk and insulting them. After Bruce demands his guests leave him in peace, he and Ra's walk together. Ra's explains that Crane's fear toxin is derived from the blue flowers back in China and that he found a way of weaponising it. Crane, however, is not a member of the League of Shadows and his idea of the plan was that they would hold the city to ransom. Ra's explains that Gotham must be destroyed because of how corrupt it is -- which he illustrates by explaining that the League of Shadows has infiltrated every level of its infrastructure. The scene is intercut with a series of shots showing members of the League disguised as officials and police officers releasing people from Arkham -- including Victor Zsaz and Crane, who, still under the effects of his own fear toxin, only mumbles 'scarecrow.'Back at the Manor, Ra's offers Bruce one last chance to join and help the League, which Bruce refuses, claiming that there are still good people in the city and that Gotham isn't beyond saving. Ra's nods to other League members, who set fire to the mansion. Ra's explains that Gotham has been attacked by the League before through economics, which caused the depression when Bruce was a child. Ra's hoped that the city would destroy itself through the unequal distribution of wealth, however certain members of the rich families, such as Bruce's parents, donated money to help Gotham recover. But Ra's is back to the finish the job. With this Ra's attacks Bruce and pushes him in the way of a falling beam which pins an unconscious Bruce to the floor. With Wayne Manor burning around him Ra's says 'Justice is balance. You burned down my house and left me for dead. Consider us even.'Meanwhile the Narrows is in a state of panic as hundreds of rapists and murders are freed from the Asylum. Rachel wakes up in her bed with the two vials of antidote.Alfred arrives back at Wayne Manor and uses a golf club to knock out a League member guarding the house. Praying that the man was not a member of the fire department, Alfred rushes into the burning house and rouses Bruce. Managing to free himself, Bruce is led to the cave by Alfred as the house collapses.Alfred inspects Bruce for injuries as Bruce is torn about the destruction of his father's house. Alfred tells him that the Wayne legacy is more than bricks and mortar and quotes Thomas Wayne: 'Why do we fall, sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up.'Police in full strength are moving from central Gotham across the bridge to the Narrows island. Rachel, being a D.A., is allowed to pass. She finds Gordon and gives him the antidote. Gordon explains that they are going to raise the bridges to the island and they need to get Rachel off before they do.One last SWAT van is allowed over to the Narrows secretly carrying Ra's, a handful of his henchmen and the microwave emitter. A train, on the overhead Wayne line is stopped by the League where the Microwave emitter is being prepared to be hoisted up to it. While the drawbridges are raised, Ra's sets off the machine causing all of the water in the pipes below the streets to vaporize and blow the pipes open in the Narrows. The toxin is released and affects everyone in the Narrows including the escaped convicts and the police alike. Gordon inoculates himself with the antidote and finds a fearful Flass ready to shoot two innocent and equally frightened teenagers. Gordon knocks him out and handcuffs him to a railing. Meanwhile the few remaining people of the Gotham Police force wonder what is going on.The Narrows begins to tear itself apart. In the streets, people violently attack one another. Rachel is confronted by Crane on a horse whose previous rider, a riot cop, is dragged behind. Wearing his burlap mask, Crane announces to her his new alias, 'the Scarecrow.'Gordon requests reinforcements but to his dismay he is told that all of the riot police are already on the island and there is no one left to send. Suddenly the Tumbler shoots across the gap from Gotham to the Narrows. Batman explains to Gordon that Ra's intends to use the train to carry the microwave emitter to Wayne Tower. When the train reaches Wayne Tower at the center of Gotham, the microwave emitter will vaporise the contents of all the water mains, covering the whole city with the toxin. He asks Gordon for help and gives him the key to the Tumbler.The Scarecrow is about to run down Rachel. She fires her taser and hits him in the face. His horse carries him away screaming. Rachel is surrounded by a dozen inmates from Arkham, including the serial killer Mr. Zasz, carrying a knife. Batman jumps from above them, cracking Zasz over the head, picks up Rachel and carries her to a rooftop and to safety. As Batman leaves her she asks him who he is. He replies 'It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me' -- quoting her own words back at her. She says 'Bruce?' as he jumps from the rooftop and uses his memory cloth cape as a glider. As he seemingly flies in the air, the fearful people below shriek in terror as their hallucinations warp the sight of him. Gordon orders the main bridge to be lowered and starts up the Tumbler.Ra's is overseeing the madness below as his men fasten the microwave emitter into place on board the train. He spots Batman gliding towards him. Batman lands on the train platform. Ra's comments that he took his advice on theatricality a bit too literally and boards the train. Four members of the League appear and prevent Batman from pursuing. During the fight, Batman tries to uses his grapple hook to secure himself to the train but it is knocked out of his hand. The fight takes all participants down to the street floor where Batman manages to overcome all four League members. However he is ganged up on by dozens of terrified and angry citizens. As Ra's starts the train overhead, Batman finds his grapple gun and fires it at the train. He's dragged behind the train. Gordon meanwhile is following the Tumbler's GPS system toward Wayne Tower.As the bridges are lowered, Ra's's train breaks the water pipes, releasing the toxic gas. The Tumbler is not far behind. Batman manages to pull himself to the train. He smashes through one of the train windows and engages an infuriated Ra's. Batman takes Ra's sword and breaks it in two with his gauntlets. Distracting Ra's, he stabs the sword into the braking controls of the train. Gordon arrives at Wayne Tower. He arms the Tumbler's defense systems and fires missiles at a train rail foundation. With the train approaching Wayne Tower, Ra's gets the upper hand over Batman and taunts him: 'Don't be afraid, Bruce. You are just an ordinary man in a cape. That's why you couldn't fight injustice, that's why you can't stop this train.' Batman replies, 'who said anything about stopping it?' Ra's looks up and notices a half of his sword sticking in the brake control. As this happens Gordon destroys the foundation and breaks the railway line. With this distraction, Batman regains the upper hand and pins Ra's. Batman explains that he won't kill Ra's -- but he doesn't have to save him, either. He blows out the back end of the train car, throws himself out, and glides away. Ra's can only look up to watch the train propel itself off the line and into the street below. The microwave emitter gets damaged by the impact and explodes, destroying the whole train.The next day, Earle arrives at Wayne Enterprises to chair a meeting. He'd shocked to find that the meeting has already begun -- and is led by Fox, who reveals he has Earle's job.Bruce is in the back of his car reading a newspaper: Batman has made the front page and Bruce is on page 8 under the headline 'Drunken Billionaire Burns Down Home.' He takes a call from Earle, who asks on what authority Bruce can decide who runs Wayne Enterprises. Bruce states that he is the owner. Earle reminds him that the company has gone public. Bruce explains that he bought most of the shares through various trusts and brokerages. Fox agrees with Bruce's words, and asks Earle, "Didn't you get the memo?" in reference to the words Earle told him when firing him from AS.Back at Wayne Manor, Bruce is nailing boards over the old well in the garden when he is approached by Rachel. He apologizes for not telling her about his identity earlier. She apologizes for slapping him the day Chill died and for the horrible things that she said before he disappeared. Bruce tells her that what she said was true and that he was just a coward with a gun. He thanks her. She says that when she heard that he was back she began to hope. She moves closer towards him and kisses him. She then explains that she then found out about his mask -- his actual face. She explains that his true face is the cowl of Batman and that the boy she loved long ago never came back. But maybe one day they can be together when Batman is no longer needed. Bruce nods. Rachel tells him that she was wrong and that Bruce's father would be proud of him, just as she is.Alfred is walking through the rubble of the Manor and Rachel asks Bruce about what he will do. Bruce replies that he'll rebuild it just the way it was before. Rachel turns to leave. Alfred wonders if it's a good time to improve the foundations of the south-east corner. Bruce agrees and they walk off.That night, Batman meets Gordon, who reveals that he has recently been made a lieutenant. Gordon has also made a version of the signal that Batman had made with Falcone. Gordon talks about the escalation between law enforcement methods and criminal methods such as the police wearing Kevlar leading to criminals buying armor-piercing ammunition. He expresses concern that the city's dependence on Batman may have negative consequences. Gordon uses a recent case as an example. A criminal with a taste for theatrics has killed two people. The suspect leaves a calling card at the scene of each crime. Gordon gives Batman the evidence: a Joker playing card (see The Dark Knight). Batman says that he will look into it. Batman then assures Gordon that they can make Gotham safe again and he jumps from the roof and glides away.

dark, mystery, gothic, murder, neo noir, realism, stupid, thought-provoking, cult, revenge, violence, atmospheric, flashback, good versus evil, action, philosophical, comic, suspenseful

train

imdb

After the quality Tim Burton films, the series pretty much went down the toilet, beginning a horrifically campy age of 'Bat credit-cards' and an armored Arnold Schwarzenegger tossing cringe-worthy puns at a Batman who seemed to be trying not to be embarrassed by the fact that his costume had nipples. Nolan's knack for realism also comes as a breath of fresh air in this age of CGI bloated blockbusters - there are next to no computer generated shots in the movie, even a sequence with Batman standing on top of a high building staring down at the city was filmed with a stuntman. But don't think that the film will come across as too serious and stuffy because of Nolan's realism - true, Gotham seems too dark and dirty to come across as a fantasy world, but Batman Begins retains that unmistakable sense of fun that seems to only be present in comic book movies. What's not to love here?(and, further cudos to director Nolan for finally managing to make a swarm of bats actually frightening for once)Overall, I'd have to label Batman Begins 'The must see movie of the summer' - it's a well written, authoritatively directed, impeccably acted (especially by Bale's powerhouse lead performance and Cillian Murphy's sickly menacing Scarecrow) and very high quality production. Christopher Nolan (and cast) have pulled off what I hadn't dared to dream - a Batman every bit as good as Burton/Keaton's vision - and eradicated the camp, feverish memories of Clooney, Kilmer and (cough..) O'Donnell.The story is as good an origin story as you'll find - covering all the major (true-to-the-comic) events, and not wasting ages on them. We see Bruce come up with ideas for his symbol, his costume, his gadgets, his car, his cave - IT ALL FITS SO PERFECTLY.That's not all - Liam Neeson is perfect (as ever, when Lucas isn't writing his lines), Batman's first mad nemesis (the Scarecrow) is genuinely frightening; with some outstandingly scary 'fear' effects.. I am always blown away by Christian Bale, and this is no exception.The fights are great, the Bat-gadgets all there, the car is amazing, the plot is thorough and exciting, Gotham looks great, Batman really is frightening & menacing (and lethal!).. I was spoilt for choice as a kid but as an adult now I was concerned revisiting the franchise, especially given Warner's record over the last decade of screwing up summer blockbusters with potential all over the place (dare I bring up the Matrix sequels?)However, I am pleased to report I could not have been more wrong about how great Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins is. I wasn't sure a cast of big name legends like Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman and well known names like Liam Neeson and Katie Holmes wouldn't detract and distract from Batman. Cillian Murphy is creepy as hell, Liam Neeson is authoritative and imposing, Katie Holmes is strong and sexy (I particularly thought she'd be insipid, she should jettison Tom Cruise and let her talent - which she does have naysayers just watch Pieces Of April - speak for itself) and Michael Caine is an Alfred you've never seen but in fact far more likely as a butler than the aristocratic pomp with which he is usually portrayed. Only Tom Wilkinson is a little off with a slightly comedic wise-guy American accent that never really convinces.The emotional bond between Bruce Wayne and Alfred is actually a wonderful human heart to the film than Nolan and Goyer have written perfectly.Don't let that make you think the action is not front and centre though. From Wayne's training through the early stages of the film to his early missions as Batman at about the half way point to a thrillingly choreographed chase sequence and an edge of your seat finale this film delivers the cool quotient in bucket loads.Great villains (especially Murphy), great story, great cast, great action... Having been a big comic collector over the years and a long time fan of the Dark Knight, I was especially disappointed by 'Forever' and 'Batman and Robin'. To me, these film lost the essence of what drives Bruce Wayne to do what he does and turned Batman into more of a pop star than misunderstood hero.Thankfully though, Nolan has gone back to the roots of the character, portraying a confused and angry Bruce Wayne, who ultimately rises to become Gotham's greatest champion. This film is a credit to Bob Kane's original vision and a testament to all the talented artists and writers who keep the legend of the Dark Knight alive in the comic books today....Thank you Mr. Nolan and thank you Mr. Bale. Eventually, we even see his first real enemy as a superhero/vigilante.Although I am not positive as to how true to the comic book this movie is, I am sure it took a few liberties, as did Spider-Man. Most of the small examples I have noticed are for the better and make for a good story. I do not believe they could have found a better man for that role, although I could not get the image of Caine as Austin Powers' dad out of my head when he was on screen.Finally, in my opinion, Christian Bale makes a much better Batman than the three recent previous ones in Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney. Some of what's up there on screen really is the stuff of nightmares.Of the cast of Brits chosen to bring this American tale to the masses, Christian Bale convinces in his dual role, while Michael Caine as Alfred comes up with the humour just when the film is in danger of taking itself too seriously. BATMAN BEGINS lives up to what I heard about it being a "darker" version, with much less reliance on flippant one-liners or gags, the result being a more realistic feel for what might have been.From the very start, there is a nice chemistry between Alfred, the butler (superbly played by Michael Caine) and Bruce Wayne (excellent job by Christian Bale). Equally effective in lesser roles are Morgan Freeman, Rutger Hauer as the Board Chairman that Bruce Wayne ultimately replaces, and Gary Oldman.The story is forcefully presented with magnificent visuals and eye-popping sets that all have a realistic gleam and are yet stylized enough to give credence to the fact that this is all based on a comic strip character.I can't praise Christian Bale enough as the man who dons that mask. Michael Caine was a fabulous Alfred, and Morgan Freeman almost stole the show as Luscious Fox.Even though X-Men and Spiderman(all of them) are wonderful superhero movies, Batman Begins, is just a good, no, great movie. And I think that is what blew people away, that it wasn't just some superhero, special effect, hero gets girl, good guy wins movie, it was a truly dark and well crafted movie, and it maybe stupid to say, but it didn't even feel like you were watching a superhero movie.I don't even think Burton, and his animated style(which works), could have revived this troubled series, that Schumaker wrecked, because like Fantastic Four and Daredevil, tried over do it and give us the latter part of things.So, here is to you Chris Nolan. I had not seen this in the movie theater, but as with the first I started seeing bumper stickers and baseball caps and posters of the Batman Begins logos and the like, that's what let me know this was different, than the others. Batman, featuring Michael Keaton was a good film, keaton was a good batman, he portrayed the dark knight to a whole new army of fans, a darker batman, less camp, plus with a villain such as Jack Nicholson (turning in another great performance) as the Joker it was win win. Despite displaying some lethargy in its opening scenes, and suffering from some of the excesses so common in this genre of film, not only might you say it is the best of the Batman Franchise, so far, but also that it is definitely the best super-hero film ever!Director, Christopher Nolan, who dazzled with his amazing talent in the 2000 Cult Classic, MEMENTO, has assembled a formidable cast (Michael Caine, Liam Neesom, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson & Morgan Freeman, among others), an outstanding script and special effects all well focused in a film that transforms a two dimensional comic strip into a work of real depth! This is a film that describe's Batman as he was in the comics and i think as Bob Kane imagined...So how has Nolan done it..Simple..i've seen the xtras on the Region 2 DVD and it appears that he didn't rush anything and really worked hard on this and recruited the best of the best in the movie making business,it's an extremely hard character to portray and a risky franchise as a director to do a good job as Joel Schumacher found out. He has had some good films like The Lost Boys etc but his take on the Batman was purely a joke and i think he had potentially ruined a huge money making franchise...But however it has been saved with Nolan's amazing take on Gotham and Christian Bale's Dark Knight which truly is an amazing likeness to the comics,,,This film has everything that we wanted and more because it has a beginning a middle and an amazing end which makes batfan's itching for more and a sequel which promises just that,,,it has an all star cast too,Morgan Freeman and doing an amazing job in succeeding the great Michael Gough's Alfred we have Michael Caine..The villain is the Scarecrow but in true Gotham Style there are more corrupt going's on in Gotham than good and who are they gonna call to clean it up..Simple.....THE BATMAN...This film has more gadget's and lifelike special effects than any other Batman Film so it's definitely one to watch..Thanks and i hope you enjoy it as much as i did... The other movies didn't emphasize enough the true anger Bruce Wayne has towards those that commit to a life of evil, but in this movie, Batman, effectively played by Christian Bale, is clearly depicted as a man anxious to release his anger and frustration to avenge the death of his parents.Evil is definitely present in this movie. The depiction of the Scarecrow was amazing, possessing an evil presence unlike any other Batman villain.As much as I loved Tim Burton's work, and Michael Keaton's portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman, I'd have to say that the direction of Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale as Batman put together the best Batman movie ever made. Alfred, played by Michael Caine and Fox, played by Morgan Freeman, are both characters you'll be glad to have alongside Bruce Wayne.It really is refreshing to see Batman and to finally learn after decades who he really is. It is that damn good.Christian Bale plays the perfect Batman/Bruce Wayne. Almost always, the exchange between Bale and Caine where Christian tells him "You still haven't given up on me, have you?" Caine answers "Nevah." Morgan Freeman as Luscious Fox. Quite different from the character in the real Batman mythology (which for me is the comic books), but important nonetheless. Having her die at the end of the movie would have made an even better way to start the Begins sequel given Batman's occasional experiences with deaths that he feels responsible for. This is the best heroic movie ever produced, and it sets the stage to become the most phenomenal production the world will ever see.Additionally, Christian Bale is the best Bruce Wayne, and Batman I have ever seen on film. It has an awesome storyline to it and the cast is spectacular!I think that they made an excellent decision making Christian Bale play Batman, he's certainly good at it! I loved Batman and Batman Returns, Tim Burton's direction and Michael Keaton's Batman were really good, and seemed to be the best we were ever going to get.I'm glad to say that i was wrong, Christopher Nolan has taken the character of Batman to the very beginning, fleshing out the characters of both Bruce Wayne and Batman down to the finest details. Bale is supported by a wonderful cast, including Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and more, but i found Cillian Murphy's performance as Dr. Jonathon Crane to be one of the finest in the movie.Overall Batman begins is an very honest, detailed and compelling adaptation of the Batman character, that is worthy of the recognition it has received. Christian bale is by far the best batman till now and played both the roles of Bruce wayne and the caped crusader with great style and perfection.you can sense the terror in the voice of the batman, and for once the batman looks scary indeed. What makes this movie so great is the character development of Bruce Wayne and casts surrounding him being perfect. Sure the looks and the mood builds on the "Dark Knight" version of the Batman of the '90s, but this is more intelligently done, and every i's are dotted and t's crossed on it's plot, character depiction, and special gadgetry that Batman always flaunts.The part I especially like is the fact goodness of each character comes through despite the gloomy visuals of Gotham city. The final scenes set the film up perfectly for any sequels and all the while maintains the sense of realism and down to earthiness that Nolan promised.Batman Begins is well written, well-shot and combines amazing special effects, set design and acting to form a perfect final package. This is not the case with Batman Begins, it gives insight into each character's motivation and reasons for their actions, it does not expect the audience to blindly accept anything on face value.Well done to Goyer and Nolan for producing such an awesome movie. I won't go too much into the story, because I think it's best for people to go into this film knowing as little as possible.Christian Bale IS Bruce Wayne, and IS Batman. Screenwriter David Goyer and director Christopher Nolan have given us a film that treats the character with respect; a loud, thrilling masterpiece that doesn't insult your intelligence or bombard you with inappropriate campy antics.Christian Bale gives us a Batman that will scare the living crap out of you. It's a dark, serious film that leaves little room for humor, but some sneaks through in the form of some witty exchanges between loyal butler Alfred (a brilliant Michael Caine), and Bruce Wayne.This movie is awesome and a complete triumph for DC, Warner Brothers, Nolan, and everyone else involved.. As Ducard made his way to Gotham, not enough time was left for him to wreak havoc and again I can' be too harsh since the movie had a lot of ground to cover and understandably not enough time to simultaneously improve and originate on every level.On it's own Batman Begins was a good effort, compared to last two films it was flawless, but the fact that it could evolve from this form to something better, is a notion that keeps me leaning on the good side of things rather than the not so good.. This is a great pity for a film whose reputation suggested to me it was going to be much better than a simple Summer blockbuster/franchise movie Christopher Nolan is a good director , though the recent hype with INCEPTION with claims that he's " the greatest director of his generation " might leave him with some baggage . Everything works dramatically, from the training scene in act 1 to the transformation into the Batman in act 2, and to the grand finale at the end of act 3.Christian Bale nails the roles as Bruce Wayne and Batman (he just about nails every role he's in) He plays it straight and adds a scary as hell voice to an already brooding Dark Knight!The rest of the cast is exceptional! My review on Batman Begins: Director: Christopher Nolan (Greatly known for "Following" and "Memento") Cast: Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Katie Holmes (Rachel Dawes), Michael Caine (Alfred), Liam Neeson (Ducard). I thought the movie was fantastic, I enjoyed every part of this film and thought Christian Bale did a brilliant job of playing the dark knight. The film shows a man fighting for his home town and fighting for which everything his parents build up, although to protect the town of Gotham and the people in it Bruce Wayne/Batman has to go to extreme lengths and risk his life to save the town that he loves and which his parents built.The actors in this film such as Chrisphother Nolan give of a brilliant performance. And, surprise surprise, here it is - a good Batman movie, with great Christian Bale as Bruce W., and fantastic Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon (he finally got a positive character, that nut). This film is not that good as The Dark Knight but much better than earlier Batman movies. Christopher Nolan makes this into a very dark and brooding tale that tells more about Bruce Wayne than Batman, something the other movies would never have done. Excellent direction...this movie does what it sets out to do...shows you just how Bruce Wayne became the "Dark Knight", and makes you actually care about his personal conflicts and resolve to set things right in old Gotham.Put it this way...when Christian Bale says, "I'm Batman!" you're glad you're not the person he's saying it to!And the special effects are dead on. If you are, however, a true Batman fan (by that I mean you have read your share of Bat comics and genuinely appreciate the character), this film will blow your mind.First off, let me say that Goyer and Nolan do take a lot of "artistic license" with the origin story; though is such a thing possible with a story that has been retold countless times? Batman Begins is by far the best comic based movie I've ever seen.

tt0051174

Voodoo Woman

The title and credits are shown over an African village of native dancers. The opening scene shows a native girl, Zuranda (Jean Davis) participating in a ritual and placed on a table. A voodoo doll is placed on her chest. A chicken is waved over her and placed on her stomach and killed. Participating in the ritual is Dr. Roland Gerard (Tom Conway). He draws a sample of her blood.In the doctor's hut, Bobo, the houseboy (Otis Greene) enters and opens the blinds. He startles Susan Gerard (Mary Ellen Kay), the doctor's wife. Susan tries to bribe Bobo to help her escape her husband, but he fears the doctor's wrath. The hut is like a prison with bars on all the windows. Outside sits a guard, Gander (Emmett E. Smith). When Susan gets too close to the bars she gets a little too close to Gander's spear and she retreats inside. The ritual continues with Dr. Gerard and Chaka, the Witch Doctor (Martin Wilkins).In a bar, Rick Brady (Lance Fuller) and Marilyn Blanchard (Marla English) wait to approach a potential business partner. The bartender, Marcel Chateau (Paul Dubov) assists them in their scheme. Marilyn cozies up to Harry West (Norman Willis) at his table. They know and dislike each other, but they agree to a business venture. Marilyn tells Harry she intends to marry Rick. Rick and Marilyn leave the table after exchanging a few more barbs with Harry. They walk back to the bar and annoy Marcel and have a drink. She tells Marcel she's going to Harry's room and to distract their "business partner." Marcel tells Yvette, the singer (Giselle DArc) to keep Harry occupied with a song. Marcel helps himself to his own product. Rick and Marilyn rifle Harry's room. They are looking for a map of the location of a tribe that has enormous amounts of gold and jewels. Harry notices his "business partners" have left. For $5 Marcel sells Harry a gun. Harry is unaware his weapon doesn't work, but Marilyn does. Harry returns to his room to find Rick and Marilyn examining a gold statue studded with diamonds and rubies. Harry's gun malfunctions, but Marilyn's works fine and she uses it to kill Harry. They continue to search Harry's room. It seems Harry had made arrangements before his untimely death to secure the services of a guide to find the tribe and collect the gold and jewels. That much Rick and Marilyn know.At the ritual, the girl's feet change. She changes into some kind of blond hairy creature, but we don't get a very good look. The witch doctor tells Dr. Gerard the change is only temporary. Zuranda is the daughter of the priest in the next village, so the tribe is responsible for her safety. Gerard wants to take Zuranda with him, but Chaka objects. Gerard finally convinces Chaka to let her leave, but just about that time Zuranda changes back to a native girl. Gerard wants the change to be permanent.Marcel comes to Harry's room to tell Rick and Marilyn that Harry's funeral is over. For a percentage Marcel arranges such things. He informs Rick and Marilyn there is a considerable fee due and payable. They are waiting for the guide, and since it was arranged by mail, Rick will impersonate Harry. The guide, Ted Bronson (Mike Connors, credited at Touch Connors) arrives at the bar and meets Marilyn. He is suspicious of her motives, but he needs the money.The next day they plan their trip. The three start their trek through the jungle complete with bearers. They decide to make camp just outside the voodoo territory. Gerard has returned to his lab with Zuranda. She screams which upsets his wife back in the hut. Susan enters the lab, against standing orders. Before he can send Susan back to her room, he informs his wife, "I'm using her to create a new being, not man, not beast, but a combination of the best of each. When I'm finished we'll take her back to the States with us. We'll shatter the very foundations of Science." Susans reply is terse, "You're insane." Gerard reminds her if she tries to escape he'll kill her. Zuranda again transforms. She has claws like a panther. The creature (Paul Blaisdell) is directed telepathically to go to the village. It destroys a hut and chases the couple with the baby inside off into the jungle. But Zuranda has serious qualms about harming anyone, and transforms back into her human form.Resting in the camp, Marilyn asks Ted about voodoo. Marilyn is drawn to the drums and tells Ted she's going to the north country. Ted informs her it will be without him. The next day Gerard approaches the village and is stopped by the natives until Chaka intervenes. Chaka confronts Gerard with the evidence he made Zuranda attack her own village. Chaka wants her back and Gerard agrees. He is told she will never kill because it is not in her nature to do so. Gerard departs. Ted and Rick get into a fight over Rick's trying to shoot a native scout. Ted is victorious and takes Rick's rifle. But the native village now knows of the white man's presence. Gerard takes his wife down to the lab to see Zuranda. Susan thinks she's dead. But Gerard explains that she is between life and death--a state of pre-transformation. Gerard smears blood on a doll and then tells Zuranda to get up and walk around the room. Zuranda complies. He injects her with a substance that turns her skin into armor plating. Gerard fires a gun at Zuranda and the bullets bounce off. Even acid has no effect when poured on her leg. Susan accuses her husband of being crazy and gets a slap across the face for it.Ted confesses to Marilyn that he thought she was poison the minute they met, but took the job because he needed the money. He asks for a straight answer, what are they looking for? She makes him a bargain--a 50/50 deal. She wants gold and badly. He agrees to take her as far as Bandaleya. She pulls a gun on Ted and takes his gun. She informs Ted he's going with her and Rick.When Bobo tries to take a message from Susan to the party approaching he is killed by Gander. When Ted tries to escape, Marilyn ties him up. Rick leaves looking for the village. Gerard is looking for Ted, Rick, and Marilyn. He has Zuranda with him in her transformed state. Gerard finds the camp and directs Zuranda to kill, but she is unable and retreats and transforms back into human form. Gerard admits that Chaka was right, he can't make her kill. He sends her back to her village. Rick finds the markings on the native totem pole which confirms they have the correct village. Ricks accosts Zuranda. She screams and bites Rick. He hits her and kills her. He walks back to camp and wakes Marilyn. He tells her they've found the village. Gerard and Chaka find Zuranda's body. Chaka informs Gerard, "White man die for this." Gerard agrees, until Chaka informs him that all white men, "You too." They go to the camp and capture Rick, Ted, and Marilyn. They want the one who killed Zuranda. Marilyn rats out Rick. The bite on his hand is the evidence. Chaka insists Rick be executed by a white man, so Marilyn shoots Rick twice killing him. Dr. Gerard cuts Ted loose and they agree to stay with Gerard for a few days until things calm down with the villagers. Of course, Gerard has plans. Marilyn tells Gerard, "It's lucky meeting up with you. I've got a hunch I can use you in my business." Smirking uncontrollably, Gerard slyly replies, "I'm almost positive that I can use you in mine." They go back to Gerard's hut. Gerard takes Marilyn on a tour of the lab. He surmises, correctly, that gold is Marilyn's real interest in the village. He tells her he will arrange to make her a priestess. "Then you can have anything you'd like." Susan is locked in her room, but she has a rifle. She leaves her room and Ted notices her. They talk and she returns to her room. Gander keeps Ted inside the hut.At the village, they prepare for another ritual. Gerard and Marilyn arrive. Gerard convinces Chaka to use Marilyn for the ritual. They return the next day, and Marilyn is dressed in native garb for the ritual. Gander falls asleep and Ted goes to the lab. He checks around then leaves to get Susan in her room. Gander wakes and goes outside. He hears Susan and Ted talking. He captures Ted. Chaka and Gerard work on Marilyn. She transforms into the monster. Chaka pulls a ritual knife on Gerard so he takes Marilyn back to his hut after she transforms back into human form. Gerard takes Gander away from guarding Ted for a little task. Unguarded, Ted goes to see Susan. He grabs a knife and departs. In the lab, Gerard preps Marilyn for her new role as his monster/slave. Ted bolts the hut with Gander in hot pursuit. Just before Susan can escape, Gerard arrives with his monster. Susan shoots it with no effect. The monster picks Susan up and takes her in the direction of the village. Ted manages to kill Gander. Gerard escorts his wife the final distance to Chaka as the white sacrifice Chaka demands.Ted finds traces of Susan at the hut and hears Susan's screams at the village. He is captured by natives and brought to the village to be added to the sacrifice pile. Susan and Ted are tied up by next to a volcanic steam vent. Gerard calls his monster to come get her gold. Gerard is led away to be tied up with Ted and Susan. Ted and Susan manage to slip their ropes and get away as the monster attacks the village. Gerard orders the monster to kill Chaka--He is thrown into the pit. The monster discovers that all the ritual vessels are made of clay, not gold. Gerard informs the monster that the only gold item was the idol that went into the pit with Chaka. The monster feels betrayed and chokes Gerard. The monster returns to human form, now Marilyn. She sees the golden idol near the pit and approaches it. She bends down to retrieve it and falls into the pit, screaming. Ted and Susan return to the lab and mix up a couple of molotov cocktails. They use them to scare the natives and escape.At the bar, Marcel and Yvette are rolling a drunk for his wallet. Yvette gets her cut. Ted and Susan arrive just in time for the bus to town. Marcel asks about Marilyn and Rick and is told they are dead. Marcel comments, "Her friend perhaps is dead, but not Marilyn. I have a feeling that one still lives." We close at the pit/steam vent as the creature crawls out.

murder

train

imdb

Let's face it, this is a pretty bad film.However if you go in ready to make fun of it you can survive the experience.Okay, you'll scream in agony a lot.African jungle fun in a dopey kind of way.Tom Conway (who spends most of the film wearing a funky chapeau) is using the local witch doctor and mad science to create a "perfect" being.It looks like a varmint that has been on a six week drunk and is in a sack dress.Ugly is being kind.But it won't kill for him because he's using a good girl as his subject.He needs a bad bad girl.Marla English and Lance Fuller are two petty crooks in search of African gold.Acting lessons for Ms English should have been at the top of the search list.She's a bad girl and lets everybody know it in a performance worthy of a junior high school play.Mike "Touch" Connors is the white guide English & Fuller con into leading the expedition.English & Conway finally meet and it is a match made in hell.She is the perfect subject to become his voodoo creature because she'll do anything (stress anything) to get what she wants.You will do anything to stop the agony of this movie at this point.What made this movie interesting for me was Conway wearing that funky tribal hat/headdress/floral piece!Still trying to figure out what kind of dead animal it was.Guess he thought if he pulled it down low enough over his eyes nobody would recognize him.Truly bad cinema.. Random thoughts that popped into my head while watching "Voodoo Woman":1) Poor Tom Conway. He pretty much carries the movie, but he should have carried it straight out the door and into the dumpster.4) The lead female - someone should have gently taken her aside and told her the difference between "tough noir temptress" and "irritating, hateful harpy". She actually looked pretty good in the role, but every time she opened her mouth, I wanted to punch her.6) The final scene where the murderous harpy tries to retrieve the final remaining chunk of gold from the edge of the volcanic pit where it came to rest, only to lose her balance and fall in...is the single most badly staged and unbelievable choreography of a "fall" I can remember seeing. Apparently it never occurred to the poor lady to bend her knees.7) This wasn't nearly as bad as earlier AIP fodder like "Beast With A Million Eyes", and I am sure someone had fun watching it as the bottom half of a Drive in double feature...but 40+ years down the road, it has not aged well. Good AIP/Corman stuff almost always had the germ of something interesting and creative driving them...but this poor cast- off just comes off trite, rote, and derivative.8) At the end of the day, people who were trying to make a living in the movie business got paid. Tom Conway portrays Dr. Gerard, a scientist who is turning natives into a monster using voodoo. His poor wife, played by Mary Ellen Kay, is being held captive by her wacko hubby who has no time for her but threatens to kill her if she leaves him. Along comes Marla English as a greedy murderess who has already killed a man to find treasure in the jungle. Dismal cheapie from AIP that stars a rough-looking Tom Conway as a mad scientist in the jungle using voodoo to turn women into monsters. Marla English makes for a fun bitch; she's easily the highlight of the movie. Mike Connors is the "hero" who exists just to give the mad scientist's put-upon wife (Mary Ellen Kay) a stud to walk into the sunset with. The monster suit for the 'voodoo woman' is the same as the suit from The She-Creature with some minor changes. "Voodoo Woman" is a super-cheap film from American-International Pictures. Now you know it's cheap as instead of giving the project to Roger Corman (who had a knack for making good films out of nothing), Edward Cahn directs this silly mess of a film.The film is set in voodoo country--a land inhabited by obese people who inexplicably have allowed a totally loony white man (Tom Conway) to live among them with his wife. At the same time, an incredibly violent and vicious woman (Marla English) and her male cohort are planning on an expedition to the tribe with whom Conway lives--as the place apparently is loaded with gold. They need a guide, so they convince tough-talking Mike Connors to join them.By the time Connors and his new 'friends' meet up with Conway and his 'friends', it's obvious that bad things will happen. That's because Conway is truly crazy and plans on using his personal voodoo monster to kill (bummer)--all with very predictable results. Often the plot just made little sense so someone would just kill someone of Marla would turn into a monster--the story itself made little difference. Bad acting, horrible writing and awkward direction--there really isn't anything to recommend this film unless you like bad movies. Voodoo Woman (1957)* (out of 4) Really bad film about a mad scientist in the African jungle turning a woman into a monster by using voodoo. I love these old "B" movies and AIP was always one of the best but this film here is just downright boring, slow and not interesting in anyway. Tom Conway, one of Hollywood's least memorable actors, is the jungle man with the cool hat who discovers something rather unsavory is going on among the trees. Looking for gold in a remote African village, a team of explorers stumble upon a mad doctor working with the natives to create a race of people using black magic to rule the world, and that the first test subject is stalking them in the jungle along their journey.This one here wasn't all that bad of a low-budget voodoo effort. What really gives this one a lot of enjoyable elements here is the fact that it really generates a pretty intriguing atmosphere with the use of the voodoo angle to really help sell this one's connection to the jungle setting here. This one gets that element off to a great start here with the opening voodoo ceremony being performed where the gathered crowd gets whipped into a frenzy as the ritual items placed on her and the enhanced dancing before the transformation makes which for a great start to this, and with the ever-present tribal drumming throughout here as well as the jungle- dwelling atmosphere that really helps to solidify the voodoo-filled atmosphere of this part of the film. As well, this also makes use of one of the strongest and most vital aspects of voodoo about it not being able to force someone to do something they usually wouldn't do, and it really sells this aspect of the religion by forcing a critical plot-point to come from this and to be able to stick to conventions is to be commended. Other fun here comes from the scenes with the voodoo-raised creature as the different resurrections in the bunker are incredibly creepy and the action scenes of it charging into villages and destroying everything are quite fun, though it's the finale that really sells this one. Bringing into play the ceremonial altar deep in the fog-enshrouded jungle, the wild dancing and chanting being quite fun and there's the fine set- pieces of capturing the wife as well as the different battles to be found at the ceremony which is where this one really makes for a great time here. The main issue against this one is obviously the cheap, low-budget nature of the film which doesn't really make any part of this one look like anything else here except for a cheap cash-in. The sets, the simplicity of the locations and the whole atmosphere is so obviously and easily seen as such it really takes a lot out of the film in that state. Likewise, that continues into the overall length of this as the film takes on barely enough to reach the hour mark and really only gets there with only a few minor set-pieces that stretch that length out with the rather lame scenes of her being kept hidden in her room, the time- wasting scene in the motel room where they get held up from going on their trip and the scenes of them in the jungle wrestling for control with each other are quite lame and really just seem stretched out variations just to get it to a proper running time. Retitle This: Creature With The Blonde Wig. Watch this film if you want to make fun of a movie. It's also very boring so it will help to pass the time to make fun of the film.Why isn't this another "Voodoo Man" titled film instead of being called "Voodoo Woman"? Tom Conway deserved better than this, but when the roles aren't there and you need work then these kinds of films are what you're stuck with. He's a mad doc in voodoo tribe trying to use their magic with his science in the hopes of creating a monster to be shown to those colleagues who might have found his theories balderdash. Marla English is greedy and bad, hoping to gain gold possibly found at the tribe of Martin Wilkins' priest, Chaka. Following Marla, the two commission Mike Connors as knowledgeable guide to lead them to the tribe, but the triangle deteriorates as they get closer to their destination. Conway's mad dream might see reality when he meets Marla. Marla is to be turned into the monster (documented to be a costume held over from She Creature) by Conway but, of course, that goes awry. Connors is often held at gunpoint or spear, just wanting to leave, eventually joining forces with Kay. The voodoo tribe and their use in horror in the 40s and 50s wouldn't fly today. Predating the cannibal jungle horror of Italian vintage twenty years, films like Voodoo Woman could be seen as a precursor...the ways of a tribe in the jungle were viewed here as primitive, often easy to deceive and frighten by Conway's cunning scientist, capitalizing on their beliefs and worship practices to benefit his own diabolical agenda. Conway, though, puts himself in danger by having his monster attack the tribe, and places his own body in harm's way. A Low-Budget, Grade-B Film from Days Gone By. Believing that a tribe deep in the African jungle has gold a ruthless woman by the name of "Marilyn Blanchard" (Marla English) and her boyfriend "Rick Brady" (Lance Fuller) manage to manipulate a guide named "Ted Bronson" (Mike Connors) to take them to this village. What none of them realize is that there is a mad scientist named "Dr. Roland Gerard" (Tom Conway) who has been staying there and learning the black arts which he hopes to combine with western science in order to transform a female into a monster he can control with the power of his mind. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this is clearly a low-budget, grade-B film from days gone by which most people probably won't like or appreciate. In any case, having grown up with movies like this in my early years I personally didn't think it was that bad and for that reason I have rated it as about average.. The production style made me think 'Voodoo Woman' was made at least fifteen years earlier.Smooth, deeply disinterested Tom Conway plays Dr. Roland Gerard, a Frankenstein wannabe determined to make a new life form out of a young woman using the magic of voodoo. It takes most of the running time to get these two characters together, and she proves a perfect choice for his ideal woman on which to experiment. Hers is my favourite performance in the film.This is a very low budgeted Samuel Z. Wisely, Director Edward L Cahn obscures our view of the dear old white-haired curio for the most part, because it really doesn't look very fearsome at all.Mike 'Touch' Connors - yes, 'Touch' is his nickname - plays rugged hero Ted Bronson, and blond Mary Ellen Kay is nice Susan, wife of evil Dr. Gerard, and original focus of his indecipherable experiments. The performances vary from drama school theatrics (Marla English) to a 'couldn't care less' walk through (Tom Conway). Tom Conway is trying to create a super race, using voodoo and modern science (although there is little science in evidence) which he can control telepathically. Meanwhile a couple of petty crooks and a white hunter type guide are trying to find the village in which he is working, in the expectation of gold and jewels. When they finally arrive, Tom Conway decides that one of them, the woman, is the perfect subject for his experiments. She is turned into a monster, kills Conway (natch!) and then reverts to normal. In the final shot we see the supposedly drowned woman emerge as the monster again; threatening a sequel (now that really is a scary thought!).The AIP producer, Samuel Z Arkoff, in a lecture included on the DVD, prides himself on spotting the teenage niche market and satisfying it with ingenious low budget movies. There are no teenagers in it and no characters that teenagers could be expected to identify with.The producers exposed 77 minutes of film, but they didn't make a movie. ***SPOILERS*** Hearing that there's gold in them jungles Pittsburg gold digger Marilyn Blanchard, Marla English, and her boyfriend Rick Brady, Lance Fuller,are hot to get their hands on it but need help, a professional jungle guide, to get to it. That problem is solved for them when Marilyn after failing to get explorer Harry West, Norman Willis, have her go along with him in the unexplored African bush murders him and gets the guide he hired Ted Bronson, no relation to movie macho-man Charles Bronson, played by future TV and private detective he-man Mike Conners to lead both her and Rick to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow or untamed jungle.Back at the far off jungle village the crazed Dr.Roland Gerard, Tim Conway, has no interest in gold or his mentally abused, by him, wife the pretty Susan Gerard, Mary Ellen Kay, who's terrified of him and his insane experiments. He's only interested in creating a race of superhuman beings that will like in the words of the late Dr. Eric Vernoff, in "Bride of the Monster" dreamed of, conquer the world. BoBo for his part got himself killed, with a native spear in his back, trying to get word back to civilization in what a nut case his boss Dr. Geared is and to send help, the local police in force, to the village before he ends up having everyone, man woman child & animal, there killed!***SPOILERS*** It turns out that when Marilyn together with her boyfriend Rick and jungle guide Ted Bronson finally get to the village she turns on Rick murdering him just for the fun of it but leaves a confused and befuddled Bronson alive so that he, knowing the area like the back of his hand, can lead her to the gold that's supposedly hidden there. With Dr. Gerard seeing that the murderous and unfeeling for human life Marilyn is the prefect candidate for his experiment he talked her into going along, by being transformed into a Frankenstein-like monster, with his insane experiment! The predictable ending, in having seen enough of these mad scientist or doctor movies, couldn't come soon enough with Marilyn becoming a 7 foot tall , with the strength of ten men, Voodoo Woman and tearing the entire village apart but getting screwed, figuratively not physically, by Dr. Gerard in that the gold that he promised her, in agreeing into being turned into a monster, was nothing but a pipe dream. The acting is all pretty much standard for a film of this type, the men being macho and the women being inferior. Another woman kills somebody and turns out to be a villain, so I guess the entire female species get a rum deal in this film. This film is also pretty racist in the depiction of the jabbering natives who run around and perform their voodoo rituals by cutting the heads off chickens. With some low rent action scenes (mainly involving shooting), an absurd, rarely seen monster and lots of overheated dialogue, this is pretty much your typical kind of '50s exploitation; there are better and there are worse. The Monster's definitely the "motive" for this kind of movie- which makes one wonder why the filmmakers always insist on keeping the critter off screen as much as possible. (In this case, Paul Blaisdell's She Creature is given a makeover- head only- and relegated to the surrounding foliage throughout the movie.) Tom Conway has that "far away" look in his eyes, as if he's fondly recalling something funny he heard once, and he more or less sleepwalks through his part- but with enough innate acting ability to carry it off; kind of like Basil Rathbone in SON OF FRANKENSTEIN... Marla English is center stage and this goes a LONG way toward making VOODOO WOMAN watchable.. *Spoiler/plot- 1956, Natives in Africa are invoking magic with a modern sci-fi twist, a mad scientist is involved seeking to produce a race of super humans. Gold seekers invade the village and they become sacrifices to the voodoo god and a rescue adventure begins.*Special Stars- Mike 'Touch' Connors, Marla English, Tom Conway, Lance Fuller, Mary Ellen Kaye.*Theme- Africa holds some of the oddest and strange customs and beliefs.*Trivia/location/goofs- Enjoy or NOT the early acting Mike "Manix" Connors aka B-Movie idol billed as 'Touch' Connors at this early time of his career.*Emotion- An enjoyable but rather crazy version of the "Frankenstein" plot story, only in Africa.

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Brief Encounter

In the latter months of 1938, Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson), a respectable middle-class British woman in an affectionate but rather dull marriage, tells her story while sitting at home with her husband, imagining that she is confessing her affair to him. Laura, like many women of her class at the time, goes to a nearby town every Thursday for shopping and to the cinema for a matinée. Returning from one such excursion to Milford, while waiting in the railway station's tea shop, she is helped by another passenger, who solicitously removes a piece of grit from her eye. The man is Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard), an idealistic doctor who also works one day a week as a consultant at the local hospital. Both are in their late thirties or early forties, married and with children. Enjoying each other's company, the two arrange to meet again. They are soon troubled to find their innocent and casual relationship quickly developing into something deeper, approaching infidelity. For a while, they meet openly, until they run into friends of Laura and the perceived need to lie arises. The second lie comes easier. They eventually go to a flat belonging to Stephen (Valentine Dyall), a friend of Alec's and a fellow doctor, but are interrupted by Stephen's unexpected and judgmental return. Laura, humiliated and ashamed, runs down the back stairs and into the streets. She walks for hours, sits on a bench and smokes, and is confronted by a police officer, with the implication that she could be perceived as a "streetwalker." The recent turn of events informs the couple that both an affair and a future together are impossible. Realizing the danger and not wishing to hurt their families, they agree to part. Alec has been offered a job in Johannesburg, South Africa, where his brother lives. Their final meeting occurs in the railway station refreshment room, now seen for a second time with the poignant perspective of their story. As they await a heart-rending final parting, Dolly Messiter (Everley Gregg), a talkative acquaintance of Laura, invites herself to join them and begins chattering away, oblivious to the couple's inner misery. As they realize that they have been robbed of the chance for a final goodbye, Alec's train arrives. With Dolly still chattering, Alec departs with a last look at Laura but without the passionate farewell for which they both long. After shaking Messiter's hand, he discreetly squeezes Laura on the shoulder and leaves. Laura waits for a moment, anxiously hoping that Alec will walk back into the refreshment room, but he does not. As the train is heard pulling away, Laura is galvanized by emotion and, hearing an approaching express train, suddenly dashes out to the platform. The lights of the train flash across her face as she conquers a suicidal impulse. She then returns home to her family. Laura's kind and patient husband, Fred (Cyril Raymond), suddenly shows not only that he has noticed her distance in the past few weeks but that he has perhaps even guessed the reason. He thanks her for coming back to him. She cries in his embrace.

romantic, flashback

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The Color Purple

Celie is a poor, uneducated, 14-year-old girl living in the American South in the 1930s. She writes letters to God because her father, Alphonso, beats and rapes her. Alphonso has already impregnated Celie once, a pregnancy that resulted in the birth of a girl. Alphonso takes the baby girl away shortly after her birth. Celie has a second child, a boy, whom Alphonso also abducts. Celie's ailing mother dies after cursing Celie on her deathbed. Celie and her younger sister, 12-year-old Nettie, learn that a man identified only as Mister wants to marry Nettie. Alphonso refuses to let Nettie marry, instead arranging for Mister to marry Celie. Mister, needing someone to care for his children and keep his house, eventually accepts the offer. Mister and his children, whose mother was murdered by a jealous lover, all treat Celie badly. However, she eventually gets Mister's squalid living conditions and incorrigible children under control. Shortly thereafter, Nettie runs away from Alphonso and takes refuge at Celie's house, where Mister makes sexual advances toward her. Celie then advises Nettie to seek assistance from a well-dressed black woman that she had seen in the general store a while back; the woman had unknowingly adopted Celie's daughter and was the only black woman that Celie had ever seen with money of her own. Nettie is forced to leave after promising to write. Celie, however, never receives any letters and concludes that her sister is dead. Time passes and Mister's children begin to grow up and leave home. Harpo, Mister's son, falls in love with an assertive girl named Sofia, who becomes pregnant with Harpo's baby and, despite initial resistance from Mister, marries Harpo. Harpo and Sofia have five more children in short order. Celie is amazed by Sofia's defiant refusal to submit to Harpo's attempts to control her. Kinder and gentler than his father, Harpo feels emasculated due to his inability to get Sofia to "mind." Celie advises Harpo not to try to dominate Sofia; she also tells Harpo that Sofia loves him, admitting that she, Celie, only obeys Mister out of fear. Harpo temporarily follows Celie's advice but falls back under Mister's sway. A momentarily jealous Celie then advises Harpo to beat Sofia. Sofia fights back, however, inflicting serious injuries on Harpo. After Sofia confronts her, Celie, who was already feeling guilty about what she had done, apologizes and confides in her about all the abuse she suffers at Mister's hands. She also begins to consider Sofia's advice about defending herself against further abuse from Mister. Glamorous Shug Avery, a jazz and blues singer and Mister's long-time mistress, falls ill, and Mister takes her into his house. Celie, who had been fascinated by photos of Shug she found in Mister's belongings, is thrilled to have her there. Mister's father expresses disapproval of the arrangement, reminding Mister that Shug has three out-of-wedlock children. Mister proudly states that he knows for certain that all the children have the same father, indirectly admitting to being their father. Mister's father leaves in disgust after drinking a glass of water into which Celie spit. While Shug is initially rude to Celie, who has taken charge of nursing her, the two women become friends, and Celie soon finds herself infatuated with Shug. Frustrated by Harpo's domineering behavior, Sofia moves out, taking her children with her. Several months later, Harpo opens a juke joint where a fully recovered Shug performs nightly. Shug decides to stay when she learns that Mister beats Celie when she is away. Shug and Celie's relationship grows more intimate. Sofia returns for a visit and promptly gets into a fight with Harpo's new girlfriend, Squeak, knocking Squeak's teeth out. In town one day, while Sofia is enjoying a day out with her new beau, a prizefighter, and their respective children, the mayor's wife, Miss Millie, approaches the group. She begins to "finger" Sofia's children (physically examine them in a way reminiscent of slaves on an auction block) without bothering, at first, to speak to their mother or ask permission. At first, Sofia silently endures. Miss Millie then looks up and addresses Sofia, remarking on how clean the children are and bluntly asks Sofia if she would like to be her maid. Sofia, who does not work as a maid, straightforwardly refuses saying "Hell no." The mayor then pushes his wife aside, calling Sofia "girl" and daring her to repeat herself. When Sofia does so defiantly, the mayor slaps Sofia. Sofia responds by using her fist to knock the mayor, her assailant, onto the ground. The police quickly arrive at the scene and brutally beat Sofia as she pleads with the prizefighter not to intervene on her behalf and instead to take her children to safety. Sofia emerges from her ordeal with a cracked skull, broken ribs, her face rendered nearly unrecognizable, and blind in one eye. Sofia is subsequently sentenced to 12 years in jail. Squeak, a mixed-race woman and Sheriff Hodges' illegitimate niece, attempts to blackmail the sheriff into releasing Sofia, resulting in her being raped by the sheriff. Squeak cares for Sofia's children while she is incarcerated, and the two women develop a friendship. Sofia is eventually released and begins working for Miss Millie, which she detests. Despite being newly married to a person called Grady, Shug instigates a sexual relationship with Celie on her next visit. One night Shug asks Celie about her sister, and Shug helps Celie recover letters from Nettie that Mister has been hiding from her for decades. The letters indicate that Nettie befriended a missionary couple, Samuel and Corrine, the well-dressed woman that Celie saw in the store, whom Nettie eventually accompanied to Africa to do missionary work. Samuel and Corrine have unwittingly adopted Celie's son and daughter (by Celie's father), Adam and Olivia. Corrine, noticing that her adopted children resemble Nettie, wonders if Samuel fathered the children with her. Increasingly suspicious, Corrine tries to limit Nettie's role in her family. Through her letters, Nettie reveals that she has become disillusioned with her missionary work. Corrine becomes ill with a fever. Nettie asks Samuel to tell her how he adopted Olivia and Adam. Realizing that Adam and Olivia are Celie's children, Nettie then learns that Alphonso is her and Celie's stepfather. Their biological father was a store owner whom white men lynched because they resented his success. She also learns that their mother suffered a mental collapse after the death of her husband and that Alphonso exploited the situation in order to control their mother's considerable wealth. Nettie confesses to Samuel and Corrine that she is in fact their children's biological aunt. The gravely ill Corrine refuses to believe her until Nettie reminds her of her previous encounter with Celie in the store. Later, Corrine dies, finally having accepted Nettie's story. Meanwhile, Celie visits Alphonso, who confirms Nettie's story. Celie begins to lose some of her faith in God, which she confides to Shug, who explains to Celie her own unique religious philosophy. Celie, having had enough of her husband's abuse, decides to leave Mister along with Shug and Squeak, who is considering a singing career of her own. Celie puts a curse on Mister before leaving him for good. Celie settles in Tennessee and supports herself as a seamstress. She learns that Mister, suffering from a considerable decline in fortunes after Celie left him, has changed dramatically; he gives Celie permission to call him by his first name, Albert. Albert proposes that they marry "in the spirit as well as in the flesh," but Celie declines. Alphonso dies, Celie inherits his land, and moves back into her childhood home. Around this time, Shug falls in love with Germaine, a member of her band, and the news thereof crushes Celie. Shug travels with Germaine, all the while writing postcards to Celie. Celie pledges to love Shug even if Shug does not love her back. Meanwhile, Nettie and Samuel marry and prepare to return to America. Before they leave, Adam marries Tashi, an African girl. Following an African tradition, Tashi undergoes the painful rituals of female circumcision and facial scarring. In solidarity, Adam undergoes the same facial scarring ritual. Just after Celie realizes that she is content in her life without Shug, Shug returns, having ended things with Germaine. The end of the novel has Nettie, Samuel, Olivia, Adam, and Tashi arriving at Celie's house. Nettie and Celie embrace, having not seen each other for over 30 years. They introduce one another to their respective families as the novel ends.

romantic, melodrama

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Madrasapattinam

An elderly English woman Amy Wilkinson (Carole Trangmar-Palmer), almost at her deathbed in London, wants to come down to Madras in search of a young man Ilam Parithi (Arya) whom she last saw on 15 August 1947 to return a thali (traditional wedding threads) of his mother, which he gave her as a sign of stating that she belongs to India and nobody can separate them. However, after a turn of events, she had married another man from her hometown and thus felt that the thali was no longer her property. Amy Wilkinson arrives in Madras with her granddaughter Catherine (Lisa Lazarus), equipped only with a picture of Parithi that was taken sixty years ago. Wilkinson interrogates various people about Parithi's whereabouts. In the process, she recalls the events when she had first visited Chennai, and the chain of events that took place: A young Amy (Amy Jackson), the daughter of the Madras Presidency Governor, visits Chennai (then called Madharasapattinam) along with her translator Nambi (Cochin Hanifa) and encounters Parithi, whom she calls "brave man". Parithi, a member of the dhobi (launderer) clan is also an experienced wrestler who trains under Ayyakanu (Nassar). He openly opposes the British officials who attempt to build a golf course in the dhobi clan's dwelling place. He challenges a cruel racist officer named Robert Ellis (Alexx O'Nell), who is also Amy's suitor, to a wrestling match to decide the fate of his clan's home. Parithi is successful, and Ellis vows revenge. Following a series of secret meetings between Parithi and Amy, love blossoms between them, and Parithi affectionately calls her "Duraiyamma", a polite term of addressing British women. However a major threat comes in the form of independence for India on 15 August 1947, which means that all White officials and their families, including Amy, would have to leave India. On the eve of independence, all of India is celebrating. However Amy and Parithi, determined to be together, run away and are hunted by an angry Ellis and his force. An Indian policeman helps the two of them by hiding them in a clock tower on top of the Madras Central Railway Station, but they are discovered by Ellis. After a fierce fight, Ellis is killed and Parithi is badly wounded. Amy helps Parithi to escape by casting him with a life-raft into the Coovum river, before she is captured and taken back to London. She had never known if Parithi survived, or what his fate was. Back in the present, Wilkinson is urgently called back to London to have a life-saving operation. But she is determined to find Parithi and, by chance, encounters a taxi driver who assumes that she would want to visit a charitable trust named Duraiyamma Foundation. The driver shows her around the foundation, which has organisations providing free housing, education and medical care (which were all promised to the dhobi children by the young Amy several years ago). She realizes that the Duraiyamma Foundation was established by Ilam Parithi, and named after her. Then When she asks the driver what became of Parithi, he leads her to his tomb, and reveals that he died twelve years ago. She kneels before the tomb and claims the thali (nuptial threads) as her own. She declares "It's mine!" before quietly passing away on Parithi's tomb. Her granddaughter mourns for her, and the taxi driver is dumbfounded to learn that the old woman was "Duraiyamma" herself. The epilogue shows Parithi and Amy (as they were in their younger days) in the afterlife, depicted as a 1940s-style Madharasapattinam. As the credits roll, a series of montage images are shown, illustrating the transformation of Madharasapattinam of the 1940s to modern-day Chennai.

violence, historical fiction

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Hot Fuzz

Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is undoubtedly London's finest constable. His arrest record far surpasses that of any other officer, and he continues to undergo training to better his skills. This makes his fellow constables look bad, so they have him forcibly promoted and transferred to Sandford, a country village with the lowest crime rate in the country.Sandford is as quiet as it is advertised, which depresses Nick. On his first night in the village, he kicks under-age drinkers out of the local pub, then arresting them for disorderly conduct in the streets. One of his arrestees turns out to be his new partner, Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), a doughy, affable chap whose father, Frank (Jim Broadbent) is the village's chief of police. Nick meets his fellow constables who, with the exception of the smug Andy's (Paddy Considine and Rafe Spall), are affable but neither adept at nor much interested in investigative police work. The only other people who seem interested in law and order are the Neighbourhood Watch Alliance, a group of long-time residents who care deeply about maintaining Sandford's reputation as the nation's best village and are concerned about the arrival of street performers and other riffraff. Danny, however, pesters Nick for details of his career in London, which Danny is certain was filled with the kind of blazing action he has seen in American action films like Point Break and Bad Boys II.For a few days, Nick's most exciting moments are chasing a runaway swan and then a shoplifter, and confiscating the arsenal a local farmer has collected over the years, including a rusty sea mine. He also pulls over for speeding the local solicitor and his much younger girlfriend. The two of them are on their way to perform in their "homage" to Shakespeare, a dreadful updating of Romeo and Juliet. After the performance, the two would-be Thespians are brutally murdered by a dark-cloaked figure with a hatchet. Their bodies are then strewn about in the road where Nick and Danny had pulled them over for speeding and their car wrecked to make their deaths appear to be a gory traffic accident. The other police officers are content with explanation, despite Nick's concerns about the lack of skid marks at the scene.The next day Nicholas and Danny are tipped off to a possession of illegal weapons outside of the city. They go to the farmhouse with the entire crew - and Saxon. But it's not the dog they need. It seems Saxon's trainer is the only one who can understand the guy in charge of the farm, who shows Sgt. Angel the impressive collection of weapons that he's managed to stash. Nicholas is floored at this very dangerous and highly illegal collection. He, Danny and the rest of the officers haul in the collection. To celebrate, Danny invites Nicholas out to an evening at the local pub, where he encourages Nicholas to order more than just his usual cranberry juice. He obliges and after several pints of lager, they escort local businessman George Merchant - who's had several beers, back to his estate. They then head back to Danny's pad, where Danny invites Nicholas inside. There, he shows Nicholas how to switch off and unveils his incredibly impressive DVD collection. While they're watching Point Break and Bad Boys II, another "accident" is being setup involving George Merchant and his rather posh estate, which the NWA doesn't find keeping in with the villages' rustic asthetic.The next day, they're called to the scene of yet another accident - this time it appears that George Merchant is dead and the accident was covered with an application of bacon and beans. But Nicholas knows that George Merchant wasn't killed in an accidental explosion - he once again believes this is murder. The next day at the station he and Danny are putting together the pieces of the accident but so far no one believes Nicholas' theory that George was murdered.The following Saturday it's time for the town fair. Nicholas is unfortunately strapped with working security. Danny wants to see Nick's sharp shooting skills during a game - he does so and wins a cuddly monkey. While a local lottery is being held for some rather nice prizes, Nicholas is greeted by the reporter Tim Messenger. He sees Leslie Tiller telling him something. Messenger tells Nicholas to meet him behind the church at 3:00. While drawing the next name for the lottery - which happens to be Tim Messenger, the church clock strikes 3:00. Nicholas stops what he's doing and quickly runs behind the church - but once again it's too late. It appears that a large part of the church roof has fallen on Messenger and decapitated him. Frank quickly rules it an accident but Nicholas suspects otherwise.Nicholas and Danny are left guarding the crime scene while the rest of the department has gone home for the night. The next day Nicholas is furious at the rest of his department - who are still believing that the deaths are accidents. But Frank reassures him otherwise, and while Nicholas is busy putting the pieces together of these horrific crimes, the rest of the department informs him that it's Danny's birthday.Nick goes to the local flower shop to buy a peace lily for Danny as a birthday present. He is surprised to see the shop's proprietor, renowned for her horticultural skills, leaving town. She tells him that the land she owns was to be bought by the businessman with the assistance of the Thespians. Then, when they were both killed, the reporter informed her that her land was much more valuable than what the businessman offered her, so she has sold her shop to a land developer from the city. She also reveals her connections to Skinner. When Nick briefly goes outside to his car, the dark cloaked figure stabs the woman to death with her garden shears. Nick gives chase but cannot catch up to the villain, who was wounded in the escape. Convinced that Skinner's connection to the property deal and attitude toward those murdered is sufficient evidence against Skinner, Nick takes the police force to confront him. But Skinner has no wound and his store's surveillance tapes establish that he was on the premises all day.Nick is prepared to give up when it occurs to him that instead of a single murderer, several dark-cloaked murderers might be working together. This theory is confirmed when he is attacked in his hotel room by one of Skinner's employees, who is wearing a dark cloak. Nick defeats him and then impersonates him when Skinner radios to see if Nick has been killed. Nick traces Skinner to a castle outside of the village. There he finds the Neighborhood Watch Alliance, clad in the dark cloaks, chanting ritualistically. The NWA reveals that they have all been behind the murders, with their motive simply being civic pride, and had nothing to do with property deal between those who were murdered. Anything that could strip Sandford of its status as the nation's best village is violently opposed: The solicitor and his girlfriend were murdered because their terrible acting brought ill repute to Sandford's theatre company, the businessman was murdered for owning a tacky home, the journalist for poor spelling, and the horticulturalist for even thinking about moving away. Nick tries to arrest them but Frank and Danny appear in support of the NWA. They chase Nick through the grounds of the castle, where he finds the remains of other people the NWA has killed. The NWA surrounds Nick, and Danny steps forward and stabs him. Danny takes Nick's body away in the boot of his car.At a safe distance, he lets the quite-alive Nick go -- they had faked Nick's death using ketchup packets for blood and Nick's notebook to avoid actual skin penetration. Danny refuses to believe his father and the NWA are responsible for murder and persuades Nick to take his car and return to London. In London, Nick sees a collection of action film videos and, inspired, returns to Sandford to put an end to the NWA. He takes the arsenal from the police evidence room and confronts many of the NWA members in the town square. They are equally as well armed as he is, and he vanquishes them only through the timely assistance of Danny.In the local pub (whose owners are also NWA members), Frank and the other constables, in full riot gear, surround Nick and Danny. But Nick is able to persuade the constables that he is in the right. Frustrated, Frank runs away. Nick and the other officers go to the supermarket to apprehend Skinner, but when his employees put up a spirited fight, Skinner is able to escape with Frank. Danny and Nick give pursuit in their police car, and in the process find the runaway swan. Skinner and Frank are forced to abandon their car, and Nick and Danny give chase on foot. Nick and Skinner fight in a scale replica of the village, and Nick wins when Skinner falls and impales his chin on model of the village church, though this doesn't kill him. Frank tries to flee in Nick and Danny's car, but crashes into a tree when the swan attacks him.Nick's former London superiors arrive in Sandford to congratulate him and ask him to return, as London has become crime ridden in his absence. Nick refuses because he has made such good friends and finally learned to enjoy life in Sandford. However, at the station, the last remaining member of the NWA tries to kill him. Danny takes the full brunt of the gun blast, and in the ensuing chase, the sea mine is detonated, destroying the station house.But no one is killed. Danny is promoted to Sargent and Nick becomes the Inspector. Danny and Nick continue to patrol the streets of Sandford together with Marcus and Mike from Bad Boys as their role models.

comedy, boring, murder, stupid, cult, violence, flashback, absurd, humor, action, psychedelic, brainwashing, entertaining

train

imdb

I still wasn't prepared to be quite as blown away by it as I was.This film works both as an out-and-out comedy but also as a high paced action film and also manages to showcase the directing talents of Edgar Wright and the acting of Simon Pegg (who can really *act*) The first half is a gentle build up but is generally and genuinely amusing, but once we put the pedal to the floor for the second half the pace is relentless.The plot is substantial enough but isn't really what we've all come to see - it's about the snappy dialogue and the gags. Hot Fuzz: The story tells us of an over-active 'policeman officer', Nicholas Angel (Played by the co-star of Shaun of the Dead, Simon Pegg) who is sent to work his duties out in the countryside, to avoid his use of excessive arrests. Hands down this fantastic film is the new benchmark in British comedies!Simon Pegg throws you into the extremely tongue in cheek narrative with its quick pace edits, booming sounds and terrific camera work that we have come to expect from Edgar Wright since Shaun of the Dead. Whether it be the shoot'em ups, chase scenes or the jump out of your seat surprises, Wright can really make a film move and does this one ever!!!This is definitely one of those films you have to watch at least twice to come close to getting every single joke, because they come so hard and fast it is sometimes hard to stop laughing at the previous one in time to hear the next.Even though the film does take a lot of twists and turns there isn't really a moment where it lacks energy. After Shaun of the Dead, this second pairing of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost was very high on my wanted list, and it didn't disappoint in the least.Hot Fuzz is crammed full of excellent characters, ranging from the eccentric to the diabolical, and every one gets at least one laugh during the course of the movie and most of them get many more. As well as the comedy and the murders, there is also a genuine sense of mystery surrounding these events and it definitely makes for compulsive viewing.Just in case all that wasn't enough to satisfy you, there is a very action packed and explosive end sequence that is so out of place and ludicrous it works like a charm, and simply caps the film off in style superbly.For me this film was every bit as good as Shaun of the Dead, and its definitely one of the best comedies ever made.9/10. By the filmmakers of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz has everything that makes great entertainment, laced with wry Brit wit, and while it contains plenty of references from their earlier movie, it never bores, and for cinephiles, you're in for one heck of a time identifying the countless of movie references within. If anything, I can't wait to get my hands on their earlier efforts in order not to shortchange myself in missing out on the gems by director Edgar Wright and collaborating writer Simon Pegg.Hot Fuzz follows a typical buddy-cop genre, except that these two are so much more diverse from each other than the conventional cop movies of late milking the obvious race and cultural differences, beaten to death by the Lethal Weapon and Rush Hour films. With gritty violence that made you squirm, innocent humour (Nick Frost) with blaspheming insults that just made you laugh out loud, and the quick wit of Simon Pegg with some great fun and horror mixed together, "Hot Fuzz" had a huge task of competing with the sheer greatness, of which was "Shaun of the Dead".After much keen excitement upon seeing the teaser trailers of Hot Fuzz last year, my stomach churned as if to say "At god damn last, a film I can look forward to in the new year!" I felt as though it was best however, to go in with an open-neutral-mind, as I didn't want to spoil the film with high expectations.I actually was starting to get worried into the first segments of the film, the humour wasn't as sharp as SOTD's first 20 minutes, and there were so many characters to remember, most of whom didn't make sense for a while. The spontaneous actions and humour just kept the film's pace fantastically back on track.The great thing about Hot Fuzz was just how original it was, and the ending (no spoilers here) just gave itself the stamp of "Most Exciting & Fun Ending In British Comedy".The mystery and murder factor was well done as well, leaving me guessing "who did it" all the way through the film, but as with SOTD, the dark and grotesque violence kept its mature rating of 15, very enjoyable, yet very squirming to watch.I highly recommend this film for anyone who just wants a good laugh and likes simple great black comedies. They know the smaller details of Hollywood's formula, as they exemplify with its continuous references to the scene in Point Break where Keanu Reeves fires his gun into the sky in anger and the scene in Bad Boys II where Martin Lawrence, in a circling tracking shot, says, "S*** just got real." Not only do they tackle those less clear characteristics of Hollywood, they also perfectly portray people who talk about awesome scenes in action movies, hilariously by Nick Frost. They know the smaller details of Hollywood's formula, as they exemplify with its continuous references to the scene in Point Break where Keanu Reeves fires his gun into the sky in anger and the scene in Bad Boys II where Martin Lawrence, in a circling tracking shot, says, "S*** just got real." Not only do they tackle those less clear characteristics of Hollywood, they also perfectly portray people who talk about awesome scenes in action movies, hilariously by Nick Frost. Although there were some chuckly bits in it, there wasn't that many "lol" parts which really upset me because Shaun of the Dead was so funny.One thing that was great were the action sequences they were comedic and fast paced which really added to the films entertainment value.Also the storyline was pretty funny...not the best but still OK - of a typically nosy countryside village, everyone in England must know people who live in a village and knows everyone else business - i certainly do!! The action does take to get going for a good 30/40 minutes, but during that time we are exposed to some really great British humor (which not all Americans like) and witty fast paced scenes.The plot isn't a bad one either. Yet all is not right with Sandford as the locals start meeting grizzly deaths, thus thrusting Angel into his biggest case so far.The biggest question on most film goers lips was could the pairing of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg triumphantly follow the monster cult success of Shaun Of The Dead? Well the plot premise for Hot Fuzz hardly leaps out as something to grab the attention span of many, but they have crafted a tremendously funny film that winks at the action genre with genuine love and admiration.Simon Pegg and his trusty sidekick, Nick Frost, clearly have an earthbound appeal that many {even outside of Britain} can warm too, not pretty or over svelt, these guys are fans of movies making movies purely for the fans, and it shows. The dialogue is priceless, one liners and hat tipping nods to the action genre come thick and fast, in fact you can watch Hot Fuzz repeatedly and play spot the homage each time. The action set pieces are not found wanting either, director Wright having the time of his life with the crash bang wallop that flows in the final third.The test of a great comedy is how it stands up to repeat viewings, to me Hot Fuzz delivers no matter how many times it is viewed. They've packed in more action, more laughs, and somehow, even more gore.Hot Fuzz stars co-writer Simon Pegg as Sergeant Nick Angel, London's best cop. But Hot Fuzz isn't just a satire of cop movies; Pegg and Wright have managed to pay homage to some of their favorites while spoofing them at the same time. Add in some clever (and sometimes dirty) wordplay and gut busting plot twists, and you have a very well rounded comedy.Of course Hot Fuzz is also an action movie, and a very good one at that. Pegg and Frost's chemistry from their previous films is fully intact, and Timothy Dalton puts in a wonderfully suave yet creepy performance as the town grocer.Quite simply, Hot Fuzz is one of the funniest, smartest, most action packed, most original, and all around brilliant comedies that Britain (or any other country) has produced in years. It was so funny to see action movies for what they really are, Simon and Nick were such a great duo, I love these guys, they have such a natural chemistry despite being total opposite characters. Hot Fuzz is such a great parody of every action movie you have ever seen.Nicholas Angel is a good policeman in London, his arrest record is through the roof, he has been injured on the job, and everyone likes him, well, almost everyone. Until murders start appearing, but they always look like an accident, but Nicholas is on the move with Danny to find out if Sanford is up to something bad.Hot Fuzz is a great comedy, I think I still like Shaun of the Dead a little better, but I don't know, I'm having a hard time deciding because this was a great movie too. We've got superb characters, more gore galore, intense action, great murder sequences, a witty and inventive script, more cameos from British comedians, subtle references to great action movies and Shaun of the Dead, a great double act from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, a brilliantly fun turn from Timothy Dalton proving finally he's more than just that Bond who did two movies. Shaun of the Dead got some genuine frights in the movie as well, well here Hot Fuzz delivers in terms of action and in terms of being a thriller as well. I liked the style of the movie and thought it was actually well directed too.Well worth seeing - Much better and funnier than Shaun of the Dead in my opinion...The ending was a bit lame though, but I guess that was always going to be the case...I think the movie was also a bit too long...Definitely go and see the movie - if you love British comedy you really won't be disappointed.. Many of them do not get nearly as much screen time as they deserve, but their material is felt throughout.While it is not as good as Shaun, Hot Fuzz is still a very funny movie. Let me start by saying i love Spaced and Shaun of the Dead, both of which i've seen many many times on DVD (even got Spaced signed by the cast and Edgar) so you can understand my excitement on watching Hot Fuzz.Now i'm home after watching at the cinema both my wife and i thought it was alright. Hilarious action-packed black comedy about overachieving London police officer Pegg forced to transfer into the country by jealous superiors who "Simply makes us look bad." When he arrives in Sandford, he notices petty laws continuously being broken and commonly hears the phrase, "The greater good." This all starts to add up when citizens of Sandford begin dying in tragic accidents. Storyline isn't so important in my opinion, as I'm sure the screenplay would've been as funny as with any other epic development.This film is abundant of British humor, which I love, while Simon Pegg's character can become actually adorable. The incredibly talented team, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who gave us gems like 'Spaced' and 'Shaun of the Dead' are back with one of the funniest action movies 'Hot Fuzz'. Hot Fuzz is probably one of the better action films to come out in the last 5 years, not too mention being a love letter to the action buddy cop genre, Hot Fuzz brings to cinema an entertaining flick that doesn't leave you feeling cheated like most of the big studio blockbuster as of late. However, it could be easily forgivable as these are the guys whom brought us Shaun of the Dead, which I find to be the most entertaining horror comedy ever made.If you are a fan of Die Hard, Lethal Weapon and tons of other actions films you should really enjoy this film, but at times it drags on a bit and can be tiresome. But Hot Fuzz is too fashionable a movie to look backward: Angel develops a liking for his new #2 ("I wonder if Danny is supposed to be Sancho Panza.") and together they work to resolve the murder spree that the town leaders insist is only a string of accidents. From the creators of "Shaun of the Dead" comes "Hot Fuzz", a hilarious film that somewhat parodies buddy cop movies, and is filled with references to films like "Bad Boys II" and "Point Break". This cost just 8 million English pounds in the making (amazing!).This deserves EVERYTHING good said in its favour.This has great actors in an action movie, a comedy, a romance (;-)) and a horror flick.This made me laugh so hard, even if some of the jokes were old, it was that well executed it's awe-inspiring.This is better than Shaun Of The Dead (which had its lulls and lags, still a great one of course).This is FUN!!! What winds up happening is exactly like what happened with Shawn of the Dead: the spoof/satire/homage to the genre its portraying winds up becoming one of the best of its kind, better than most released recently.Hot Fuzz excels as an action film because of its funny build-up, its quite intriguing story, its ability to stay on track, excellent chemistry amongst the actors, and of course, plenty of gruesome action to sink your teeth into. The references come flying (some obvious, some vague) from all directions, and then it even ends like an action film—so plug in the ears if you don't like a lot of noise.In this over-the-top spoof, we follow Nicholas Angel, (Simon Pegg) a top-notch police officer that is re-assigned because he is making everyone else look bad. With a long, funny, yet satisfying shootout, a grand car chase, a tense final fight, and explosions left and right, the third act more than makes for its lack of gunfire and pyrotechnics in the first two parts of the movie.Bottom Line: While referencing and giving nods to Die Hard, Point Break, Bad Boys, Lethal Weapon, and other superb action flicks, Hot Fuzz becomes among the better action flicks in recent memory. Hot Fuzz cashed in shamelessly on Shaun of the Dead's success mimicking scenes and catchphrases beyond the acceptable point of cross-referencing.Don't get me wrong, it's a decent enough film, Pegg plays hardened uber-cop Nicholas Angel, who is ousted from the Metropolitan police by his colleagues (great casting of Martin Freeman, Steve Coogan and Bill Nighy) for having a 400 per cent higher arrest rate than anyone else. The all-star cast of Jim Broadbent, Bill Bailey, Timothy Dalton and far too many more to mention are perfectly suited to their roles with the exception of Frost who's bumbling action film obsessed character sounds like a bad impression of Vicky Pollard with half the depth.Hot Fuzz is undoubtedly worth watching but perhaps wait until the DVD. You'll leave the theater laughing your ass off and feeling like you've just had a perfect fix of action.The performances are also great, and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have excellent chemistry. These filmmakers can learn a lot from Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright and their latest film, "Hot Fuzz." While it is a great parody of action movies in general and buddy cop movies in particular, the fact that it's a parody isn't what makes it one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. That is all due to a sharp and witty script, a coherent yet absurd murder mystery plot that takes itself seriously enough to draw the viewer in yet not enough to forget how ridiculous it really is, and an obvious love for the movies it parodies instead of a disdain for them.The plot centers around Nicholas Angel, a tough London police officer who is apparently so good that he makes the rest of his force look bad by comparison. Just as having a good knowledge of the zombie horror genre, increased how much one appreciated the great "Shaun of the Dead", as is true with a good knowledge of action movies to "Hot Fuzz". I readily admit that sometimes I'm in the mood for the quick and easy laugh but more often than not I'd like to work for it."Hot Fuzz" wasn't as funny as "Shaun of the Dead", although I thought the story was a lot better. Both of those twenty-seven year old films have more depth and character development than a single minute of "Hot Fuzz." Don't believe any of the good reviews for this movie - it's a waste of precious time and energy just putting it into your DVD player. Not only was HOT FUZZ a very good film, but I preferred it over SHAUN OF THE DEAD because it managed to make me laugh even more and I thoroughly enjoyed this clever film.Unlike many films, I actually liked the back story when the movie began at least as much as the rest of the movie. I was looking forward to Hot Fuzz - but Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright let me down for the first time.This is a very, very weird movie. Also returning from Shaun of the Dead are Simon Pegg as co-writer and star and Nick Frost as the co-star in a loving, British homage to American action and buddy cop films.

tt1800763

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Two years after the previous game, Nathan "Nate" Drake (Nolan North) and Victor "Sully" Sullivan (Richard McGonagle) enter a pub in London to meet with a man named Talbot (Robin Atkin Downes), who is interested in purchasing Nate's ring belonging to his ancestor Sir Francis Drake. The duo accuse Talbot of offering them counterfeit banknotes, and a fight ensues. Outside the pub, they are subdued by Charlie Cutter (Graham McTavish), Talbot's cohort. Talbot's employer, Katherine Marlowe (Rosalind Ayres), appears and steals Drake's ring. Cutter then shoots Sully and Nate. A flashback 20 years earlier finds a 14-year-old Nate (Billy Unger) exploring a museum in Cartagena, Colombia, in search of the ring, and seeing a younger Sully, unknown to him at this point, who is working with Marlowe to retrieve the ring. Nate is caught by Marlowe and her henchmen, but Sully rescues him from the agents and takes the boy on as his protege. Returning to the present day, it is revealed that the meeting was an elaborate set-up by Nate and Sully to track down Marlowe, with Cutter being a friend of theirs. With the help of Chloe Frazer (Claudia Black), they trace Marlowe's car to an underground library, where they manage to retrieve T. E. Lawrence's notebook and a map showing Francis Drake's secret voyage to Arabia, where he was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I and the infamous John Dee to search for the lost city of Ubar. Using these items, Nate works out that clues to the city's location lie in Crusader crypts in a French chateau and a Syrian citadel. He and Sully head to eastern France and locate the long-abandoned chateau in a dense forest. They find one half of an amulet inside the crypt, but are ambushed by Talbot, who takes the amulet. Suddenly, flesh-eating spiders appear and kill one of Talbot's men, but Nate and Sully narrowly escape them. Talbot and his men then set the chateau on fire. Nate and Sully escape and quickly head to Syria. In Syria, Nate and Sully meet up with Chloe and Cutter, who have learned that Marlowe is the head of the same order to which Francis Drake belonged, which seeks to gain power by exploiting the fears of their enemies. The group finds the second crypt and the other half of the amulet (encountering more spiders), revealing the location of the next clue in Yemen. As they escape Marlowe's men and the citadel, Cutter breaks his leg. Chloe and he both decide they can't continue the quest further, though Nate promises to do so for them. In Yemen, Nate reluctantly seeks the aid of his estranged wife Elena Fisher (Emily Rose), who, despite multiple vain attempts to get them to abandon their quest, helps them locate an underground tomb where they discover the location of the lost city within the vast Rub' al Khali desert (once again encountering spiders). Back above ground, Nate is shot with a hallucinogenic dart and wanders off on his own. He wakes up outside a café with Marlowe and Talbot, where Marlowe is shown to have accumulated documents concerning Nate's childhood, revealing that Nate started using the name Drake after growing up in the St Francis orphanage upon his mother's suicide and being abandoned by his father. She threatens Nate to reveal the location of Ubar. When Talbot gets news of Sully's location, Nate breaks free and gives chase to Talbot throughout the city, but is knocked out and kidnapped by Rameses, a pirate working for Marlowe, who interrogates him for information about Iram of the Pillars and who claims to have captured Sully. Nate escapes captivity and searches for Sully on the pirates' captured cruise ship. However, he discovers that Rameses lied about having Sully and detonates a grenade, causing the ship to start sinking. Before Nate can escape, Rameses shoots the ship's glass ceiling causing the tipped-over ship to flood and killing himself, but Nate manages to escape. Nate is washed ashore back in Yemen. He is reunited with Elena, who informs him that Sully was indeed captured by Marlowe's men and taken on a convoy into the Rub 'al Khali with Sully being forced to lead them to Ubar. They decide to attempt a rescue by sneaking onto a cargo plane due to airdrop supplies to Marlowe's convoy. Nate successfully infiltrates the plane but is discovered on board by Marlowe's men and a shoot-out ensues. A large explosion occurs on the plane resulting in a massive decompression which tears the plane apart. Falling through the sky, Nate is able to land safely on the desert floor by grabbing hold of a cargo pallet and deploying its parachute. After wandering the desert hopelessly, without water, Nate encounters Marlowe's men before being rescued by a troop of men on horseback led by a Bedouin named Salim (TJ Ramini). At the Bedouin's encampment, Salim tells Nate that the city of Ubar was doomed thousands of years ago by King Solomon when he imprisoned evil Djinn within a brass vessel and cast it into the heart of the city. Salim agrees to help Nate and leads him to the convoy, which they destroy while rescuing Sully. They ride into a nearby sand storm, but Nate and Sully lose Salim amidst the dust as they arrive at the gates of Ubar. Upon entering Ubar, Nate and Sully come across a water fountain that Nate drinks from. Suddenly Talbot appears with Marlowe and shoots Sully, killing him. Overcome with rage and vengeance, Nate gives chase and encounters more of Marlowe's men, who seem to have been possessed by the Djinn. He experiences vivid hallucinations of his past and of Sully, before eventually coming to his senses and finding his mentor alive. The true mystery of what happened to the people of Ubar thousands of years ago becomes apparent: when King Solomon cast the brass vessel that had the minerals that caused hallucinations, into the depths of the well beneath the city, it tainted the water with a powerful hallucinogenic agent, which caused Nate to imagine Sully was shot and killed. Nate realizes that the vessel is what Queen Elizabeth had sent Francis Drake to find, but after learning the consequences of his quest, Drake abandoned his mission. Thus the two figure the brass jar and the drug within is what Marlowe is really after. Nate and Sully search the city and locate Marlowe, who is using a winch to pull the brass vessel from the waters. Sully is nearly killed by Talbot, but Nate destroys the winch and accidentally blows up the central cistern of Iram, causing the city to begin to collapse around them. Marlowe and Talbot corner Nate and Sully but the floor gives way, throwing Marlowe into a sinkhole. Despite Nate's attempt to save her, Marlowe sinks to her death, taking Drake's ring with her. As Ubar collapses, Nate and Sully fight Talbot, who is shot and falls into the sinkhole. Salim rides in to rescue them as the city is engulfed by the desert sands. Nate and Sully return to the airport in Yemen where Sully gives back Nate's wedding ring, which he secretly kept safe when Nate and Elena separated. Elena joins them and Nate offers her his wedding ring again. The two embrace with the promise of a fresh start, and the three fly back home on Sully's new sea plane (similar to the one from the first installment).

violence

train

wikipedia

And as they did alone came the new game that everyone was excited for was Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception. This game proved to be a very great stealth based game and was more that Naughty Dog could deliver to it's gamers.Uncharted Drake's Deception is the best game of 2011. You get to discover how great the story moves nicely along as you play the game even further which is just amazing.This game also not to mention has great graphics and has great stealth that you can use to dodge the enemy's attacks and also shoot them or grab their weapons when they are defeated which is a neat feature. It will get difficult as it progresses but you will learn it pretty soon.Also this game has plenty of brand new levels and just like Batman Arkham City, These levels will get hard as you keep going through them trying to figure out what your objective is and what task you need to complete. But also because you will need to kill enemies in order to pass that same level so you won't be getting any trouble to complete it at all.If you are a fan of Uncharted then get this game. Not to mention, the game also has the longest time to complete, in fact it was so long that I remember when I finally finished the game, I recalled playing the early chapters like it was years ago.With all those cramped in a single disc, you might not notice that UC3 has the largest data size ever released as a video game to date - over 50 GB! In past UC games, I really love viewing the cutscenes I've passed over and over again through movie viewer feature to admire the scenes and as an enjoyment bonus (in fact, I do think that the movie feature is among the feature you love in UC series, right?) Now in UC3, with all those major overhauled in graphics and others, can't you imagine the passion to watch it over and over again? Drake's gotten in over his head this time as a mysterious woman named Katherine Marlowe is looking for the lost city along with her group of men, and they'll stop at nothing from preventing Nate and Sully from getting to the city alive. As this time around it's not just focused around Nathan Drake, it still is majorly as he is still the main character, but it also heavily focuses upon Victor Sullivan as the story focuses on the bond between Nate and Sully. I found this really intriguing as I am a huge fan of Victor Sullivan's character, and it was always pondering in the back of my head, the prospect of how Nate and Sully came together, well now I don't have to wonder as they tell us the story in an exciting chapter that know one will expect. The only criticism I have of the story is I feel the character Elena was under used as I liked the role she was playing, as it showed really tense and emotional moments between her and Nate, but for me it was just way to short. My first initial impression of him was not a good one to say, it wasn't bad, but as time grew on he felt more like an actual Uncharted character as he was both witty and sarcastic and had moments where he made me laugh whilst bantering with his crew mates.Players of the previous Uncharted games will feel right at home when they begin to battle in gun combat. Because this time you can interact with objects in the area to use, for example when your engaging in a bar fight at the very beginning of the game you can use beer bottles to smash over your enemies heads. Naughty Dog have done such an amazing job with the visuals, everything just looks so life like and beautiful it makes Uncharted 3 a rich experience, rather than just a video game. Because of how beautiful the visuals are, it's easy to get lost in the world of Uncharted 3, which makes the game feel as if your tagging along on the journey instead of sitting in your room playing through it using a controller to enable Drake. In Uncharted 3, the multiplayer has been improved on heavily, as you can now create your own hero or villain and customize as you please by purchasing items through experience points earned through multiplayer games, you have an actual story emerge when you play the co-op adventure missions, unlike in Uncharted 2 where they took a location from the campaign and made you kill wave of soldiers to reach a treasure. The layout of multiplayer mode also looks more professional and up to date as you now have an Uncharted TV in the lower right corner of your TV screen, so you can enjoy and watch news from Naughty Dog, Uncharted 3 trailer's, multiplayer kills and even videos about Naughty Dogs newest game in development The Last Of Us.So in conclusion if you have a PS3 you need to buy this game, it's completely worth the money as it offers a rich experience you won't have experienced from any other game. There was nothing like the war torn city you had to navigate your way through, there was no super great action scene on the train, and there just was not as good a villain to fight. With that being said, it was still a very good game and still better than the first game in the series, though all have been great so far and I will most certainly buy an Uncharted 4 should it come out. I feel this one was rushed a bit more than the second game, and that may account for some of the small faults I found, but even though it came out relatively quickly after the second one they still managed a rather good story and some incredible game play. The characters are some of the best in video games and the story was very sound too, though I will say there was really not all that much in the way of a super ending fight as there was in the second game. This is one of the best games of all time the combat in the game is just insane weather your breaking beer glasses or a bar stool over someones head the excitement doesn't just end there the multiplayer with tons and tons of new ways to play and game types it will leave you on the edge of your seat for hours and hours of excitement.Trust me if you've played the original uncharted games once you put this game in you can tell the difference from the beginning the graphics the game play everything I was kinda worried when I saw the trailer and I thought the game might not live up to its expectations but I was surely wrong if I was to announce game of the year I would definitely go with uncharted 3.. The voice cast are the best of the best and Nolan North could simply never be replaced as the now iconic Nathan Drake.The games truly are that good and over the years they've never missed a beat and not made a single bad game. Naughty Dog is a developer in a million who lovingly craft these near perfect games consistently.Drakes Deception is the 3rd of the 4 outings for Mr Drake and picks up with the second game left off, brings back all the old characters and gives Nathan and friends another memorable, powerful and action packed adventure.The Good:Great storyVery fun to playFlawless voice castThe Bad:Nope. The only frustration I had with the first two games was the final boss battle in Among Thieves, which was a real bitch, but I've already felt like throwing my controller at the TV at least a half dozen times during number 3 and I'm still really early on in the game. It scratches the itch of needing a good soundtrack in an Uncharted game, and every track works with where it plays. Drake's Deception is an all-rounded, psychological and emotional adventure for gaming's greatest hero that the players buy fully into for one of the greatest titles of all time. It explores Nate's backstory, delivers beautiful locales, has a classic Uncharted story delivered just like a perfect Hollywood blockbuster with characters all given an arc or purposes that drive and has sensational action set-pieces that rival any film, show or game that can be named. To be honest though, it didn't have the exact peace of the mind as Uncharted 2.However, this game also had the younger days of Nathan Drake and that did play a great part of the success of the game.. For those who are invested in the characters of this series, you will no doubt appreciate the back story of Nate and Sully...how they first met and some of their early adventures too...which are playable.Graphics: Spectacular at times, but sometimes characters don't seem real...they're less than realistic, but pretty good nonetheless. Can't say the same thing for this second sequel.Strengths of the game: * Whilst I think that the first half of the game is very poor (reasons given below), the game really launches into the atmosphere once Nate ends up in the pirates' ship graveyard...it's cinematic (in a good way). Uncharted is such a series that you can't help but get into the story and the characters of the series.Uncharted 3:Drake's Deception proves that it can do just as well as the other games in the Uncharted Series and why I'm proud to be a fan of the series Nathan Drake (Voiced by Nolan North) along with his team Victor "Sully" Sullivan (Voiced by Richard McGonagle), Elena Fisher (Voiced by Emily Rose), Chloe Frazer (Voiced by Claudia Black) and Charlie Cutter (Voiced by Graham McTavish) must handled Katherine Marlowe (Rosalind Ayres) and her right hand man Talbot (Robin Atkin Downes)For the first time we get to learn more about Drake and Sully in terms of how they cross paths in the first place. The story in the game does a strong job with holding your attention as all the Uncharted Games do and this one is no different I really thought the plot was quite unexpected at times and moments you didn't see coming that is what makes the game so good is that you won't be disappointed.The Voice acting is very strong as the cast not only did the voice work but also Motion Capture for the game so they gave well done performances which is always a promise with the Uncharted series is that you will always get strong voice acting. The Graphics are nothing short of perfection the game just always delivers on graphics the characters look great as again the actors motion capture their performances so it gives them some realistic looks also the level designs is just superb every attention to detail they really made a great looking game along with making it a blast to play.The controls are very gamer friendly and make it a game you could just get into from the moment you begin to play.The Game Play once again just rocks as you get action and puzzle solving the game just reward you in every way that's what makes Uncharted worth playing because the game play does something right from action,puzzle solving and combat system it just feels great If you want to give this game justice you have to go play it for yourself because it is a game you shouldn't be without.With superb graphics,Great voice acting and tight Game Play you are going to be in for a thrill rideI give Uncharted 3: Drake' Deception an 9 out of 10. It honestly felt like I was fighting against UK Parliament as the main bad guy looks a lot like David Miliband.The game flashes back to Nathan Drakes childhood, somewhere in the mid-nineties and how he met Sully. Even Nolan North as Nathan Drake felt a little tired this time, and not that sparkling personality we come to know and love from the last two games. Greetings from Lithuania."Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception" (2011) is a very good game, with superb production values, amazing and jaw-dropping action set pieces, great graphics and perfectly polished gameplay. While i did like the story overall, especially Nate's relationship with Sully, the game had some pacing issues, and kinda big ones. you may not agree with me but i LOVED how the game play was at the beginning or even after they changed it a couple of times but like i said... You still have the chronic problems with one-dimensional villains and a severe lack of character development for rest of the cast, but there are several highly cinematic scenes towards the end of the game that are marvelously executed and make the story more memorable than it otherwise would have been.If you are already invested in Nate and his adventures, you're doing yourself a disservice by not playing this game. Uncharted 3 takes a great story great game play and great graphics and delivers a masterpiece. I bought this game on its first day of release here in Greece.I have seen multiple times all the trailers and making of videos but i have to admit i had my doubts.But i was so wrong.This game is a thrill ride from beginning to end.The plot of the game revolves around Atlantis of the Sands, a mythical lost city in the Rub' a Khali desert.A significant part to the whole story plays Nathan drakes ring which is the key to finding Atlantis Of The Sands.Also,this time around the game gives a much bigger emphasis to the relationship between Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan(Sully).The villain of the game is Katherine Marlow(looks a lot like Hellen Mirren)who is also looking for this lost city.The game also explains the back story of how Nathan and sully met.Some characters from the previous games also return a.k.a Chloe Frazier and Elena Fischer.There are some pretty amazing moments between Nathan and Elena which i will not be spoiling.The thing that defines this video game is that is full of cinematic moments where your jaw will literally drop to the floor.From trying to escape a sinking cruise ship to hanging in the back of a burning cargo plane and escaping a tsunami wave you will be left breathless.There are a lot of twists during the story but the big ones are in the finale of the game.The graphics are the most detailed and realistic ones i have ever seen in a video game in any platform.Especially the sand effects are breathtaking,you have to see it to believe it.The controls are responsive and really make you feel like your are drake and going through these incredible adventures.I heard a lot of complaints about the shooting part of the game.I don't agree with any of them because its the same as it was in uncharted 2 which i loved.At the end of the day uncharted 3 is an amazing video game that will leave you shocked,thrilled and touched until the very end.It is better than anything Hollywood had to give in the last ten years,easily better than uncharted 2 and the best thing the video game industry has to offer.Do yourselves a favor and live it,because this is not a game,this is an experience.. The games makes great use of the system's processing power to move from cutscene to gameplay and back again, putting our hero in the middle of crumbling buildings, leaping rooftops and even escaping an (upended) sinking ship.The reason "Drake's Deception" doesn't reach the lofty heights of its predecessor ("Among Thieves", still my favorite) is because it gets lost in the importance of the movie setpiece. The Uncharted games are by far my favorite game series and I have played them many times through, because of this I was very much anticipating the release of Uncharted 3. I rather like not having a boss fight in the Uncharted games. I want complete control over the character at all times and much less cut scenes to interrupt the game play.Over-all Uncharted 3, as well as the other Uncharted games are much better than any other game out there. The Uncharted series has perfectly combined action and adventure with breathtaking graphics and pristine control while still focusing on a story which keeps the player motivated. The story, game play, control, combat, and exploration simply do not impress after such amazing titles like Uncharted 1 & 2. It is a great game, and I will probably play it again on crushing, however I will not come near to enjoying it as much as the other Uncharted games. I like the Uncharted series and personally think that it has a great way of imitating the storytelling of a Summer Blockbuster while still being it's own thing. I thought the first was standard fair but I liked it's sense of humour enough and it was an easy enough game to have me pick up the sequel, which I consider the best game on the PS3 refining gameplay, telling a better story and it just being all out fun. I don't know, when the final cutscene played I thought "This would be a great way to finish if I didn't know there was a fourth one getting made" It seems to progress Drake in a way that I would see him doing this stuff less and finally settle down with Elena and Sully getting a new version of the plane in the opening level to the first game just seems right. I have no doubt the fourth game will be good but I think this ending here seemed like the best way to go out. All in all I felt like I enjoyed Among Thieves more as a complete game although Deception certainly took my breath away more than a couple of times.

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House on Haunted Hill

The film is set in an abandoned asylum, the Vannacutt Psychiatric Institute for the Criminally Insane, where numerous murders were committed in the 1940s and 50s. The head of the facility, Dr. Richard B. Vannacutt, performed grotesque experiments and medical procedures on the patients, killing many in the process. The hospital was closed when some of the so-called "patients" escaped, killing almost the entire staff and burning the hospital. Vannacutt had rigged the building with numerous iron gates, activated by cranks and levers, to serve as barriers to keep patients from leaving the building, should they escape; some of these were controlled by huge, clock-like timers that wouldn't open for twelve hours. During the fire, he released these gates, keeping the inmates, employees and the fire itself contained. After several unexplained deaths during reconstruction of the facility, it was dubbed "The House on Haunted Hill".Present day. Stephen Price is an eccentric amusement park mogul whom has a disintegrating marriage to Evelyn, his spoiled trophy wife. Stephen's wicked sense of humor has caused a strain between him and his wife, each of whom would gladly kill the other. Evelyn fancies spectacular parties, so Stephen leases the house from the owner, Watson Pritchett, for Evelyn's Halloween birthday bash. Evelyn gives Stephen a guest list two pages long; he shreds it to spite her and then creates one of his own. The five people who show up for the party: model Jennifer Jenzen (aka: Sara Wolfe), Eddie Baker, Melissa Margaret Marr, Dr. Donald Blackburn and Pritchett himself, aren't the ones that he invited. Neither Evelyn nor Stephen know who they are. Despite this, Price continues the party's theme, offering a million dollars to anyone who stays in the house and survives until morning, with any person not making it having his money added to the pot.Shortly after arriving, the security gates are tripped, locking everyone inside and forcing them to remain there until the gates unlock in the morning. Price scolds Carl Schecter--a company employee, who has developed a series of harmless traps to scare the guestsfor not letting him know he planned to pull a stunt like that. Schecter said it wasn't him who did it. Price is then convinced his wife did it somehow. Shortly after, Melissa is killed by one of the ghosts when she wanders off into the basement of the house. It's revealed that the spirits themselves created the guest list specifically to include the descendants of five members of Vannacutt's staff who didn't die in the long-ago fire. Also, it is revealed that Evelyn and Blackburn are in working together to bring down Stephen. Evelyn then kills Blackburn and uses his body to frame Stephen.After a deranged Stephen attempts to kill Evelyn for orchestrating his murder plot, the two accidentally unleash the Darkness of the house when he throws her through an ancient and decayed door. The Darkness is a dark, shape-shifting creature composed of all the spirits in the house, led by Dr. Vannacutt; this force comes after and tries to kill all the remaining guests. It starts by assimilating Evelyn into itself, killing her while Price watches in horror.The Darkness reveals how the evil souls that comprise it want to feed on all those "who are responsible". Upstairs, Pritchett, Eddie and Sara are trying to open one of the iron gates on the windows when they hear Price's screams from down the hall. Pritchett investigates, while the Darkness catches up with Price on the other side of the door; he jumps out of the way at the exact same moment when Pritchett opens the door and the Darkness kills him and flows away. Price runs through the hall while Sara and Eddie follow, trying to figure out how he's alive when Sara supposedly shot him (answer: a bullet-proof vest). Price tells them that what Pritchett's been saying all along is true: the house is alive and killed everyone. He figures that the only way to get out is to go to the attic and try and escape through there. Price runs ahead of them to activate them while Sara and Eddie stay behind. The Darkness seeps through the house and tries to kill them.As they are running up the stairs to the attic Sara trips, and the Darkness uses Melissa's form to try to lure her to it. Price by then has activated a pulley that reveals an opening in the window of the attic. Eddie and Sara get there, while the Darkness seeps up the cracks of the wooden floor, and Sara lingers while Eddie goes to the opening. Eddie looks back from the window to find that the Darkness had arrived and is attempting to sever the rope that keeps the iron gate open. While Eddie rushes back to get Sara, the Darkness tries to kill her but instead kills Price, who had sacrificed his life to get Sara out of the way. Sara escapes just as the iron gate comes crashing down, trapping Eddie with the Darkness.The Darkness then confronts Eddie and brings up charges against his ancestor's actions. Eddie then screams that he was actually adopted. At the sound of this, Pritchett's ghost appears and frees Eddie by pulling the rope needed to open the iron gate, at which Sara pulls Eddie through as the Darkness is about to kill him. After he is pulled through, the gate shuts, Pritchett's ghost disappears and the Darkness disappears into nothingness. As Sara and Eddie sit in exhaustion over the night's events, they notice that an envelope has been pushed through the gate, containing five checks for $1 million each. They smile and enjoy the rays of the sun. It ends with Sara asking, "One more thing, how do we get down from here?" as they are several hundred feet above the ground and there's no exit.

comedy, gothic, murder, paranormal, violence, haunting, insanity, psychedelic, revenge, sadist

train

imdb

However it soon becomes evident that not all the scares are set up by Price himself.This remake of the old 1958 movie sees the plot expanded and made a lot more creepy and enjoyable. Jensen, Diggs, Gallagher and Kattan all do well and the cast do better than the scream queens that usual inhabit these films.Overall the film starts like any other Hollywood horror but the clever direction, creepy music and imaginative visuals of Dr Vannacutt all create a creepy feel to the film that is better than the gore that also comes. Geoffrey Rush (what's HE doing in this movie?!) as Steven Price is actually a very interesting character, which can be attributed to either the effort the script takes to set him up, and/or the brilliance of the Oscar-winning actor in the role. Multimillionaire Steven Price (is the name a nod to Vincent?) played by Geoffrey Rush, doing his best sideshow barker impersonation/Williams Castle impersonation, and wife (Famke Janssen) are having a party, in the restored former asylum. I found the film to be entertaining (wouldn't William Castle have wanted that?) and that it actually paid homage to the original in so many ways (how many remakes ever do that? I was expecting the worst--a remake of a lousy 1950s Vincent Price flick (I HATE the original--talk about boring!) and there were no previews--never a good sign. I've never seen William Castle's original from 1958,but in my opinion 1999 version isn't completely bad.Director William Malone creates some atmosphere and suspense during the first hour,but everything is almost completely ruined by awful ending.There's some good gore,striking visuals and atmospheric sets,but the conclusion is absolutely lame(the CGI effects look really fake!).If you like horror movies give this one a look,just don't expect something impressive.. that being said,, I like how this one doesn't entirely follow the original,, case in point,, in this "new" one the house used to be an old Asylum where hundreds , perhaps thousands were mistreated to cruel and unusual punishment, most of the film does follow the original,, same premise,, millionaire invites 10 people to spend the night and if they survive the money is theirs. all of the blood and gore that we wanted in the first one and couldn't get because it was just the dawn of color, and the technology obviously wasn't there yet,, all in all I think this one was pretty good,, so I apologize to Vincent Price,,, but still the ORIGINAL was better as far as plot and acting wise goes,,,. HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound formats: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDSSix strangers are invited to a 'haunted house' party at a former asylum - the scene of a massacre many years earlier, when inmates rebelled against the psychotic chief surgeon (Jeffrey Combs) - and the guests are assailed by restless spirits with a murderous agenda...This remake of William Castle's 1959 shocker was the first title in a projected series by Dark Castle Entertainment, a genre outfit established by the creative personnel behind HBO's "Tales from the Crypt" (Robert Zemeckis, Joel Silver and Gilbert Adler) as a platform for the 'revision' of Castle's entire oeuvre. Working from Robb White's original story, screenwriter Dick Beebe and director William Malone - previously responsible for such unassuming B-movies as SCARED TO DEATH (1980) and CREATURE (1985) - remain faithful to Castle's original whilst goosing the material with newfangled effects technology and levels of gore which Castle had been denied during his lifetime. Klassen has also updated the eponymous house, a clifftop monstrosity whose plunging Art deco exterior masks the Gothic ruin within, haunted by monstrous spirits who 'come alive' and terrorize a cast of defiantly modern characters, including Geoffrey Rush as a cynical fairground entrepeneur (clearly modelled after Vincent Price), and Famke Janssen as his beautiful, bitchy, duplicitous wife.The film's uneven tone (veering between horror and humor and back again) is likely to divide viewers from the outset, but the horror scenes are played with remarkable gravity, and attentive viewers will spot visual references to the likes of GHOST STORY (1981) and JACOB'S LADDER (1990), particularly a 'guest appearance' by one of the most hair-raising phantoms from that former title. Some of the original film's charm has been lost along the way, replaced by profanity and splatter (though not as much as some outraged critics would have you believe), and there's nothing in the remake which compares to the blood-freezing shock induced by Carol Ohmart's encounter with a blind, white-haired ghost in Castle's version, but Malone's update deserves a mark for trying. We have the premise of 5 people who're offered a million $ if they survive spending a night in 'the house' and Rush who brings tribute to Vincent Price (who played the lead role in the original). If you're not too harsh, this actually is a pretty enjoyable movie and – at times – a successful mixture between an old-fashioned 'haunted house' chiller and a modern special effects playground. Sure, the CG at the end prompts some definite eye-rolling, and I think that perhaps some neat looking retro stop-motion animation would have been better, but if you can just kind of forgive that part, the rest of it is very worthwhile.This is truly one of my all time favourite Horror films (if you can get a hold of the German Blu-ray, it is lovely!). The magnate named Price(Geoffrey Rush) arranges shocks guests(Taye Diggs,Ali Larter, Peter Gallagher,Chris Kattan,Bridgette Wilson) along with his spouse(Famke Janssen). Gathered together for a birthday party, the guests and hosts of a lavish celebration in a haunted asylum find the events part of the house' intent to kill them off and must find a way to get out alive.This one was quite an enjoyable and vastly improved remake. In an early scene in this remake (of sorts) of the classic Vincent Price horror, Geoffrey Rush's character, a multimillionaire theme park owner, proudly show off his latest attraction: a roller-coaster that fools those brave enough to try it into thinking that the ride is faulty, by sending the speeding car immediately in front of them (which is full of dummies) hurtling off the track.This is dumb in a number of ways: anyone queueing for the ride would see this happen, and the shock element would be lost; no-one would bother riding the coaster more than once (if at all!); and the time needed to put a new fully-loaded 'fake' car into position before each ride would cause massive queueing problems.Yes, the idea sure is dumb—but very effective. And that pretty much sums up the whole film: House on Haunted Hill is very silly, but a whole heap of scary fun.Rush plays Stephen H. With a solid cast, decent direction from William Malone, some weird visual effects guaranteed to freak you out, and plenty of unsettling gore (from makeup FX masters KNB), House on Haunted Hill does what a good horror film should do: scare!Once the initial premise is set up, much of the time is spent following the characters as they wander about the haunted loony-bin, but with such a wonderfully realised and very creepy setting, that's really all that is needed. Overall though, i think that it's a great film to rent if you like the haunted house story. A cold hearted wife (Famke Janssen) of a twisted theme park big-shot: Steven Price (Oscar-Winner:Geoffery Rush) decide to give a party at an abandoned institute for the Criminally Insane but when her husband decides to host a scary/jokey birthday bash for his wife at that house. Steven promises to give one million bucks, no question asked if they spend the night could make them very rich or profoundly dead but that abandoned institute is a murder way of life at the House on Hanuted Hill.Directed by William Malone (Creature, Feardotcom) made a well made horror film that has little resemblance of the original 1959 cult classic. Though i quite like the original, i absolutely hated this movie, and if it is true that Dark Castle productions are indeed planning to remake a whole host of William Castle movies then i hope they do a better job! Why is the doctor commiting these horrible crimes?Chris Kattan from Saturday Night Live makes an appearance, and this brought my hopes up thinking he would provide some sound comic relief, but instead he spends the whole movie ranting about how "the house is alive," something we have known since the first five minutes.Avoid this movie at all costs, it has enough holes in it to drive a Mack truck through. Eccentric millionaire Steven Price (Geoffrey Rush) throws a birthday party for his wife (Famke Janssen) at a haunted house that used to be an insane asylum before the inmates revolted and killed everyone inside. As strange things start happening, the guests question whether Price is behind it all or if there really is some evil force at work in the house on haunted hill.Being a big fan of the original House on Haunted Hill, a classic B movie from William Castle, I had low hopes for this remake at the time it was released. I sat there saying to myself and sometimes out loud, "Oh yeah you couldn't see that coming, No."I say that this movie is good for the people who want to waste time and money. I am a fan of the more supernatural horror movie and this was brilliant, it added suspense, mystery and lashings of over the top horror to a fantastic cast.Set in a creepy asylum, this was never going to be short of jump-out-of-your-skin moments so if you're watching it with a girlfriend, this is one where they may need a sneaky arm around them, combine it with a yawn!!!! As a fan of this first film (and of both director William Castle and star Vincent Price), this first effort from Dark Castle Entertainment (founded by Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis) comes off as a minor disappointment. However, the original story was pretty much left intact...A group of complete strangers are offered a handsome reward (a million dollars this time) to spend the night in a supposed haunted mansion. Only difference are that this time the ghosts are for real, there's violence/gore and a back story to the house (shown in flashbacks featuring an all-too-briefly-seen Jeffrey Combs as a deranged scientist).Geoffrey Rush's performance is near-perfect Vincent Price schtick (although he claims he tried to pattern it after cult director John Waters!) and the FX thankfully showcase more make-up (by the always reliable KNB) than CGI. These films rely mostly on the instant shock effect (the cat jumping out of the closet) instead of building up some serious tension that will leave the viewer very disturbed instead of merely surprised.House on Haunted Hill manages to create a very convincing atmosphere through some subtle and some not so subtle visual gags The images of the ghosts certainly creeped me out and left a lingering impression on me for a long time after the film had finished. I won't even go into the highly unlikely way that our heroes get out of the house but the whole CGI blob-like uber ghost just seems like an easy way to wrap the story up.I was very frustrated by this movie, I loved the first part and honestly wish they would've gone further with it but in the end they just played it safe. The new film doesn't rely as much on FX and shock as the silly recent remake of THE HAUNTING and actually has some good atmosphere including spooky sounds and an effective musical score.Rush does a great Vincent Price. "The House on Haunted Hill" is a goofy, extremely cheesy horror movie that is small on real horror and big on the kind of scares caused by things jumping out from the side of the camera. The movie updates the special effects of the original, of course; today's audiences are not likely to be easily impressed by creepy skeletons and things that go bump in the night. Mind-numbing remake of an old Vincent Price scare flick from 1958 has wealthy weirdo Geoffrey Rush (pulling a James Woods) offering five nervous types a cool one million dollars each if they can spend an entire night in a doom-laden asylum. No amount of Famke Janssen awesomeness can save this poor attempt at horror that spewed from Dark Castle pictures.This movie starts off very abruptly and just sort of speeds up what little character development there is so the house scenes get shown.The storyline is absolutely ridiculous which is good because it matches the equally ridiculous attempts at scaring an audience over 6 years of age.There is nothing even remotely scary in this film as the ghosts look very cheap and well nothing like a ghost one of them looks half woman half meal worm.Even the gore isn't enjoyable as this film suffers from Jelly like blood disease which doesn't add to the realism of the movie however the movie has absolutely zero realism at all so i guess the blood effects were just blending in with all the other crappy things about this film.The cast is actually solid i surprisingly had expectations due to Famke Janssen,Geoffery Rush,Ali Larter, and Tae Diggs but the films terrible well everything else ruined any chance of these actors to stand out.This movie is almost exactly like The Haunting (1999)big cast, lots of hype but an equally bad storyline and equally bad special effects.There is nothing terrifying about any CGI generated creature especially the CGI ghost thing in the end what was that supposed to be?Scary?Intense?It was neither just extremely over the top and extremely stupid.This movie has absolutely no scares it tries to have scares but well when the freaky images aren't freaky and the music that's supposed to create suspense creates boredom the movie really is not a horror.This was like watching Clue the whole time i was waiting for someone to say "It was Evelyn in the library with the candlestick" and i would be less than shocked if that was in the script.Overall this piece of garbage should be burned it makes no sense and fits into no genre unless there is one for bad attempt at a mystery/horror.. It might seem silly to say, this being a remake of a haunted house movie, but there was no plot to be found, nor were there any worthy likable characters. The only saving grace this film has is the special effects of the "evil".The acting is substandard (Except for Geoffrey Rush's performance)and the story is non existent. The movie *does* look great.Five people are invited to the birthday bash for Evelyn Stockard-Price (Famke Janssen), which conveniently is located in your standard issue cliffside mansion that naturally used to be an insane asylum. The House on Haunted Hill remake is a pretty good re-imagining of the original 1959 classic. The evil spirits end up changing the guest list to one of it's own in an interesting twist revealed later on in the film.The house is actually the Vannacutt Psychiatric Institute for the Criminally Insane which was shut down in the 30's. The special effects, the direction and the script all add up to create a creepy atmosphere, and an air of intrigue throughout the movie; resulting in an entertaining horror flick, that's actually pretty stylish.7/10. Awful big time, no silver lining, only dark clouds.For all of those who like to go see horror movies and come out insulted, because one should have never seen it. House on Haunted Hill is so original because no one's ever made a movie like it before. Maybe it's because this movie uses every bad horror flick cliche existing, including young people marching around in old houses' basements ALONE instead of just waiting together in the lobby. Well the road the plot takes from there is different, and the beginning of the film details the origins of the haunted house. The Roller-coaster Ride Falls Off Track at the End. Fun remake of the 50's Vincent Price classic, "the House on Haunted Hill." Worth the price of admission for the chemistry alone between Geoffery Rush & the ever beautiful Famke Janssen, as husband & wife who don't exactly make holy matrimony, to say the least, as both think one is trying to kill the other. You'll have fun picking & rooting for the ones you hope get killed next, & that's exactly what their in this film for, to be murdered, one by one.Good pacing & special effects make this one a fun amusement ride, though the roller-coaster falls off track in the end, otherwise I would've rated this a half star higher. Before watching William Malone's "House On Haunted Hill" of 1999 I was quite skeptical, as William Castle's original of 1959 starring the great Vincent Price is a brilliant spooky classic, and 90s remakes of Horror classics (such as the dreadful "Haunting" remake)usually tend to suck. I think I'd like this movie a lot more if it weren't a remake, but as long as they use the title House on Haunted Hill, it's a remake and should at show the basic background to be the same. Being a remake of a Vincent Price movie, I was expecting a little bit of "oh, come on!" so I wasn't totally bothered at first. So I had seen the original "House On Haunted Hill" Several times. Now I know the original isn't the best movie in the world, in fact it's not really all that good, but like I said, it's all about Vincent Price. After watching the original "House on Haunted Hill" I was not sure if this remake would be like a "B" movie or updated, and updated it was. It may not be the original House on Haunted Hill but it is a very good remake.

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Psycho III

The film begins with Maureen Coyle (Diana Scarwid), a mentally unstable young nun, on top of a bell tower about to commit suicide. When another nun tries to get her to come down, Maureen accidentally pushes her over the railing to her death. Another nun tells Maureen that she will burn in hell for what she did. She is forced to leave the convent after this ordeal.She walks through the desert for a while, and finally reaches a highway. A beat-up car approaches and passes her, but backs up upon seeing her. The driver, Duane Duke (Jeff Fahey) offers her a ride. She puts her suitcase in the backseat and in doing so, bumps his guitar. He tells her to be careful with it, because it is his "bread and butter"--he is on his way to Los Angeles to make it big as a rock-n'-roll singer. She says that she's having car problems, and that the problem is that there is no car.They continue driving into the night during a heavy rainstorm. Duane can barely see ahead of him but keeps on driving aggressively, and the car begins to weave between the lanes. The car is having engine problems, and a loud popping sound causes Duane to swerve the car to the other side of the road. Duane pulls the car off the road, and tells Maureen that they aren't going any further, due to the storm. He advises her to try to get some sleep. During the middle of the night, it is still raining, and Duane makes a pass at her. She struggles to fight him off, and slaps his face. She gets out of the car, and he angrily tosses her suitcase out into a muddy puddle. Duane drives off, leaving Maureen sobbing.The next morning at the Bates Motel, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) collects some dead birds in a paper sack from the ground, thanks to some poisoned birdseed he kept in a birdfeeder, and stuffs them in the kitchen using his taxidermy supplies. On the table is a newspaper opened up to an article entitled, "Spool Still Missing." Norman has a flashback of him killing Emma Spool (Claudia Bryar, from the end of Psycho II), and when he looks down at the bird he is stitching up, he instead sees a hand and arm being stitched together! He is startled when the paper sack moves along the tabletop by itself, and is relieved to see a healthy bird pop out. Norman carefully grasps the bird in his hands and releases it outside. He hears a car horn blaring, and comes down to meet Duane. Duane is interested in the "help wanted" sign posted on the office window. Norman offers him a job as an assistant manager for the motel, and Duane accepts, mentioning that he only wants to stay long enough to earn money to fix his car to go to L.A.Norman goes off to the diner (Statlers) where he used to work to get some food. At the diner, Ralph Statler (Robert Alan Browne)--the owner--is having a conversation with Sheriff John Hunt (Hugh Gillin) about Emma Spool. He is confused as to why she would suddenly not show up for work a month ago and disappear, after normally being a stellar employee since he took over the diner from the previous owner, Harvey Leach (Hugo L. Stanger) seven years earlier. --Sheriff Hunt says that her apartment has been searched and nothing seems out of the ordinary. Ralph hopes that nothing serious has happened to her, displaying a worried look on his face. Tracy Veneble (Roberta Maxwell), a nosy magazine reporter, chimes in and suggests that Norman may have had something to do with her disappearance. She came from L.A. to interview Norman about the subject of the insanity defense and the rehabilitation of mentally ill murderers.Sheriff Hunt and Ralph argue with her and tell her to leave him alone in peace. Just then, Norman walks in and sits down in a booth. He orders a meal and gets an order of burgers to go. Tracy sits down across from him and starts to ask him some questions. He opens up to her and explains that what happened to him in the past stays with him and he can't escape the reality of what he did. As they are talking, Maureen gets out of a semi truck and comes into the diner. Norman is horrified to see her initials on her suitcase--"M.C." Norman has a flashback to the murder of Marion Crane from 22 years earlier-he notices that Maureen is almost an exact look-alike to Marion. He pays for the food and quickly leaves while Tracy keeps droning on and on.Back at the motel, Duane sees an exhausted Maureen walking toward the highway. He apologizes to her for his behavior the night before (he says he was road-weary) and offers her a motel room that she can rest in. She pays him $25 for the room, and he gives her the key to cabin #1. As she leaves, Duane keeps the $5 bill she gave him, folds over the edge of one corner, and puts it in his pocket. Norman walks by and sees her going into the room. He freaks out and goes back to the house. Norman has a conversation with "Mother (Virginia Gregg's voice)," the stuffed corpse of Mrs. Spool. He tells "her" about Maureen resembling Marion, and "she" tells him to get rid of her if her presence upsets him. He refuses, and Mother says that maybe she will do it instead.Maureen unpacks her suitcase in cabin 1. She sees a copy of the Bible on the nightstand, and she has a traumatic memory of her actions at the convent. She starts to cry. In Fairvale, Duane goes into a bar and sees Tracy Veneble. He introduces himself to her and lights her cigarette for her. She initially is turned off by him, but when she sees his Bates Motel matchbook, she decides to have a talk with him.In the motel office parlor, Norman takes a picture off the wall, and looks through a peephole into cabin 1. He sees Maureen stripping and going into the bathroom nude. Norman goes back up to the house and puts on his "Mother" costume and goes back to cabin 1 to kill her. Maureen is in the shower, and "Mother" pulls back the shower curtain. Maureen is sitting in a tub of rising bloody water. A razor blade sits nearby. She lifts up her hands to reveal that her wrists were slit, with blood gushing out of the wounds. Due to her blood loss, Maureen hallucinates that "Mother" is the Virgin Mary coming to save her.Meanwhile, Duane and Tracy continue talking about Norman. Tracy says she will pay Duane for any information he gives her. Unexpectedly, she gets up and leaves. Duane notices a red-haired girl (Juliette Cummins) staring at him.At St. Matthew's Hospital, Maureen is in a room recovering from her suicide attempt. Father Brian (Gary Bayer), a psychiatrist, is sitting by her bedside and introduces himself to her. Outside her room, Norman and Sheriff Hunt are waiting. Tracy shows up and claims that she happened to be passing by the motel and saw the ambulance leaving and decided to follow it. She asks how Norman found out about Maureen. Sheriff Hunt chimes in and says he was bringing fresh towels to Maureen's motel room when he found her in the bathtub after she cut her wrists and he used her room phone to call for an ambulance, repeating what Norman had told him. Father Brian comes out and tells Norman that Maureen wants to see him.Maureen thanks Norman for finding her and calling for help. He is just glad that he was looking out for someone else. He tells her that she can stay at the motel for free as long as she wants until she gets better and can sort her life out. He leaves her room to let her rest, and goes back home. He accuses Mother of hurting Maureen, and says that he is glad that Maureen didn't die. Mother replies, "She will!"Duane brings the red-haired girl back to the motel. They overhear Norman yelling at Mother. They just assume the noise is due to a loud TV. Red tries to open the ice chest next to the office to get some ice, but it is locked. She bumps into Norman and falls to the ground. He opens the chest for her and she gets some ice and asks him to join her and Duane; he politely declines.Red and Duane make love, and later she comes out of the shower. She goes over to Duane to kiss some more and he isn't interested anymore. She is upset because she wants this relationship to be more than just a one-night fling, and he tells her to leave and gives her $5 for cab fare, the same $5 that Maureen used to help pay for cabin #1. He tosses her and her clothes out the door. She puts her clothes on and goes into to a phone booth nearby to call for a cab. She realizes she put her shirt on backward and takes it off to put it back on correctly. Suddenly, Mother's hand bursts through the glass door, opens it, and stabs her over and over again. Red struggles to fight off Mother's attack, and she severely cuts the bottoms of her bare feet from stumbling on the glass shards on the floor, blood squishing out. Red crumples to the ground and Mother turns around and leaves. Back at the house, Norman cries, "Mother! Oh God, Mother! Blood! Blood!"The next morning, Duane comes out of his cabin and sees Norman scrubbing the glass walls of the phone booth with soapy water. Duane goes into the office and sees that the $5 bill he gave Red for cab fare is in the cash drawer.At the hospital, Maureen is having a counseling session with Father Brian. She tells him that it was her idea to become a nun, but that as the time grew close to take her final vows of celibacy, she became scared and was dwelling on lustful thoughts. Father Brian asks her why she didn't just leave the novitiate, rather than be tormented by those thoughts.Duane talks to Tracy at the motel about the $5 bill he discovered in the drawer. She tells him it may have helped solve the mystery if he knew the girl's name. The motel is bustling with activity because Fairvale's homecoming football game is later in the day, and several guests have checked into rooms. Norman and Maureen arrive in a cab, and he sees Tracy going up to the house. She wants to continue her interview with him, but he stops her and tells her to leave and never come back. Norman goes into cabin 1, and Maureen is pleased to find that Norman had her wet clothes sent to the dry-cleaner's. He tells her that she'll look good in her pink dress on their dinner date later on.At Mrs. Spool's apartment, Tracy talks with the landlord. He says that other than coming and going for work, Mrs. Spool stayed home. The landlord leaves, and Tracy decides to stay and snoop for a while. She glances at some magazines on a coffee table and a single phone number is written on the covers several times. She dials the number on the phone, and she discovers that it connects her to the Bates Motel.That evening, Norman takes Maureen out to eat at a fancy restaurant in Fairview. After eating, they get up to dance. At first, Maureen doesn't feel comfortable, but Norman teaches her the basic "box" step movements.Back at the motel, a cab drops Maureen and Norman off. Maureen goes into her room, and Norman follows soon after. He sees her staring toward the house. He asks her what is wrong, and she says that she must have had too much to drink--she thought she saw a woman up in the window at the house. Uncomfortable, Norman goes to tell Duane that he can take off for the night, and then goes back to Maureen. She tells him she enjoyed her time with him earlier. They lay down on the bed and kiss. Norman stops kissing her, and he says he doesn't feel right about this. Maureen eases his discomfort by suggesting they just lie on the bed and hold each other.Later that night, Maureen is asleep and Norman is gone. Patsy Boyle (Katt Shea Reuben), a guest from another cabin, comes in to wake her and warns her about the door being left wide open. She tells Maureen that she'll close it for her, in case one of her drunk friends might happen to wander inside.Up at the house, Mother scolds Norman for letting Maureen come between them. She starts whispering something to him, and he is about to put on the dress and wig. Maureen comes up to the front door and calls out his name. Mother tells him to bring her the knife. He is shocked to see her dead body sit up in bed. Norman takes the knife in his hand, wraps his fingers around the blade, and slams his hand down on a table. He yelps in pain. Concerned, Maureen asks what is wrong. He feigns ill, and tells her to go back to her cabin and lock her door. Soon after, Norman leaves, dressed to kill.Meanwhile, Patsy Boyle is looking for a bathroom to use. She sees the one in the parlor, and sits down on the toilet to relieve herself. Suddenly, she looks up in surprise and sees Mother standing directly in front of her. She tells Mother that the bathroom is "occupied," and Mother thrusts the knife, slitting her throat, and stabbing her in the stomach. Patsy keels over and falls to the floor. Later, Norman goes into the parlor looking for Duane, and he recoils in shock from seeing the bloody mess. Norman takes her body out of the bathroom and tosses it out the window behind the motel. Some partiers are chasing each other around the building, and Norman hides himself and the body momentarily. The guests all get into their cars and leave, burning rubber on their way out to the highway.The next morning, Maureen comes out of her cabin to see the sheriff's car outside. Worried, she asks about Norman. Tracy is there too, and she decides it's time to tell Maureen the truth about Norman. Sheriff Hunt and Deputy Leo (Steve Guevara) are investigating the disappearance of Patsy Boyle. She didn't ride home with the other revelers, and they go up to the house where they question Norman about it. Norman figures that Tracy assumed he was involved. Deputy Leo searches the first floor level, and then goes to search upstairs. Terrified that they'll discover Mrs. Spool's corpse, Norman runs up after him, with Sheriff Hunt in pursuit. Norman sees that there is no body in Mother's room. Bewildered by Norman's antics, Hunt and Leo leave.Shortly after, Norman is sitting by the ice machine by the motel. Sheriff Hunt apologizes to Norman for their intrusion, and he opens the ice chest to grab a couple of ice cubes to suck on. There are human fingers sticking up out of the ice, but he doesn't see them. He puts bloody ice cubes in his mouth (he doesn't notice this-he grabs them without looking at them) and vehemently ignores Tracy's pleas to take Norman in for questioning about the disappearances of Mrs. Spool and Patsy, because there is no proof that he did anything. Maureen lies to Hunt, and claims that she was with Norman until 6:00 that morning, so he couldn't have done anything wrong. Hunt and Leo leave, and Tracy waits for Maureen to get in her car--she told her everything about Norman, and Maureen tells a disappointed Norman that she'll stay with Father Brian for a while. They drive off.Norman looks around the house looking for Mother. She is nowhere to be found. In the kitchen, he sees a note from Mother: "Norman--I'm in cabin 12. Come see me." Norman walks along the front of the motel and approaches cabin 12, which is Duane's cabin. On the TV is a Woody Woodpecker cartoon. Mother is sitting in front of the TV. On the bed, Duane--high on drugs and alcohol--plays his guitar."What are you doing with my mother?" Norman asks him.Duane replies, "Don't you mean, Mummy?" in a mocking tone. Norman asks him why he took her and left the note for him to find."I'm just looking out for you Norman," says Duane."And yourself," Norman says.Duane continues, "I have ambitions--dreams, but dreams don't come cheap these days. I could've turned 'mom' over to the cops this afternoon, but all I would've gotten was a pat on the back for doing my civic duty." He tells her that Tracy would've payed him a big sum of money, but figures that she would lie and take all the credit and earn a big salary and earn a news position somewhere.Duane blackmails Norman into selling the house and motel in order to give Mother over to Norman. Norman tells him that he wants Mother back. Duane tells him he can take her--Duane says, "You know what I want, and you know what I'll do if I don't get it."Norman hits Duane in the head with an ashtray. A violent fight breaks out with Norman hitting Duane with a lamp, and ultimately, hitting Duane with his own guitar. "Watch the guitar," Duane mumbles. Norman hits him with the guitar repeatedly, until the guitar is broken into several pieces. Duane crumples to the floor, unconscious.At the diner, Ralph, Myrna (Lee Garlington)--a waitress, and Tracy are discussing Mrs. Spool. Ralph tells Tracy that Mrs. Spool was a good employee, and was already working there when Ralph bought the place. Tracy asks about the diner's former owner, Harvey Leach, in the hopes that she can find out more about Mrs. Spool from him. Myrna says that Harvey is in a nursing home outside of town. Tracy visits Harvey, and she asks him about Mrs. Spool. He tells her that Emma had been put in an asylum for killing someone.At Father Brian's office, Maureen has decided to forgive Norman and wants to be back with him. She has failed other people before, but she won't fail him.At a library, Tracy looks through old archived newspaper articles, and is shocked to see a headline reading: "Sister arrested in Bates Murder-Kidnapping." Below it is a sub-heading: "Child Unharmed in Love Triangle Tragedy."In Duane's motel room, Norman removes his belongings and wraps his body in the shower curtain. "I'll be back for you mother," Norman says. Norman opens the ice chest and tries to remove Patsy's body from it. One of her arms is wedged against the top of the chest and won't move, and Norman tries with all his strength to pull it loose, but the arm snaps off. He finally gets the body out of the ice chest, and he kisses her on the lips before putting her in the trunk of Duane's car. Norman puts Duane's body in the back seat of the car and drives it over to the swamp. On the way, Duane wakes up and wraps a cord around Norman's neck. Startled, Norman slams his foot down on the brake pedal and the momentum causes Duane to lurch forward into the front passenger seat.Norman pins Duane down on the floor of the car with his foot, and the other foot accidentally presses down on the gas pedal, sending the car into the swamp. As the car fills with water, Norman sees Duane drowning. Norman manages to escape the flooding car and swims away from it. He struggles to see in the murky water, navigating through underwater weeds. He lets out a scream when he sees Red's body--her pale, expressionless face staring back at him. He surfaces, and crawls his way out of the swamp.Meanwhile, Tracy shows copies of the newspaper articles to Father Brian, hoping that if Maureen would see them, she could change her story to the police. He tells her Maureen already left and went back to the motel.In her room, Maureen has showered and put on a nightgown. She hears Norman running up the steps to the house, and she calls out to him. He ignores her and runs into the house. She walks up to the house and enters it. As she walks up the staircase, she calls out to Norman again and explains that she has returned. She says that she never should have left and she forgives him for what happened to him in the past, and emphasizes that he saved her life. Norman appears at the top of the stairs. She asks him what happened. He lies and says that he slipped in the mud.She says that she regrets hurting him by leaving, and asks for his forgiveness. They hold each other's hands and have a brief tender moment. Suddenly, Mother yells, "Norman!" Surprised by this, Norman lets go of Maureen's hands, sending her falling backward down the stairs, arms flailing. At the bottom of the stairs, her skull is pierced by the arrow of the cupid statue against the wall. She crumples to the floor... dead. Norman, in shock, runs down the stairs and sees that blood is pooling around her head. He angrily yells "Mother!!" at the top of his lungs.Tracy drives up to the motel, and, carrying a tire iron, checks Maureen's cabin. She overhears Mother saying to Norman, "You get that whore out of my house. Throw it out in the muck and filth where she belongs!" Norman says, "I'll get you for this, Mother." Mother replies back, "You haven't got the guts, boy!"Tracy goes up to the house and tries to open the front door, but it's locked. She goes around the back and enters the kitchen. She slowly walks through the hallway into the foyer, and sees the living room lit up with dozens of candles. She sees Maureen's body laying on the couch, with a lit candle positioned in her grasped hands. With pity, she says, "You dumb, stupid naive girl." She turns around and is shocked to see Norman dressed up as Mother, his mouth fixed in a wide, skeletal smile. "Why can't you leave my poor son, my Norman, alone?" says Mother. Tracy drops the tire iron and tries to escape from him. She begins to go up the stairs, with Norman slowly in pursuit."What set you off again, Norman? Was it Mrs. Spool? You killed her, didn't you? What did she do--come to you and tell you she was your mother? She was crazy, Norman--she wasn't your mother, and neither are you!" She reaches the tops of the stairs, Norman still following her. "Mrs. Spool was your aunt, Norman. She was in love with your father, but your mother stole him away from her! Emma Spool killed your father in a jealous rage and kidnapped you when you were just a baby!" In Mother's room, she turns around and lets out a horrified shriek when she sees Mrs. Spool's corpse sitting in a chair. "She killed your father because she thought you were her child--the child she should have had with him! She was crazy--they locked her away!"Mother says, "It's lies! It's all lies! She's a lying whore. She's a slut! Don't let her talk about me like that!" Norman, seemingly free of Mother's spell, takes off the wig and dress. "Get her boy, get her! Just like all the others!" continues Mother. Norman raises the knife, and it looks as though he is going to attack Tracy, but instead, Norman stabs Mrs. Spool's body at the neck. "Norman! Can't you do anything right?" says Mother. Norman continues hacking at the neck, with sawdust spraying out. "How dare you treat your mother that way!" The corpse slides out of the chair and onto the floor. Norman hacks with the knife until the head is completely severed and rolls to the side. "So I don't have the guts, huh?" taunts Norman. Exhausted, Norman rests his head on the chair.The next morning, Sheriff Hunt leads Norman away from the house in handcuffs. A TV news crew is there filming. Tracy and Father Brian are both in shock. Hunt is in total disbelief with Norman, telling him that he believed in him and had faith in him and now that Norman, as "Mother" killed more people. He puts Norman in the back of the squad car, and tells him, "You'll never get out again! They'll lock you up forever!" In response, Norman replies, "But I'll be free. I'll finally be free."As the squad car drives along the highway, Norman reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a victory trophy: the severed rotting hand of Mrs. Spool. He gently caresses it as he smiles as the image fades to black.

insanity, violence, murder, flashback

train

imdb

What the vast majority have seemed to miss is the subtlety and richness of a beautifully lensed film which provides one of the most chilling atmospheres to a mainstream horror movie.Anthony Perkins showcases just how adept he is both in front of and behind the camera in his directorial debut, and it is a crying shame that we didn't get to enjoy any further nightmarish visions. The bell tower scene at the beginning inspired from Vertigo, when Norman's 'girlfriend' Maureen fell down the stairs of the home, done exactly the same way Detective Arbogast fell in the original film; 'floaty' like. PSYCHO III (1986)directed by: Anthony Perkinsstarring: Anthony Perkins, Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey, and Roberta Maxwellplot: One month after the events of PSYCHO II, Norman (Anthony Perkins) is still running the Bates Motel along with "Mother". Things are going fine until Norman falls in love with a fallen nun (Diana Scarwid), takes in a greedy drifter (Jeff Fahey), a nosy reporter (Roberta Maxwell) sticks her nose where it doesn't belong and a series of murders begins once again.my thoughts: Although not as great a sequel as PSYCHO II, this is still a good sequel. With Anthony Perkins directing himself, you can expect a good addition to the PSYCHO series.Now, Norman Bates is dealing with a lot. More sex and violence have been added.We have gorier kills and even Juliette Cummins (FRIDAY THE 13TH PART V: A NEW BEGINNING, SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE II) playing a slut who is picked up at a bar by Duke (Jeff Fahey), kicked out of his room, and then murdered in the actually pretty cool payphone scene.These 80's elements do not add much to the film, but certainly do not take away.Perkins also does a fine job directing, and adds a lot of dark humor to the film.Definitely check this sequel out, it's not as good as the first two but certainly better than the fourth installment and the remake.. Of course, Norman Bates is back to the way he was in the first film, which sets up Psycho 3 in a very good way. Psycho 3 also adds plenty of teenage slasher aspects and a very large amount of gore, which also added to the movie in a very good way.Psycho 3 is directed by Anthony Perkins, who also played as Norman Bates in all 4 original Psycho films (not counting the remake directed by Gus Van Zant). This resembles a pure Hitchcock trait, which I really liked to see in a sequel to the master's masterpiece.I also felt that the performances from the entire cast did an excellent job, especially for the period and genre of the film. Leave it to Anthony Perkins, probably the only person who knows Norman Bates better than creator Robert Bloch or director Alfred Hitchcock, to create and have a hand in Norman's descent into madness and subsequent struggle for normalcy. At least there is more TITillation, and even a hint of necrophilia.Anthony Perkins not only stars again, but this time he directs, and he gives us a film that keeps us interested.Diana Scarwid, despite the fact that she has an Oscar and Emmy nomination to her credit, was not very interesting. Anthony Perkins gives his best performance as Norman Bates yet and he directs just as well as Alfred Hitchcock in his directorial day-view. It is almost kind of a tribute in some of the shots and lines from the original, I think that is thanks to Anothony Perkins, it was interesting to see him direct the film, not the worst I've seen for a horror sequel, but the story itself is alright.Norman is back in business, running the Bates Motel, he needs a helping hand, so Duane Duke, musician bum, is his new assistant manager. Duane is also bringing problems back into Norman's killing spree of bar fly's and a homecoming party.Psycho 3 is worth the look, believe me, when you've seen so many horror sequels that were just beyond horrible, this was a breathe of fresh air. Psycho 3 is A worthy sequel to it's first two predecessors, Anthony Perkins Stars and Directs in the role that made him famous.Psycho 3 introduces Maureen (Diana Scarwid)a suicidal nun who flees the convent after a failed attempt which in a clever homage to Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' we see a nun fall from to her death from a bell tower. Scarwid is picked along the highway by the sleazy drifter Jeff Fahey where the two end up at 'Bates Motel' Perkins is seemingly up to his old tricks again and has the Miss matched couple to contend with and also a nosy reporter who is eager to get a scoop on Norman, Psycho III has some genuinely great moments which make this a well worthy sequel to it's predecessors witness the scenes which we see Perkins is up to his old tricks again most notably his poisoning of the birds, and some of the murder scenes which are clever and inventive in it's dispatches of some of the victims. He goes to Bates Motel, where the original psycho Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is the manager. There are a lot more killings and more nudity than the second one and Anthony Perkins does a pretty good job as star and director.. Norman becomes unhinged at the sight of her and his murderous rampage continues leading up to a satisfying ending.Psycho III adds a lot more gore and a lot more nudity, appropriate with the times I assume. It's fun and interesting to watch Norman lose his cool, and Anthony Perkins played it brilliantly as always.Psycho III was directed by Perkins, and overall was a pretty good horror flick. Norman Bates (The late Anthony Perkins) tries to live an normal life and trying to run his motel. But when an obnoxious noisy reporter (Robert Maxwell) is bothering Norman and she is trying to find out, what happen to Emma Spool, who claimed to be Norman's mother.Directed by the late Anthony Perkins (Lucky Stiff) made an enjoyable dark comedy with some slasher 80's moments but it's lacks mystery and suspense of "Psycho" and "Psycho 2". I recommend it to Psycho fans who want to see the entire series, but be advised that the film has a lot of ridiculous scenes, and the twist almost makes the very bad twist of Psycho II seem like the best twist since the twist of the original Psycho. 4 years after "Psycho II", Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) has "mother" back in his mind again and still hasn't feel like he has been cured. A young lady ( Diana Scarwid) is a former nun and needs a place to stay for a bit at the Bates motel and Norman gets a new assistant ( Jeff Fahey)to help him run the motel, the lady reminds Norman of the first female victim he killed but soon killings start happening all over again.Entertaining and violent second sequel to the all time great horror classic "Psycho" is also directed by Perkins himself. There is some decent acting and some good kills like Norman usually does, it's basically the weakest of the sequels but is very enjoyable and better then the 1998 "Psycho" remake in my opinion.. Anthony Perkins again puts on a terrific performance as the nervous, stuttering Norman trying to cover up the murders his "mother" commits.The plot picks up about one month after "Psycho II" left off. A snoopy reporter named Tracy Venable (Roberta Maxwell) is also around, trying to prove that Norman had something to do with the disappearance of Mrs. Spool, from "Psycho II".There are so many scenes in this film that remind me of the original "Psycho" that it's not hard to figure out that Perkins was owing tribute to the master of suspense. blood!", scenes of Janet Leigh getting hacked up in the shower, a woman who looks like Marion Crane, whom Norman falls in love with, scene with Norman looking through the peephole, a take on the shower scene but this time in a phone booth, the shouting matches with Mother, a take on the falling down the stairs death, and plenty of other ones I can't think of right now. Psycho III (1986) *** (out of 4) A month after the events from the previous film, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is back at his motel when a reporter starts snooping around trying to find out some information on his past. At the same time Norman hires a wannabe rock star (Jeff Fahey) to help out around the motel and he also strikes up a relationship with a young woman (Diana Scarwid) who seems to be just as troubled as he is.PSYCHO III certainly breaks away from the first two movies in the series. Anthony Perkins gives a terrific performance as Norman Bates again, but that's about the only good thing in this movie. Anthony Perkins is back as Norman Bates in "Psycho III". Part III, directed by the series' star Anthony Perkins, sees Norman struggling to stay his stabbing hand when pretty ex-nun Maureen (Diana Scarwid) arrives at his motel, reminding the schizo killer of Marion Crane, his first victim. But 'mother' isn't about to let her son fraternise with a no good slut…Perkins' directorial debut, Psycho III is an assured piece of work, with lots of neat nods to the original movie, some terrific moments of black humour, and plenty of stylish visual touches, with particularly great use of colour throughout. Second sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" from 1960, a somewhat belated follow-up to 1983's "Psycho II", has Anthony Perkins back as motel owner Norman Bates, here involved with a troubled postulant who has renounced her vows and a drifter/musician who soon learns of Bates' bloody past. A month after the events of "Psycho II" (1983), a grief-stricken former nun (Diana Scarwid), a wannabe rock star (Jeff Fahey), a meddling reporter (Roberta Maxwell) and a bunch of football fans converge on the Bates Motel and the crazy world of Norman Bates (Anthony Hopkins).Like the previous installment, "Psycho III" (1986) is a quality continuation of the iconic 1960 film, but more of a retread, which is why some call it a spiritual remake. The previous two films are superior from personal opinion but there are sequels out there that disgrace their originals far more than this does.'Psycho III' could have been better certainly. Carter Burwell's score is very haunting and in its best parts sends chills down the spine.The film, as mentioned, is directed by none other by Norman Bates himself Anthony Perkins. He stops at the desolate motel run by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and gets a job. The third in the series, meanwhile, is utterly charmless, a simple retread of what's come before with little in the way of new material to distinguish it.The story goes that Norman is back on duty at the Bates Motel, this time dealing with a bunch of newcomers, including a nosy reporter, a suicidal nun, and a sleazy wannabe musician. What follows will surprise no-one, with a few mildly gory murders mixed in with lots of mock-crazy psycho-babble.Anthony Perkins is inevitably the best thing about this movie, as his performance as the disturbed Norman is head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. One month after the events of Psycho II, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is still running the Bates Motel, and, he has kept the dressed skeleton that belonged to "Mother." While things appeared normal, mishaps start to happen again when Norman falls in love with fallen nun Maureen (Diana Scarwid) and takes in greedy drifter Duane (Jeff Fahey), all while nosy reporter Tracy (Roberta Maxwell) tries to do an article on Norman.It is an OK sequel, slightly better than Psycho II, where it plays your mind with its twisted plot and surprising story elements and with a story that moves quickly with more horror and gore scenes than in the previous movie, though I do think they over did it on the gore and sensual stuff (making it look like some typical 80s horror/slasher flick). In addition, since this is the final Psycho movie in terms of continuity of events, I think this film gave a satisfactory explanation and close to the Norman Bates saga.Overall, another scary sequel, but the original remains tops in entertainment.Grade C. Anthony Perkins both returns as star and first-time director of this continuation of the story, which begins with a beautiful former nun named Maureen(played by Diana Scarwid) who flees from her convent, and hits the road, only to find her way to the Bates motel, still run by Norman, who takes her in. Despite Lower Ratings, I Enjoyed It. One month after the events of "Psycho II", Norman (Anthony Perkins) is still running the Bates Motel along with Mother. Things are going fine until Norman falls in love with a fallen nun, takes in a greedy drifter (Jeff Fahey), a nosy reporter sticks her nose where it does not belong and a series of murders begins once again.On the face of it, this film is a step down from part two (which was a large step down from part one). But, if you are an Anthony Perkins fan, As i truly am(i like his movies other than his Horra films) than i recommend you see it to see good acting on Tony's part and one heck of a directing job.. Anthony Perkins reprises his role once again, as Norman Bates in a role, which he doesn't take too seriously to me, and he did do a good job of directing the film, but not good enough. Movies like this are exactly why.For a basic plot summary, "Psycho III" sees Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) still running his hotel business and still harboring the embalmed corpse of Emma Spool, his supposed "real mother". When a young nun (Diana Scarwid) who bears a striking resemblance to Marion Crane needs a place to stay, Norman takes her in and clashes with "mother" once again.The strange thing about this movie is that, storyline-wise, it really isn't all that bad. Basically, it isn't just bad for bad's sake, and director Perkins does a great job of re-creating the continuity from "Psycho II" and making this film feel like part of the anthology.The problem, though, is that "Psycho III" doesn't know what kind of flick it is. The only murder that Norman commits in the film that wasn't sanctioned by his embalmed mom was that of pot smoking guitarist, and assistant manager of the Bates Motel, Duane Duke, Jeff Fahey. This time the story is Norman kills more people at his Bates Motel when he meets this beautiful girl, and he is falling in love with her, but mother doesn't approve. And it's pretty cool that this one is directed by Anthony Perkins himself who also plays his main character in the movie.I only recommend it to the die hard Psycho fans. The Bates Hotel looks as run-down and seedy as it ever did in B&W and ANTHONY PERKINS can still chill you with his mania and quirky expressions--but the story is pointless and most of the material feels like a re-run of previous films.JEFF FAHEY (with his wholesome bad boy looks) and DIANA SCARWID (a pretty blonde) are the latest victims to fall into the path of Norman Bates. The swaggering Fahey is looking for a brief job as a helper at the motel and Scarwid is a woman who almost meets her fate in a bathtub, much the way heroine Janet Leigh did in the original until a twist in the plot saves her.The film does manage to maintain suspenseful moments in credible fashion, thanks to some astute directorial touches by Perkins, who directed himself in this reincarnation of Norman. The much more creative PSYCHO IV: THE BEGINNING, is a much better piece of work with a finely crafted and clever storyline making it a worthy sequel to Hitch's classic.Summing up: The weakest point of the film is Perkins' own performance as Norman. Nudity, as seen in this film, is not worthy of the "Psycho" name, and Perkins probably had a great time filming these scenes. This is even more distressing when one realizes that this movie was directed by Anthony Perkins, a first-hand witness of the style Hitchcock used in the first "Psycho." The set-up of "Psycho III" is pretty good and original (though it may seem familiar), and Diana Scarwid is lovely and gorgeous as the runaway nun, but problems arise quickly. While there isn't quite enough gore for PSYCHO 3 to be considered a true slasher film, Perkins, as director, makes a bold choice to bring Norman and his terrible habits into the 80's while maintaining the charming weirdness in character and setting of the original and even its first sequel. Anthony Perkins puts on a great performance as Norman Bates, again. Plot: Norman Bates(Anthony Perkins)is out from the asylum and has just opened the motel again. A suicidal nun (Diana Scarwid) and a lecherous musician (Jeff Fahey) wind up stranded at the Bates Motel, where Norman (Anthony Perkins) is once again having delusions of "Mother". Can Norman finally get out from under his mother's shadow and find love or will he slip into insanity once again?What I once considered merely a slasher film now ties with "Psycho II" as one of my favorite of the sequels. It also does a great job of showing the inner conflict he has with himself (and Mother, if you will).It almost seems like Perkins was trying to take "Psycho III" where Hitchcock wanted to go with the original in regards of graphicness, but the censors at the time wouldn't allow him. With Anthony Perkins directing a Psycho sequel and also serving as Norman Bates, I can't think of anything better.When Norman inevitably kills his new motel clerk Duane (a young Jeff Fahey), we finally see truly for the first time how Norma's scarred son has been compelled to kill by his dominant mother.

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Extract

Cindy (Mila Kunis) is at a guitar store trying to find a guitar for her dad. The two employees are completely engrossed by her and ignore other customers. She doesn't seem to know a lot about guitars so they try to impress her by acting like guitar experts. She asks for a different color and they both go back to get it, leaving her alone with a guitar. She looks around then takes the guitar and drives off.Next we see a building with the name Reynold's Extract on the front. Inside, machines are going and Joel (Jason Bateman), the manager, enters and greets his employees. He goes into his office and talks on the phone with his friend Dean (Ben Affleck) about going to the bar where he (Dean) works. We also find out that Joel hasnt been laid in a month.Step (Clifton Collins Jr.) is talking to a Latino worker Hector, (Javier Gutierrez) who doesn't seem to understand English, telling him that he started off in the same position but was much better. He says that he's the best worker in the factory and he's probably going to be a floor manager soon. Two women, Mary and Gabriella, see him talking and not working and complain that he's holding up the assembly line. Another worker, Rory, comes over to Hector and tells him he should listen to his band 'God's Cock' play at a show. The women watch all of this, and Mary says that she's just going to sit there and not work either. Gabriella asks if she's going to shut off the machine and Mary says she's not going to hold up the line, but if they're not going to do their jobs she's not going to do hers.Joel is still on the phone and explains to Dean that if he's not home by 8:00 his wife puts on sweatpants, and once the sweats are on, he doesn't have a chance. He looks out his window and sees that Mary is just sitting there letting the bottles drop on the floor. Step goes up to Mary and asks what she's doing and she argues that he's not doing his job either. Joel comes down and tries to calm everyone down. He explains to Mary that Hector's new so itll take him some time to learn things and tells Step that if he wants to be a floor manager, he's going to have to learn to deal with upset workers instead of yelling. Joel walks away and Mary complains that they always get the blame.Joel is in his office talking to another manager Brian (J.K. Simmons), who spent all morning teaching Rory whom he calls Boy Genius how to back up a forklift. We see Rory driving a forklift carrying a bunch of boxes of extract when he stops suddenly causing a bunch of the boxes to fall. He then talks about Dinkus (Gabriella) who "axed" for days off. He told her she can have personal days when she fills out her time sheets correctly, which he promises Joel will never happen. Joel rushes out to beat the 8:00 sex deadline.He drives into a gated community and the clock in his car turns to 7:54. He sees his neighbor Nathan (David Koechner), and doesn't want to be seen. However Nathan notices him and waves him down. Joel stops the car and tells Nathan that he's in a hurry. However Nathan doesn't seem to register that and asks what Joel's doing on November 17. Joel lies and tells him that they'll be out of town but Nathan then 'remembers' that he meant the 7th so Joel reluctantly admits that he will definitely be in town then. Nathan says that he and his wife are going to an annual dinner for charity and want to invite Joel and his wife, Suzie. Joel tries to make up another excuse and says it doesn't sound like something that they would want to do because Suzie doesn't like going to those types of things. Nathan comes up with the idea to buy them tickets anyway and Leslie and Joel can try to talk Suzie into going. As soon as Nathan gets up from leaning on Joel's car, Joel speeds off. Joel gets into his garage and out of his car when Nathan comes walking into the garage and tells him that the tickets are $40, but the food is fantastic. Joel really wants to get inside his house and tells Nathan that they'll talk about it later. Nathan won't relent and asks why Joel is going out of town and Joel says it's for vacation. Nathan says that he and Leslie would love to go on vacation with Joel and Suzie. Joel says he has to go and starts closing the garage door shutting Nathan out and runs into the house. Nathan starts to walk away but turns around and calls for Joel bending down as the garage door closes.Joel is finally in his house just as his wife enters the living room tying the drawstring on her sweatpants. They talk about how Nathan and Leslie won't shut up. Suzie says she's afraid to go out onto the front yard because Nathan might be there. She reminisces about the time when they lived in a condo and they could go straight from the garage to the house without having to talk to anyone. (Joel's phone vibrates and he starts texting) She continues talking about how they need to hire a new pool cleaner because the one they have never checks the chlorine level. She turns around and sees Joel texting. Joel apologizes and explains that a supplier has a new vanilla extract formula, which would mean Reynold's cookies and cream formula could work. He needs to get it before Weber, their competitor, so that he could be successful enough to sell the company. Joel sits down next to Suzie on the couch and cuddles up to her asking her if she remembers the logo she designed for him for the cookies and cream extract and tells her he has it framed in his office. She says she remembers and now she designs coupons. We see her handiwork on a computer. He asks if she wants to go up to the bedroom and tries to kiss her but she says shes tired and it's the middle of the week. He says it's not the middle of the week, it's Monday. Suddenly she yells Shit! and Joel is confused and asks what's wrong. She forgot Dancing with the Stars was on and turns on the TV.Joel is at the bar where Dean works (Sidelines at the Marriott). He's telling Dean that he wants to put insulation in his bathroom because he doesn't like being heard while he jerks off. Dean tells him he should just do it anywhere he wants because he's the man of the house and how he went from being a bartender to having his own business. Joel says that no one cares about extracts, especially not his wife and that Rory probably gets laid more than he does because he's in a band. Dean tells him that Rory also probably lives in a crappy apartment and Joel says he'd gladly live in a crappy apartment if the bathroom was next to a TV so he couldn't be heard jerking off.Cindy is at a pawn shop trying to sell the guitar she stole. She fakes crying and tells the worker that it belonged to her dead father who left her with a bunch of bills. The worker tells her that she could get a lot more money for the guitar if she goes to the music store. She says she just wants to get it over with and the worker feels bad for her and pulls money from his own pocket and gives it to her.At the factory, Joel is looking out the window of his office when Brian walks in. Mary is sitting at her station not doing her job again and Joel asks if they're ever going to replace her with a robot. Brian says that they might not have to because General Mills wants to buy them out and made an offer over market value. Joel is really happy to hear this and tells Brian to answer them with a definite yes.On the assembly line Mary sees a bunch of workers just standing around and talking and she decides to just sit at her station and not work. The products get backed up on the assembly belt and they keep piling up until some of the products fall off the belt onto the floor. Joel sees this from his office window. The following is in slow motion: A worker carrying boxes of extract doesnt see the spill and slips on it. Rory is driving the forklift with several boxes of extract and swerves so he won't hit the guy who slipped. A block of boxes of extract falls from the forklift and lands on a machine and breaks it. A piece of the machine flies off and hits Step in the groin. Mary shakes her head.An emergency medical helicopter is in front of the factory and Step is wheeled out on a gurney. Mary says that's what happens when you don't pay attention.Joel is on the phone at Sidelines getting an update on Step. He tells Dean that Step definitely lost one his testicles and they might be able to reattach the other one. Joel doesn't understand how this happened because they have such a flawless safety record and comply with all the safety codes. Dean asks if Joel has insurance and Joel says he does and that he'll probably get a huge settlement. They then go on to talk about how fragile their balls are, just hanging there in a sack one moment and then cut off forever the next. Joel tells Dean that he and Suzie have sex maybe once every three months. Dean says he has a solution for Joel's sexual frustration Xanax. Joel says Xanax is for anxiety, but Dean says it's good for all psychological problems because it makes you feel good. Dean says he takes it for head colds. Joel declines his offer to get him some. Dean also suggests codeine cough syrup.Cindy is in her car looking through her various drivers' licenses. She sees on a newspaper a picture of Step on a gurney and reads the article, which says something about a large settlement of a million dollars. She goes to a pay phone and asks the operator for Step's address; however the address is unlisted.Joel and Brian are in the office and Brian is telling Joel that the guys from General Mills heard about the accident and are worried because if the bill is more than the insurance settlement, it could be a serious liability. Joel asks how Step is doing and Brian says he's better and that he's not going to sue the company.Brian tells Joel that Dinkus asked for a raise. Joel tells Brian that he calls everybody Dinkus so he doesn't know who he's talking about. Brian says he's talking about forklift "Dinkus" and Joel says that's "Boy Genius". Brian says that he told "Boy Genius" that he almost killed "Dinkus". Joel says that Brian should learn the employees' names. Brian says that if the deal goes through he won't have to.Brian introduces Joel to the new temps, Cindy and Victor. Joel shakes their hands and goes back in his office. Brian takes Victor down to the floor, but Cindy sneaks off and follows Joel. She acts really impressed that he's the owner and founder of the company. He takes the bait and starts telling her how he got the company started. When he was younger, his mother would make root beer cookies and he noticed that the cookie dough tasted better than the cookies themselves. He discovered that a lot of the flavor in root beer extract evaporates when cooked. In college, he found a synthetic flavor that didn't evaporate as easily and made his company based on that. Cindy looks really interested in his story and nods her head while he talks. When he finishes she says that he must be really rich; to which he replies he has a 7 series BMW. She begins to look through his Rolodex and says that he knows a lot of people. She comes upon Step's card with his address. She laughs and says it's cute how his 6 looks like 8 or the other way around, trying to figure out what Step's address is.Before he can answer, Dean walks in asking if Joel wants to hit some golf balls. He sees Cindy and introduces himself and she leaves. Dean goes to the window to look at Cindy as she goes down the stairs to the work floor. Joel explains that she was sent over from Job One, a hiring agency. Dean says he needs to give them a call because he hasn't seen anyone nearly that hot working at Reynold's Extract. Joel says that hot girls need jobs too, and Dean says most temps look like winos or guys. Joel tells Dean that he thinks she was flirting with him. Dean says of course because he's the king and the ruler of the company so he can have anyone he wants down on the floor. Joel looks out his window just as something is happening on the floor.Mary is stomping around and yelling that someone stole her purse. She accuses Hector and Brian comes over and tells her to calm down. She says she's going to call the police. Brian says he speaks the language and will talk to him. He asks Hector if he knows where her purso is. Joel comes over and asks how Mary knows her purse was stolen. She says because it's gone out of the locker room and Joel asks what it looks like. She describes it and we see Cindy going through that purse in her car. She opens the wallet and takes out all the cash. She also has Step's address that she pulled from the Rolodex.Cindy pulls up to the address on the card and sees Step limping out of the house and getting into his truck. She follows him to the market and gets behind him in line with a bottle of extract. He tells her she can go in front of him if that's all she has. She mentions she works at Reynold's Extract and he says he works there too. He tells her he was the fastest sorter there and that he was going to be a floor manager. She introduces herself and they begin an acquaintance.Joel walks into his house to see Suzie asleep on the couch. He goes to Sideline and tells Dean that he and Suzie have turned into one of those brother-sister couples. He says he can't get Cindy out of his mind and when is he ever going to meet a girl that pretty who's into food flavoring? He tells Dean that she practically asked him out, giving her number to him and asking if he wanted to go see Rory play. Dean asks what Joel's going to do and Joel says nothing because he can't cheat on Suzie. Dean suggests if Suzie cheated on Joel, then Joel could cheat on Suzie with a clear conscience. He says to Joel that he should hire a gigolo to have an affair with Suzie. He knows a regular named Brad who is a gigolo. Joel jokingly says that maybe he'll try some Xanax, and Dean pulls out a box full of different pills and Joel gives it back saying it was a joke. Dean pushes it toward him and Joel finally takes it to shut Dean up, and then asks what the pill is supposed to do.Cindy and Step are sitting in the back of his pick up truck talking about his accident. She tries to convince him to sue so that it will never happen to another worker again and that she already got him a lawyer Joe Adler from the picture from a bus stop bench. Step kisses Cindy and she is disgusted but fakes being aroused and reminds him that he can't get aroused until he heals and after the trial.Back at the bar, Dean realizes that he either gave Joel Ritalin or Special K which is an elephant tranquilizer and not Xanax. Joel is very very relaxed and brings up the gigolo. He asks if it's morally wrong and Dean says no because she has a choice. If she doesn't do anything then that's that, but if she does then she's the one that's morally wrong and he has a free pass. He says that Brad can pretend to be the new pool cleaner and see what happens. Joel says that they need a new pool cleaner and Dean says that it's a sign and goes to call Brad.Joel, Dean and Brad are in the back room negotiating Brad's fee. Dean wants 10% of Brad's fee because he set up the whole thing. Brad asks if Joel is going to watch and Joel says that he's not even going to be there and that they already went over this. Dean explains again slowly that Brad is going to go there pretending to be the new pool cleaner and attempt to seduce Joel's wife and if it doesn't work, he will just clean the pool and leave. Brad asks if Joel will try to touch his butt and Dean explains the situation again. Brad finally gets it and is excited but doesn't pay attention to Joel when he says that Suzie might not go for it. Brad asks if Joel can spread the word about him to other lonely housewives so he can quit his landscaping job that he hates because he loves getting laid. The three leave the bar and Brad is still talking about how much he likes getting laid. Dean shakes his hand and leaves with Joel in another direction. Dean offers to drive Joel home because he's drunk and stoned. Joel asks if he's sure about Brad because he's kind of stupid and Dean says what can you expect from a whore.At work the next day, Joel is in the break room taking Alka Seltzer when Cindy walks in. She says he must have had one of those nights and asks where was she while he was having fun. Joel suddenly realizes what he's done and rushes away to call Dean to stop Brad. He's pretty upset and Dean tries to calm him down. Dean sees that he doesn't actually have Brad's number on his phone and that the guy who gave him the number doesn't have a phone and that he got it from the guy at the bar. Joel asks for Brad's last name, but Dean only remembers that it was a Mexican name. Joel says Brad had blond hair and blue eyes, why would he have a Mexican last name? Dean says he thought it was strange too but he doesn't judge but he thinks it might have been Lopez or Sanchez or Gutierrez. Joel decides to go home and stop Brad himself. As he's walking out Brian walks in and says he needs to talk to him about Step, but Joel says not now and leaves. As he's walking down the stairs, his assistant yells that a Brad Chavez is on the phone. Joel turns around and gets the phone.In his office he picks up the phone and Brad says that Suzie totally went for it. Joel says Brad wasn't even supposed to be there for another 45 minutes. Brad says he had forgotten what time they said and he was so excited that he just went there and says how easy it was. Joel says he wants to hear everything. Brad says he was in the back pretending to clean the pool and Suzie was sunbathing. He strikes up a conversation with her asking if this was her dad's place because she looked so young to be owning a house that nice. She giggled and played with her hair. He asked her for some sunscreen and explains that asking for sunscreen was pretty smart because then she would ask him to rub some on her too. Brad continues rubbing sunscreen on her back and he says once he started doing that the rest was pretty easy. Joel stops him and Brad asks him to refer him to other people or he's available to do his wife again. Joel hangs up on him.Joel drives home and Nathan chases him down. Joel says hes really busy and Nathan says he won't take long. He says he bought the tickets for the dinner and that they ended up being $55 each. Joel tells him that he said they didn't want to go and Nathan says Suzie wont be uncomfortable at all. Joel says that that's not the problem and drives off.At the dinner table, Joel is eating angrily. Suzie says that they should go on vacation to the Caribbean, to which Joel replies that he hates the Caribbean because it sucks. He says he doesn't feel good and gets up to go to bed.At work, he sees Cindy working and they wave. Rory is telling Cindy about the five bands that he's in. Mary says Cindy's so nice and she wishes they would hire more people like her. She also heard that another wallet was stolen and that Hector was the last person in the locker room. Rory comes over to Mary and Gabriella and asks if they heard the rumor that Joel's going to sell the company. They say he's probably going to make billions. Rory gets upset because he thinks he does all the work and Joels going to get all the money. He says they should do something and walks away.In the office, Brian comes in and says Step doesn't want to settle anymore and he might have talked to a lawyer. He also says that General Mills doesn't want to go through with the deal until the situation is settled. Joel says not to worry and that Step is probably just beating on his chest and being macho.Joel is driving home and Nathan flags him down and Joel says he can't talk. Nathan says he noticed the new pool cleaner today and asks if he's any good. Joel says the pool cleaner came yesterday, Nathan says no..today. Joel asks him to describe him and Nathan describes Brad. Joel asks if Nathan is positive that he saw him today and Nathan says yes and Joel drives off.Joel calls Brad and asks what he was doing at his house today. Brad says not to worry because he's not going to charge him this time. He figured since they already had sex that it was no big deal. Joel says hell pay him because he doesn't want him to have sex with his wife for free and to never to come to his house ever again. He walks into the room where his wife is and Suzie asks if he wants to do something like go to 7-11. Joel grabs his jacket and says he has to go watch Rory's band play and quickly walks out.Joel shows up at Rory's place. A slummy looking house that has Harley motorcycles parked all over in front of it and Rory is in the back yard playing the guitar with his thrash metal band. Joel gets out of his car and sees Cindy but then gets back in his car and drives away.Joel is watching TV at Sideline and a commercial for Joe Adler the lawyer (Gene Simmons) is playing. Dean brings over a beer and asks why he's so upset since Joel said it wouldn't bother him if Suzie cheated on him. Joel says he didn't think about it long enough and he's upset that Brad didn't have to try so hard to get Suzie in bed. He complains that women say they want a guy that's smart and funny but end up just laughing at what the good looking, stupid guy says. He tells Dean that Brad was back today and that he's going to pay him. Dean tries to figure out where he's going to get his 10% from. Dean tells Joel to call Cindy and Joel says he doesn't know so Dean suggests smoking pot to relieve his stress.They go to Dean's friend's (Willie) house. Dean is rambling on and on while lighting a six foot long bong for Willie while Joel just watches. Willie lets out a breath and an extremely long stream of smoke leaves his mouth. He offers the bong to Joel who declines and asks for a beer instead. Dean tells Willie that Joel thinks he gets paranoid when he smokes. Willie yells and bullies Joel into smoking it and Joel gives in. Later on while super high, Joel stares at Willie and Dean who are sitting with their eyes closed, when Willie jumps up and screams at him to scare him and laughs. Dean tells Joel to chill out and suggests he should call Cindy. Willie asks what she looks like, and Joel says brown hair, pretty, working class type. Willie asks if that means slutty and Joel says yes. Joel dials her number and gets a busy signal. Joel makes a comment about her not having call waiting, and Willie freaks out on him saying HE doesn't have call waiting because the clicking sound it makes just makes him want to reach through the phone and kill that person. He then starts laughing and says he is just playing with him and offers to dial again for him. Willie starts dialing the number when he suddenly stops mid dial, and he tells Joel that the reason he's getting a busy signal is because he's dialing WILLIE'S number from Willie's phone. Joel thinks Willie's trying to get him paranoid again and says 'yeah right nice try', when Cindy walks through the door and calls to Willie, Hey baby. Joel stands up and Cindy sees him and asks what he is doing there. Dean excuses himself and leaves. Willie stands up and rushes at Joel...Joel tries to sneak into his bedroom but makes a lot of noise, waking Suzie up. She turns on the light and sees Joel's bruised and bloodied face and asks what happened in a worried voice. He tells her he's fine and he just got his ass kicked by some guy at Sideline. She says he should go to the hospital and he says he just wants to go to sleep.At work, his assistant gives him his messages and asks what happened to his face. He mumbles something about a car door and walks out. Brian walks into his office and asks if he's talked to Step. Joel replies that he's not returning his calls. Brian says that's a big problem because Step has hired Joe Adler. Brian asks about his face and Joel says he fell down some stairs. Brian says they need to hire new people because Cindy quit. Brian mentions that she's been going out with Step and Joel is shocked. Brian says he wants to fire Hector because of the stolen purse and wallet. Joel starts to put two and two together and tells Brian NOT to fire Hector for that would be a mistake and announces that he is leaving early.Joel is driving home when he sees Brad driving out of the subdivision on the other side and he pulls up in front of Brad cutting him off. He gets out of car and yells at Brad asking what he's doing at his house. He threatens Brad by saying Brad's face will look worse than his face if he's ever at his house again. Brad says that he and Suzie are in love. Joel calls him a piece of ass and that hes going to tell Suzie that he only had sex with her for money. Brad begs him not to but Joel blows him off and speeds home.Joel storms into the house and his wife is surprised that hes home early. He looks out at the pool from the kitchen window where she is standing and asks how the pool cleaner is. She asks what he means, and he says is he doing a good job because he's looking at the pool and it looks very dirty so he's going to fire him. Suzie asks if he's feeling all right and if he needs to see a doctor. He says he's fine and storms off.Joel drives to Step's house and Step invites him in. Joel asks him about Cindy and Step says that they might even get married after the lawsuit. Joel warns him that he should be careful with Cindy because he is getting a lot of money and also tells Step that if he goes through with the lawsuit, the company will go bankrupt and a lot of people will lose their jobs and be mad at Step. Step gets defensive and says he doesn't care if they get mad at him for he will take them on and kick their asses and for Joel to watch what he says about his woman.Brad is at Suzie's house trying to kiss her, but she tells him that they need to stop seeing each other. Brad confesses his love to Suzie, but Suzie says she loves Joel and she wants to make her marriage work. Brad asks does that mean they can't see each other anymore and Suzie says Duh, that's what she just said. Brad asks why? And asks if he can see her tomorrow or the following days. She says NO and tells him to leave, and he says he'll call her tomorrow.At the factory, Joe Adler is telling his team that he should fire them because they laughed at him for buying bus bench ads and that Step is a great client. He explains that a man with no balls is not a man and the jury won't be able to empathize, but a man with one ball is still a man and his ball is hanging by a thread. Brian and Joel enter the room to meet with Step's lawyers.Down on the floor, the workers all think that Joel and Brian are meeting with the people from General Mills. Rory gathers the factory workers and says that if they're going to cash out and leave him jobless, he should get some of the money. One of the other workers suggest going on strike until Joel and Brian gave them stocks in the company before selling to General Mills. If the workers go on strike, General Mills won't buy Reynold's Extracts so they would have to give the workers stock.Back in the office, Adler shows them the amount it would take to settle. Joel says they don't have that kind of money. Adler suggests liquidating all his assets and Joel says he wont give up the company he built from the ground. Adler says his client gave up his testicles. He says hell drop the case if Joel slams his testicles in the door and will call it even.On the floor, the workers are still speculating about what's going on in the office. They decide to stage a walk out.In the office, Adler is still going on about slamming Joels balls in the door. Joel finally gets fed up and says Adler can slam his own balls in the door. Adler asks if Joel just threatened him. Brian and Joel leave the office to calm down and Joel decides to leave.He walks down the stairs and all of his workers are gathered at the bottom of the stairs. Rory struggles to tell Joel that the workers want a piece of the General Mills buy out. Joel stops him and goes off on them telling them that they can have the whole damn company and buy a new conveyor belt and deal with the lawsuit but to be careful because Adler might slam their balls in the door and walks out. The workers all go back to work.Joel is watching TV at home when Suzie enters and complains to him that he's been busy at work for the past two years and she's been working at home. He interrupts her and asks if she's trying to tell him that she had sex with the pool cleaner. She admits it and asks how he knew. He tells her that he hired him to have sex with her because he wanted to have an affair and not feel guilty. She gets upset and asks if Brad has been getting paid all 15 times. Joel is shocked because it hasnt even been 15 days. She then asks Joel who he had an affair with. He tells her that he didnt. They both want to leave the house, and as Joel leaves out the back door Suzie opens the front door to see Nathan standing there. She says it's not a good time and he should come by another time. He asks her when, for they are so hard to get ahold of. She says maybe tomorrow. He asks what time, and she says she not sure when a good time will be and tries to close the door on him. He asks when will they will have the check for $110 ready, as she closes the door in his face.Joel drives to a hotel and watches TV. He walks out of the room and sees Cindy walk into another room with a bag of groceries. He goes to her room and she's surprised to see him. She invites him in and apologizes for Willie and explains that's why she had to move out. He notices Mary's bag in the room. He asks if that's Mary's bag and she says no that it's her own. She tries to change the subject by asking how people are at work. He walks over to get the bag and accuses Cindy of stealing it. She denies it and says it's her bag. He points out the teddy bear with a tutu key-chain that Mary described earlier. He then asks her what she's doing with Step. He knows that she is the reason why Step is going through with the lawsuit and explains how much work he put into building the company. He grabs the purse and tells her that if it really is her purse, she can call the police and tell them that he stole it. He's about to walk out the door when he changes his mind and decides to call them anyways to tell them that SHE stole it. He picks up the phone and she begs him not to because shes on probation and she'll go to jail for a really long time if he calls the police. She says she'll talk to Step and have him drop the lawsuit. Joel asks how he can trust her. She says he can keep the bag and if Step doesnt drop the lawsuit then he can turn her in. He asks for the other workers' wallet and watch that was stolen. She starts to cry and he tells her to stop trying to manipulate him. He's about to walk out the door but can't because he feels bad. He sits next to her and she hugs him and starts kissing him.He wakes up in her bed and she's gone. He panics and grabs his pants off the floor and gets his wallet to find all his money is still there. He looks over at the desk and Mary's purse, the wallet and watch are there. Relieved he goes back to sleep.At the factory, Mary comments on how Joel hasn't been at work all morning and Gabriella says if they're late, they get in trouble. Just then Joel drops Mary's purse next to her and tells her that it wasn't Hector and that it was Cindy who stole it. Mary doesn't believe him and makes a comment about blaming the sweet girl.At Step's house, Step's brother asks if Step has heard from Cindy yet because its been three days since she borrowed his truck. Step says that she wouldn't steal from him.At the factory, Brian tells Joel that Step is there to see him, but he wants to see him alone at the loading dock. Step tells Joel that he's tired of dealing with Adler and he just wants his old life back. He wants to go back to work and realizes that if he bankrupts the company, there won't be another job for him. Joel says he doesn't have to bankrupt the company. Step says if Joel sells the company, the new company won't want an employee with one ball, but Joel reassures him that they aren't allowed to ask that. Joel tells him that he doesn't really want to sell the place and won't have to if there's no lawsuit. Step agrees under one condition - he becomes floor manager.Step and Joel walk into the factory and Joel gathers the workers. He tells them he decided not to sell the company and that Step is the new floor manager. He says if anyone doesn't like that, they can go work at Gem-Co, a competing company. He reminds them that at Gem-Co, the owner doesn't know the workers' names and they won't even meet him. Brian asks if he's really not selling and Joel says no so he better start learning their names.Mary and Gabriella are on the line talking as usual when Step yells at them to stop talking and get back to work.Joel is at Sideline and a commercial for Adler is on. Brad walks in and approaches Joel and tells him he doesn't have to worry about him and Suzie anymore because she loves Joel. Joel asks why Brad was so hung up on Suzie and that he could get anyone he wanted and that sex isn't the same as love. Brad starts to leave but turns around and asks Joel for a favor, he tells him he quit his landscaping job and that he's not cut out to be a gigolo and asks if there's a job opening at the extract plant. Joel says he's not going to give him a job and Brad starts to walk away again when Joel changes his mind and tells him to come by the office and fill out an application.Dean walks over and says he might be to blame for the mess, and that some people like Joel aren't meant to do drugs because they make bad decisions.At the house Suzie is cleaning the pool. Nathan walks in and asks for the check. Suzie tells him that they're not going. Nathan gets upset and says they should have told him that before he bought the tickets. She says no one agreed to go. Nathan says it sounded like they were going to go and now he bought non refundable tickets and says he wishes they had been clearer with him. Suzie decides to be clear and says if they say things like, I don't think so or I'm not sure or close the door in his face, it means NO. She also tells him that they don't like him because hes dull, he talks too much, he never listens, he's always in their yard, and calls him the worst neighbor in the world. He suddenly grabs his chest then collapses.Nathan is in a casket at his wake. Suzie and Joel sit separately. They run into each other again at the funeral and Suzie tells him she thinks she might have killed Nathan. Joel tries to console her and finds out that both of them agreed to go to the same charity dinner that Leslie asked them about because they felt so bad. She asks Joel about the woman he wanted to have an affair with. He tells her she was a criminal drifter. He also tells her he hired Brad at the factory because he felt sorry for him. They tell one another they'll see each other at the dinner. Joel is about to walk away but turns around and asks Suzie if they should just take one car. She agrees and they talk about how it was the longest they've ever seen Nathan with his mouth shut.Credits Roll

comedy, humor, entertaining

train

imdb

You know, inane neighbors, workplace politics, sexual frustration, male gigolos, and horse tranquilizers.Okay, maybe it's not all that subtle, but "Extract" is less boisterous than Judge's previous films while retaining their biting, sardonic banter and oddly believable caricatures. Probably the reason the director's work hasn't caught on with mainstream audiences is that their stories and characters are always paramount to their gag writing, which in turn gives them a comparatively low joke-per-minute ratio.The plot itself isn't as interesting or ambitious as "Office Space" or "Idiocracy" respectively, but the terrific casting and low-key performances keep "Extract" charming even when its story falters. Judge's respect for his storytelling transcends the temptation to pack the film with gimmicky gags or disposable pop culture references, which is refreshing in comparison to the blisteringly unfunny and now highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time, sequel green-lit, "The Hangover." Jason Bateman of "Arrested Development" fame returns as another corporate mogul, though of considerably less affluence than Michael Bluth, and the role, unsurprisingly, fits like a glove. Joel is indicative of Mike Judge's greater analysis of the American working class, and reminiscent also, though not in a derivative sense, of Peter, the protagonist of "Office Space," in that both characters long for a life outside of the workplace. Michael Bluth wants to work; Mike Judge's characters have to work.The rest of the cast, including Mila Kunis as a con-woman catalyst, J.K. Simmons as name- challenged manager, and Ben Affleck as a worldly hipster doofus, all perform admirably. This film is about an extract factory owner who encounters problems with his family life and in the work place.Though the delivery of the film is a little flat, the plot does offers engaging moments that makes viewers care for the characters. Awkward situational humor has really been the staple of all of Mike Judge's films and TV ventures (besides the immortal Beavis and Butthead), and his latest effort, "Extract", is really no different. "Extract" is a comedy built for one thing and written for another, and in the end, it becomes a mildly, yet forgettable movie."Extract" is so obviously written to be the next "Office Space", which will forever remain Judge's crown jewel as far as films go. It experiments with a bit of character development in the lead role of Joel, but everyone else is either a cliché, someone who is not worth developing, or a plot device.You'll notice that I said the film is written to be an awkward situational comedy, and it clearly is - however, the comedians cast in parts are not really meant for these kind of roles. If anything, this film has the most random cameo of all time from Gene Simmons.Maybe Judge has lost his touch, though I doubt that, because he has a great cameo in the film as well...but his writing is done in a way that it feels like he's building up to one huge punchline that never comes. It doesn't know whether to be absurd, as some characters and jokes are, or the awkward comedy that Judge is so great at doing.To put it simple, "Extract" lacks the strength of plot, relatability, and character development that Judge's previous works have had. Ben Affleck's character, an obvious rehash of Deidrich Bader's character from the same movie, is the one saving grace, and even he isn't good enough to stop this from becoming nothing more than a mediocre comedy that's best saved for a DVD rental.. Jason Bateman plays a very sympathetic boss of an extract company, and as his troubles mount with his wife and business, you sincerely feel for the poor guy. Unfortunately, "Extract", while well acted, featuring some very colorful characters, lacks the bite of "Office Space" or "Idiocracy" If you go in expecting hilarious, you will be disappointed, but if you look beyond his previous films, the movie might be better appreciated. Well, it seems that making a great comedy can be like waiting for a lightning strike.Extract is not at the level of Office Space, but it's still very funny. This sounds like a terrible idea until Dean gives Joel a horse tranquilizer, which seriously impedes his judgment.And much hilarity ensues.The cast is terrific, including those named above and Kristen Wiig as Joel's wife; JK Simmons as Joel's partner; Dustin Milligan as Brad, the gigolo; and David Koechner as the neighborhood bore, Nathan. Fans of Office Space and Mike Judge may want to watch Extract out of curiosity. Extract is the new comedy which is written and directed by Mike Judge from who made some films that weren't too successful such as Office Space and Idiocracy. There's a subplot involving Jason Bateman having problems with his wife not sleeping with him played by Kristen Wiig from SNL, so Ben Affleck who plays his bartender friend convinces him to hire a gigalo to sleep with his wife, so that he could cheat on his wife with Mila Kunis's character, guilt-free. J.K. Simmons was also very funny as one of the factory workers who couldn't remember anyone's name.I still think that Mila Kunis didn't even have to be in the movie and she just expanded the plot. Him and Ben Affleck probably made me laugh the hardest.I don't think Extract can actually be called hilarious, in fact it's even somewhat disappointing for a Mike Judge comedy. This movie has dark humor; it is situations and what happens to people that makes it comical and even tragic.Main character, Joel, is the owner of an extract factory that he built from scratch with hard work. "OK, so I'm a bit of a character." Dean (Ben Affleck) Just mention King of the Hill, Beavis and Butthead, or Office Space from creator Mike Judge and you'll get reactions of awe for his "characters"-- their iconoclastic, offbeat humor. The setup of Extract is eccentric enough to fit those social comedies: an artificial flavoring factory filled with oddball assembly workers and an accident where one of them loses a testicle.But writer/director Judge can't fully match the promise of the premise as he tailors only a few scenes to his brash humor: for example, three men on a bong is smart on several levels, especially the timing and Jason Bateman's laid-back factory-owner Joel, who doesn't fit the smoking scene but whose droll responses to Ben Affleck's New -Age bartender are quite funny.Bateman's everyman persona holds the cast and story together as well as he can in spite of the many slow scenes and repetitious comedic bits such as the nerdy neighbor (David Koechner), who appears too many times in an annoying bit about The Rotary Club, and the testicle motif.Underneath the shallow humor lies a commentary worth attention—the plight of the factory workers waiting for a company to be sold with few places for them to go. With the humorous daily shenanigans of those line workers halting production for various petty jealousies and intrigues, Extract is not a bad commentary on the vicissitudes of factory life for management and workers.Joel's vacant sex life--his wife, Suzie (Kirsten Wiig) is not responsive-- heightens the social commentary concerning the trade offs of the American dream that needs tending 24/7. It even managed to make the dad from Juno not funny - and I love that guy in pretty much everything he's in.Please believe me when I tell you that I, and my wife who was predisposed to like this movie, sat stone faced for 45 minutes before turning it off. Basic approval.Joel(Jason Bateman,making good on practically every protagonist role he gets anymore)runs a food flavoring extract company in Texas(city non-specific)that he created and he's reached a placid stretch where he's bored with his work,stressed-out by his underlings and woefully un-fulfilled with his marriage to a stay-at-home free-lancer(Kristen Wiig,very good). When a diligent but trying floor worker(Clifton Collins jr.,also unrecognizable,though that's kinda his MO)is seriously(YOUCH!!)hurt on the job,his absence,coupled with the appearance of a hot but delightfully sociopathic drifter named Cindy(Mila Kuniz,out of rhythm with this film in a character that definitely could've been better written)as a new temp,sets events in motion that are going to seriously muck up not only Joel's sedate life but also that of his company,which seems to be on par with being bought out by General Mills.Writer/Director Mike Judge places an interesting and funny film that doesn't seem to be interested in finishing,or filling out the characters and/or situations of the story,and thus falls short of previous efforts(Office Space and Idiocracy). Granted,a quick comedy(roughly 90 minutes)that plays for absurd events that mull out of mundane occurrences(Judge's specialty,more out of shows like "Beavis and Butthead" and "King of the Hill")is probably going to have one-dimensional characters,but it still feels like this film was somewhat hurried. A little more exposition and maybe an awkwardly pinned ending might've improved the quality of this film.Still,the lines and some of the performances--the guy who plays the stutlifyingly dumb young Lothario who is hired to seduce Joel's wife is particularly mint,complimenting Affleck's inspired turn--make this movie easily enjoyable. The only possible reason I can think of to recommend this movie to someone, and mind you this is a pretty sad reason, is to watch Affleck play a mildly funny / not-give-a-sh!t type of character. I had a constant smirk through this whole movie, it made me laugh out loud several time, kept me interested, and I could definitely watch it again.Wiig is excellent in this, her regular sense of humor is very evident in this film.If we're comparing it to Office Space, this is like it in one main theme - a comedy that is also a window into real relationships..how they really work. Joels only joy of the day is his best friend Dean(Ben Affleck who got his look from Tommy Chung) a hippie bartender who he likes to hang with. But then a co worker has a painful accident on the job, things soon get real interesting when the beautiful Cindy(Mila Kunis) comes to work there, and Joel is quickly smitten by her. Jason Bateman really made this film work, as a everyday man who gets himself in funny situations. From the mind of Mike Judge ("Office Space") comes "Extract," a movie about the mundane daily struggles of Joel Reynolds (Jason Bateman). Like "Office Space," "Extract" is Judge's version of what happens when the everyday, working-class man gets bored and decides to do something about it. That sort of twisted reality is what makes a good Mike Judge film, and no doubt, this is another of his that is destined to become a cult-classic.Thankfully, though, the movie isn't so wacky that it loses its humanity. Granted, you won't laugh as thoroughly as you might during other comedies, but during Judge's fourth feature-length film, you'll squirm enough in your seat during the awkward moments to know that you were delivered a solid story with real characters and humor derived from their pain and suffering. "Extract" is, at the end of the day, an intelligent, hard-working and quirky little comedy that will no doubt find its audience in the years to come, much like "Office Space." Unfortunately the film isn't doing so hot right now (debuting at #10!), so I urge you to go to the movies and give it a shot. But what it does deliver comes with a good-natured everyman/everywoman charm, staying human enough to earn our admiration.Jason Bateman stars as the mild-mannered Joel Reynolds, owner and operator of a flavor extract manufacturing plant whose daily struggles include dealing with feisty and mostly incompetent employees and trying to get laid by his wife (Kristen Wiig). When a freak accident spurred by his misfit workers takes out an employee's testicle, an insurance settlement and potential lawsuit threaten to bankrupt Reynolds and his partner Brian (J.K. Simmons) as well as compound the problems in his personal life.Added to the mix are a female con artist (Mila Kunis) looking for a share of the law suit money and Reynolds' shaggy drug-endorsing friend (Ben Affleck) who convinces Joel to pay a gigolo to seduce his wife. It seems like that's plenty in terms of comic potential and the rich quirky characters that made "Office Space" excellent, but its the plight of your well- intentioned average Joel that makes "Extract" work.Not to take anything away from Affleck, Kunis or even David Koechner as the obnoxious neighbor, all of who give good performances, but it's more about how Bateman works off these characters, whether he's shunning Affleck's offers of Xanax or struggling with the temptations of the flirty Kunis."Extract" is just one of those smile the whole way through and laugh just a couple handfuls of times comedies. To top it off, the film can't seem to decide whether it actually is a comedy, or a drama about a couple having problems, or a story about a man getting on in his life, or a study of the cunning and scheming ways of pretty little Hollywood actresses, or a combination of all the above. And poor Kristin Wiig looked like she was given absolutely NO direction about what her character was supposed to be feeling about anything.Of course, all of this would have been forgivable if the movie had simply been FUNNIER.. While the actors seemed to do exactly what you would expect (Jason Bateman was the straight man, Mila Kunis the cool chick, Ben Affleck the philosophical slob, and Kristen Wiig as awkward girl), no plot, no chemistry, and no idea of what journey we were supposed to be on. It's another workplace comedy from Mike Judge whose earlier Office Space achieved cult classic status. What goes on in Jason Bateman's extract factory is just as funny as anything that went on in Ron Livingston's office. No, the true nature of this film lies within the subtleties of the seemingly mundane conversations, especially between Jason Bateman (Joel) and Ben Affleck's (Dean) characters. The two are best friends and interact a level that made me chuckle the whole time.The plot starts rolling when Dean convinces Joel to send a male prostitute to his house and see if his wife -- played by the hilarious Kristen Wiig -- will cheat on him. It's a very enjoyable film in which most of its flaws are forgotten by the fact that it is simple fun, the cast all shine in their roles, with the likes of Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig and J.K. Simmons all starring, but the highlight for me had to be Ben Affleck, a huge star that I was very surprised to see playing a supporting role in a Mike Judge comedy, he is hilarious in all of his scenes and it is nothing like what we've seen before from him. The films biggest flaw is that it simply had more potential than it delivers, a comedy written and directed by Mike Judge, the mind that brought us King of the Hill, Beavis and Butt-Head and Office Space, with a stellar comedic cast like this seemed like an easy success, but it simply dosen't live up to its expectations. He doesn't know, but he'd better find out.Comedy movies with wacky characters in wacky situations is my favorite thing. Second, of all if you don't know Mike Judge than you probably know King of the Hill, Beavis and Butthead, and one more important one to help grade this movie, Office Space. We all agree that Office Space is a great film but ya know what Extract has more well know actors playing roles they don't usually play (Affleck) or playing roles they can't mess up (Bateman) and so for a person who has direct TV I do not regret renting this and laughed and was actually surprised a few times. Oh and if you don't know anything about Mike Judge films then don't expect this to be one of your favorite comedies or even your top 5-10 list. In a star studded lineup, the film follows Joel (Jason Bateman), the proud owner of an extract company he built from the ground up. And everyone's had or unfortunately still has an annoying neighbour, played very amusingly by David Coechner (better known as Champ Kind in Anchorman.)It times like this when we turn to our friends, which in Joel's case was to Dean (Ben Affleck) who although polar opposite in his outlook on life, provides some strange but tangible advise that seems to only make things worse at first. Jason Bateman is flawless as Joel, an owner of an extract company whose working & personal life goes into bizarre gear when: one of his employees suffers a testicle on-the-job accident, his bartender friend convinces him to experiment with drugs, his wife starts sleeping with the pool boy, and a new female temp makes the move on him but wants to steal more than his heart. The ensemble acting of "Extract" was intact with sheer brilliance: Mila Kunis stole the show as the kleptomaniac temp Cindy, I got wiggy with Kristen Wiig's performance as Joel's cheating wife Suzie, Ben Affleck had a cool stillness about him as Joel's bartender friend Dean, J.K. Simmons had once again that Special J.K. thespian flavor as the company manager Brian, Clifton Collins Jr. continues to step closer to acting stardom with his role as the testicle-challenged Step, and David Koechner did not need any acting coaching as the annoying neighbor Nathan. Oh, and in addition, Joel's not getting any at home and spends more time bromancing Dean (Affleck of all people.)To confuse the plot more… (stop here – seriously, slapstick comedies such as this need to keep it simple. The characters are complete cretins, from the protagonist Joel (Jason Bateman) who owns and operates a flavor extract factory with the most nitwits that you will ever see. Ben Affleck, who seems to be taking time off from starring in movies to playing supporting roles, is Dean, the best friend that Joel has and can trust. Unfortunately, most people keep comparing this film to Mr. Judge's successes, an unfair way for not enjoying the comedy.Jason Bateman is perfect as Joel.

tt1045772

I Love You Phillip Morris

The story begins with Stephen Russell (Jim Carrey), lying weak in a hospital bed, recalling the events of his life that led him there. He begins with his mundane life in Texas as a police officer with a pious wife (Leslie Mann) and a young daughter. Stephen spends his off hours searching for the biological mother who gave him up as a child. He had been hiding the fact that he is gay for his entire life.After finally finding his biological mother and being handily rejected (a flashback shows a young Stephen watching clouds with his friends, commenting that one cloud "looks like a wiener"), and later surviving a car crash, Stephen decides to live the rest of his life as his true self. He breaks the news to his wife, who is fairly accepting, and keeps in touch with her and his daughter while he pursues a new life as an openly gay man. He moves to Miami, finds a boyfriend (Rodrigo Santoro) and begins a happy new life. He realizes quickly though, that "being gay is really expensive", leading him to become a con man to support his lifestyle. But when his financial frauds finally catch up with him, Stephen is sent to prison where he meets a sweet and soft-spoken inmate, Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). They instantly bond, but Phillip (who was arrested for keeping a rental car too long) is transferred to another prison location. determined to be with Phillip, Stephen pulls some strings and has himself transferred to the other location and shares a cell with Phillip. Their romance blossoms.Stephen is released from jail, and manages to get Phillip freed as well by posing as a lawyer. They happily begin a life together, and Stephen cons his way into a high-paying job as a financial manager. However, he slips even further back into his old ways, and is soon embezzling large amounts of money from the company. This begins to land him in hot water, and Phillip suspects there is something that Stephen is not telling him. He is soon caught and sent back to prison, with Phillip being arrested as an accomplice. A furious Phillip is incredibly hurt by Stephen's lies, and refuses to see him again.Soon afterward, Stephen shows signs of illness and is diagnosed with AIDS. He is sent to an outside hospital. Phillip is told the news by another inmate and is told that Stephen has very little time left. Phillip calls Stephen in the hospital, breaking down and telling him that, while he is still angry, he will be in love with Stephen always. Stephen is moved to tears.Later, Phillip receives the news that Stephen had died.Phillip is later called to a private meeting with his "lawyer," and finds Stephen waiting for him in perfect health. Phillip slaps him in the face, and Stephen explains how he had faked the entire illness (including altering medical forms) to get out of jail and see Phillip again. Stephen thought of his plan when sadly remembering his last boyfriend, Jimmy, who had succumbed to the disease. He swears to never lie again. He attempts one last con to break Phillip out, but is caught again after running into a co-worker from the company he had stolen from. Sent back to jail again, Stephen is put on 23-hour lockdown, with only one hour a day to exit his cell. Phillip was released in 2006.The last scene shows Stephen, who has never given up on his goal of being with Phillip, laughing joyfully while running across the prison yard pursued by guards.From there the story becomes a Don Quixote-esque story of a forlorn lover who cannot bear to be separated from his soul-mate. He will go to any lengths to be with Phillip, including but not limited to breaking out of jail on multiple occasions, impersonating Phillips lawyer and fraudulently becoming the CFO of a major corporation.

comedy, queer, entertaining, romantic, flashback

train

imdb

If so, you should definitely go.The movie tells the true story—and trust me, you'll have trouble believing it's true—of Steven Russell, a gay man who just can't stop conning his way through life. Ewan McGregor is equally astonishing as Phillip Morris - you'd swear you were watching the kind of unique romantic chemistry between two actors that arrives very rarely in cinema, and virtually never between two A-listers playing gay lovers; but the love story is only a foundation for what emerges as a kinetic, superbly told comedy-drama about the real life exploits of con man and recidivist prison escapee Steven Jay Russell.Directors/writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa expertly handle the tensions of comic and dramatic performance and also prove to have a masterly touch with the frenzied action sequences. It is a wonderful, but in the end heart-breaking love story.To conclude I want to point out the outstanding performance of the two main actors – Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey. However, the love story, that between Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) and Philip Morris (Ewan McGregor), is touching, passionate and totally convincing. The love that blooms in jail between Carrey's character and Phillip Morris - a sensational performance by Ewan MGregor - is so profoundly vivid that I was taken by their own strangely innocent affair and went with them all the way. I love You Philip Morris is an exceptional film, not because of the script, acting, or filming all of which are above average but simply because it seriously tries to take a homosexual relationship and show it as a heterosexual one and does so without the squirm.Maybe the world still ain't ready (this is most under-reviewed of any Carey film on IMDb) but it is a good film.With strong elements of humor, con tricks, prison, and a heart that is genuine, it is a very entertaining film.Hopefully it is a ground-breaking film. It's not the comedy itself that makes it memorable, it's the characters and the story that really makes this film a very enjoyable pleasure.Loved every minute of it, thoroughly entertaining, actually very funny, and very sincere at the same time. Luckily for them, Jim Carrey drums up a terrific performance as Russell and provides relief from the amateurish script and direction.The role of Phillip Morris is tackled by Ewan McGregor in a manner we have not previously seen from him. His character quickly evolves into one of the most offensive Hollywood portrayals of gay men I've ever seen: while the extravagant, shallow con-man lifestyle Russell aka Carrey pursues in the film may be accurate for the story, I could have done very well without cliché remarks such as 'I discovered that being gay is terribly expensive'. Well, I read some other reviews, that maybe are OK about some critic point of view, analysing the characters, the screen play or the plot; but for me, a simple spectator, it was pretty boring, even though I enjoyed parts of the movie, the ones that involved some funny stuff with Jim Carrey and also because of the acting of the two main characters. Jim Carrey might once have shown promise as a serious and versatile actor, but on the evidence of his performance in "I Love You Phillip Morris," it would seem that the time in which he might have put that promise to use has passed.Carrey can't play any character as a real person, instead falling back on his usual bag of grotesque, exaggerated schtick. To be fair, the entire tone of "I Love You Phillip Morris" is about as glib as Carrey's performance, giving this supposedly true story about one con man's never-ending crusade to avoid the law and be with his one true love (played by Ewan McGregor) the quality of a tall tale pulling our leg. Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor must have thought that it was a great joke to play two gooey-eyed men who fall in love, but they have demeaned themselves, and far from showing versatility, it displayed their lack of professional judgement and what asses they really are. Once trapped (thanks to the first 15 minutes or so, you know, the part of the movie that's actually a comedy), "downhill" isn't quite enough to describe how far into Hell you'll be sent emotionally speaking.The title is not even a pun of any kind, by the way: one of the two main character's name just so happens to be Phillip Morris, and no one in the studio apparently picked up on the blatant fact that it was grossly misleading to leave it at that. After a string of $100 million plus megahits, Jim Carrey has done just that with the low budget I Love You, Phillip Morris, and perhaps then it is no surprise this is one of the best movies (and performances) of his auspicious career.This is a movie unlike anything Carrey has done before and even with the seemingly overt gay themes aside, this is a demanding, darkly humoured and rather unglamorous role for the comedian. Foul mouthed and incredibly twisted, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa's films are not for everyone, but if this is your style, you will be on the floor laughing more than once during the deadpan pleasures of "Phillip Morris."Aside from the mirthful comedy at its forefront, what makes this film more special yet is it exists as a superb con-man film, thanks in no small part to the real life Steven Russell (portrayed by Carrey in the film) whose unbelievable exploits gave inspiration for this adaptation. His sweet innocence and naivety is continually taken advantage of by Russell, though whether it is intentional or not is one of the many interesting questions posed in this feature.I urge everyone to look past this film's "gay" subject matter, because that constitutes so little of the running time, and is ultimately linked to so few of this movie's true roots and intents, you will forget all about it by the end credits. If you love either dark comedy, Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, con man films, prison escape films or any combination of the former, you will find a lot to love in "Phillip Morris".. What happened next involves dozens of escape attempts, multiple impersonations and a love story that is funny, depressing and real.Jim Carrey has two film careers, the one where he makes his stupid faces and sings out of his butt and the other in which he goes the more dramatic route and gets recognized at the Golden Globes, but not the Oscars. Ewan McGregor is Philip Morris, a shy, soft spoken blonde haired and blue eyed man who falls in love with Jim Carrey while in prison. This is a romance film about love, not Jim Carrey having a funny good time.. You can tell that I had low expectations of I love you Phillip Morris, and this was mainly due to the fact that Jim Carrey's rubber face and daft noises have never been enough to get me excited about a film. The relationship between Ewan Mcregor and Jim Carrey is completely convincing, despite the absurdities of the situation, which is actually based on a true story.It is hard to describe the film without drawing on comparisons to another well known film in which Leonardo Dicaprio runs from the law; this is essentially Catch me if you can with a gay man. On the beginning of I Love You Phillip Morris, we are assured that it is based on true events.And it is true; a quick visit to Wikipedia revealed that even the most unlikely events really happened.That would have made a fascinating movie out of I Love You Phillip Morris, but it unfortunately was not like that, because co-directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (who were also the co-screenwriters) did not find the appropriate tone to tell the story.The screenplay from I Love You Phillip Morris is well written, but the problem comes from the direction, because Ficarra and Requa do not know whether they want to make us laugh, cry or simply share our incredulity to the situations portrayed in here.While I was watching it, I was reminded of Catch Me If You Can, another film which was based on a con-man's impossible situations.But that film had a more simple and natural style which made the humor to organically flow from the characters and the situations, at the difference of I Love You Phillip Morris, where we find a "funny" atmosphere which feels forced and difficult to classify.Maybe, Ficarra and Requa thought that the general spectators were not going to be ready to accept an homosexual thriller starred by two Hollywood stars, and they decided to protect themselves by adding a badly planned comedy varnish which ended up becoming into the movie's biggest fail.On the other side of the coin, we have the film's best attribute, which is the excellent performance from Jim Carrey, who instinctively adapts himself to the strange requirements from the movie in order to rescue his character's humanity, making us believe his sincere feelings and good intentions despite his unpredictable behaviour.Unfortunately, Ewan McGregor does not bring a very good performance as the other main character; I was left with the impression that this talented actor studied the body language and attitudes from some homosexual people, and the result is that his character feels like an imitation of a gay person instead of a real human being.In other words, as much as McGregor softens his look and voice, I never felt him credible on his role.In summary, I Love You Phillip Morris is a mediocre movie when it could have been brilliant.However, I cannot deny it kept me moderately entertained because of the adequate screenplay and Carrey's performance, so I think it deserves a slight recommendation despite its various fails.. Those filmmakers would be labeled as Nazis, extreme right supporters, bigots or even members of the Klu Klux Klan.If we can ignore the gay issues for a moment the movie is still bad: boring, unfunny, and we can sense an incompetent management of tone (was it a comedy or a drama?), not to mention bad taste (is there any fun in watching gay sex scenes performed by two very talented Brand A actors?, sorry but watching Tom Selleck kissing Kevin Kline on the lips was enough for me back in 1999 when I watched IN & OUT).Now if we talk about the actors involved, wow, all I can say is: what the hell were Ewan McGregor and Jim Carrey thinking? Had Harrison Ford picked a role as a gay man he would never have become the star he is today.I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS is a cry for help, a cautionary tale: a good sign that Hollywood is in trouble as evidenced by the fact that they are running out of ideas.Sorry but I really think that a gay movie like ILYPM will never achieve the greatness of a magnificent film like RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. Jim Carrey is a talented actor who played funny characters with vigour as if he is jumping out of the screen such as "The Trueman Show (1998)", "The Cable Guy (1996)" and "Yes Man (2008)", while he also portrayed an ordinary guy who suffered the pain of love that everyone would experience one or more in their life, in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)". Not knowing anything about this film before watching, I was absolutely shocked when I learnt the plot of the story, I was also shocked to see Jim Carrey playing this character, Steven, a gay man in hiding, until he has an epiphany and begins to live the life a 'gay'. Risky territory, making movies about gay men at the best of times, so hats off to these two well established stars for placing their careers on the line to make it.I found it to be hilarious, sad, incredible, and was very impressed by the quality of acting of both Carrey and McGregor.If you are anti-gay, you may still enjoy seeing these men go to their doom, as usually happens to gay roles that Hollywood allows to be played.Having said that, I still think this movie is ground breaking, because it sets up the relationship as valid and meaningful from the get-go.This is I believe Carrey's greatest achievement to date, and McGregor was simply brilliant, totally convincing. Lies to make people give me their money, lies to make people love me, and lies to keep them from leaving me, and in the process I lost track of who I was.¨ Jim Carrey plays the love interest of Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor) in this romantic comedy/drama directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. Carrey is a good actor, but I think who really steals this movie is Ewan McGregor who plays a very different kind of role than what we have seen from him in the past. Their romance blossoms in the prison and when they are released as well, but Steven continues to live a life of lies and sooner or later it will catch up to him again.Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor are one of the reasons this movie stands out. Peculiar adaptation of Steven McVicker's book--a dramatized true story penned by the film's two directors, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa--is well-acted by Carrey and Ewan McGregor, but is often agonizing to sit through (Russell's flamboyant but not-thought-through cons are mounted with the kind of precise awkwardness that makes one cringe). And that is once again the case in being snubbed last year for his stellar cellar leading performance as real-life gay con man Steven Russell in "I Love You Phillip Morris". Perhaps a time will come where R21 films need not go under the knife, and for a paying and discerning audience to know what they're in for basically, and that's to see two A-list Hollywood actors play gay characters convincingly in a refreshingly charming tale about the extent of the con one gets into for that elusive thing called love.Supposedly based on a true story, no matter how the dramatization of the film will eventually make it quite an incredible tall tale to tell, akin to a scene where a joke got spun and retold so many times that it becomes so ridiculous, Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) seems to be the modern equivalent of Frank Abignale Jr, the protagonist of Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can. Both are extremely convincing con men relying on their superb skills of social engineering, although Steven seemed to be one up in engineering most of his ruses from within a prison sale, posing as a lawyer, CFO, and even judge through his career in crime. I'm not sure how gay folks will take to others laughing during such romantic scenes, because it's quite hard to keep a straight face watching both McGregor and Carrey romance each other in such convincing fashion, wondering for a moment how much work had gone into the crafting of their respective characters, especially for Jedi Master McGregor to go all effeminate in his demeanour that's not meant to belittle, nor deliberately going overboard with stereotypical actions, but adopting an approach that's somehow just right, and pat probably agreeable and acceptable as accurate from the intended community.Those who think this is a gay film exploring gay issues need their head seriously checked as well, because Steven McVicker's story (based on his book) and from the challenges faced by the couple isn't glamourizing gay love at all, but highlighting, as humans, the same issues and problems faced with any heterosexual couple in a relationship will face, boiling it all back down to solid fundamentals such as trust and faith, in sticking to and delivering on promises made. I am highly impressed by every aspect of "I Love You Phillip Morris" with brilliant performances by Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.The Blu-Ray's extra features give an excellent overview of the production and of how the actors brought their characters to life - and they also verify that this is an incredible, all but impossible, yet true story of an unrelenting conman's unbounded commitment to love.Ewan describes it best as "funny, tender and sweet". The storyline is interesting, the movie delivers and is creative, the acting is as you would expect from Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.I Love You Phillip Morris is the true story about love, lies, and the law. I would think by now that who people love or what they get up to in bed with their adult consenting partner would be a non-issue.The film was entertaining with a good performance by Carrey and a truly endearing one from Ewan McGregor. I love you Phillip Morris tells us the true story of Steven Russell (Jim Carrey), a supposedly happy married man with a good job that in reality is a gay con man. The cast is very good, Jim Carrey is Steven Russell, his performance was excellent, maybe one of the finest of his career, Ewan McGregor as Phillip Morris isn't as good as I expected but it was convincing enough. "I love you Philip Morris" of course has some funny Jim Carey flavor over it.The movie goes very fast and is filmed in a funny and smooth way, although the real story is actually quite dramatic in the end. Sure, not many movies of this caliber are so carefree and open about homosexuality, but underneath, the fact that the main character Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) is gay has no bearing on the story John Requa and Glenn Ficarra are telling. Jim Carrey, possibly one of the funniest actors to be in a film deliverer's in "I Love you Phillip Morris". 'I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor star in this slapstick gay prison love film based on true events that took place in the 80's and 90's.

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The Simpsons: Hit & Run

Mysterious happenings are occurring in Springfield, including wasp-shaped security cameras, mysterious black surveillance vans, crop circles, and a "new and improved" flavor of the popular soft drink Buzz Cola. A horde of these wasps descend upon the city at the beginning of the game. One enters the Simpsons' home and is smashed by Homer, emitting coins. Homer picks up one of the coins, and watches a commercial for the new Buzz Cola on TV, hosted by Krusty the Clown, noticing the logo on the coin resembles that of Buzz Cola. Homer decides he must get Buzz Cola. Homer at first goes to the Kwik-E-Mart and purchases Buzz Cola, then gets into more routine tasks, such as giving Lisa her science project or going to work. At the end of the day, Homer is sent home from work and watches a news report on TV, which informs him that the mysterious cameras and black vans are being spotted all across town. He notices one of the vans spying on him outside the house, and decides to pursue it, leading him to Mr. Burns' mansion. Homer concludes that Mr. Burns is responsible, and goes to confront him. However, Burns reveals that the black vans were pizza delivery vans, and proceeds to fire and release his guard dogs on Homer. The next day, Bart skips school in search of the new game, Bonestorm II. After evading Principal Skinner, he does tasks for certain people who give him a lead onto finding the game. The trail leads him to Professor Frink who, in turn for a few errands, lets Bart see the new Truckasaurus. Bart is nearly attacked by it, but escapes before disappearing in a tractor beam. Lisa attempts to find her brother by exploring the Squidport for clues. She learns from Grampa that black sedans that have been appearing around town are connected to Bart's disappearance, she also learns from Chief Wiggum that government-style agents have been appearing across the Squidport area. Lisa destroys the sedans, but finds them to be empty. After completing a task for the Sea Captain, she destroys a black limo but discovers Bart got out of it and boarded a ship. She finds Bart on the ship; he appears to have memory loss and is mumbling unintelligibly, while occasionally mentioning the sedans and Buzz Cola. Marge sets out to learn what has affected Bart. As she investigates a crop circle that recently appeared in Cletus Spuckler's crop field, Grampa tells her that the crop circle resembles the Buzz Cola logo. Marge gives a can of the cola to Bart, which snaps him out of his stupor. Bart reveals that the new Buzz Cola is an alien mind-control, which he was given while abducted. Marge decides to purge Springfield of cola trucks, but in spite of her efforts, the drink still maintains its popularity. Inspired by Marge's efforts, Apu sets out to discover the source of the cola, remorseful for selling it in the first place. After some unsuccessful leads, he finally comes across Snake Jailbird, who tells him that the cola trucks are registered to the Springfield Museum of Natural History. Apu and Bart get to the museum, where they find a meteor as the source of the cola. They eavesdrop on a conversation between aliens Kang and Kodos, who are masterminding a scheme. Apu and Bart learn that the wasp cameras are filming the antics of Springfield for an intergalactic reality show, Foolish Earthlings. The aliens are using the cola to make people insane, by which time Kang and Kodos will distribute laser guns among the populace to drive the town to a violent massacre sure to draw many viewers. Apu refuses to help any further, so Bart takes it upon himself to foil Kang and Kodos' plan. He asks Krusty for help, but Krusty informs Bart that he has already helped the Duff Brewery set up free laser gun stands around Springfield. Bart then goes to his father, Homer, for help, and the duo quickly pursue Kang and Kodos to the brewery. However, the aliens escape, and before departing, they reveal that they have already released Buzz Cola throughout Springfield's water supply. As the cola seeps into the ground, it releases the undead from the Springfield Cemetery, who invade Springfield. On Halloween, when Homer collects supplies to protect his family and home from the marauding zombies, he decides to pursue a black sports car—which is a probe for the aliens' ship—to the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. There, he finds Professor Frink, who has discovered the aliens' weakness: nuclear waste. He plans to use the alien ship's tractor beam to suck up cars that are loaded with barrels of nuclear waste. After successfully loading Frink's car, along with three more, into the aliens' tractor beam, the ship explodes. The following day, Springfield is returned to normal, and Homer is seen as a celebrity among the alien viewers of Foolish Earthlings.

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Terms of Endearment

Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger) are both searching for deep romantic love. The film opens with Emma's early childhood, Aurora reveals how difficult and caring she can be by nearly climbing into Emma's crib in order to make sure her daughter is breathingonly to be reassured when Emma starts crying (after being woken up). After the death of Aurora's husband and Emma's father, Rudyard, Aurora and Emma develop an extremely close love-hate mother/daughter relationship as Emma grows up.Skipping forward several years, Emma gets married immediately upon graduating from high school in the Houston area, to Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels), of whom Aurora so disapproves that she refuses to attend the wedding. Emma's best friend Patsy Clark (Lisa Hart Caroll) continues on to college, eventually becoming successful and rich in New York City.Over the next few years, Emma has two children with Flap, a college professor who relocates the family to a university in Des Moines, Iowa, separating the family hundreds of miles from Emma's meddlesome mother. Emma later telephones to ask her mother for money when she is pregnant with her third child. Aurora, not knowing by the telephone call that Emma is already several months into her pregnancy, wants Emma to get an abortion. Emma's once-passionate marriage to Flap becomes strained, thanks mostly to his philandering. Emma eventually has a secret romantic affair of her own with a married small-town older banker, Sam Burns (John Lithgow).Meanwhile back in Houston, Aurora remains celibate but cultivates the attention of several gentlemen in the area, some rather bizarre. However, she is attracted to her next-door neighbor of 15 years, the womanizing, alcoholic retired astronaut Garrett Breedlove (Jack Nicholson). Aurora and Garrett eventually go on a lunch date, make love, and develop a tenuous relationship.Emma returns to her mother's home in Houston after discovering her husband is having an affair with a young grad student named Janice (Kate Charleston). Emma's appearance along with her three young children makes Garrett uncomfortable, as he has been single for a long time. Flap telephones and she reluctantly returns home to Iowa, trying to reconcile with him. Unwilling to become a one-woman man, Garrett breaks up with Aurora, making her feel "humiliated."Emma ends her relationship with Sam as soon as Flap accepts a new teaching position in Kearney, Nebraska. Although she does not want to, Emma agrees to relocate to further Flap's career. She soon discovers that Janice is attending the same college where Flap now works, realizing that Flap followed her to Nebraska. Emma angrily confronts Janice before taking daughter Melanie to the doctor's office so both can get flu shots. While administering the injection, Emma's doctor notices two large lumps under Emma's armpit. Although Emma is only in her 30s, the doctor orders a biopsy and discovers she has cancer.To cheer her up, Patsy invites Emma to New York City for her first vacation without her children. However, after arriving, Emma feels out-of-place among Patsy's friends and returns home early to begin chemotherapy treatment for her illness. Her doctor soon breaks the news that the drugs she was taking did not have the desired effect, and that Emma will not survive her illness. Flap and Aurora remain by her bedside in the hospital for weeks. Although devastated and exhausted, Aurora is still very supportive and loving towards Emma. Garrett flies to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he surprises Aurora, who confesses her love for him. He issues his stock reply: "I love you, too, kid."In a discussion in the hospital cafeteria, Aurora tells Flap bluntly that he does not have the energy managing a job, chasing women, and raising children. Patsy, who has no children of her own, wants to adopt Melanie, but Flap and Emma do not want their kids to be separated. Emma also doesn't want Janice to raise her children, so Flap, feeling like a failure as both a father and a husband, agrees that having them live with Aurora is best.As Emma's time begins to run short, eldest child Tommy shows open resentment toward his mother due to circumstances such as social class, fights between his parents, and Tommy's perception of feeling unloved. Emma reassures her two sons, and, after an altercation with Aurora (she slaps him in the hospital parking lot for criticizing his mother), Tommy weeps in his grandmother's arms. Emma dies later that night.Following the funeral, Emma's friends and family gather in Aurora's backyard for a memorial service. Garrett shows affection toward each of Emma's children and helps Tommy cope during the wake. The film closes on Aurora, sitting next to Melanie.

romantic, suspenseful, sentimental, melodrama

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imdb

Both actresses beautifully carry the film and they are brilliantly supported by fine actors like Danny DeVito, Jack Nicholson, John Lithgow and Jeff Daniels.What particularly appealed to me about 'Terms of Endearment' is the depiction of the mother-daughter relationship and the dynamic of it. The shifty, funny/serious tone of "Terms Of Endearment" caught a lot of people off guard in 1983 and word-of-mouth about it being a seriously good tearjerker/comedy was strong (opening near Christmas probably didn't hurt it come Oscar time either!). Vivid Debra Winger is incredible as MacLaine's daughter, as are John Lithgow, Jeff Daniels, Jack Nicholson and, in a small but telling part, Danny DeVito. Jack Nicholson is fun to watch and has some amusing lines, and most supporting roles, like those played by John Lithgow and Danny De Vito, are also first-rate and completely believable. This film follows the complicated relationship between an icy, Texan widow named Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine)and her slightly-off-the-wall daughter, Emma (Debra Winger), who at the beginning of the film is marrying a man named Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels), whom her mother clearly hates, seemingly just to get away from her. Brooks won a pair of Oscars for writing and directing this funny and heartbreaking story that stretches over a long period of time but never fails to hold interest and trust me, the last 20-30 minutes of this film will have you weeping. Shirley MacLaine finally won her long-overdue Best Actress Oscar for her controlled performance as Aurora and Jack Nicholson won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as a retired astronaut who moves in next door to Aurora after Emma moves out and begins a hilarious and touching relationship with Aurora. I don't think I need to say anything about the acting in it, if you've seen Terms of Endearment you know that Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, and Jack Nicholson bring their characters to a life rarely seen in movies. Not to mention, Jack Nicholson as the "Astronaut" Garrett Breedlove, his characters are always memorable no matter how big or small his role in a film.This film is about the lifelong relationship between a daughter, Emma, her slightly neurotic mother, Aurora and the men in their lives. Over the years, I have heard stories about how supposedly good this film was but I must say it is one of the most pretentious, overrated and worst movies to win multiple Academy Awards. I was incredibly disappointed as there was not one thing redeemable about this film, whether it be the directing, the acting, the script and even the music playing throughout, all of this making the film feel like a made for TV movie or soap opera rather than a feature film. Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger are totally unconvincing as mother and daughter, Jack Nicholson has been in far better form ( A Few Good Men, Batman, The Departed) as a supporting actor in particular, John Lithgow didn't get enough screen time as was the case also with Jeff Daniels. Albert Brooks not only trusts our intelligence but also our patience as the story plunges us in the world of Aurora and Emma, Shirley MecLaine and Debra Winger, mother and daughter. I say 'strange' film because it has the curious feel of a TV movie without the archetypes of a vulgar soap opera, it's made with a modest tone of pastel colors and following an episodic structure, like so many slices of people's lives, people no worse or better than you and I, but the flow is so fluid and perfect that we let ourselves guided by the story, never really expecting for something to happen, we're just put here as witnesses of a story, which exemplifies our own vision of life.And that's the remarkable exploit of the film, the key that forged its success. "Terms of Endearment", which is unlike any film made before, was one of the highest grossing of 1983 and although I found "The Right Stuff" to be a much more extraordinary experience (and most deserving of the Best Picture award), "Terms of Endearment" possesses an endearing quality, which relies on its faithful approach to life, something made of laughs, anger, sadness and fears, simply put the four main emotions that drive our feelings. In a way, the film can remind of "Love Story" without an hyperbolic classicism that could have ruined it.Emma the daughter, has this burning passion in her heart just like Ali McGraw's character and her mother works as the total opposite, she seems cold and distant, criticizing all her daughter's choices, above them all the decision to marry a teacher named Flap (Jeff Daniels). One of the biggest issues that undermine the characters' interactions is the impossible communication of true feelings and the way it's handled provides the comedic spice of the film.At a pivotal moment, Aurora finally decides to invite Garrett Breedlove, the ex-astronaut, neighbor since years and infamous for his lust for younger women, just to see her 'Renoir', referring to a very precious painting -a second reading at these lines makes the whole situation subtly hilarious. The film evolves beautifully with a last act that is forever rooted in our memories, thanks to the remarkable performances of both Debra Winger and Shirley MacLaine, surrounded by great supporting performances. The film follows Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine), controlling, sometimes abrasive, mother to daughter Emma (Deborah Winger), as the two deal with Emma's deteriorating marriage (of which Aurora disapproves) to ineffectual and unfaithful husband Flap (Jeff Daniels) and Aurora's own relationship with her libidinous, bon-vivant neighbour, ex-astronaut Garret Breedlove (Jack Nicolson). Shirley MacLaine won, largely due to the famous and often spoofed "Give my daughter her shot!" scene.Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow, and Jack Nicholson provide the male talent, and each give great performances without overshadowing the women; after all, the movie belongs to Shirley and Debra. TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983) **** Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, Debra Winger, Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow, Danny De Vito. Wonderful serio-comedy about a strong-willed and independent woman (MacLaine in top form) and her only daughter a strong, yet indifferent and directionless free-spirit (Winger, nominated for Best Actress, excellent) with a penchant for a husband with a straying soul (Daniels also great). Winner of 5 Oscars including Best Actress (MacLaine), Supporting Actor (Nicholson in a gleefully unkempt performance and the film's stranglehold on having a good time), Screenplay (adapted from Larry McMurtry's novel), Director (James L. I didn't even make it past the first hour the first time and felt like I should've gotten a medal for sitting through the full 131 minutes the second time.Terms of Endearment uncovers three decades (which the movie certainly doesn't show well) of a mother and daughter, played by MacLaine and Winger. A relative of mine told me that if I loved "As Good As It Gets", I'd love "Terms of Endearment." Shirley MacLaine, Diane Winger, Jack Nicholson, John Lithgow, and all the other cast members are simply magnificent. They aren't dramatic and theatrical like most Oscar winning performances are nowadays, but they portray ordinary people who encounter everyday life and situations.In other words, I did not see Shirley MacLaine or Jack Nicholson stealing the show, but making it real. But it doesn't take a major cynic to wonder if it wasn't more in the hope of "getting lucky" than genuine enjoyment of the film.There's nothing *wrong* with honest manipulation of emotions with idealized mother/daughter ties (OR father/son or even buddy/buddy - I've seen more grown men dissolved in tears after FIELD OF DREAMS or that straight teenage boy "stroke film" TOP GUN than I have women after TERMS OF ENDEARMENT), but the underlying relationship really OUGHT to be an admirable, healthy one. Terms of Endearment is a well received movie that won critic's and audience's hearts in the 80's, not to mention how it snabed several Oscars including Best Picture of 1983, but I'm not so sure if it still has the same effect for today. Emma is going through a tough marriage though when she realizes how much of her life she's given up, but she is diagnosed with cancer and then soon comes to realize how everything she has was wonderful and she would never do it over again.Some of the emotions in this movie were just not well explained and the time that was expanded throughout the film was not edited well. All of them behave in entirely unpredictable ways--which gives the movie its strength I suppose.But the glaring fault seems to be letting Shirley MacLaine's uptight and prissy character fall for anyone as rude, obnoxious and seedy looking as Jack Nicholson. Mind you, the mother and daughter duo in this dramedy is connected at the hip.Overbearing Aurora (Shirley MacLaine) becomes even more domineering when her husband dies and she's left to raise Emma (Debra Winger) alone. It stars Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, and John Lithgow. This movie has truly an all- star cast, with big names like Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger as the two leads and a supporting cast featuring Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels and John Lithgow. Jeff Daniels as the philandering son in law; Shirley Maclaine as the dominant yet loving mother; Debra Winger as the struggling and too loving mom, married to a "n'er do well"; but loves her children.It is a serious theme, hence explaining the need for Nicholson. Granted, at this point in time we have seen him as the cynic way too many times, but at the time of this film his interactions with MacLaine were fresh, comic, and realistic.The awkward scenes between Debra Winger and John Lithgow engage the audience; two people alienated and trying to connect, having an affair in Nebraska. Shirley Maclaine gives the performance of a lifetime as Aurora Greenway a high strung mother who does her best to make sure that her daughter played by Debra Winger has the best life she can possibly have while falling in love with a boozed up astronaut played to perfection by Jack Nicholson who deserved the supporting actor Oscar for his performance. **** and more to the engrossing memorable Terms of Endearment.This comedy-tragedy hits the spot.The segue showing the change from comedy to drama is done just right.Shirley MacLaine, finally won the Oscar in 1983, as Aurora Greenway, an overprotective mother who will not allow her grandson to call her grandma.Debra Winger was also nominated for best actress in this film. The central mother-daughter relationship, acted brilliantly by Shirley Maclaine and particularly Debra Winger, is the axis for the film's events, spread over a large number of years. Winger's rocky marriage to husband Jeff Daniels, mirrored by Jack Nicholson's overt courtship of Maclaine, provides Brooks with the ability to analyse what constitutes a strong romantic relationship, and the spiritual bond two people can attain despite having their differences.All the performances in the film are outstanding. Jack Nicholson also won an Oscar and is typically reliable in his role, as are Daniels and John Lithgow (much under-rated as a dramatic actor: all that Third Rock has pigeon-holed him a bit I feel).The ending simply demands tears, and I will rather boldly assert that if someone claims not to be at least a bit dewey-eyed at the time the credits role, then they simply haven't devoted enough attention to the film. This will be a crappy review of "Terms of Endearment", because I was foolish enough to look up the movie while I was watching it, and had the ending spoiled for me.Whatever.I was surprised Debra Winger didn't win an Oscar for her role, but she was at least nominated. Jack Nicholson was pretty good, but I didn't really feel it.The movie is basically an extraordinary portrait of a mother and daughter who seem to be too different, but are eventually brought together. Director James L Brooks (Broadcast News) largely succeeds in keeping sentiment the right side of mawkish in this story (based on The Last Picture Show writer Larry McMurtry's novel) of the often strained mother-daughter relationship between Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger. This is one of best films ever made about love, family, and filial relationships.It is a movie that is utterly devoid of the schmaltz, sappy dialogue, and mushy sentimentality, you usually in stories of its kind.It's the divine absence of this, combined with the presence of dark humor, and spicy plot that makes this the gem that it is.Shirley McLaine, and Jack Nicholson are brilliant in their roles as Aurora Greenway, an irascible widowed mother, and Garrett Breedlove (her neighbor), a philandering, retired astronaut.Then there's Debra Winger as Aurora's daughter (I really think this is her best role ever), who's marriage to Flap Horton (Jeff Daniels) disintegrates as the story progresses.To properly summarize a movie like this is impossible because there are so many good things to be said about it.The romance between Aurora and Garrett, for instance, provides one of the funniest, most heartfelt, most well done subplots in history.Danny DeVito adds immensely in his role as Vernon Dahlart (one of Aurora's many admirers), as does John Lithgow in the role of Sam Burns, Emma's guilt-ridden, and adorable adulterous lover.Easily at the top of its genre, this movie deserved all the recognition that it got.Originally, Review #145Posted On: The performance objective is scored majestically by the protagonist Debra Winger and is supported thoroughly by Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Denials and John Lithgow. Even the big name stars of Jack Nicholson, Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Danny DeVito, and Jeff Daniels; this movie flew well below my radar. Although it was an enjoyable film, I am perplexed at its Best Picture win, and will undoubtedly never see it again.Terms of Endearment shows one very unique mother/daughter relationship. Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) has an overly close relationship with her daughter Emma (Debra Winger) and seeks to control every aspect of her life. I have to say that Shirley Maclaine gives her Oscar winning performance as Aurora Greenway, a mother that we come to love and hate at the same time. Shirley brings a complexity about the character and her relationship with her daughter, Emma, played by Oscar nominee Debra Winger. Great performances of the trio; Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson contributes to make this movie a really emotional experience. Featuring wonderful performances from Jeff Daniels (where was his Oscar nomination?), Shirley MaClaine (deserving of the Oscar), Jack Nicholson (always fun to watch), and of course Debra Winger (deserved the Oscar nomination). This Oscar winning examination of a mother- daughter (Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger) relationship spanning 30 years is simply a masterpiece. The movie is well written and the performances from Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, and John Lithgow couldn't have been better plus the music played during the movie is wonderful it helps carry the story and emotions of the film along just perfect. In fact Jack and Shirley MacLaine won Oscars for their Terms of Endearment work, hers for Best Actress and his for Best Supporting Actor both were well deserved. It's totally engrossing, has believable characters and situations and all the acting is great (especially Shirley MacLaine--she really won her Oscar for this movie). I liked the relationships with Winger, McClaine and Nicholson, but the story seems episodic and doesn't have a clear focus and I don't know what some of the characters have to do with the movie. Shirley MacLaiine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, and John Lithgow give us classic performances in one of the more emotional movies I have seen.It's about a mother and daughter relationship that has had many ups and downs but when push comes to shove they realize how much they mean to each other. Terms of Endearment is a fantastic movie with a very well developed storyline and an outstanding cast that all deliver beautiful performances.The movie has brilliant character development,we learn so much about all the main characters throughout the movie,although I did feel like we could have gotten to learn more about Jack Nicholson's character,his character wasn't the most important,but his performance was outstanding so much so that he (along with Shirley MacLaine) won an Academy Award for his performance,definitely deserved more time.The movie is also very sweet and emotional and I am not afraid to admit that the ending had me in tears,certainly one of the most upsetting moments in film history.Terns of Endearment is a great movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good drama. MacLaine was able to shine throughout the entire film as she is at her best when she has someone to challenge with in a scene, so all of the moments where she is with Debra Winger or Jack Nicholson, it brought out the best of her. The mother and widowed, Aurora (Shirley MacLaine), and daughter, Emma (Debra Winger) has an up and down relationship throughout a thirty year span the movie represents. Shirley MacLaine won Best Actress and Jack Nicholson won for Best Supporting Actor for this film, they both gave very good performances with their characters. Shirley MacLaine plays Aurora Greenway, and Debra Winger plays her daughter Emma in this superbly acted, deeply moving, and realistic story of their turbulent mother-daughter relationship over the years. Both Sirley McLain and Debra Winger (and Jack Nicholson, of course) did their best showing us not only how important are love and endearment to our life but how precious are the people who can share these feelings with us.. The story of a fiercely protective and clingy mother, Aurora Greenway, played beautifully by Shirley MacLaine, and her daughter Emma, is one of the best movies to come out of the 80's.

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Dr. Who and the Daleks

It's an ackward moment at Dr. Who (Peter Cushing)'s home, as he is about to meet Ian (Ron Castle), who happens to be the boyfriend of his daughter Barbara (Jennie Linden). She tells her younger sister, Susan "Susy" (Roberta Tovey) to tend to the door up. This is no ordinary family, as Susy had been reading a huge book, by Physics for the Enquiring Mind by Eric M. Roberts, highly advanced for somebody of such a young age - alike the bigger sister, who was reading Science Is Science, and it's grandfather who's reading a science-fiction comic. Ian is clumsy and stubles on entering... again. Ian has brought a present, but Dr. Who insists in showing him his last invention. Susy thinks that Ian is so stupid, he won't understand it, but they three go out to the street to check of the red phone booth. Ian is amazed about how big it's on the inside. The machine will transport everything in time and place.Barbara appears and jumps to Ian's arms. He steps back and sets the machine onto motion with the four of them inside. The scenery immediately changes: they are on a place of jungle twigs and burnt soil called Skaro. It's another planet. Susan is excited to have the opportunity to go around and investigate. She find a kind of alien flower. Barbara screams at the small statue of a crocrodile. On the mayhem, Ian falls onto the thing and breaks it.Susan find the lights of empty buildings. Barbara starts thinking that something terrible happened in that place, and that it's dangerous. Ian tells Dr. Who that he's expected at home, so that they must return. Finally, who obliges. Susan gets lost because she finds another of those beautiful flowers. She runs away because a hand has touched her, but nobody seems to believe her.Back at the phone booth, they cannot see anyone with their surveillance cameras, but Susy insists that she was touched on the shoulder. There are knocks on the door, which startle Ian, but there isn't anybody around. They try to leave, but can't, and when they step aside, Susan courageously picks up a small blue container - it's has four small tubes with a liquid inside.They go to the city, which looks empty. Dr. Who gets tired easily. They enter an empty home with different rooms. Ian's door is the only one which doesn't open automatically, as he needs to touch something. Barbara walks a long corridor, and it looks as though she's being watched. She ends up being trapped and screams. Susan sits on the spot to open up the door. Susy, Ian and Who follow a noise to a communication room. Dr. Who looks tired. When they turn around, the three of them find themselves surrounded by Daleks. Ian is left dizzy by the Daleks, who also took the object which they found. They reunite with Barbara in a room/cell.Temmosus (Geoffrey Toone), Antodus (John Bown), Dyoni (Yvonne Antrobus) and Elyon (Mark Petersen). Some of them believe the letter offering to be their friends - supposedly written by Susan. Who devises a plan to escape using Susan's cape as an insulator. At that moment, a Dalek appears to bring them food, they put food in their periscope and attack it by blinding its eye with the disgusting food. Ian gets into the blue Dalek. There is also the image of a kind of green claw, a proof of the mutations which have taken place in the . Susan leads the way, and pretends to be the blue Dale's prisoner. They are soon found out anyway, so they have to break the lift, but the blue Dalek with Ian inside can't get into it. Now we realise that finally, Ian unstuck the head and was able to leave it in time.The four humans arrive in time to tell the Thals that they cannot hide in the forst forever. In fact, the Daleks are planning to bomb all the planet. However, the Thals have become peaceful, too peaceful. It was war which destroyed the planet and caused all the destruction and polution in Skaro. The Thals insist, and even the death of one of them was not convincing. Dr. Who tells Ian to take Dyoni to the Daleks. The leader won't allow it, so that settles the matter: they will have to fightSusan and Ian with cross a mutant-infested swamp with some Thals. On their way, they find the tubes which are polluting the water. Elyon stays behind to take some samples of the water, when he is eaten by something from the river.The Daleks are reuniting: they want to destroy the Thals forever. The other four follow the pipes to some caves. There is a fight between the two remaining Thals, because one of them wants to go back and forget the city.Who was supposed te watch some cakes, but they get burnt, to Susan's disappointment. Two female ladies are looking at themselves in the mirror, which gives Who an idea. Ian has to jump over a cliff, which he does, but then one of the Thals seems to have second thoughts over the whole ordeal. With plenty of mirrors, Who and the thals will make the detectors useless. The Daleks start to move on. Dr Who and Susan are captured again. The Daleks start the countdown for the bomb.Finally, one of the Daleks decides that they must fight. Dr. Who offers his time machine if the Daleks don't explode the bomb, but the Daleks will figure it out how it works after having exploded the bomb. Susan, Ian and the two Thals enter the Dalek's castle and run away using another lift. Finally, the rest of the Daleks fight.They reach control room. Two Daleks destroy one another. The Daleks destroy the computer when trying to kill Ian. All the Daleks are dead - three seconds left, which Ian alleges it's his lucky number.Why fills up the energy of the time machine. The Thals appreciate what they have done for them. They give Ian the purple coat - which Ian uses. Ian panics because they appear in the middle of a battle during the Roman Empire.They leave immediately.

good versus evil

train

imdb

There was a sequel the next year but little did I know that this film would be my first experience into the world of Doctor Who. In Los Angeles, California 1977 on a local TV station, I would be able to watch that TV Serial and would remain a Dr. Who fan even after the series ended in 1989. That particular wrinkle wasn't introduced until long after the first couple of Dalek TV series and the two movies.That said, while the film brings back fond memories, and is particularly good to see in widescreen, it is very much a product of its time, and specifically targetted at its market - youngsters who were mad keen on Daleks. A fun adventure film that, while it may be too dated for today's youngsters, still has a certain sparkle that is perfect fare for a rainy Saturday.While fans of the BBC series "Doctor Who" (1963), upon which the film is based, may be distracted by the film's use of creative licence (the characterizations are very different from those of their television counterparts,) if not taken too seriously, this is a quite enjoyable trek across an alien landscape and a classic battle of good vs. If, like me, you enjoy checking out the reviews *before* seeing the film, here's the premise in a nutshell: A mishap with silver-haired scientist Doctor Who's latest invention hurls the cast through space and time, landing them in the midst of an eerie alien wasteland. Needing parts to repair their damaged time machine, the company seeks help in a nearby city, only to be captured and imprisoned by the ruthless mechanical Daleks, a race of machine-bound mutants bent on world domination.To followers of the original TV series, this plot will be as familiar as the Daleks' squawking cries of 'Exterminate,' and despite some changes to the cast (most notably the Doctor being portrayed as a human), it faithfully captures the spirit of the early programs. (The original TV series didn't drop the black-and-white format until 1970, five years later.)The film's greatest strength is its casting, with the best performance by far coming from veteran actor Peter Cushing, best known to U.S. audiences as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars. Jennie Linden does an adequate job as Barbara, though her character has no clear role in the story and was probably just included to suggest continuity with the TV series, while Roy Castle provides some (generally successful) comic relief with his portrayal of the bumbling klutz Ian. They also don't `do' dialogue very well – they are used several times for long scenes where they talk to each other and explain the plot to the audience, these scenes are poor as their delivery mixed with the dialogue is terrible!Cushing makes a good doctor and is better than many of the TV incarnations. The script lacks bite at times, the plot isn't as inventive as any of the ones used in the landmark TV series, Roy Castle and the comedy relief felt out of place and on occasions because of the overuse of pink plastic sheeting the art direction was a little on the cheap side. The eccentric doctor Who (the always watchable Peter Cushing) takes his familiars , a little girl (Tovey) and a young woman (Jennie Linden , Women in love) along with her fiancé (Roy Castle) on a trip throughout space and time . Peter Cushing makes an excellently dotty Doctor, Roy Castle is bumbling as Ian Chesterton and Roberta Tovey does well as a young Susan. On a final note it is also a shame William Hartnell didn't play the Doctor in the movie, that would have been fantastic, but Peter Cushing is more than good as his replacement.. With the international movie star Peter Cushing O.B.E. to headline, not as a time travelling alien, the last of his breed, but an eccentric, inquisitive and inventive scientific Grandfather, known as Dr.Who, not as The Doctor as he is referred to in the television series.Dr. Who and the Daleks was the first taste of the Doctor Who name for the American market, released there during July 1966, though not too successful in the US', as here in England. Here they encounter the passive life forms of the Thals, and their struggle against the repressive and destructively evil Daleks, these living creatures that can only live inside their metal casings to survive, their aim, is for interplanetary domination, taking no prisoners along the way, to destroy, to exterminate everything that crosses their path.Dr. Who and the Daleks can share, coincidently, similar parallels to the 1960 movie The Time Machine, with Rod Taylor as George Wells, such as the time traveller and his plight against the evil Morlocks fighting the also passive Eloi people and their uprising for survival.Dr. Who and the Daleks, remember this is 1965, is a wonderful concoction of colour and imagination, with an impressive budget to play with, there was little wasted in creativity and design, with the full use of the Shepperton Studios to their advantage, no expense was spared, the sets are stunning and the Thal costumes look very chic. Though differing from the television series, this doppelgänger, the parallel world that is Peter Cushing's Dr.Who is at times a little flat, while we are hypnotised by the colourful Daleks and their surrounds, we are sometimes left behind in a script whose pace can reel us back not forward. Peter Cushing's Doctor is a lovable old sea dog type, of the time traveller variety, very nice to know and not at all grumpy, spiteful and rude; placid and charming is his nature here, it's the adventures that he stumbles across that make him interesting.Dr. Who and the Daleks is basically relying on the success of the television series to help cash in, then watched by millions of children each week. When Dr. Who (Peter Cushing) shows his time machine TARDIS to the clumsy Ian (Roy Castle), who is boyfriend of his granddaughter Barbara (Jennie Linden), he accidentally transport them and Dr. Who´s granddaughter Susan (Roberta Tovey) to somewhere in space and time. This is no "2001 A Space Odessey," but then again, you don't have to think too hard about what the ending really means.This movie will probably disappoint most loyal Dr. Who followers, but it will entertain sci-fi fans who enjoy some light fare and aren't too attached to the series.. And some of the planetary landscape mattes are rather magnificent in their comic-strip way.Alas the weakest link, amazingly, is Peter Cushing as Dr Who. Though the film mainly sticks to writer Terry Nation's original story, the producers understandably had to jettison the television serial's back-story (such as it was in 1965) if it was to appeal to the crucial American market. But in the second serial, the Doctor travels millions of years into the future to the planet Skaro and encounters the iconic alien menace that would capture viewers' imaginations and propel the show forward for over twenty five years: The Daleks.By 1965, Doctor Who's popularity made a film adaptation inevitable. The Doctor befriends the Thals and helps protect them from the Daleks, who seek to exterminate them all.Since its inception, the television series has developed a fan base with a dedication rivaling that of "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" fans. As such, enthusiasts will find little that's familiar, and will immediately spot the glaring changes made to Who canon (presumably to make the film more accessible to people who didn't watch the TV series), The main character -- the extra-terrestrial Doctor -- is now a human named Doctor Who, an eccentric scientist who invented the TARDIS in his back yard. This means that scenes featuring dialog between two or more Daleks -- and there are a fair number of them -- just drag on for seemingly ever and completely kill the pacing.A big selling point of the movie was that, for the first time, viewers would be able to see the Who universe with a bigger budget, and in color (the television series would not be shot in color until 1969). This first big screen outing for Dr. Who seems to have been aimed at a different audience to the TV series, with Peter Cushing playing a less abrasive version of the TimeLord than William Hartnell. Dr. Who die-hards tend to dismiss both this film and it's sequel, and it's true that the movies don't fit neatly into the Dr. Who universe of the TV series (even though both movies are remakes of TV adventures) but as standalone movies they are great fun and fine examples of the late and much missed Peter Cushing obviously enjoying himself away from the blood and guts that had become his regular diet.. After saying their goodbyes, the Doctor and the others manage to get back Earth, but not home...The Daleks look quite good in this movie which is quite creepy in parts, especially the forest scenes. The movie has a good score too.As well as horror legend Peter Cushing, the rest of the cast includes Roy Castle (Record Breakers), Jennie Linden and Roberta Tovey as the grand-daughters and Barry Ingham (A Challenge For Robin Hood).If you are a Dr Who and sci-fi fan, Dr Who and the Daleks is certainly worth viewing. Doctor Who tries to convince the Thals to reclaim their planet before the Daleks detonate a neutron bomb.First things first, we have to put aside comparisons to the TV Doctor Who. There's very little that's similar between the two, even though this movie is based off of one of the earliest stories from the show. A real treat , it is just so much fun to watch , Peter Cushing is really excellent as the doctor and is a great strong intellectual foe for the Daleks. However it had an intelligent script by Terry Nation which has been simplified beyond recognition in this film version.DR WHO AND THE DALEKS features far too much humour , most of which centers around Roy Castle`s Ian character. Also missing from the script is a high body count, off the top of my head I can only recall two Thals being killed on screen , despite its flaws DALEKS INVASION EARTH 2150 had lots of humans being exterminated which makes it the better film .Any good points ? Obviously aimed at the kiddies during 60's Dalekmania, another thing this film does so well is to portray the planet of the Daleks as a purple, truly alien-looking and feeling place, something the Doctor Who TV series NEVER managed (having all the Skaro scenes filmed in quarries in bright Earth daylight). The Doctor isn't a time traveling alien but instead an eccentric and elderly scientist named what else but Doctor Who. Of course there a lot of other changes including ones involving the granddaughters, Ian, the Daleks, etc. Peter Cushing is, as I wrote above, an elderly scientist who invents the TARDIS (which for those of you who aren't fans means "Time And Relative Demnsion In Space" and looks like a police box but that's me just showing off so moving on). The story itself, adapted from an earlier TV episode, is okay too and of course Peter Cushing is engaging in the title part.On the down side though, the film plays too much to the family entertainment brigade, with some fairly feeble attempts at humour, too much screen time to the infant girl companion, good as she is and worst of all variety entertainer Roy Castle as the male companion here, acting like he's in a Carry On film, all pratfalls and gaucheness. Although they make use of many key features of the television series, such as the Tardis (a machine disguised as a police box and capable of travelling in time and space), and the Daleks, the Doctor's most iconic enemies, the films are not generally considered to form part of the official "Doctor Who" canon. Fair enough Cushing's Doctor is a genius, we know and understand that, but if you take away the Tardis invention, then this could be any old geezer in a sci-fi movie.Things are further muddied by lack of screen time for Cushing, he is strangely secondary here. I'll take character development and "big ideas" over spectacle and action any time, and so I'll take the original TV serial over this movie.Shame about the Daleks; their multicolored designs look silly, like they're carnival attractions instead of fearsome monsters, and they only kill one person on screen. Why the co-ordinates weren't set for something like week into the future or back in time a couple of weeks is beyond me.So when they get out on Skaro (which is never really called Skaro in the movie) they decide to pop out and investigate and find a city but Doctor Who's daughter and her date decide to do the sensible thing and when they get back they need more of some fluid thingy to power the TARDIS and they then go to the city to investigate, then the Daleks show up to have them find a drug that the other people of Skaro possess that can stop them from getting radiation poisoning. I mean while it is dated (like when I saw the other people of Skaro I thought to myself "So THIS was Ziggy Stardust's home planet!") the sets are all well designed, the Daleks at the time looked the best they ever did and while there are obvious fake effects I am going to appreciate the creativity behind what I assume would be the process of making it.So I really think you should just watch the show instead. Cushing travels to an alien planet and must battle Daleks, which do look the same as in the TV series. PLOT OUTLINE: While demonstrating his latest invention, a time machine, to his granddaughter's boyfriend, Dr. Who accidentally activates the machine, causing them to teleport to a distant planet where they battle radiation sickness & the Daleks.This is the first of two feature films to have been made from the groundbreaking classic TV series DOCTOR WHO. There have been comparisons with the series STAR TREK, but what sets them apart is the fact that while Star Trek, while bigger-budgeted than Doctor Who, was nothing more than lightweight sci-fi that was a bit low on ideas (all it did was visit a new civilisation each week & change it so they turn out like Earth), Doctor Who was an incredibly sophisticated science fiction series that had some truly mind-blowing concepts (the TARDIS, an alien spaceship / time machine that could take on any form, but ultimately ending up looking like a police telephone booth, is without doubt the most iconic time-travel machine ever) & having some memorable creatures.Which brings us to the Daleks. Plywood (or possibly chipboard) also seems to feature rather heavily in the construction of the Dalek's city (sprayed gold to look alien, of course) and the inside of the Tardis, while the film's larger studio sets are completely lacking in atmosphere.In addition to the crap set design (seriously… lava lamps?), the film suffers from an incredibly dull script (the plot dumbed down for a younger audience), a baffling performance from the usually reliable Cushing who portrays the Doctor as a doddery old git, Dalek's that use fire extinguishers as weapons, a pathetic race of peaceful aliens, the males of which wear make-up reminiscent of Boy George circa his clubbing days, and a very silly ending that sees the Daleks counting down from 100 before using their most devastating weapon, giving the good guys plenty of time to spoil their plans. Watching the film, you feel like you are observing an alien world, not a studio set.The actors are all terrific, with Peter Cushing making a fine Doctor. Eccentric inventor Dr.Who ( Peter Cushing ) is showing niece Barbara, her boyfriend Ian ( Roy Castle ) and grand-daughter Susan ( Roberta Tovey ) around his latest invention, the space/time machine 'Tardis', when an accident propels them to the dead world of Skaro.Following an atomic war, the inhabitants have evolved in different ways; the Thals are beautiful pacifists while the Daleks' bodies have atrophied to such an extent they now inhabit grotesque machines. The TARDIS controls are accidentally activated & Susan, Ian, Barbara & Dr. Who find themselves stranded on a hostile planet where the evil mechanical Daleks & the humanoid Thals are at war, a war which threatens to destroy the entire planet...This British production was directed by Gordon Flemyng & was based on the popular British TV series Doctor Who (1963 - 1989), I'm a fan of the TV show despite it's many faults & I must admit I was a bit disappointed with this. The acting is alright, I've always liked Peter Cushing as an actor although I wasn't keen on Roy Castle as the comedy relief.Dr. Who and the Daleks is an OK time waster for the kids or if you love the Daleks, if your a fan of the TV series then this may stray too far off it for your liking. They hope to use the doctor and his travelling companions to lure the remaining Thals into the city so they can eliminate them once and for all.It took a while to accept this version of Dr. Who as he is so different to the television version; Peter Cushing did a good job in the role and Roy Castle was fun as comedy relief Ian; of the girls young Roberta Tovey seemed to perform better as Susan although Jennie Linden's Barbara didn't really have much to work with in her underwritten roll. Dr. Who (Peter Cushing), granddaughters Barbara and Susan, and Barbara's boyfriend, Ian, are accidentally transported across time and space in the the Doctor's latest invention, TARDIS. The humans help the Thals.*Special Stars- Peter Cushing plays the Timelord lead.*Theme- Timelords can help everyone.*Based on- BBC Doctor Who children TV series.*Trivia/location/goofs- Be sure to watch for the several Lava Lamps in the Dalek control room scenes.

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San ging chaat goo si

《新警察故事》The film begins with a highly intoxicated Hong Kong police Inspector Chan Kwok Wing (Jackie Chan) drinking one whiskey after another at a bar. Later, he collapses in an alley, and is found by a stranger (Nicholas Tse).The timeline then moves back a year, to show the heroics of Hong Kong 'Supercop' Inspector Chan, as he disguises himself as a news cameraman in order to subdue a man holding a woman hostage in Central News.Soon after that incident, a group of rich, rebellious youths rob a bank. They explicitly ask a bank worker to call the police, and are confronted by the police outside the Legislative Council building. They play a sadistic game, in which they are awarded money for shooting police officers with assault rifles, before making their escape.Inspector Chan and his squad are called to arrest the gang after their hideout is revealed. However, the hideout is rigged and the ten-man police squad fall into various traps one by one. Chan then finds his men in a large warehouse, suspended from the high ceiling by ropes. The gang challenges him to training regimes that are taught to policemen. Chan agrees in order to free his men. Chan comes out tops initially in the three duels, but due to the mental pressure, he eventually loses and is left with only his would-be brother in law to save. He tries in vain to save all his comrades before the explosives blow up the building.Being the sole survivor of the incident, Chan takes a year-long leave from the police force, drinking heavily to drown his sorrows and guilt.Present day. The stranger, who first featured at the start, brings him home. When Chan wakes up, the man identifies himself as PC 1667, Frank Cheng, his new partner. Frank tries various means to convince Chan to cancel his leave and take up the case but Chan refuses. However, he comes to his senses eventually by apprehending the same two youths that robbed him. At the police station, Frank tells Chan that he is Kwong's younger brother, which convinces Chan to relook into the case.Frank and Chan convinces Sam Wong, a former colleague of Chan, to reveal a clue from the night of the robbery; a watch which he snatched from one of the robbers. Chan and Frank are tailed by the police as they go in search of the owner of the watch. Sam Wong was also arrested by the police to assist in the investigation. Sam Wong is shot dead by another gang member, Fire, before he manages to identify the robber (Sue). Before dying, Wong Sum confesses to Chan that he betrayed their plans to the gang before the police took action.Fire and Sue both manage to escape the building, with Chan and Frank pursuing Fire. To distract Chan, Fire shoots at a bus driver, killing him instantly and rendering the bus full of schoolkids out of control. Chan quickly jumps onto the roof of the bus in an attempt to stop it. After the careening bus has caused a great deal of havoc, Chan finally manages to climb in and hit the brakes, halting it from falling into Victoria Harbour, while Frank rams a truck full of rubber ducks in front of the bus' path.After the incident, Chan discovers that Frank is not really a policeman, and confronts him. Frank attempts to explain to Chan, but Chan refuses to buy the story. Regardless, they stay together to continue to track the gang leader, Joe. They are informed by Officer Sa Sa that the gang members all come from rich families and the gang leader is actually the son of the police chief.Sue and Fire return to the gang's new hideout. Sue is badly wounded, after being shot by Frank earlier. Seeing her injury, Joe shoots and kills her. Joe's gang access Chan's police file on a computer, with Joe bent on taking revenge.Joe then arranges to meet Chan's girlfriend, Ho Yee, in the police station. He wraps a time bomb around her neck before leaving. When Chan learns of the bomb he desperately tries to free her. Ho Yee cuts the wires, with no effect, leading the police to believe that it is a fake. But when the two get ready to leave, a small wire attached to Ho Yee's back pulls out the secondary trigger, causing the bomb to explode. Before she can escape, it explodes and some falling pipes land on her, knocking her into a coma. Unfortunately for Chan, he is charged with assisting the impersonation of an officer (Frank) and for acting as an officer while under suspension.After Chan and Frank are taunted by Joe's gang, Sa Sa and her father, the jailer, releases both of them illegally. The two sneak out of the police station, with everyone deliberately ignoring their escape. Police Chief Wong even makes his handgun available to Chan and tells Chan to 'bring it back when you're done'. Chan, Frank, and Sa Sa then go to a computer cafe to find teens playing the game up until they complete the most recent level to find out the gang's next target - the Bank of Hong Kong, located in the New Wing of the Convention and Exhibition Centre.A squad of police officers arrive, but this time Chan stops them from rushing in, assigning them the task of calmly escorting the public out of the building. Once the public are moved to safety, the gang members' parents are sent in, much to their surprise. One of the gang members, Max, is so ashamed of himself that he attempts to run down the escalators to his parents, only to be shot dead by Joe.Afterwards, Chan and Frank run up to engage the three remaining gang members. Frank manages to shoot Fire in the leg with his own gun, disabling him. Chan chases another gang member, Tin Tin, into a Lego exhibition. When the exhibition hall is emptied, Chan reminds him that neither won the last time they fought. The two engage in hand-to-hand combat, with Chan defeating Tin Tin. Joe then chases Frank into the hall and shoots at him. In the crossfire, Tin Tin is shot in the chest.Joe manages to chase Frank out of the room just moments before the Special Duties Unit of the police arrive. Tin Tin grabs a gun from the floor and points it at Chan's back. Chan, oblivious to what's happening behind him, calls out to the squad to bring in a medic for the Tin Tin. Contemplating what he has done and how Chan is helping him, Tin Tin decides not to shoot Chan.Chan finds Joe on the roof of the Convention Centre. Having captured and tied up Frank, Joe threatens to throw him to his death. Joe challenges Chan to a race to assemble a semi-automatic pistol, a rematch of an earlier challenge, wagering Frank's life in the process. This time, Chan chambers the bullet first thus swiftly wins the game, much to Joe's disbelief. A number of policemen arrive on the roof, along with Joe's father, the police chief. Joe's father reprimands him, while Chan tells Joe that he knows that he doesn't hate cops, but he actually hates his father for berating him.Due to what Chan and his father have said, Joe finally admits defeat and deliberately unloads the single bullet in his gun and aims the empty gun at Chan for the police to have a cause to kill Joe. Not knowing that Joe's gun is empty, a police sniper then fires a round at him, injuring Joe in the process. He weeps and again aims it at his father, causing the sniper to fire once more, killing him. Chan rushes to rescue Frank, and both of them fall off the building. They eventually land onto a fireman's inflated cushion.In the hospital, Ho-Yee has recovered and prepares to leave. She is met by several policemen and nurses who persuade her to accept Chan's marriage proposal. At first, she tries to hide her facial scars from Chan, but eventually accepts the proposal to the crowd's applause. Meanwhile, Frank is led away by Officer Sa Sa. He leaves his jacket on a railing. When Chan looks at the jacket, he suddenly recalls meeting Frank before, and has a flashback to an event from years ago: A homeless man from the mainland arrives without much money, and his son is starving. He tries to steal some food for his son from a 7-Eleven store. While running across the road to escape from the shopkeeper and the police, he is knocked down by a truck and killed. Chan arrives at the scene and uses his jacket to cover the body of the boy's father. Chan then buys the boy a loaf of bread. He comforts him, saying that the best thing do is to try to forget the past and look forward to the future. He asks the boy for his name, to which the boy replies, "Frank Cheng".

comedy, neo noir, murder, violence, cult, flashback, good versus evil, insanity, melodrama, tragedy, revenge, sadist

train

imdb

tt0367479

After the Sunset

After the Sunset begins with master thieves Max Burdett (Pierce Brosnan) and his beautiful accomplice, Lola Cirillo (Salma Hayek), retiring to Paradise Island in the Bahamas after one last big score, having lifted the second of the three famous Napoleon diamonds. Their financial future is set, their career in crime a thing of the past. However, Stanley Lloyd (Woody Harrelson), the FBI agent who has spent seven years doggedly pursuing Burdett, only to be foiled time after time, refuses to believe their retreat into domesticity. After a few months, Lloyd shows up, accusing Burdett of hiding out in the same place where a cruise ship is displaying another large rare diamond, the third of a set of diamonds that he stole. He thinks the two are planning to lift the third Napoleon diamond, one of the three largest non-flawed diamonds in the world.When the two adversaries meet up in paradise, Burdett unwittingly turns the tables and befriends the frustrated detective, showing him the pleasures that Paradise Island has to offer. Lloyd, out of his element, adapts quickly to the easy-going Caribbean lifestyle. Despite his pleas of innocence and placing Lloyd in first-class accommodations to show how he doesn't need to steal anything, Burdett's curiosity gets the better of him and he starts casing the ship. However, not only does Lola suspect that he's ready for one more job, so does the local thug, Henri Mooré (Don Cheadle), who threatens Burdett to steal the diamond for him.Burdett pretends to work with Mooré, even giving him a fake plan as to how he would steal the diamond (which he earlier related to Stan). Stan teams up with local police officer Sophie (Naomie Harris) to catch Burdett, and tails him to Junkanoo, a local parade, where Max loses him, warning that he shouldn't tail so closely. Stan and Sophie then have sex, and Lola kicks Max out after realizing his activities. Max is forced to bunk with Stan, and they share their thoughts about each other's lives. The next morning, the authorities and Sophie discover them, revealing that Stan's FBI license is suspended.After a night of drunkenness on Stan's part, the two come up with a plan to get Sophie and Lola back, involving a scuba diving trip. Mooré's man attempts to steal the Napoleon diamond, providing a diversion for Burdett to steal it himself. He cuts off Stan's air supply to confuse the others, then returns saving him. On land, Sophie gets the call about the diamond being stolen. Stan and she angrily leave, while Lola prepares to leave. However, she is stopped by Mooré, who threatens to kill her if Max doesn't tell him where the diamond is. Fortunately, Stan and Sophie arrive and shoot him. Lola is nevertheless unfazed, and leaves Max anyway. After spending the night alone in their home, he realizes he wants her back, and catches her just before she leaves, proposing with "the only diamond I ever bought".The next day, Max meets with Stan, who tells him he was never drunk, and entails how he let Max do all the work while he later recovered the diamond. Max concedes that his nemesis has won this time, and is simply happy to live out his life with Lola. However, he has fun with Stan by remote controlling his car once more, promising Lola it is the last time.

flashback

train

imdb

Take Pierce Brosnan - a great showman and a guy with asense of humor, add sexy as she's ever been Salma Hayek, add Woody Harrelson in good form, top it off with decent screenplay that does not take itself too seriously or risk falling into pretentious or shallow territory and you have yourself a very entertaining little piece of movie-making. Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek are a pair of diamond thieves fighting an endless cat and mouse game with an FBI agent (Woody Harrelson) until they decide to retire and move down to the Bahamas. After the Sunset sees Pierce Brosnan play an ex-jewel thief in a simple "will the old pro come out of retirement for one last job" movie that is far more entertaining than its unoriginal premise sounds.Pierce Brosnan takes to his dressed-down James Bond role very well, and the jokes and his style make him a very likable character. Don's character is very funny, and he plays both sides of it well, and as for Salma...let's just say the directors are aware of what their male audience wants to see.All in all, it's funny, quick, easy to follow, and contains enough little quirks to make After the Sunset an enjoyable and entertaining experience.. The Seven Seas Navigator is docking in Paradise Island in the Bahamas for a solid week…They're having a nice promotion for the maiden voyage, calling it the Diamond Cruise: a gem exhibit whose star attraction is the third Napoleon Diamond… It's, allegedly, the only priceless remaining 'cute little rock' Max Burdett and Lola Cirillo haven't stolen… The unlocking Special Agent Stan Lloyd of the FBI (Woody Harrelson) suspects that the two are planning to purloin it… But how could they with six cameras plus 24-hour rotating guards, unbreakable polycarbonate display? Max (Pierce Brosnan) knows he can easily clip Napoleon III and make Lloyd look like a jerk again… For him, it's more about the challenge and the alibi—that's his work of art… But he affirms that the two are a couple of retirees trying to enjoy the island life… The gorgeous Lola (Salma Hayek) knows that, with Max, they went out at the top of their game, undefeated… They were great together… But, now, she feels it is the best time to quit… For her, now, the challenge is to find joy in simple things, as a life filled with sunsets… Lloyd was chasing Max for seven years—ever since the first Napoleon Diamond went missing… That day, he got to the scene, and took a few shots at the getaway car… Next day, a bottle of champagne arrives at FBI Headquarters with a note saying, "Aim for the tires next time." In the island, Lloyd teams up with the beautiful Sophie (Naomie Harris) a local intriguing cop who requires a big arrest… On the scene also appears Henri Mooré (Don Cheadle)—the biggest gangster on the island—who affirms to Max that the impoverished people of the island need his help, and that a cash injection in tens of millions of dollars would relieve the entire Caribbean… So, he suggests to Max a partnership… He would give him what he doesn't have: access to the marina, the crews, rotation schedules, whatever he needs… With picturesque sunsets, this colorful caper comedy has plenty of beauty, fun and humor. The only problem with that character was that we didn't see enough of him.The film has some nice scenery and entertaining scenes, particularly the shark capture.Rush hour director Ratner has made a great film, which only really lacks style and good pacing. Someone commenting in these pages put it better when he said that we could rehash this film, analyze it, and make it into what it was not intended to be, but the fact remains that if we had a pleasant time while we were watching, it was well worth the price of admission.Director Brett Ratner seems to be having great fun directing the movie. A movie with the great Pierce Brosnan can't go wrong really, everything he does, he makes look effortlessly cool.The story about the diamond heist though, seems secondary to the beautiful locations, and Brett Ratner's obcession with filming Miss Hayek's chest from all conceivable angles (not necessarily a bad thing). But we still are treated to enough satisfying moments to say this is a pretty good film.Max Burdett (Pierce Brosnan) and his girlfriend Lola Cirillo (Salma Hayek) are in retirement, having stepped down from the ranks of the international jewel thief set, and are enjoying the good life in the Bahamas. Woody Harrelson (as FBI agent Stan Lloyd) has appeared on the scene; he is less sure they have retired and with the arrival in port of a ship-borne display of jewels (featuring 'The Third Napoleon Diamond' in the collection) has them under close watch. Writer Paul Zbyszewski (previous experience on TV's 'The Weakest Link') has fashioned a reasonably believable story line (see Roger Ebert for discussion of plot holes - http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041111/REVIEWS/41006006/1023) involving electro-technical moments, great use of locations, wry humor (Woody Harrelson does go over the top in some mugging moments, but overall is quite engaging), and certainly deserves another opportunity to develop a script. In an interview on the set of the film in January, director Brett Ratner notes about how he saw this as more a 'character-driven movie' and not just a 'big action heist'. The bold thief Max Burdett (Pierce Brosnan) retires with his girlfriend Lola Cirillo (Salma Hayek) in a paradisiacal island after stealing an expensive diamond. Stanley Lloyd (Woody Harrelson), the FBI agent assigned to protect the stolen stone, chases Max expecting him to try to robber a valuable diamond in a passenger ship and commit a mistake."After the Sunset" is a forgettable but attractive movie: the screenplay is full of plot points, the locations are wonderful; and the cast is very nice, leaded by the delicious Salma Hayek, the ironic Pierce Brosnan and the funny Woody Harrelson. Don Cheadle plays an excellent villain, and the performances by Hayek, Harrelson, and Brosnan really make for an entertaining film. When this comedy of a film scores 6.1 from pollers with an obvious love of a good movie,when it had nothing.The leading pair looked like they had just met,the music was poor.Editing,casting,pace..everything about it was off..but then i generally walk away from a hyped up movie with a let down feeling.. And like that film, audiences may find themselves confused and bored over the lack of action and plot twists (this film has probably the least amount of surprises of any heist film in recent memory - but when you become emotionally invested in the characters like this, that's a good thing).Ratner's gone on record in interviews in saying that this is a love story, not between Brosnan and Hayek, but between Brosnan and Harrelson, and if you look at the film that way, you'll probably enjoy it a bit more than if you were expecting a Bond film or a slam-bang actioner. Their relationship is the center of the film, and provides a few touching scenes as well as some good laughs.As for the heist itself, well, it's kinda rushed, totally unbelievable, and VERY reminiscent of Brosnan's remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, but all in all, it's a quick, fun 90 minutes, with fun performances, lots of eye candy for the guys (and girls), and shows Ratner may be maturing as a film-maker.. "After the Sunset", a sort of romcom/heist flick, tells of a top jewel thief (Brosnan) who may or may not decide to come out of his tropical island retirement for one last grab at a rare diamond on display aboard a cruise ship. However, the movie started at a nice pace and continued that way throughout, making it very entertaining.Brosnan and Selma Hayek are diamond thieves and lovers. Directed By: Brett RatnerStarring: Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, Don Cheadle, Naomie HarrisAfter The Sunset, which is nothing more than a hodgepodge of several popular contemporary films put together, is actually director Brett Ratner's best film to date. I know that isn't saying much - the Rush Hour films and Red Dragon were no better than just above average - but despite its banal feel, After The Sunset gets by on its playful tone, charming cast, and many genuinely funny moments.Max (Pierce Brosnan) and Lola (Salma Hayek) are two consistently successful criminals who have finally decided to retire after years of getting away with theft. After the sunset is one of those movies that you enjoy and laugh while you are watching it,but after you see it,you forget it.Pierce Brosnan and Woody Harrelson have a good chemical for comedy and they made me laugh a lot.The only thing Salma Hayek does is appearing in bikini.Brett Ratner is having a good career doing movies like this one.The film has very good funny moments(for example,the ship scene:I could not stop laughing on that moment).After the sunset is not great movie but it kept me fun and it made me laugh.I recommend it if you wanna have a good time.Rating:7. Salma Hayek (Lola) didn't perform anything of top-level, she was just the average good looking amazon that we can follow in various swim suits and transparent T-shirts.The diamond robbery part was way under my expectations, it took only a 5 minute take-and-run in the story, nothing sophisticated like in the Italian Job or Ocean's Eleven, which I wanted to enjoy in this film. Anyway, with Pierce Brosnan, Woody Harrelson, and Salma Hayek, I didn't figure the chances were very good that this movie would be anything but a groaner, but I was surprised.I think the best thing is that it doesn't get too technical with how a person would go about stealing a diamond, too heavy with the love stories, or too corny with the buddy-flick elements. Salma Hayek is beautiful, and while she and Pierce Brosnan may not make the most believable couple, they do have a certain chemistry throughout the movie. but, as i've watched it in a moment i wasn't looking for complexity, i believe it worth 6/10.But of course i can't rate a movie just by my mood on that moment.And what i think that we should have was more max/stan scenes, cuz they were amazing acting together and really funny. Because that's the only strength of this movie, besides the very hot Salma Hayek.All the robbery scenes seemed like they were simply created by our script writers so that our man could steal the diamonds without much effort. Salma Hayek sizzles unbearably while Pierce Brosnan does a decent job by just looking good!Many scenes are hilarious, which is what stops this movie from sinking way below our expectation.Verdict: Very nice "after the sunset" time-pass for you.. Not so much a heist movie as a comedy about an FBI agent (Harrelson) tracking a diamond thief (Brosnan) and his partner in crime and life (Hayek).Fantastic settings and a lot of shenanigans made this very easy viewing.We loved the opening scenes, and honestly this is one just to relax and envy the lifestyle to.The emphasis is strongly on fun, without too much silliness, and if you take it at that level it is a pretty good film.Definitely worth the rental; we really enjoyed it.. "After the Sunset" is a moderately entertaining cat-and-mouse caper film whose lighthearted tone, spirited performances and witty screenplay compensate for a less-than-sterling plot line.Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek play two impossibly beautiful thieves who have decided to quit the business and retire to a gorgeous tropical paradise in the Caribbean. Indeed, Ratner has a flair for giving the audience all the eye candy they want - Salma Hayek spends most of the film clad in tiny bikinis or very minimal clothing, and Pierce Brosnan and Woody Harrelson have their shirts off at every possible occasion. (the marital trouble between her character Lola and Brosnan's Max Burdett is laughable, it seems so labored) Woody Harrelson is miscast in the role of the FBI agent with low self esteem, trying to catch Burdett, the man who made him look like a fool so frequently, in the act of theft. STAR RATING: ***** Unmissable **** Very Good *** Okay ** You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead * Avoid At All Costs Max Burdett (Pierce Brosnan) is an expert jewel thief being pursued by bungling FBI Agent Lloyd (Woody Harrelson). Trendy new director Brett Ratner (he of Red Dragon and Rush Hour fame) is fairly slick here, even if some scenes do feel a little tacked on and it looks like the end is approaching a little sooner than it really is (although the movie is impressively short at just over an hour and a half.) Also to it's credit is some lovely scenery at the Jamaican resort, plus a good, well-written story-line and some genuinely funny moments. Woody Harrelson plays the FBI agent obsessed with catching Brosnan's character and Salma Hayek providing eye candy as Brosnan's lover and partner in crime. AFTER THE SUNSET is the new movie by director Brett Ratner, it stars Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek as lovers and retired thieves living at the Bahamas. Woody Harrelson plays Stan, an FBI agent who has spent 7 years looking for them and has finally found them apparently living a quiet life making love and watching sunsets.Max (Brosnan) is not as comfortable as Lola (Hayek) with their brand new life style. The movie doesn't focus much on the heist and it focuses on the great chemistry of its characters.Salma Hayek and Pierce Brosnan have great chemistry as lovers, Brosnan and Woody Harrelson also... Salma Hayek is hot and charming, Brosnan is smooth as usual and Harrelson is hilarious and that makes a perfect combination of talent and charisma that saves AFTER THE SUNSET from being boring or meaningless.The plot at the end is not going to shock audiences with something they don't see coming but the movie is more a comedy about heist with nice elements of romance and thriller than a serious heist film like The Italian Job,If you like good fun movies or simply, you loved Rush Hour, then you know what you'll get from After the Sunset8/10. However, if you're just looking for something fun and that you just want to watch and enjoy then you really can't go wrong with this one.A pair of 'criminals in love,' i.e. Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek, make their living stealing precious jewels, until they finally decide to retire after carrying out their 'final score.' However, despite getting away with the goods, their operation involves completely blindsiding (and therefore humiliating) FBI agent, Woody Harrelson. I feel it's also worth mentioning the two members of the cast who could be described as 'supporting,' namely Don Cheadle Naomie Harris - both of whom are great actors in their own right and you could say that they were underused and their characters don't get as much 'development' as they probably deserve, but they play their parts well with what they've been given.I mentioned some of the various genres that 'After the Sunset' fits into (from time to time) and if you're a fan of any of them and are generally looking for a simple and fun movie to relax to after work then you can't go far wrong with this one.. Feel good heist movie with former James Bond Pierce Brosnan and the ever gorgeous Salma Hayek. FBI agent Stan Lloyd played by Woody Harrelson promises to capture him but is Max to clever for him?Shot in the beautiful Bahamas with lots of lovely scenery helps make this an enjoyable watch with lots to keep your attention. Pierce Brosnan and Selma Hayak star in "After the Sunset," a 2004 movie directed by Brett Ratner and also starring Woody Harrelson and Don Cheadle.Brosnan is Max, a diamond thief who retires to Paradise Beach in the Bahamas with his girlfriend Lola (Hayak) after his final success, the second of three Napoleon diamonds. But the relationship between Agent Lloyd and Max Burdett, who are playing somewhat of a cat and mouse game, is funny and while I had a hard time believing that Lloyd is trying to arrest Max, it's absolutely hilarious how Max tries to bribe him into leaving him alone, like paying for the famous bridge suite in the Atlantis Hotel.Probably the best thing about this film is its array of usual suspects in unusual roles, all ahead of course Pierce Brosnan, who throws off the gentleman image that comes with playing James Bond. Woody Harrelson plays Agent Stan Lloyd, a colorful and instantly sympathetic character, and although nobody would probably want him to succeed to arrest Max and Lola, one can't help but feel sorry for him when he constantly laments about how the two make him look like a clown in front of his superiors, and especially, members of the opposite sex. Check it out and you'll see what I mean...Harrelson makes the most of every moment he's on screen, and I truly think he's what made this movie work.Salma Hayek is drop dead gorgeous in every shot, and comes off strong as well.I'd say the weakest person in the whole film was Pierce Brosnan, but it's still a good film for him, on par with his version of the Thomas Crowne Affair. Pro jewel thief Max Burdett (Pierce Brosnan) retires to a Caribbean island with his girlfriend Lola Cirillo (Salma Hayek). In 'After the Sunset', Max and Lola (Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek) are two highly successful jewel thieves who have retired to a beautiful tropical island only to have their perfect lives interrupted by a visit from federal agent Stanley Lloyd (Woody Harrelson) who has been chasing them for years. This movie has good cast - Pierce Brosnan, Woody Harrelson. Brosnan plays a professional thief who walks off into the sunset, namely the Caymans, after stealing a diamond from FBI agent Woody Harrelson. Max Burdett (Pierce Brosnan) is the one-time super-thief who has now retired to the Caribbean with his wife (Salma Hayek).

tt1572315

Texas Chainsaw 3D

The movie opens with a montage of the original movie. We see each kill happen in 3D as it did in the original movie. It also shows the infamous final scene from the original movie with Sally riding away in the back of the pickup truck while Leatherface swings his chainsaw maniacally in the middle of the road. Next we cut to a police car pulling up in front of the Sawyer house behind another car. Inside the first car is the Carson family (cousins, aunt, uncle to the Sawyers). They run inside and barricade the door and hold up arms along with the Sawyer family.Sheriff Hooper (Thom Barry) arrives outside the Sawyer family house, driving a police car, and he shouts to them that he only wants the boy, Jed a.k.a Leatherface. He says that the woman (Sally) said that a man with a chainsaw killed all her friends. He says that the woman (Sally) said that a man with a chainsaw killed all her friends. Drayton Sawyer (Bill Moseley) shouts that they were trying to protect their family. Hooper constantly tells him that he needs to take the boy into custody and that things don't need to get out of hand. Drayton thinks it over after members of the family agree to give up Jed. So Drayton goes into another room and shouts at Jed telling him that he has to go out there and give himself up. Just then a group of townspeaople from the town of Newt, Texas, led by Mayor Burt Hartman (Paul Rae) who have come with one thing in mind: to kill the entire family. As Drayton and the family prepare to surrender, Burt and other townspeople begin to attack by setting the house ablaze and shooting through the house. Pretty much all of the family is killed in the chaos despite Sheriff Hooper's attempts to stop them. We see Loretta Sawyer (Dodie Brown) cradling a baby, attempting to protect it, but one of the bullets flies through the windows and goes through her right shoulder and the baby's.After the chaos dies down at nighttime and the house is burned down, we see Gavin Miller (David Born) stumble upon a barely alive Loretta who is still holding on to the baby. Gavin takes the baby from her and kills Loretta by kicking her directly in the face. He runs to his wife Arlene (Sue Rock) saying that he found a baby and that they should adopt her. They decide to name the baby Heather.In the present day, adult Heather Miller (Alexandra Daddario) is working in the meat section of a grocery store. She is interrupted by her friend Nikki (Tania Raymonde) who is super excited about a trip that she, Heather, Heather's boyfriend Ryan (Trey Songz), and Ryan's friend Kenny (Keram Malicki-Sánchez) are taking to New Orleans. Heather goes home to her grungy looking apartment where Ryan is sparring on a punching bag. We see that Heather has strange pieces of art that include bones and a lot of black paint. Ryan gets her to relax from being stressed about the trip by making out with her. Just as they are about to have sex they are interrupted by a knock at the door. Ryan goes to answer and gets some mail for Heather, which is a will for her. It states that her grandmother is dead and has left a house for her. However, Heather is confused because her grandparents died years ago.She goes to confront her parents who reveal to her that she was adopted. They warn her not to go to Texas, but she (completely pissed and hurt) leaves and goes back home to Ryan. When she arrives, she tells Ryan she has to go to Texas to learn more about the house and her real family. Ryan doesn't object at all and surprises her when Kenny and Nikki appear, offering to go with them.So they drive towards Texas and on the way they stop at a gas station and accidentally hit someone walking with the van. It's pouring outside, and the guy introduces himself as Darryl (Shaun Sipos). He says that to forget about them hitting him that they can just drop him off when they get to Texas, and he even offers gas money. So they figure what the hell and let him come along.When they finally reach the house they are met at the gates by Farnsworth (Richard Riehle) who gives her a keychain full of keys (one huge one in particular) and he also gives her a letter from her deceased grandmother Verna and advises her to read it IMMEDIATELY. He goes on his way, and they go through the gate.The house is STUNNING and filled with antiques. They explore the house and decide that they should get some food from a local store that may be around. Darryl offers to stay behind and set all their bags up for them, and he also gives them some money for food. They leave him at the house and go into town. After they leave, Darryl immediately starts stuffing things from inside the house into his bag. (He's obviously a thief/scam artist). He explores through the house and uses the keys to get to every door. However, he wonders what the large key goes to and goes all throughout the house until finally he stumbles upon a hidden room behind a wall. He goes into the room which leads him to a door. He uses the big key on the door and goes down into a wine cellar of some sort, and when he gets there he sees a bunch of weird items, including a plate with old rotted food sitting outside a large metal door. He tries to open the metal door various ways, but it doesn't give. As he looks for something to pry it open with, he turns back to the metal door and Leatherface (Dan Yeager) appears and strikes him over the head with a hammer (reminiscent to the scene of Kirk in the original movie). He bashes his head in repeatedly with a hammer on the floor until he is dead.While in town shopping for things, Heather is approached outside a store by Deputy Carl Hartman (Scott Eastwood), who is clearly attracted to her. Meanwhile, inside the store, we see Nikki flirting with Ryan. Ryan clearly cheated on Heather with Nikki, but blames it on them both being drunk. Nikki claims that he was begging for it. Ryan tells her to stop and forget it happened and walks away, disappointing her. Back outside, Heather tells Carl where she's staying, and the Mayor (who is Burt Hartman from earlier in the film) overhears this and asks her if she's related to the Sawyers. She lies and says no and quickly leaves with her friends.When they arrive back at the house, they see that everything is a wreck. They deduce that Darryl must have been a thief and robbed them and left. They relax since it wasn't anything extremely valuable missing and have a few drinks. Kenny (being a chef in training) starts making up some steaks as night falls. Ryan is in the study playing on the pool table, Nikki is outside smoking and eyeing Ryan from the window, and Heather is exploring the house upstairs. While Kenny is cooking, he notices the wall/door that Darryl went through, and he walks through. He calls out to Ryan, but Ryan has music playing very loud so he can't hear him. Kenny walks down into the cellar and sees Darryl's bag and a pool of blood. He calls out for Darryl, but doesn't get a response. Then when he steps into the room with the metal door, he sees the metal door is wide open. As he walks through it, he steps into a dark hallway. Suddenly, Leatherface jumps out of the darkness and chases Kenny. Kenny gets halfway up the stairs when Leatherface shoves a hook through his back. He drags him downstairs, and Kenny's screams are drowned out by the loud music.Nikki runs into the study where Ryan is playing pool. She screams and says there's something crazy he needs to see, and she looks scared. She leads him outside into a barn house in the back. When they get back there, she points to a bucket covering something. When Ryan removes the bucket he sees there is a bottle of wine and two glasses there. He turns around and is shocked to see Nikki standing half naked saying "told you it was crazy." She winks at him, and they proceed to have sex.Back in the house, Heather is upstairs and stumbles into a room where the corpse of Grandma Verna is sitting in a chair, decomposing. She screams and runs downstairs to find everyone, but she sees the house is empty. When she runs into the kitchen, she sees Leatherface holding a severed hand and cutting the fingers off into a bowl. She screams and catches his attention, and he grabs her and tosses her onto the kitchen floor. She hits her head and is knocked out.When she comes to, she is in a room in the cellar and we see Leatherface cutting up Darryl's body in pieces. Then we see him hang Kenny's body up on a hook and saw his body in half. Heather quickly jumps up and runs up the stairs. Leatherface chases after close behind. She falls down the front stairs when she gets outside and runs to the back of the house which is a graveyard full of the Sawyer/Carson family. She finds an unfinished grave with a coffin and climbs inside. As Leatherface stalks the graveyard, he hears Heather crying and jumps on top of the coffin and begins cutting into it.Ryan and Nikki step out of the barn house after hearing the chainsaw and they see Leatherface cutting into something. They call out to him asking who he is and when he sees them, he stops cutting into the coffin and runs toward them. They quickly run back into the barn house and barricade the door. Ryan finds a shovel and Nikki finds a loaded shotgun. She shoots through the door as Leatherface tries to cut through, she shouts "Welcome to Texas Motherfucker!" Suddenly it gets quiet. They see a pair of lights through the door, and the van suddenly crashes through the barn house; it's Heather. They quickly jump in and Ryan drives through the barn and towards the front gate. He tries to ram it but to no avail. As Leatherface catches up to them, Ryan backs the car up so the gate can open automatically and they drive through it. Just as they do, Leatherface manages to cut through the front tire and the side of the van. This causes the van to flip over and crash just as they get about 15 feet from him.Heather looks over, and we see Ryan is dead. (A huge piece of glass from the windshield got lodged deep into his neck). She and Nikki scream as Leatherface tries to cut through the van. He even goes so far as flipping it onto its side. Heather is able to climb out through one of the windows. Leatherface cuts Nikki on the side a little and Heather gets his attention. This distracts him, and he begins to chase Heather through the woods. She manages to reach a fence which leads to a carnival on the other side, and she hops it. Leatherface doesn't stop, and he cuts through the fence, chasing her through the carnival as people run all over, screaming. She gets to the mini ferris wheel and jumps up and grabs onto one of the seats as it lifts her up. Leatherface waits on the other side as she begins to descend back down. But just as she gets close to him, Officer Carl orders him to freeze. Leatherface tosses his chainsaw at Carl, and he ducks just in time. But this gives Leatherface enough time to escape into the woods.Carl takes Heather to the police station for questioning. There we see Sheriff Hooper waiting and when she describes Leatherface he is shocked and begins to think Jed must still be alive after all these years. She also admits that she just found she was a Sawyer. Carl pulls a box labeled "Evidence" and sits it on the table saying there is some crazy stuff in it about the Sawyers/Carsons. Hobbs orders Carl to leave and go look for the maniac. The mayor shows up and demands to speak with Hooper, so he leaves Heather alone while he goes to talk to him. As soon as he leaves, Heather begins to go through the evidence box that Carl pulled, and she sees how her entire family was killed without a fair trial by the townspeople and the mayor and her adoptive mom and dad. She reads about the entire incident that took place that night.Meanwhile, one of the police officers was investigating the crashed van and tells Hooper that no one is here (Nikki and Ryan's body are missing). Hooper orders him to stay at the site, but the officer sees a trail of blood that leads down the road, and he follows it. The mayor is yelling at Hooper saying that Jed cant be alive because they burned that place to the ground. The officer calls Hooper back and informs him that the blood led back to the house. The mayor orders him on the walkie to follow the blood and the officer does so. When he gets in the house, he turns on a video call of some sort so the mayor and Hobbs can see what he sees. As he follows the blood into the cellar and down a dark hallway he comes upon the room where Kenny, Darryl, and Ryan lay dead and butchered. He sees a freezer and the mayor opens him to order it. As he gets closer and closer the freezer suddenly pops open and Nikki jumps up, screaming. This shocks/scares the officer causing him to shoot Nikki in the head and accidentally kill her. The video call drops and the mayor and Hooper are shocked by what just happened. The officer runs back up the stairs of the house and is attacked by Leatherface who bludgeons him with an ax and then begins to chop into his back repeatedly. Mayor Burt decides to confront Heather saying she must have something to do with this. As Hooper tries to stop him from going into the room where she was left, they see the evidence from the night the Sawyers were killed sprawled all over the table, and Heather has written the word "Murderers" on one of the sheets.Back at the house, we see Leatherface crafting a new mask from the face of the police officer he just killed and he sews it onto his own face.Heather is on the streets of the town, and she reaches a payphone and calls Farnsworth. She tells him that she knows EVERYTHING, and he tells her to meet him at a local bar. When they meet he informs her that he warned her to read the letter immediately because Verna detailed everything she needed to know. He also informs her that Jed (Leatherface) knows she is still alive, but he doesn't know WHO she is. Suddenly the mayor arrives and chases her out the bar. She grabs a knife before she runs out and just as she reaches the street, the Mayor's partner, Ollie (Ritchie Montgomery), hits her with his car. He jumps out to grab her, but she quickly slashes his face with the knife and makes a run for it.Heather gets a good distance and then runs into Officer Carl. She asks him to get her to the bar, so she can help Farnsworth and warns him that the Mayor is after her. She hops in the backseat and Carl drives towards the bar. They see Farnsworth outside, and he sees them, but Carl keeps going. Heather shouts at him and then realizes he's helping the Mayor when the Mayor calls his phone. She also discovers that the Mayor is Carl's FATHER! The Mayor tells Carl over the C.B. radio to bring her to the old slaughterhouse that the Sawyers used to own. Little do they know, though, that Leatherface has a C.B. radio in a truck and overhears this. He grabs his best chainsaw and goes out into the night.Farnsworth rushes into the police station and warns Hooper that Heather is in trouble and that a police officer took her. Hooper puts a lock on the squad car's location and realizes where they're going. He quickly leaves.When Carl arrives at the slaughterhouse, he goes to tie Heather up from some ropes. When she tries to attack him, he accidentally rips her shirt down the middle, but she stays tied up. He leaves her there and tapes her mouth shut. Outside, we see the Mayor and Ollie have arrived. The Mayor tells Carl to leave and that they'll handle her. Back inside we see Leatherface is behind Heather and he places his chainsaw on her shoulder. She tries to scream, but they are muffled by the tape. He steps in front of her and revs the chainsaw. As he gets closer and closer to her with it, he stops and notices the bullet scar on her shoulder. (The same scar from when she and her mother Loretta were shot). He removes the tape from her mouth, and she begins to beg and plead with him repeatedly telling him that "It's me! I'm Heather! I'm your cousin! Please let me go." Leatherface is shocked by this but cuts her free, just as Ollie and the Mayor arrive and begin to beat the crap out of Leatherface. Heather makes a run for it.As soon as she gets outside, she hears Leatherface yelling out in pain as the Mayor and Ollie beat him repeatedly. The Mayor wraps a chain around his neck and tells Ollie to power it on. The chain leads into a giant meat grinder. Ollie runs to go power it on and just as he does he is attacked by Heather who shoves a pitchfork through his body and kills him. As the chain begins to pull Leatherface closer to the meat grinder, Heather shows up and tosses him his chainsaw. Leatherface uses it to cut the chain and free himself. He rises up, and Heather smirks and tells him "Do your thing cousin." Leatherface then cuts both of the Mayors ankles with the chainsaw. The mayor falls onto the ground and begins to crawl backwards, unknowingly towards the grinder. Hooper shows up with a gun and sees the chaos. The Mayor constantly yells for him to shoot, but Hooper slowly lowers his gun when he sees Heather shouting for him not to shoot, and he leaves the Mayor to die. The Mayor ends up crawling back into the grinder and is shredded to pieces.Back at the Sawyer house, we see Leatherface sitting slumped in a chair, and Heather is standing next to him. She tries to touch his face, but he gets up and goes down into the cellar. Heather finally reads Verna's letter which (in flashback) Verna Carson (Marilyn Burns) details that Jed is the only blood relative she has left now and that whether she chooses to stay or not, she should NEVER forget where her home is. We see Heather go down into the cellar. She stares at Leatherface face to face as she grabs his tray of old food and goes upstairs. She has decided to stay. The movie ends as Leatherface grabs the metal door, and slams it shut.In a post-credits scene, Gavin and Arlene show up at the mansion to see Heather, greedily seeking a share of her assets. As they wait by the door, Leatherface comes out with his chainsaw.

revenge, murder, violence, flashback

train

imdb

I rushed to the theater on opening night super excited because the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D facebook page shared a lot of information about the making of the movie and I expected it to be the best one yet. Also the makers of the movie made a huge error with the the main character's age (should be at least 40.) The killings were not that severe, the only 3D parts were with the chainsaw (which didn't even happen that much), and Leatherface was turned into this sweet character that you began to feel bad for. How its become a household name I cannot figure out, I only assume its riding off the first movies controversy.Almost 40yrs after that first movie was released TCM went 3D and delivered what I believe it be the best movie in the franchise.Starring Alexandra Daddario, Tania Raymonde and Scott Eastwood we see a girl return home for her inheritance only to discover her origins are rooted in blood.Though the movie doesn't bring anything new to the table it is well enough made and strengthened by a mostly decent cast.Alas however this is not a sequel and yet another much not needed reboot so expect more origins and less continuation of the Sawyer legacy.Expectedly gory, mostly well acted and interesting enough to keep my attention this has shown that the TCM franchise has potential but just fails to capitalise.The Good: Decent cast The Bad: It's still a reboot Something about this Leatherface felt off Things I Learnt From This Movie: Tania Raymonde's character will have got a lot of tips at the store Raymonde & Daddario together in a film was too much distraction for my simple mind to handle Tania Raymonde's character contains enough blood to fill the grand canyon and doesn't require it to operate Rule 1 of a TCM movie, don't trust anyone Scott Eastwood is just terrible, I mean seriously the guy never improves Daddario would make a great villain. The original was directed by Tobe Hooper, and Hooper himself helped produce not only this film but the 2003 remake (which inexplicably changed the family name of the murderous family) and the 2006 prequel, but the current film actually uses scenes from the 1974 original (and the original family name of Sawyer) as it's jumping-off point, which gave the film some instant weight for fans of the franchise.However, the weight was lifted real quick.In short, right after the events of the original film, some of the residents of the town of Newt, Texas burn down the house where the original massacre occurred with the entire Sawyer clan inside, but not without one baby surviving the inferno. Never mind little stupid things like the fact that the house burning down at the beginning of the film happened on August 19th and somehow, the newspaper which reported the story was also dated August 19th (rather than the 20th). The negative: There is no talent, the actors have no chemistry, the idea is wasted but worst of all there is no pace to the story, no suspense or anything of the original movie that made it good.Avoid at all cost.. Chainsaw 3D is a direct sequel to the 1974 classic that opens with a vengeful redneck mob laying siege to the house occupied by Leatherface and a lot of other family members that weren't there in the original. Heather goes down to the house with some generic stereotype friends who seem handpicked to be murdered which is smart because there just happens to be another family member living hidden in the house like Bad Ronald (70s TV movie reference. And despite how bad it's written, the film is trying to honor it's roots and we get some fun cameos to prove it and when it's all said and done it can be a good time if you just sit back and enjoy watching hot chicks in peril and sleazy rednecks meeting chainsaw justice. I'm a huge fan of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre films (I love the original film and I adore the second part) hell, i even liked the remake and the follow up to the remake. After that the introduction with the main cast was corny but pretty much every horror movie is, because for some reason producers don't want to spend money on actors that can carry on a scene without running and screaming. I only watched this movie being a long time horror fan especially of the Texas Chainsaw franchise. Anyone who says this movie is no good is either too dumb to understand why it played out as it did or still suckling on the teet of the theory that the remakes/sequels should follow the exact same path that a completely different director/set of writers/cast/etc. Being a horror fan I love the classic 1974 Texas Chainsaw film with the original Leatherface(Gunnar Hansen)and to start with this modern reboot continuation a montage of vintage clips are shown to bring back memories. The Texas chainsaw massacre was the first horror movie I ever bought, and it holds a special place in my heart, so it was only natural that I felt bad for Leatherface. No one of the actresses who played a heroine returned in a sh**ty cameo role but Marilyn Burns did that, that is why she lost my respect.This movie sucks a dick, should it suppose to be a family horror film or something? This movie turn in to a lead character Heather (Alexandra Daddario) from a shi**less victim, from a heroine to a villain in this film! Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III in my opinion is the best sequel movie I like. If anything it was a great homage to an original horror classic.Some people thought it was cliché' but think about all the 80s horror movies a horror fan loves. The film forced us to have high expectations and compare it to the original.The characters are one dimensional and are the most intellectually challenged individuals in horror movie history, another reason to put a bad name on this ever growing, disappointing genre. He had the perfect settings/atmosphere and did nothing remotely chilling or shocking with them, this is a Texas Chainsaw movie after all, but did not feel like one and now I know why they left Massacre out of the title for this failure. Not earned at all and leaves fans of the original and even the remake, prequel feel very cheated!The makers seem to want to do something very different with the story and had some twists here and there that you don't expect to see from this never ending series. That being said, this movie falls well below par for any and every standard.This movie was fairly hyped up, the trailer showed great promise of being a big time hit, the cast and crew talked of how this movie was going to blow us away in terms of gore and unsuspected twist; and if your anything like the girls in my theater you couldn't wait to see Trey Songz take a stab at acting. Perhaps this is because despite wearing a mask on his face Leatherface gives the most emotive performance out of the entire cast, who are poorly written and whose names I have already forgotten, save for Kenny's but that is only because of "Oh my god, they killed kenny" suffice to say the film was written so poorly that even that quote was missed off from the film.In summary, the characters 'act' stupidly throughout, a sure sign of lazy writing, the plot is nonsensical and an insult to the original. They weren't masterpieces or anything but I enjoyed them for the most part so when I found out yet another Texas Chainsaw movie was coming out, and even though I wasn't impressed with the trailer, I decided to go see it.What was I thinking?I think you are forced to see it in 3D because, well, it says 3D on it but most of the time you forgot you are even watching it in 3D. The movie starts off showing clips of the very original Texas Chainsaw Massacre which confused me because it totally obliterates the remakes. Judging by the trailers only my impression was that this was going to be another boring and cliché slasher flick and a lot of people would most likely argue that it still is and i can understand why, however i am a big fan of the series and by definition the original movie so watching a movie which is a direct sequel to the original was quite the treat for me.Going back to the "boring slasher" bit, this movie has some of those cliché slasher shticks, like the characters for example, such as the jock, the slut and so on, but what i liked about this movie is that it plays a bit with your expectations and actually takes some of these clichés and flips them around.The film also has a rather interesting ending, which you will see coming relatively early on if you have half a brain cell, and this ending is one of those endings that you either love or you hate so make of that what you will.Final verdict, if you like some of the other Chain saw movies and can forgive a thing or two about the movie then your in for a good and entertaining movie! This was so terrible from the start to the end i was dying with laughter of the terrible lines and the terrible deaths.don't even rent this if it was free it's that bad like who the hell idea was it to get trey songs ass in here needs to get shot like damn and he didn't even die from Texas chainsaw he died from a car crash like how stupid can a movie get well i don't know but i hope they don't make a second of this dump after i was done with this peace of crap i had to take a crap and damn it hurt because i watched this DUMP WARNING STAY AWAY FROM Texas CHAINSAW 3D UNLESS YOU LIKE TERRIBLE MOVIES AND IF THAT IS THE TRUTH STILL DON'T WATCH THIS GUTTER BUTTER PEACE OF CRAP REMAKE OF A CLASSIC THAT IS WHY I GIVE IT 1 OUT OF 10. It was pretty clear that the original draft of this film could have easily been a draft for Scary Movie or some comedy spoof of Scooby Doo.It did have all the right things to make it fit right in with modern horror films but executed everything so poorly you may have thought they were making it up as they went along. I must admit that I'm not a big fan of the original movie (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). Yes, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a legendary series, but they are still simply slashers, not Kubrick films.I give the movie 8 out of 10 and the second on my list of slashers, which looks like this: 1. But then there's a film like "Texas Chainsaw 3D", a 2013 semi-sequel that seeks to continue the story right where the original Tobe Hooper masterpiece left off. Instead, Texas CHAINSAW is more of the same horror movie you've come to expect from this already-tired franchise.Picking up where the 1974 movie has left off (along with its original footage to sum up the story), we last seen Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) managed to escape from the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface and hopped on a pickup truck. This film is everything you expect from a "Texas Chainsaw" movie. But if Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D (what a title) is the evidence, then one believing that would be wrong.TC3D is the type of movie that lowers the bar for slasher films. Take it as a simple movie to make people scared and you will have fun.If you happen to look for a deeper meaning and need the story to be logical and correct, then you will most definitely have a bad time. The film is easy to follow if you've watched the film movie(1974), as you know the whole 'TCM' storyline.The bad points: Acting- The whole stereotypical performance of a horror film is portrayed where 'Girl runs off but falls to await her death by the serial killer'. Betting it all on a semi-twist ending to redirect the time line, TC3D is riddled with bad writing, weak scares, and is a pathetic attempt of 3D.For me, Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre will live in infamy as my favorite horror movie of all time. After watching this film I realized that it simply was a good way for Hollywood to say sorry for all the past Texas Chainsaw movies that were unfortunately made and God awful from the start. The picture stars a cast of mostly unknown, (but talented) actors and actresses, with the exceptions of cameo appearances by Bill Mosely (who is a scary movie legend, well known to the hardcore monster flicks community) and Gunner Hanson (who played the part of "Leatherface" in the original "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre". The motion picture shows scenes from the original "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" during the opening credits to catch up viewers who have never seen the first movie as to what is going on exactly.The story in this film takes place immediately following the events of the original movie. Although I find it way too bonkers not to be an enjoyable watch, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994) has long been considered by many TCM fans to be the worst movie in the popular horror franchise; I expect Texas Chainsaw 3D to change quite a few of those opinions.A direct sequel to Tobe Hooper's 1974 original, this disrespectful trash messily rewrites the history of the Sawyer clan (suddenly introducing an extended family) before moving the action to the present day, when drop-dead-gorgeous twenty-something Heather Miller (Alexandra Daddario)—who according to the TCM time-line would actually be 39—discovers that she was not only adopted as a child, but is also heir to a sprawling Texas mansion.Accompanied by her thoroughly unlikeable and untrustworthy friends, Heather takes a road trip to Texas where she checks out her new home, little realising that Leatherface (Dan Yeager) is lurking in the basement, ready to get busy with his trusty power tool.Although Texas Chainsaw 3D does admittedly deliver in the gore department (albeit with the help of some crap CGI), almost everything else about the film comes as a massive disappointment: the 3D effects are predictably cheesy (mostly comprising of unimaginative shots of the blade whirring in the foreground) and the dumb script features irritating characters, lousy dialogue ('do your thing, cuz') and increasingly ridiculous plot developments.Worst of all, delicious Daddario doesn't even strip off to take a shower or have sex; given just how cheap and tacky the rest of the film is, this should have been a given.. I really have enjoyed watching leather face the Texas massacre movies through out the years they have such a creepy scary feeling about them because legend has it to be a true story which makes it even more frightening. Those are both elements I believe drew audiences to the first two movies and set them apart from other slasher films."Texas Chainsaw" alumni play the different members of the Sawyer family. Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface in the original film), Bill Moseley ("Chop- Top" Sawyer in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2"), and Marilyn Burns all play members of the Sawyer clan. By no means a patch on the first movie or a "that has to be in my DVD collection" but an enjoyable horror none the less and definitely much better than some of the sequels in the franchise (especially the awful "Next Generation" pap).Like some other reviews have stated, if you want a complex brain twisting plot and Oscar driven performances then it may not be for you but if you want some good old blood,guts and not have too think to hard then see it.. For a Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel from the original series, I was not expecting a good movie. The movie serves it's purpose.Of course, there may be ridiculous lines from a horrendous screenplay delivered by sub-par actors such as "Do your thing, cuz." And of course, there might be MAJOR plot holes, one including the fact that the protagonist is really supposed to be forty something.And let's not forget: There will be the typical horror movie plot that felt like it had some sort of a drop of creativity during the last half of the movie for a slight twist, but only because the screenwriter seemed to have gotten bored with what he was writing.But let's face the facts here people: If you thought this movie was going to stem from any iota of truly meaningful and all around good film making, you're missing part of your brain.I'm appalled by people who gave this movie one star.You KNEW what you were in for with a title like "TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D." Come on...If one was to expect nothing from the movie however, and accepted it for what they KNEW it was going to be- one might be slightly surprised by the entertainment provided.One also might then rate this movie 6/10 stars for solely that reason.Congrats to the filmmakers who are going to quadruple their revenue by the time this baby hits DVD sales. I thought the 2003 remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a pretty decent horror film. Seems like the makers knew Texas Chainsaw fans would go watch this movie so they didn't care to put effort into making it a good one. The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an icon in horror cinema, and for good reason. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise is a series of horror films which depict people meeting their ends at the hands of an Ax-Crazy family in Texas known as the Sawyers. Apparently these Texas Chainsaw Massacre series of films do make money because they keep coming back like a bad nightmare in a Freddy Krueger movie.

tt1723121

We're the Millers

David Clarke (Jason Sudeikis) is sitting on his couch watching funny YouTube videos when he starts getting hit up for weed. He goes around town making the deliveries while scoring a large amount of cash. That evening, David runs into an old college friend named Rick Nathanson (Thomas Lennon). Rick mentions his life as a family man and wonders why David hasn't gotten around to settling down. David gives him some pot as a gift and sends him off.Rose O'Reilly (Jennifer Aniston) is at her job at the strip joint. She's talking to a particularly dim co-stripper named Kymberly (Laura-Leigh), who tells her that her stage name is "Boner Garage" (with a tattoo pointing down below to prove it). Their boss Todd (Ken Marino) tells Rose to go tend to a customer with two hook hands.David and Rose meet up at their apartment. David tries to start some small talk, but Rose is not interested in anything he has to say and tells him he is not a neighbor, he's a drug dealer. He hands her a bit of her mail that he got, reminding her that her rent is due. As Rose goes to her apartment, a dorky kid named Kenny (Will Poulter) comes in to say hi to David and also asks to buy weed, but he refuses to sell to him because he is a kid. Outside, Kenny sees some punks harassing a young woman. He tries to be the hero and defend her, but he only gets attacked. David intervenes and tries get Kenny out of there, but he stupidly blabs out to the punks that David is a drug dealer. David and Kenny make a run for it. David runs through a fire escape and tries to throw his backpack full of drugs and money into a dumpster below and jump in after it, but the backpack knocks dumpster lid closed and he falls hard on his back. The punks assault him, go to his apartment, and rob him of his entire drug stash and money.The next morning, David is at a diner where he keeps getting phone calls from someone named Brad Gurdlinger. On his way out, he is tased and captured by two goons. He is taken all the way to the home of Brad (Ed Helms), David's distributor, complete with an aquarium featuring a killer whale. Brad knows David got robbed, but he offers him a chance to redeem himself. He instructs him to go to Mexico to pick up a "smidge (and a half)" of weed for "Pablo Chacon" (Brad's alias) and bring it back by Sunday night, which is 4th of July. Brad tells David he will pay him $100,000 and reminds David that he does not have a choice.David tells Kenny about his dilemma. He suggests using a disguise, but David thinks it's a stupid idea. That's when a family man in an RV pulls up to ask David and Kenny for directions to the zoo. David insults them and tells them to fuck off, but a cop offers directions. That's when the idea hits David, and he comes up with a plan. He runs to the strip joint to ask Rose for help with the plan, in which he will have her pose as his wife so that they can look like a regular family crossing the border to Mexico to pick up the weed without arousing suspicion, and in return, he would give Rose $10,000. Rose adamantly refuses. However, David convinces Kenny to come along just for the ride. He even finds the girl from the night before, Casey (Emma Roberts), and hires her for $1,000, believing her to be homeless.Back at the strip joint Rose is told by Todd that he wants her to start having sex with customers for payment, making Rose angry enough to quit. When she gets home, she finds an eviction notice on her door.David, Kenny, and Casey all head off to the airport the next day to fly down to Arizona to pick up the motorhome and drive into Mexico. David introduces the three of them as the Millers. It starts off rocky when Casey makes a snide joke in front of the flight attendant. They are joined by Rose, to David's surprise. As Rose puts her bag in the overhead compartment, Kenny accidentally presses his face against her breasts, which somehow causes him to accidentally smack Casey in the face, inciting an argument among the whole "family". David pulls them all to the back, where he doubts Rose's ability to pull off the act, but she surprises them when she makes them all appear to be praying to throw off suspicion from the flight attendant.The group arrives in Tucson where they're presented with an RV of their own to cross the border. On the road, Casey spots a fireworks stand, so she and Kenny beg David, as if they were children, to grab some fireworks. He tells them all straight up that this is just a job and that they are not really a family. However, he goes back to get a single firework to satisfy them.They manage to get through and head to pick up the weed, arriving at a drug ranch. David says he is picking up for Pablo Chacon, but is alarmed to discover that the "smidge and a half" of weed is actually close to two metric tons. He calls up Brad to complain, but he only mocks him and reminds him to bring it back by Sunday. Meanwhile, Kenny is given a fruit basket by the mother of a one-eyed goon, unaware that a large tarantula is crawling in there.The group heads back to the border with weed in nearly every compartment where it can be hidden. They are stopped by a cop (Luis Guzman), who remarks that he saw them coming from Pablo Chacon's ranch, and he will not arrest them under the condition of a bribe. He asks for $1,000. David says they don't have that amount, so the cop then suggests that they provide him with an intimate favor. David tells Rose to suck the cop off, but she refuses. The cop tells her she has nothing to worry about because he prefers the company of another man, so Rose tells David to "suck his dick." David smiles sheepishly and try's to convince Kenny to go through with it for the ladies. The cop comes out as Kenny is preparing himself, but the cop says he meant he wanted $1,000 pesos, which, as David guesses, is roughly 80 American dollars. He gives him $100 and grabs Kenny and leaves.On the way back to the border, the group passes another family in an RV, the Fitzgeralds - Don (Nick Offerman), Edie (Kathryn Hahn), and their daughter Melissa (Molly Quinn), whom Kenny is instantly smitten with. As they inch closer to the border, they spot a vehicle that is pulled over and caught with a joint. The driver is then viciously assaulted by the officers at the border, alarming the group just as a pound of weed falls in Rose's lap. She quickly covers it up, leading Edie to think she has a baby. David tells the group to calm down and put on sombreros to appear like a family. He drops his smile as he grows nervous. The officer at the front asks the group to step out. Before he can search the RV, a bunch of Mexicans crawl from under the RV and make a run for it. The officer pardons the group since this happens often.David is ecstatic to have made it out of there, but he drives so fast that he causes the RV to heat up and break down. Rose and Casey walk off in frustration. As they walk down the road, Casey admits to Rose that she is not homeless, but that she prefers to stay with her friends instead of being home. They nearly start arguing when Casey makes a snide remark about Rose's stripping profession, but they are picked up by the Fitzgeralds, who have already picked up David and Kenny (and the pound of weed), along with the broken down RV in tow. On their way to a garage, Edie asks David how he and Rose met. He describes a memory he had of Rose when he admired how she looked, sounding very sincere and genuine, almost touching Rose. He ruins it when he recalls accidentally wrecking a painting done by Rose's grandfather. He also unintentionally discovers that Don is a DEA agent.The garage turns out to be closed for the night, so the Fitzgeralds resolve for the "Millers" to camp with them for the night. Edie wants to hold Rose's "baby", but Rose panics to the point where she tosses the pound into the street, where it is run over by a truck, scaring the absolute shit out of Edie. Casey saves them when she says this was part of a school experiment.The real Pablo Chacon (Tomer Sisley) arrives to his ranch to pick up the stash of weed with an average-looking guy with him. When he is told that another "gringo with a haircut like a donkey" has already picked up the weed, Pablo brings his one-eyed goon with him to track the family down.That evening, during a game of Pictionary, David and Rose plot to steal Don's RV keys while he and Edie are asleep. As Melissa is up to draw, she is upset when her parents can't guess what she's drawing. Kenny goes up to make her feel better with his terrible drawing of a skateboard, which Rose misinterprets as "Black Cock Down". After that disaster of a game, Casey catches Kenny talking to Melissa outside the RV, bringing David and Rose to check out the scene. Melissa tries to get a kiss from Kenny, but he hugs her instead. David goes outside to talk to him, and the best advice he can give him is to count to three in a tense situation.While the Fitzgeralds are sleeping, David and Rose sneak out to steal the keys. The Fitzgeralds awaken to find the two of them in their tent, but they believe that they are there for a sexual fling. After Edie grabs Rose's breasts for a bit, the pair leaves uncomfortably.Casey attempts to help Kenny out after learning that he's never kissed a girl. She teaches him how to kiss, out of pity, which David and Rose walk in on. Rose joins in to help Kenny practice, but Melissa walks in on them, making it look like Kenny is kissing his mother and sister. She leaves appalled, and Kenny is flat out embarrassed.Don and Edie take the group to the garage and drop them off. As David calls Brad up, they are ambushed by Pablo, who found the RV with a tracking device. He plans to kill the group as a family, but David admits that the family is fake and that Rose is just a stripper. This gets Pablo's attention, and he orders Rose to strip. She puts on a very hot show for everybody, ending with her pulling steam on Pablo's face, giving them an opportunity to run. Kenny tries to drive the RV and busts out of the garage and wrecks Pablo's car. On their way out, the tarantula in the fruit basket crawls it's way up to Kenny's leg and bites him, causing him swerve and run the RV off the road. He runs out in pain and reveals to the group a very large and painful-looking swollen testicle, eventually fainting from it.The group is forced to stick around the hospital for a few hours as Kenny recovers. Casey goes off with a loser named Scottie P. (Mark L. Young) for a few hours while David and Rose briefly bond. Through this, David learns that Rose's real name is Sarah. As Casey comes back, David and Rose chastise her for spending so much time out, almost sounding like a real mother and father.Kenny is released to the group, and David rushes him off in his wheelchair to the RV, only to knock Kenny down as he hits the RV. David tries to pick him up in the most irresponsible way, upsetting Rose and Casey. This leads to a big argument between everybody, and Casey walks off on her own. David is prepared to leave, but Kenny and Rose won't leave without Casey. David leaves them behind and drives off. As he drives further, he hears "Waterfalls" by TLC on the radio, which Kenny humorously sang along to earlier.Kenny and Rose find Casey with Scottie P., who tries to sexually harass Casey. They come to her aid, with Kenny counting to three before Rose punches Scottie in the nose, sending him off. David arrives in time to find the three of them, having to get on his knees and beg them to rejoin him (he only really gets on his knees). While they're heading back, they run into Edie and Melissa. Melissa is still uncomfortable with how she saw Kenny the previous night, eventually forcing Kenny to reveal that the family is fake and that they are smuggling pot across the border. That's when the one-eyed goon steps in to kill the group, but, not before Don pops up and completely incapacitates the goon. Unfortunately, Pablo comes out holding Melissa at gunpoint. He plans to kill the whole group, but David steps in to defend them, giving a speech on how he's come to love the three of them and that the Fitzgeralds were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Before Pablo can kill any of them, fireworks are set off, distracting Pablo long enough for David to hit him, throwing the gun out of his hand, and giving Kenny the chance to knock him out cold. This impresses Melissa, but not as much as Kenny grabbing her and kissing her romantically beneath the fireworks (with a tongue trick that Rose taught him). Don arrests Pablo and his goon, and then says that he must also arrest the group...after he hugs his family. The group reads this as a sign that the Fitzgeralds are letting them escape, and they take it.David finally brings the weed to Brad, but since he missed the deadline, he is not getting paid. Turns out, Brad was actually never going to pay him at all. David turns the tables on Brad when a whole team of DEA agents bursts into Brad's place, arresting him and his guys. Don thanks David for helping him bring Pablo and Brad to them. Don then tells David that he will have to be placed in witness protection for the next 3 to 6 months, along with every other witness to the crime. David smiles.The group is now living as a family in a pretty nice home. David meets the new neighbors, the Johnsons. He introduces himself, Kenny, Casey, and Rose (calling her Sarah) as the Millers. David and Rose walk away saying they don't like the Johnson's. As they sit to have a meal, it is revealed they are growing marijuana leaves in their backyard.Bloopers and outtakes are shown before the end credits, ending with Jason Sudeikis putting on the "Friends" theme song for Jennifer Aniston, and having Emma Roberts and Will Poulter sing along and clap for fun.

humor

train

imdb

There's nothing to it, if all you're looking for witty/clever/subtle/deep humor, and you hate sexual/stupid/slapsticky type humor...you will probably still like We're The Millers.It's not a gold mine of comedy by any means, but it did the job it told us it would do: Make us laugh and give us a fun ride. The film just works with the pairing of Sudeikis and Aniston, as we saw for a tiny bit in Horrible Bosses, which to me is one of the funniest movies in a long while. The film was consistently funny in a sense that when it got me, it REEALLLY got me.Overall, the film is just a slight bit lovable, with characters you actually kinda like...not too common for a modern comedy. If you've seen enough movies you know exactly how this is going to end a few minutes in, so the fun is watching how they work the plot towards that conclusion. I was really excited to see this movie when I saw the trailer, because I thought it looked hilarious, and I'm a huge fan of Jason Sudeikis and I absolutely adore Jennifer Aniston, and I can guarantee that it does not disappoint. The plot in this was actually pretty clever, and to be honest Will Poulter's character Kenny really makes the entire movie. Kenny (Will Poulter)is just so perfect for the part of virgin, sweet teenage guy and of course Jason Sudeikis as David - the drug dealer - is the one and only who can pull that character as good as he did. The story- line is set up for an off beat road movie; pick up a smidge of Mary Jane South of the border, down Mexico way and return it to Denver to pay off a debt to the drug dealer. You've got the drug dealer, the geek, the stripper and the runaway (who in my opinion is more of a rebel than anything else).The story itself isn't the strongest element of this movie, however in my opinion Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston and Will Poulter all deliver a really great performance.As funny as Ed Helms is in 'The Hangover' I feel the script didn't really allow for his character to emerge as much.Overall I really enjoyed watching this movie and I recommend it to anyone looking for a good laugh.. I think that's all that needs to be said here.We're The Millers follows local pot dealer David Clark (Jason Sudeikis) after unfortunate circumstances lead his boss, Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms), to have him transport a giant shipment of weed from Mexico into the U.S. To do this, David assembles a fake family bearing the last name Miller to cross the border without suspicion. This family consists of Rose O'Reilly (Jennifer Aniston), a stripper who lives in David's apartment block, Kenny Rossmore (Will Poulter), David's dorky neighbor, and Casey Mathis (Emma Roberts), the local "gutter punk".While this particular story may be original, the way the movie plays out is completely cliché. Sudeikis just has a natural charm to him and he delivers lines that aren't actually that great in ways that make them funny (Also he's engaged to Olivia Wilde, so good on him). Together the foursome set out on their road trip to Mexico ready to play happy families to get through the boarders security with a nice big payload at the end… This movie is wrong on so many levels, Jennifer Aniston really needs to hang her head in shame here, it was a disaster from beginning to end with some of the most absurd dialog I have ever heard in a comedy. Jason Sudeikis I just don't think he is funny, he is pretty much one character in all his films, a womanizing no hoper, the way he treats his "family" is ridiculous. I hated this movie, I didn't laugh at its stupidity the only time I actually laughed was at the end during the credits for one moment where the cast gave a nice little surprise to Jennifer Aniston. It feels like an extended episode of Saturday Night Live and any comparison to the similar Chevy Chase Vacation series would be an insult, since those films had good characters driven to bad ends instead of the reverse. He recruits his stripper neighbor Rose (Aniston), a homeless punk (Emma Roberts), and a sheltered neighbor kid (Will Poulter) and soon the "Millers" are on their way to Mexico.My big concern with any "family" movie is, well, the family part. David's a drug dealer and a bit of a loser, and he's reminded of the fact when he sees an old college buddy in the beginning of the movie who became a family man. So, the seeds are all there for the finale we all expect but it's nice to see it's all thought out better than I expected from a drug comedy.The main reason this movie works as well as it does it the casting. I stopped watch "Saturday Night Live" before Jason Sudeikis joined the cast but I loved him in HORRIBLE BOSSES and he was one of the funnier bits of MOVIE 43, and WE'RE THE MILLERS gives him the chance to be the main character. Despite any flaws, the film works because the main four (Sudeikis, Aniston, Roberts, and Poulter) had a real good chemistry. Cliché characters, unoriginal jokes, and predictable story notwithstanding, the pull of the movie were the four main stars, especially Jason Sudeikis. If you're looking for a movie that is not funny at all yet tries to reproduce the "how to make a best seller" formula, and has the overly taken common characters that conform a cliché, you're in the right place.Now, for me, this is a 3 out of 10 because it roughly surprised me at some point. You know there is a problem with a comedy when all the audience laughs more during the end credits in the blooper reals than during the entire film. I was a huge fan of Thurber's earlier film, Dodgeball (perhaps one of the few people who enjoyed that movie), but I can't give him a passing grade for this movie although I didn't have a bad time either.David (Jason Sudeikis) is a low profile pot dealer who receives his supplies from Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms). The only problem is that he is single so he gets a local stripper named Rose (Jennifer Aniston) to pretend she is his wife, a streetwise angry teen named Casey (Emma Roberts), and his kind hearted neighbor Kenny (Will Poulter) to pretend they are his kids. He plans on getting across the border without problems by driving his apparently wonderful family on their big RV.The funniest scene in the movie happened during the final credits, but I also though there were some funny moments here and there, like when Kenny realizes that David is paying Rose and Casey to come along with him, or when Kenny gets bit by a spider. None of the characters is in any way believable Jason Sudeikis comes across like a yuppie in a Verizon commercial from the get-go when he's passed off as a drug dealer- a sourpuss, unlikeable jerk. Let's say you can buy into a nearly fifty year old Jennifer Aniston as a stripper.Maybe you can even buy a forty year old Jason Sudeikis as the hip drug dealer who dresses like a Dave Matthews fan.Then you can probably buy that when they pretend to be a family their kids are almost thirty.They go from ridiculous parodies of old people trying to be cool to actual old people with very old children.I guess that makes sense in some other dimension.While the premise and plot are very thin, there are some good jokes in here.There's a stripper with a tattoo over her box that says "Boner Garage".That's comedy gold.Ed Helms is hilarious as usual and Nick Offerman is very disappointing as usual.The worst thing about this movie is the very long and totally unnecessary campground scene.It has nothing to do with the story and turned a good 90 minute comedy into a two hour test of your movie watching ability.I guess what I'm trying to say is that this movie is very average.If you never see it you have two hours to watch something else.If you do see it, you probably won't be angry.. He devises a plan to ship a truckload of ganja across the Mexico-US border, and to allay any suspicion, recruits a bunch of misfits (including a pole-dancing Aniston) to pose as his fake suburban family.While the premise is relatively original, it can't make up for the incredibly one-dimensional characters, poor dialogue, and cheap attempts at laughs that cater to the lowest common denominator… Come to think of it, I don't know why I expected anything better. It was honestly a great movie, and I found myself laughing 85% of the time, with a great cast but simple enough storyline, the film delivered on many levels. While the story is a bit ridiculous, I promise you will still laugh until you're sides hurt, because We're The Millers is the best new comedy I've seen all year.. tune, that will make you smile and maybe even cry, like one of the main characters here did).The movie itself is really entertaining and funny, if you let yourself enjoy it. It does have a classic scene that is hilarious and while it doesn't save the movie, its amazing and you'll know which one it is when you see it.The movie feels every bit of its hour and fifty minutes and I found the outtakes at the end to be as funny as the whole of the movie put together.Its just simply not my thing and I partially feel that way because I think it could have been an excellent dark comedy. Fake family consists of wife: Rose (Jennifer Aniston) who is a stripper; son: Kenny (Will Poulter), and daughter: Casey (Emma Roberts).If it weren't for the some uncomfortable moments, and raunchy sex talk this would have been pretty good. Sometimes the jokes are funny, and the chemistry between the 'family' works, but it wasn't strong enough to hold my attention for two(!) hours.With a runtime of two hours, We're the Millers should have something good going for it. Often at times I felt like I was watching a 'Hangover' clone, the only thing is, the Hangover didn't suck, the jokes were funny and I cared about the characters. After all, when everything's OK "like a movie" the police actually gives a chance for the dealer and he takes the money from the drugs....and they live happy to the end of their stupid lives like a family. David Burke is a pot dealer who is blackmailed into going to Mexico to pick up a big shipment of marijuana to smuggle back into the U.S. Realizing that a man travelling alone might draw attention, he asks his stripper neighbour Rose, naive teenage neighbour Kenny, and runaway punk girl Casey to tag along; together, they form "The Millers" family. "We're the Millers" is a comedy movie that looks like it's not taking itself too seriously, but is actually very smart. "We're the Millers" is that rarest of cinematic creatures - a high-concept Hollywood comedy that actually works.Jason Sudeikis from "Saturday Night Live" plays a small-time drug dealer who's sent by his skeevy drug lord (Ed Helms) to Mexico to pick up a shipment of marijuana. These include a down-on-her-heels stripper posing as his wife (Jennifer Aniston); a hard-edged, homeless girl standing in as his daughter (Emma Roberts); and a big-hearted dork from the neighborhood assuming the role of his son (Will Poulter).The story is fraught with any number of comical misadventures as David and his unlikely troupe encounter armed-to-the-teeth bad guys and another family (led by Kathryn Hahn and "Parks and Recreation's" Nick Offerman) in an equally ostentatious RV along the way.What separates "We're the Millers" from so many other recent studio-manufactured comedies is the sharpness of the writing and the appealing nature of the characters. I actually enjoyed this movie and being an Old Hollywood and 80s fan this is saying a lot.I was surprised to find it was actually a thought out story, most comedies are just made for 'laughs' with absolutely no story line, but this one actually has one and is GENUINELY laugh out loud hilarious.Jennifer Aniston is always fun to watch and Jason Sudeikes is forever a riot and joy on screen. For all Jennifer Aniston fans out there, here is an amazing comedy drama movie with a great storyline. Another comedy from Hollywood that tries to go for risqué (a drug dealer, a stripper - unbelievably played by the aging Aniston, a troubled runaway girl and a clueless idiot of a boy all dabbling in international drug smuggling) that could have gone for the jugular but only ends up biting its own lip before passing out.This tale of a drug dealer who looses his stash during a robbery, is then unable to pay back the supplier which results in him drafting in his neighbors as they cross over to Mexico in a camper van with the intention of smuggling vast amounts of weed back into the States under the guise of one big happy family results in a film that should have been funny but only ends up not being funny at all.We're the Millers has possibly one or two chuckles that register about a five on the laugh meter but that's it when it comes to the comedy department. Often funny, sometimes hilarious and always amusing, "Millers" doesn't raise the bar for R-rated comedy, but it works the formula in all the right ways.The movie plays like a Farrelly brothers comedy, only it doesn't live and die by its jokes. There are some situational jokes involving awkward sexual situations, nudity and comedic violence, but what's more funny is the relationship dynamic between this "family."Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Will Poulter and Emma Roberts are the Millers, as well as a pot dealer, stripper, awkward loner and homeless runaway, respectively. Of course what starts easy ends up going south (no pun intended) in a hurry.These four actors are a pretty unusual group to begin with, though Aniston and Sudeikis both starred in "Horrible Bosses." Considering they all play degenerates of a sort who don't actually like each other, it makes their whole charade quite entertaining. "Millers" doesn't completely steer clear of cliché territory and it sometimes plays off of homophobia for a few laughs, but it doesn't giggle at dirty humor and exploit its R rating in a way that seems fake like so many bad comedies do. Aniston's move toward raunchier films still has her playing a type, but even though "Millers" exploits her for her sex appeal, she gets moments of ownership in the script, which doesn't paint her into a stereotype of a stripper character. Sudeikis does his thing and does it well with a bit more license to utilize his different strengths.Roberts does a good job changing perception of her character throughout the film, who sucks more than the others at the beginning, while Poulter is both lovable and hilarious as the clueless Kenny. This difficult job assumes to do a simple pot dealer (Jason Sudeikis).To achieve this ask help from a stripper (Jennifer Aniston), a homeless woman (Emma Roberts) and a little "stupid" boy (Will Poulter) to look like a normal family and pass the borders unnoticed.Jennifer Aniston makes a really great work in this film and I would say a really different from all the other movies she played. An also good interpretations made by Jason Sudeikis and Emma Roberts."We're the Millers" is a nice comedy movie that it will make you laugh and spend congenially your time!. We're the Millers is a comedy that is great to pass the time , I wanted to see this movie when it has launched , and I was pleased to see in cinemas, worth the ticket, fun enough, the cast has , Jason Sudeikis , Jennifer Aniston , a great actress of comedy , Will Pouter that is the best thing in the movie , he's very funny, had moments he made ​​me laugh me enough, Emma Roberts , the funny any less more not compromise the film, Ed Helms , Nick Offerman , Kathryn Hahn , Molly C. Enjoyable!Round-Up: I was a bit worried when I saw Jennifer Aniston in this movie, but she played her part really well, along with the other characters in this film. Jason Sudeikis was great as the main character and I liked the other character that can into the movie along the way. A surprisingly good watch.Budget: $37million Worldwide Gross: $270millionI recommend this movie to people who are into road trip type of comedies about 4 individuals trying to smuggle drugs from Mexico to America. Jennifer Aniston was her usual funny self and looked amazing in the the 'stripper shots'.This film turns out to be quite heartwarming with a fair amount of laughs. Me and my fiancé think it is a great family movie especially if you like to smile and giggle a little bit. As cover, Sudeikis convinces stripper/neighbor Rose (Jennifer Aniston) to pose as his wife, runaway Casey (Emma Roberts) as their daughter, and young neighbor Kenny (Will Poulter) as their son-- and together they become the uber-American family, the Millers. We're the Millers (2013) This is a comedy about a small-time pot dealer who convinces his neighbors to help him by pretending to be his family, in order to smuggle drugs from Mexico into the United States. Blackmailed into smuggling drugs across the Mexican border, a small-time drug dealer lures three social misfits to pose as his family to avoid suspicion in this energetic comedy starring Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts and Will Poulter. With a cast of NBC veterans like Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis, the funny factor for this movie seems potentially high, well that and the ridiculous plot the trailer hints at.

tt0085356

Conquest

In a mystical land, a handsome youth, named Ilias (Andrea Occhipinti), embarks on a quest, leaving behind his paradise home for a fog-shrouded wilderness. From the God Cronos, he receives a magic bow to mark his passage into manhood. He enters a strange land where small tribes are terrorized by werewolf-like creatures, acting under orders of Ocron (Sabrina Siani), a nudeable, masked female of great evil. While in a drugged state, Ocron sees a faceless youth with a magic bow who dares to attack her. Ocron sends her werewolf servants out to look for the youth.A little later, a gang of Ocron's marauders try to steal the bow and capture Ilias. But they are foiled when a rugged man dressed in animal skins leaps to his rescue, beating up the marauders and forcing them to flee. The man introduces himself as Mace (Jorge Rivero), a nomadic outlaw. After admiring the younger man's magic bow, Mace teams up with him on his quest to rid the land of evil. He affects a dismissal of human affairs, but the soon the two are fast friends. Mace reveals that he has concept for people, but cares for animals and has a bond with many species.Ocron sends Fado, the leader of her brutal werewolves, to capture Ilias and the magic bow. Ilias and Mace stop for the night to rest and eat with a small tribe that live in caves, and offering the people a fresh animal kill as a gift. Ilias recognizes a young girl of the tribe seen earlier in the journey, and the two of them go off together. Suddenly, masked attackers kill the girl and abduct Ilias, stealing his bow. Mace tracks them down to a camp and in a long and bloody fight, rescues his young friend.Back at Ocron's lair, Fado is burned on a giant hot-plate as punishiment for his failure to capture the magic bow. Enraged, Ocron summons the Great Zora (Conrado San Martin), a spirit who resides in the body of a white wolf. She offers herself, body and soul, to Zora if he can kill the youth Ilias.Having found out the identity of the person responsible for all this, Ilias declares that he will punish Ocron for her evil crimes over the land and exhorts Mace to join him. Mace refuses, saying that he and Ocron stay clear of each other for she is too powerful to combat. Mace agrees to escort Ilias as far as the seashore, from where he must sail to Ocrons fortress. On the way, the two of them are assailed by hundreds of tiny arrows that fly from nowhere. Ilias is hit in the arm, and soon breaks out in hideous boils. Mace sails with him along the coast to a place where a special plant grows that will cure his affliction from the poisoned arrow. Leaving his friend on the boat, Mace jumps ashore and soon does battle with grotesque zombies, and afterwards, does battle with a double of himself. Mace wins the fight and his double is revealed as Zora, who dissapearnce after reverting to his humanoid form.The special plant works and Ilias is restored to health. But Ilias has become disenchanted and decides to sail for home, pleading with Mace go with him. Mace refuses and also refuses to take ownership of the magic bow. No sooner they have parted when Mace is attacked by a band of strange, cobweb-covered creatures. They tie him to a wooden cross and interrogate him about the whereabouts of Ilias. Mace refuses to cooperate. Ilias appears and saves Mace from the creatures with his magic bow and arrows. But the captive Mace falls off a cliff and into the sea during the rescue. Super-intelligent dolphins bite at the ropes that tie Mace to the cross and he is washed ashore, barely conscious. Ilias arrives and tells Mace that he has had a change of heart and decided to return, to be with his friend and defeat Orcon.That night, Ilias is grabbed and sucked down into a lair inhabited by subterarian monsters. When Mace follows, he is forced to battle a few of them while chasing after Ilias. Venturing further into the caves, Mace finds Ilias, hanging upside down with his head cut off. Zora delivers the severed head of Ilias to Ocron as well as the magic bow. Mace lights a funeral pyre and sits beside his friends burning body. Ilias speaks to him inside his mind and tells him to anoint himself with the ashes. This will pass the power Cronos gave to Ilias and the magic bow will be Maces.The next morning, Mace confronts Ocron in her lair and the bow suddenly flies out of her hands, and into his. He takes on all of Ocron's surviving werewolves, shooting them with his magical arrows from the bow. Mace fires a magic arrow at Ocron which penetrates her mask, revealing the hideously ugly face of a ghoul atop her smooth, nudeable body. As Ocron dies, she transforms into a wolf, and runs off into the wilderness with the white wolf Zora. The final scene has Mace, alone once again, walking into the wilderness to continue Ilias's quest to rid the land of evil.

violence, revenge, cruelty, sadist

train

imdb

tt1216520

Womb

As children, Rebecca and Tommy establish a fairy-tale romance. After being separated for many years, they are reunited as adults, but their passionate relationship is short-lived when Tommy is killed in a freak car accident. Devastated, Rebecca feels that life cannot go on without him. Her consuming love compels her to bear Tommy's clone. Despite the great joy of having her Tommy back, Rebecca cannot fully escape the complexities of her controversial decision. When he grows to young manhood in the exact image of her beloved, how will Rebecca explain away the confusing urges that new Tommy doesn't understand?---- written by KrystelClaire:Rebecca (Eva Green) is a pregnant woman who caresses her belly while having a drink all alone at an empty beach.Two children sleeping - she looks at him quietly.CLONETwo children at an empty beach. She seems to be about to change, but she stops because he's looking at her. Tommy, 10 years old (Tristan Christopher) and Rebecca, 9 years old (Ruby O. Fee) meet and eat an apple together under a broadwalk in the heavy rain. The next day, he throws peebles at her window to go to play together. Rebecca is pretending to have fallen asleep so that his father won't tell her to go home for the night. When Thomas' father comes to check on her and sees that she's sleeping, her father on the phone agrees to let her spend the night there. The next morning, the children ride their bikes in the cold beach, armed with coats, scarves and hats.Grandpa has fallen asleep on a chair, and they look at his skin with a magnifying glass. When it looks like he's going to wake up, they run away. On another occasion they look at a small snail. While they stare at its slow movements, they talk about their lives away from the holiday location. Tommy kisses Rebecca on the lips. Later, she is having a bath - she is leaving in the ferry at 6:00 with her family. Tommy is left behind, a lonely child once again, while the ferry silently leaves.An adult Rebecca stares at the morsel sculpture on the pier. Rebecca has returned from Japan, where her family lived. An adult Thomas (Matt Smith) was with another girl and there is an uncomfortable silence for everybody: Thomas is amazed at her having come back. The girlfriend smokes a cig while listening to the conversation until she decides to leave for good. It's raining when Rebecca is about to leave, but you can feel that they still have feelings for each other. Thomas says that the girl was not really a girlfriend - he undresses and swims in the sea, while Rebecca giggles. He has dinner, she stares at him, they end up having sex together. They stop the car to go in a seemingly empty road, but another car arrives and can't avoid but killing Thomas in spite of trying to halt to a stop.He has written to her I'LL WAIT FOR YOU FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES in a piece of notebook page which was inside of a matchbox with the shell of the dead snail. Rebecca stares at photographs of Thomas all over the place. Thomas' parents are evidently very distraught. Rebecca stares at a wall full of reminiscences from Tommy.Rebecca is heavily pregnant. She visits Thomas' tomb. The baby is born (Anna-Zsófia Drávucz, Jerun Minguell Agundez, Kata Petra Kiss and Péter Erik Tóth). When he is 5 years old, Thomas (Jesse Hoffmann) uses a quilt to hide and talk with his mother. Rebecca supposedly kisses him under the quilt, - although this may be my guess.Thomas talks a poem standing naked in the bath, while her mother is also having a bath stark naked. She claps and then hugs him in what I consider an awkward and inappropriate way. Other mothers have a problem with Rebecca and Thomas' situation, and they don't want it to affect their own children. A teacher (Amanda Lawrence) agrees with the mothers. Thomas, meanwhile, was playing with his friend Eric (Adrian Wahlen). The mothers stare at cocky Rebecca while she is riding after Thomas. All this leads to Thomas' birthday party being a complete failure, because Molly (Ella Smith) and all the rest of mothers and children refused to be Thomas' friends. Thomas is upset at this, of course, and shouts to his mother. Rebecca gives him a moving toy dinosaur to be of some consolation.Finally, Thomas finds a friend of his own - a neighbour of his own age. Rebecca works from home through her computer.Another day, mother and son are playing, and he sits on top of her as though he were a love whom she were playing with. The awkward situation is solved when that new male friend appears - they play with the toy dinosuar burying in the beach while it's still moving.Years later, Thomas - the son, now looking exactly like his biological father /clone - (Matt Smith) goes out with Monica (Hannah Murray) and there's another awkward moment when Rebecca finds them on bed after having had sex. The relationship is disturbing to Rebecca, although she doesn't want to admit it, probably not even to herself. She sits by Thomas in his bed while he's sleeping. He covers him with a bedspread and lies down herself by his side. He wakes up startled after caressing her own mother, thinking it was Monica.Rebecca hides herself and watches her son and Monica about to have sex. Monica and Thomas' relationship keeps on getting stronger and stronger. The grandmother on-the-father's-side appears - Thomas has had a sea bath, naked, with Rebecca. Thomas can't even recognise her grandmother, who stares at Thomas in almost disbelief. Monica sees everything in disbelief. Rebecca runs inside whimpering. Monica, Rebecca and Thomas have a conversation during breakfast, and he leaves in anger.After a bath, and Monica having gone away, Rebecca gives his son his father's laptop. He is even more angry at her, but they both end up having sex.That night, Thomas decides to leave home for good. Rebecca tries to refrain herself from saying or doing anything. Thomas walks and becomes smaller and smaller as he seems to approach the horizon.

romantic, atmospheric

train

imdb

tt0112527

Blood & Donuts

Boya Zsekely [Gordon Currie] is a vampire. He can live forever...if he chooses. Sometimes he chooses to sleep for awhile. Last time he went to bed was in 1969, when Neil Armstrong destroyed the romanticism of the moon by walking on it. Boya stuffed his personal effects into a suitcase, buried it in a cemetery, then wrapped himself up in a burlap bag and went to sleep in the ceiling of an abandoned building in Toronto. Twenty-five years later, an errant golf ball wakes him up.Molly [Helene Clarkson] works the night shift at Bernie's 24-hour donutshop. Their philosophy is "Any jerk deserves a well-made donut and a safe place to eat it." Anyone, that is, except for Earl [Justin Louis], whose problems are like bacteria. Breathe on them, and they multiply. Yet, when two neighborhood thugs, Pierce [Frank Moore] and Axel [Hadley Kay], come into Bernie's looking for Earl, Molly takes out her baseball bat, and Bernie sends them packing. Earl's not there anyway. He's out riding taxi. He just dropped off Boya Zsekely at the cemetery, commenting that the guy looked more like a customer than a visitor. [Okay, so ask yourself how you'd feel/look waking up from a 25-year sleep.] Lugging his suitcase, Boya rents a room at the Insmore Hotel, finds a rat for dinner, and then goes down the street to Bernie's to ask where he can get some fresh liver. Molly directs him to an all-night grocery store, but he buys a kiwi donut instead and sits down in a booth.In the meantime, Pierce and Axel have found Earl and pressed him into doing a little service for them. They're going to collect 'rent', and they need someone to drive them there and back. When Earl hears a gunshot, however, he hightails it out of there. While Earl sits at a red light, rehearsing his excuse for driving off, a middle-aged lady hops in the back seat and asks to be taken to the cemetery. Must be the tourist season. Rita [ Fiona Reid] goes to the spot where Boya had buried his suitcase, sees that it's been dug up, and knows that Boya's back. Earl returns to the donutshop to have a cruller ("They're not ready yet")...ok, a glazed...when Pierce and Axel come in. They take Earl outside and start beating him up. Just as they're squeezing lemon juice into Earl's wounds, Boya joins them. He tosses Axel against a fence, then scratches his neck and licks off the blood. Pierce and Axel leave, and Earl and Boya go back inside the donutshop. After Earl tells Boya about all his problems, Boya offers to let him bed down in his room. After all, Boya doesn't need a lot of room...he sleeps in the closet.Boya and Molly have been eyeing each other all night. When Molly is scared by a rat, Boya stalks it [in a crawl that's every bit as creepy as Dracula crawling like a lizard headfirst down the wall of the castle], drinks its blood, and tosses it in the garbage, leaving just a hint of blood on his lower lip. "I worked as an exterminator once," he explains to Molly. When Molly's shift is over, Boya walks her home, then he goes home and takes a bath while she sleeps fitfully in a scene that is probably the most erotic as I've seen in years, and the two of them aren't even in the same house! The next night, Boya goes back to the donutshop. While sitting at the counter, he looks up Rita's address in the phone book. Molly notices and asks if it's an old flame. It is, but it's a flame that burned 25 years ago. "Just reminiscing," Boya explains. "Each time you turn your back, a few more gone. Makes you want to withdraw." Molly understands, but "You can't go through life afraid to connect because the thing might end, right?" Boya replies simply, "Not 'might'."Pierce and Axel, under orders from the crime boss to teach Boya a thing or two, come into the shop with a baseball bat, intending to rough him up. When Axel swings the bat, Boya grabs it and breaks it in two. Then Boya's face suddenly metamorphs into a monster with red eyes and long teeth. It does the trick, and the boys go running. "I worked in the circus once," he explains to Molly. After Molly's shift ends, Boya walks her home again. This time he kisses her, just as Rita is passing by in a taxi. She confronts Boya in a jealous girlfriend scene from which Glenn Close could take a few lessons. Rita is now in her fifties. Her skin is starting to sag, and she's no longer the beauty she was when she and Boya were together. She's spent the last 25 years stewing over what might have been hers if Boya hadn't disappeared and begs him to take her now. He refuses, so she runs a stake through his chest from behind. He pulls it out, says, "Don't believe everything you hear," and goes home to take a bath.Earl, as brainless as he comes across, has figured out that Boya is a vampire. When he sees Boya in the bathtub with a hole through his chest, he offers to take him to the hospital, but Boya says that he heals fast. When Earl asks why Boya hasn't drunk from him, Boya explains that blood-drinking from humans is, for him, like donut-eating for humans. "You don't have to submit." Although Earl and Boya have become friends and seem to really care about each other, Earl figures that it's best to move out. Rita drops by and finds Boya sleeping in the closet ("You're really not a day person, are you?"), and begs him again to give her the gift. If he had done it 25 years ago, she could have kept her beauty and had all the time in the world. Boya still refuses, so she pulls out a gun and puts it to her head. Boya stops her from killing herself, but the bullet does graze her temple.Boya has to get out of there even though it's daytime. He races across the street to the donutshop as his body starts to steam in the sunlight. By the time he reaches the door, he is crawling on the ground and his skin is charring. He manages to reach up, open the door, and crawl inside. Molly rushes to help him. Molly has figured it out, too. She cuts her own palm and lets him feed from her. He feeds and feeds until Molly has to pull herself away. "I thought I could control it," Boya moans and then passes out. Molly sits beside Boya while he sleeps on the donutshop floor until sundown, when he wakes up and walks out wordlessly.Meanwhile, Pierce, Axel, and the crime boss have captured Earl and are about to cut out his tongue. Somehow, Boya can sense this. He leaps onto the fire escape and enters the room through an open window. As Boya drains the crime boss of his blood, Earl backs out the window onto the fire escape and falls off, landing on his back on the pavement below. Hurt badly, Earl crawls into his taxi as the thugs take shots at him. Boya tumbles through an open window into the taxi and helps Earl drive away. But Earl is in a bad way. Boya stops the car and helps Earl onto the ground. "I'm not afraid to die," Earl says, and dies. Just then, Molly drives up in Bernie's car. Not knowing how Earl died or how long ago, she rigs up a makeshift cardiac defibrillator out of a screwdriver and jumper cables. After being zapped several times, Earl begins to breathe again. Boya carries Earl to her car and, since the sun is rising, Molly tells Boya to get into the trunk. As the trunk closes, Molly drives off. Only after she gets back to the donutshop and opens the trunk does she find that Boya did not get in. At that very moment, as the sun is rising, Boya is lying on top of Earl's taxi, allowing himself to die. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]

cult

train

imdb

Original and charming vampire flick. It's not every day you see something original and clever done with the vampire genre, but this does it and then some. This is a unique, low-key, low-gore, charming little movie. Gordon Currie is very likable (and *real* easy on the eyes!) as Boya, the vampire who went into hibernation in 1969 and crawls out to face a grimy world of small-time mobsters, cheap donuts and a bitter ex-girlfriend who's waited 25 years for his return. Determined not to prey on people, Boya runs through dozens of rats and pigeons while forming shy friendships with a nervous cabbie and a smart, ironic donut waitress. The character has such fundamental sweetness and sincerity that he's impossible not to like, reticent and embarrassed about his vampirism but quickly bringing his undead powers to bear when his new friends need help, and quietly mourning the short lifespans of humankind (a theme often blared loudly in vampire films but gentle and subtle here). Much more about people, friendship and self-sacrifice than your average vampire film, and a nice change.. Not your usual vampire movie. Don't let the lurid cover fool you; this isn't a stupid direct-to-video release with bad dialogue & gratuitous gore. Instead, it's a thoughtful and rather bittersweet movie about a reluctant vampire and his attempts to maintain human contact in the face of insurmountable obstacles. Returning from a self-imposed exile, Boya lives a marginal existence, eating rats in a flophouse,and mourning human friends gone by. Yet,he is drawn to light and life in the form of a neighborhood donut shop and it's fresh-faced counter girl. He also befriends a good-hearted cabbie who dreams of better things and owes money to the wrong kind of people. (And look for David Cronenberg in a juicy cameo role.)This film is a breath of fresh air in the recent spate of vampire movies which appear to be nothing but an excuse to snarl insults and spray fake blood. Best vampire movie ever, end of story!!!!. I was sucked in for this zaney ride into Boya's life and times. Overlooked Film Worth Taking a Peek At. There's a place between the living and the dead... And that is unfortunately annoying, but not annoying enough to distract from an otherwise good film. These films share the same sensibility in many respects, but go off is quite different directions.Even David Cronenberg showcases his acting, which is just as remarkable as his directing (he is also excellent in "Nightbreed"). His bowling shoes analogy could have sounded asinine from someone else's lips, but Cronenberg makes it sound profound.I loved the parallel with heroin addiction, which was particularly topical for a mid-1990s film, as the grunge was literally dying from the drug. While it is hard to call any vampire film "fresh", this one has some aspects that make the old genre seem new.The worst thing about this movie? What has kept me away from this movie for almost twenty years is that terrible name, which gives the impression of an even lower budget film than it is. In fact, it is not a bad movie at all and at least as good as the average 1990s horror film. i can't tell you how much I loved this movie!!. The best vampire movie since Lost Boys.. but with very little blood and lots of donuts! and I certainly don't understand why it's not available on DVD.The love story between the vampire and the older lady is exceptinally poignant.. I thought I'd never say this about a vampire movie, but I sure did love this!This indie effort is a hair shy of being a masterpiece. OK...I'm still trying to figure out why I am saying this...but still movie really dug into me and pulled my heart out. (Figuratively, of course.)How many vampires can you say you would REALLY want to have as a friend? Boya is that vampire. BLOOD AND DONUTS has got to be the most inventive vampire movie I've ever seen. The fabric of the plot, interwoven with the quirky characters that populate this movie, coupled with great effects and careful direction has to now rank in my list of favorite movies.Kudos to the director, Holly Dale, the writer, Andrew Rai Berzins and a really interesting and talented cast:Gordon Currie as BOYA the vampire,Justin Louis as EARL the cab driver/friendHelene Clarkson as MOLLY the donut shop girl...and let's not forget David Cronenburg as STEPHEN the "gangster"! IF YOU THINK you've seen enough vampire movies, then you need to see this one! In 1994, in Toronto, the vampire Boya (Gordon Currie) awakens from his twenty-five years of sleep in a basement hit by a golf ball. He takes a cab to the local cemetery, retrieves his belongings from a grave and lodges in a low budget hotel nearby an all-night donut shop. Boya does not drink human blood anymore but rats and pigeons blood instead. While in the donut shop, Boya befriends and protects the taxi driver Earl (Justin Louis), who is having trouble with two criminals, and falls in love for the waitress Molly (Helene Clarkson). Meanwhile, his former passion of 1969, Rita (Fiona Reid), who misses her lost youth, is trying to locate him."Blood & Donuts" is a weird vampire movie, but also with a great potential of cult-movie. The unusual story is completely different from most of the films of vampire; actually it is a tale of loneliness, friendship, love and self-sacrifice. Goya is probably more human than any other character in spite of being a vampire. This is a typical very low budget movie that works, supported by magnificent story, screenplay, direction, performances, cinematography, special effects and music score. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Sangue de Vampiro" ("Vampire's Blood"). Unique, creative entry adds much needed "new blood" to a tired genre.... Blood & Donuts is a unique, creative film that adds much needed "new blood" to the tired vampire genre. Gordon Currie is remarkable as Boya, a shy and sensitive "humanist" vampire who comes out of hiding after hibernating for 25 years since the moon landing. He goes to a late night donut shop to re-familiarize himself with humans and comes to the defense of a slow-witted but endearing young cabbie who is being threatened by murderous mobsters. Meanwhile, an old flame who has aged for the past 25 years stalks the still young looking Boya, demanding that he give her the "gift" of eternal life. Viewers can't help getting caught up because the characters are so well acted and well-written. There is a good deal of humor along the way, although in the final analysis it's a sad and touching story. This film is astonishingly entertaining, innovative and effective despite its low budget. Far more so than other bigger budgeted films like "Tale of a Vampire" and "The Wisdom of Crocodiles" Thanks to Currie's and Louis' wonderful characterizations, audiences will not soon forget the charming, winsome Boya and his new-found human buddy Earl.. a rockin vampire movie you can sink your teeth into. This is a great vampire movie you can sink your teeth into. My first reaction to BLOOD & DONUTS was THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET. Not that BLOOD & DONUTS is a ripoff of BROTHER...but that both have the same "feel". BLOOD & DONUTS is an unusual film with unusual characters in unusual situations. It is the most original vampire film I have yet to see. The focus here is not on the vampire or on vampirism but on the relationships that main character Boya forms and impacts. Great title and a very sympathetic vampire .............. The reason "Blood and Donuts" is good strange is it actually has a very clever script. Introducing Boya, a vampire just awakening after being asleep since 1969, and his trials and tribulations dealing with women and gangsters. He not only has an attraction for the donut shop girl, but a love from his past is hot on his trail, looking for revenge. Throw in David Cronenberg as a neighborhood boss, and you have enough to keep the movie going. The characters are likable, with Gordon Currie a standout as the sensitive rat eating vampire. I recommend "Blood and Donuts". I loved this movie!!! I loved this movie!!! I frankly would love to own this movie.. It's a sweet story, yes probably uninteresting by today's pushed over the edge of all sensibility viewers' tastes, but I found myself quite captivated and thought it delightful in an admittedly sappy way. I would recommend this movie to vampire lovers and non-lovers alike so long as one can put their cynicism, skepticism and basically jaded nature at bay for the length of the movie and just enjoy a sweet love story with a different twist, however uninteresting the premise might be.. Blood & Donuts is a great "B" movie. If your tired of watching the same-old vampire gore flick, this is for you. This is for the vampire-movie connoisseur. There is "Canadian" humour, which may or not work with our American cousins (or even on some Canadians).Blood & Donuts features not a classy, good-looking, or powerful vampire. Boya Zsekely is a weak, quirky, and emotional vampire. <That's all I'm going to say about the actual film, since I don't want to ruin it for those of you who haven't watched it yet>Look for our brilliant Canadian director David Cronenberg in ninth acting position. I liked this movie, it's not your typical vampire horror movie where all the vampire does is go around feeding on the blood of strangers where this movie is about a vampire that looks as if he is trying to look like a sexy vampire but instead with his hair in almost dreads and homeless shabby clothes, dried up skin and ticking strange facial expressions I can't tell if he's supposed to be a human or beast. He meets up with this waitress at a donut shop that looks almost like him, a across between man and beast with scary eyebrows. He finds a friend, a taxi driver who almost get's beat up and the man moves in with him and finds out that he's a vampire. The story continues where the vampire is afraid of dying and this is why he continues to life all these years. The vampire plays a sympathetic character as we feel emotionally sorry for him as he drags himself and others into his personal life. I would watch this movie but beware of the fact that it's not your typical blood, flesh and gut's vampire movie but if your with a date and you have popcorn, rent this one, you'll enjoy it.. Vampire Comedy. This movie is superb goth comedy!! This is very mild, non-gory, and a very decent vampire film. A vampire movie with heart! Wonderful cast of misfits and a low budget, love it. Of course David Cronenberg creepy performance is a must see for fans. Blood & Donuts go well together.... If you're a "B" movie fan, you can't help but like this film at least a little bit...It starts out with news coverage of the lunar landing in 1969 for seemingly no other reason than to establish a reference in time and then shoots 25 years into the future. From here we meet a dim-witted cab driver and a donut shop waitress (whom the cab driver has a crush on).Aside from the usual details, which nearly make up a plausible plot, they've also thrown in some interesting little details like when our hero get stabbed through the heart with a shovel handle only to remove it and announce, `Don't believe everything you read'.From time to time this film does tend to move a bit slow, but in the classic `B' movie tradition the ending is not to be believed. i admit, this film does have many flaws; however, it is weird and artsy in its own way. although gordon currie only has practice in films like puppetmaster, this role gives him a little room to try acting. he is the most bizarre vampire i think ive watched on screen, which to me makes it somewhat of a decent film. I love this movie even though it cost only $5.00 to make!. I feel that this is one of the few well-made vampire movies ever made. Not only is it original, they didn't stick to the old sterotype ways of a vampire (well except for one). Overall they might not have spent alot of money making this film, they made up for it with the acting and originality, not to mention the humor throughout. What a wonderful, funny movie. I personally loved Blood & Donuts. All together the movie was wonderful. I actually recommended this movie last week. As much as I'd like to lift my nose skyward and pooh-pooh films like this, I was captivated from the start and watched with rapt attention until the end.. I didn't know you could make a movie for only $5.. This movie is BAD. It's just BAD.When we first see the vampire, he's waking up after what turns out to be a 20-year (give or take) sleep. Nice eye for detail, guys.By the end of the film, when a man's heart is jump-started by a car battery, two tire irons, and -- yes! -- a couple of jelly donuts, you're going to want to take a 20-year nap yourself. Or a 20-year shower.This is the must-miss movie of the century.. Having no expectations for "Blood and Donuts" is perhaps the best mentality to have when seeing this movie. The movie focus lies on a vampire, Boya, awoken from the confines of a deep twenty-year rest to present day Toronto. Boya is a quiet, pensive character looking to put aside his fleshly delights in humans for small rodents. The story comes to a head when his past and future meet. Aside from some poor acting, which includes performing a poor impersonation of Christopher Walken with a Western European accent, the film has merit for storyline. The movie has an original perspective to take away from some of the common stigmas surrounding popular vampire films, while using other aspects of the undead to aid the plot. The characters and love story are tragically simple, but lacking depth and development. It is impressive to see what imagination can be found in low budget movies.. I enjoyed this film. I would consider it a decent amateur effort, but this film ascends higher than that just because of his few little cameos. he puts a unique spin on the generic vampire tale. I guess Gordon Currie is decent enough as Boya, but nothing to rave about. Worth watching just for the Cronenberg cameos!. If you are checking reviews here before bothering to stream this movie, do not be taken in by all the cutesy campy praise from people with a fond spot in their hearts for big hair from their '90s youth. Don't try to categorize as horror or comedy, but rather a character study.. After 25 years of slumber, a vampire is awakened by a golf ball crashing through his window and hitting him. Hang out at the local donut shop and fall in love...So the film has vampires, mobsters, a cab driver trying to sound like Christopher Walken. People have been saying it's a horror film! Therein lies the problem people have with this film. So look a little more into this film and you'll see that it's basically a character study, and a rather touching one after it's been viewed. The element of the vampire's selfless act of self-sacrifice is both heartbreaking and immensely touching at the same time. All the other elements are there to make the story weird and of course entertaining. All in all it turns out to be quite a charming story when you understand the characters. Blood & Donuts is a unique find and one of my personal favorites. Best Stupid Movie Ever. This movie is a fun frolic through a donut shop – by a vampire – and some donut shop girl. This is a story about donuts and vampires. Even as background noise, 'Blood and Donuts', was well worth the time. Vampire & Donuts. A bisexual vampire named Boya is awakened from his sleep by a golf ball. He meets up with a cab driver who is in trouble with some criminals, and a female donut shop worker who gets stuck in the middle. Now they must all form a bond of survival, instinct, passion, blood, and donuts.. One of the best vampire movies I've ever seen. The song "Twilight Time" is used as a theme song for Boya, and upon further consideration of the lyrics, I am almost positive The Platters may have been intentionally singing about a love affair with a vampire. When I first watched this film I was concerned that the quality of it would not be constant throughout, but it is: lots of symbolism, and the notion that things come full circle--the golf ball that awakens Boya is hit by the crime-boss, who is eventually killed by Boya, who has been carrying the golf ball as a symbol of his beloved moon, and Boya went to sleep to avoid the horror of people having walked on the moon's surface. This is a fantastic film.. a quasi vampire/human relations movie.

tt0059800

Thunderball

James Bond attends the funeral of Colonel Jacques Bouvar, a SPECTRE operative. Bouvar is alive and disguised as his own widow, but Bond identifies him. Following him to a château, Bond fights and kills him, escaping using a jetpack and his Aston Martin DB5, conveniently driven up by French agent, Madame La Porte. At a SPECTRE meeting in Paris, chaired by the enigmatic No. 1, Emilio Largo (SPECTRE operative No. 2) introduces the group's latest project: stealing two atomic bombs and holding NATO for ransom. The plot begins at the Shrublands sanatorium, located close to an air force base. Coincidentally, James Bond is at Shrublands to improve his health. There he notices Count Lippe, a suspicious man with a Tong tattoo. Bond searches Lippe's room, but is seen leaving by Lippe's clinic neighbour, whose head is covered in bandages. Lippe tries to murder Bond with a spinal traction machine, but Bond is saved by his physiotherapist, whom he then bribes into having sex. Lippe and Angelo, the bandaged man, are part of SPECTRE'S plot. Angelo's face was surgically altered to match the appearance of François Derval, a French Air Force pilot slated to fly on a training mission aboard an RAF strategic jet bomber Avro Vulcan loaded with two atomic bombs. Derval is murdered by Angelo, who then tries to extort more money for his services from SPECTRE. Agent Fiona Volpe seemingly acquiesces to his demands and he takes Derval's place on the flight. On the flight, Angelo gasses the remainder of the crew, hijacks the plane and executes a controlled water landing near the Bahamas, submerging the jet. The atomic bombs are retrieved by SCUBA-equipped SPECTRE operatives, commanded by Largo. Angelo, trapped by his seat strapping, is killed by Largo for reneging on his original deal with SPECTRE. Meanwhile, Bond has uncovered Derval's corpse at the sanatorium. Bond is later attacked by Lippe, who is murdered by Volpe as punishment for failing to foresee Angelo's greed. Back in London, at a MI6 conference, all 00 agents are informed that SPECTRE demands £100 million from NATO in exchange for returning the bombs and threatens to destroy a major city in the United States or the United Kingdom. At the meeting, Bond recognises Derval from a photograph. Bond requests M to be sent to Nassau, Bahamas, where Derval's sister, Domino, is staying. During snorkelling, Bond meets Domino. Later, at a casino, encounters Domino and Largo, who has taken Domino as his mistress. Bond enters a game against Largo and wins, and subsequently takes Domino to a dance. Bond and Largo recognise each other as adversaries and begin a tense cat-and-mouse game of attempting to gain advantage over each other while still pretending ignorance of their adversary's true nature. Bond meets Felix Leiter and Q, and is issued various gadgets, including an underwater infrared camera, a distress beacon, underwater breathing apparatus, a flare gun, and a Geiger counter. Diving under Largo's ship, the Disco Volante, Bond fails to find the atomic bomb but detects an underwater hatch; Bond narrowly escapes Largo's henchmen. The next day, Bond visits Largo at his estate, Palmyra. Bond is kidnapped by Fiona Volpe but escapes through a Junkanoo celebration to the Kiss Kiss club, where Fiona is accidentally shot and killed by her own bodyguard. Bond and Felix search for the Vulcan, finding it underwater. Bond tells Domino that Largo killed her brother and asks her for help in finding the bombs, giving her his Geiger counter. As she is looking for the bombs on board, she is discovered and tortured by Largo. Meanwhile, Bond disguises himself as one of Largo's henchmen, and uncovers Largo's plan to destroy Miami Beach. Bond is discovered but rescued by Leiter, who orders United States Coast Guard to parachute to the area via U.S. Air Force transport aircraft. After an underwater battle, the henchmen surrender. Largo escapes to his ship, which has one of the bombs on board. Largo attempts to escape by jettisoning the rear of the ship, which is pursued by Royal Navy and U.S. Coast Guard vessels. During a fight on board, Largo is about to shoot Bond when Domino, freed by Largo's nuclear physicist Ladislav Kutze, kills Largo with a harpoon. Bond, Domino and Kutze jump overboard, the boat runs aground and explodes. A sky hook-equipped CIA B-17 aircraft then rescues Bond and Domino.

cult, humor, murder, suspenseful

train

wikipedia

tt0218817

Antitrust

Working with his three friends at their new software development company Skullbocks, Stanford graduate Milo Hoffman is contacted by CEO Gary Winston of NURV (Never Underestimate Radical Vision) for a very attractive programming position: a fat paycheck, an almost-unrestrained working environment, and extensive creative control over his work. Accepting Winston's offer, Hoffman and his girlfriend, Alice Poulson, move to NURV headquarters in Portland, Oregon. Despite development of the flagship product (Synapse, a worldwide media distribution network) being well on schedule, Hoffman soon becomes suspicious of the excellent source code Winston personally provides to him, seemingly when needed most, while refusing to divulge the code's origin. After his best friend, Teddy Chin, is murdered, Hoffman discovers that NURV is stealing the code they need from programmers around the world—including Chin—and then killing them to cover their tracks. Hoffman learns that not only does NURV employ an extensive surveillance system to observe and steal code, the company has infiltrated the Justice Department and most of the mainstream media. Even his girlfriend is a plant, an ex-con hired by the company to manipulate him. While searching through a secret NURV database containing surveillance dossiers on employees, he finds that the company has information of a very personal nature about a friend and co-worker, Lisa Calighan. When he reveals to her that the company has this information, she agrees to help him expose NURV's crimes to the world. Coordinating with Brian Bissel, one of Hoffman's friends from his old startup, they plan to use a local public-access television station to hijack Synapse and broadcast their charges against NURV to the world. However, Calighan turns out to be a double agent, foils Hoffman's plan, and turns him over to Winston. Hoffman had already confronted Poulson and convinced her to side with him against Winston and NURV. When it became clear that Hoffman had not succeeded, a backup plan is put into motion by Poulson, the fourth member of Skullbocks, and the incorruptible internal security firm hired by NURV. As Winston prepares to kill Hoffman, the second team successfully usurps one of NURV's own work centers—"Building 21"—and transmits the incriminating evidence as well as the Synapse code. Calighan, Winston and his entourage are publicly arrested for their crimes. After parting ways with the redeemed Poulson, Hoffman rejoins Skullbocks.

violence, murder

train

wikipedia

2) It was probably "The Net 2." It looked like another computer-based movie that would be as realistic as "Hackers," but with a more obvious plot. (This is not an anti-corporate movie, it is anti- a ~particular~ corporation, and if you can't guess which one, maybe you should go back to exploring the Kalahari or whatever you've been doing for the last ten years.) This corporation has been known to spend extraordinary resources on PR (including, for example, bribing journalists and college professors), so almost certainly some of the comments on this message board will be produced by that corporation and should be read in that light.Second, while murder is a bit over the top, pretty well all the other crimes committed by the large corporation in this movie are things of which the real corporation has been seriously accused, been found to be planning, or in some cases, convicted; yet in every case managing to escape with fines or compensation payments much smaller than the profits they made from the crime. It's also obvious why the motif of murder was added: some of the technical details of why their actions are pure evil are difficult for a non-techie to understand, so to make the movie accessible to a wider audience, they added a more blatant crime (plus pyrotechnic special effects, a tense chase scene, love interest, etc).Thirdly, it is not a futuristic movie, it is present day; nothing in this movie is more than about 1 or 2 years in the future, at most, and most of it is happening now or happened several years ago.Fourthly, technical realism: while some of the tech stuff is rubbish (hey, it's a movie!), the effort put into realism is dramatically good compared to information technology in any other movie I have ever seen. Not only that, the product is frighteningly similar to the large corporation's actual current development path!So, if you walked away from this movie thinking "just for geeks" or "totally unrealistic", you need to give yourself a good hard slap, wake up and see what is really going on in the world around you. This movie was about as unrealistic and irrelevant as "All the President's Men".Oh, by the way, I better say that all the above comments are only my personal opinions, in case they try to sue me, because they do do stuff like that.. I became acquainted with Tim Robbins through 5 copies of" Top Gun." I will not give away the plot or read the last page of the book, but for those of you who like "Arlington Road" ,"Antitrust" may be a good sequel. The soundtrack is rather excellent as well.By my guess, huge changes were made to this film (based on the trailer) and I look forward to seeing an alternate version or cut-scenes on the DVD.I definitely recommend this movie for anyone who likes technology and computers. At the end, I still don't know so I can't relate to the movie: I see people working, thinking but I don't understand anything.On the other hand, the thriller is well done with the character becoming more and more paranoiac.Thus, I help this movie with a little "4" vote instead of an awful "1" just because of the turn of events and the good cast (even thought a decade later, no one has made a big name!).. i think a lot of people who rated this movie negatively due to the fact that it's "not realistic" or "true to life" probably do not have a lot of experience with writing novels or screenplays.first off, let us all accept the fact that most screenwriters, as much as they may love their craft, probably want to make money off their work. this isn't easy to do if the public doesn't understand what the hell they're talking about.it's not always best for a movie (or a novel, for that matter) to be 100% accurate, because even if everything about the topic completely fascinates you (and generally the author as well, else they wouldn't be writing a story about it), chances are, it's going to bore nearly everyone else--even some of the people who are interested in and are as knowledgeable about the exact same topic. well, we know they do--but we don't need to watch 8 to 12 hours of them actually doing it.the only thing that really disappointed me about the movie was the fact that it didn't really explain the motivation for some of the characters' actions. Antitrust is about young programer Milo (Ryan Phillipe) who gets an offer from the computer leading firm NURV, whose CEO Gary Winston (Tim Robbins) needs him for finishing a big project until deadline. A very well written story with a lot of references to the real world and a big Redmond based software company, with good leading roles, nice and surprising twists, and some action. The story of a young computer geek named Milo (Ryan Phillipe) who is torn between working with his best friend or making it big, way big. At Nurv he meets alot of people who are just like him, geeks, and one of them are good looking Lisa (Rachael Leigh Cook). A very wellwritten story about doing the right thing, but also about that things are worth a second look.Tim Robbins' acting is, as always, very good. Although eventually she complied with the new FCC regulations when they tried to limit her to an assigned frequency at first she told Hoover to keep those 'minions of Satan' away from her as she was doing the Lord's work.Now how the FCC or anyone else was going to control Tim Robbins as Gary Winston or anyone else when SYNAPSE got going was going to be a real chore. That's not sitting well with Ryan Phillippe a brilliant computer programmer in his own right who works for Robbins, but is a good friend of the murdered man.As in the political film Bob Roberts, Robbins creates a really frightening character who will do anything to stay on top. Think what it might mean if something like that was possessed by Al-Jazeera or Pat Robertson?Antitrust is a thought provoking film and if it teaches you nothing else, be kind to the computer geeks you meet. I wonder if the writers were aware of how bad the script was; looking back, Gary Winston's line, "Show some creativity!" (spoken to the company's lawyers), strikes me as ironically appropriate if applied to the movie as a whole. The plot seems a crude and obvious attempt to dramatize the battle between closed-source and open-source software, plainly ripping off the Microsoft antitrust case and adding a conspiratorial element that is highly derivative of Grisham's "The Firm." Creativity is not the only thing the movie is missing -- it also lacks plot coherence, convincing acting, realism of the computer and security systems, non-distracting camera effects... DING-DONG, "Plot twist's here!"The characters are bad sketches of good characters from other movies... other movies you'd be better off seeing!Ryan Phillipe, the protagonist, plods along through this film showing nary an emotion, even though "the plot" gives him every reason to be busting heads like a 6th grader smashing pumpkins on Halloween. Phillipe's character (Milo for those scoring at home) can waltz into a computer lab and download the entire company's personnel files, but I can't get my e-mail without entering seven different access codes?Do yourself a favor, save the money you would have spent on this movie and use it to invest in Microsoft. Most of the young actors seemed to have no acting talent at all.Rachel Leigh Cook was nice to look at but still couldn't save the movie. I have seen this movie on the Showtime schedule for the last several months and I finally broke down and watched it - unfortunately.Antitrust is the derivative story of a young computer genius (Phillippe) taken under the wing of a multi-billionaire software company owner (Robbins), who discovers his company is not as scrupulous as he initially thinks. I think every 'slasher-flick', 'road movie' and all other patronising stereotype film-brands are awful, and an insult to the intelligence of me and a good deal of my friends. Hollywood is in the industry of entertainment, and if turning out safe films with good-looking actors makes them money, fair enough. Antitrust is the best thriller of all time.Bter than was The Net.The story begins were Milo Hoffman a computer programmer get's a job in NURV company,brilliant and smart,but his best friend Teddy Chin from college,don't wont to work there,so he's doing research and later somebody kill's him and it's look like it was racist gang who do this,but is not true.Later Milo find's out that Gray Winston director and president of NURV company,is stiling code's of synapse and when you founded,or try to get it,they kill you and they leave that is look like somebody else do it.Milo want's to stopped Gary and get back the synapse and give back to the world,so he get's help from his girlfriend Alice and Lisa,but on the end of the movie he finds out they all fork for Gary and that was all set up,but Gary did not know that he's not alone,on the end he beat's Gary in his own game and he tells the world what he did,later the FBI arrest Gary and all his members.Great movie,great story,great cast, and the best soundtracks.What can i say the best movie ever made.Too bad that the not doing more movie's like was that.. Let the ignoranthordes watch "Matrix" and "Hackers", "AntiTrust" is the movie for us,geeks.. Pretty-Boy Ryan Phillippe is Miscast as a Geek Computer Genius and is Blown Off the Screen anytime He Shares a Scene with Tim Robbins, a Grotesquely Exaggerated "Bill Gates" Type.Forced Melodramatics and a TV Tone, this Film Flopped, not because it didn't Ask some Timely Questions, but because it is just a Bad Movie. Not an Awful Movie but in Total, Pretty Bad.Nothing seems Believable, everything is Overdone, the Acting is Atrocious (except Robbins), the Writing is Bland and Boring, and most of the Action and Suspense takes place on a Computer Screen or a Keyboard, and a Half-Second after the Movie was Released it was Technologically Dated.Glaring Corporated Product Placement is Hypocritical Hubris and works Against the Anti-Corporate Message, and On and On. Bordering on Silly, Nothing much Resonates in the Heavy Scenario and the Ending is Predictable Fluff. Also, the entire plot was way too far-fetched to really come off as realistic at any time.People not into IT are not likely to enjoy this film either, since there's too much techno-babble for anyone not familiar with IT to get some insight in what's going on half of the time. Not a good move, I'd say.Overall the movie does make a decent effort to keep some tension alive, but the far-fetched plot, the silly situation, the more than average amount of techno-babble and the bullc*** code seriously limit the possible target audience for this film.. "Antitrust" is sophomoric hokum about a very Microsoft-like company run by a very Bill Gates-like guy who is going to take over the world...the world of communications, that is....and hires a young genius/geek/programmer who is morbidly allergic to sesame seeds and...blaa, blaa. So I understand the value of sharing with the world, yet I think the Open Source enthusiasts are too extreme.Many of the comments compare the bad guy in this movie to Bill Gates. I have to volunteer that I am so fed up with all these "critics" here giving low ratings and/or putting down brilliant movies like this.People who actually do program, might have noticed that Gary and Milo look at new stolen code. Apparently, most of its target audience went to see "Save the Last Dance" and all the Oscar Contenders out there, not counting the other competition from the other new releases over this Holiday weekend in the USA......This is decidedly a smarter, hipper, slicker movie than the one ANTITRUST star Ryan Philippe opened this same weekend last year - VARSITY BLUES, which broke Box Office Records. Give it a chance if you like a good thriller dealing with timely issues, in an expensive, slick production, full of Hollywood stars, good actors and an interesting plot.. But the title (while clever if you know the film) makes it sound like some tricky art movie. I expected a lot more from this movie, especially with a highly respected actor (Tim Robbins) starring as one of the main characters (Gary Winston).The "geeky" stuff, like the hacking of the satellites, (typing in an IP address wont give you access to a computer) the code in the intro (HTML code, come on, thats not going to impress the geeks) and a lot of other small things simply dont work, and i hate to say, but i saw the conspiracy coming from a mile away...Its not all that bad though, i enjoyed the funny references to microsoft and.NET, but i doubt it will still be enjoyable in, say 2 years.. Without giving away too much, I'm sure you can guess that the large company becomes more evil as it goes on to the point of killing and stealing for their cause and Ryan Phillippe's character plays the lone wolf good guy who's everything is taken away from him including his friends and his live-in girlfriend(who ends up working for the other side as well). An entertaining high-tech cyber-thriller, Antitrust stars Ryan Philippe as Milo Hoffman, a computer prodigy headhunted by evil Bill Gates-alike Gary Winston Tim Robbins); with his revolutionary communication system, Synapse, behind schedule, Winston needs all the help he can get, but when Milo discovers that his new boss is even resorting to murder in order to get his project up and running, he sets out to upset the apple-cart.Whilst this movie might seem preposterous to some, I do believe that there is a lot of truth hidden amongst the hokum of Antitrust's script. If you bear this in mind when watching Antistrust, it makes the whole affair more chilling.Ryan Philippe is pretty good as the genius who goes up against the mighty corporation and he is ably supported by hotties Claire Forlani (as his girlfriend) and Rachael Leigh Cook (as a fellow nerd). Rockefeller biographer and he said the only difference between JDR and Gates was that JDR had thugs working for him who beat people up and this movie just goes that extra step.I actually have a friend of a friend who was recruited to Microsoft like the Ryan Phillippe character -- and he was a college drop-out in Israel. Cook is pretty but, as normal, she isn't that good an actress and I didn't like any of her scenes – but she is pretty representative of the younger members of the cast.Overall this is an average thriller and it is far from being the interesting Microsoft swipe that it suggested it would be. ANTITRUST Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)Sound formats: DTS / SDDSBrit director (and former sitcom actor) Peter Howitt pits adolescent cybergeeks against corporate bulldogs in this OK thriller, in which computer programmer Ryan Phillippe (the best-looking 'nerd' on the planet) is recruited by industry giant Tim Robbins (stealing the show in a thinly disguised impersonation of Bill Gates) to help with the design of a revolutionary software process that will transform the global communications network. Don't get me wrong; I LIKED AntiTrust very much, Ryan Phillipe and Claire Forlani are both decent actors, but this film is far from a classic. After watching the adverts and seeing it starred Tim Robbins and Rachel Leigh Cook, I was overjoyed to see this film being showed on the Aeroplane on my way back from Florida. Its one of those "I think this will be a bad movie but turns out good"Snoogans. The film may think that it is being clever and on the pulse because of the theme and plot of the movie but to be perfectly honest, the story line is hardly cutting edge. Tim Robbins plays a brilliant caricature of Bill Gates in this geek-heaven film about a software company on the verge of a breakthrough. Nonsense it does.Despite the fact that the starting credits were written in bad HTML that wouldn't validate on HTMLHelp.Com, I suppose the point is that you should suspend belief and enjoy the tale of the Open Source fans taking on the giant corporation and its power hungry chief.Of course the predictable stuff all happens, but this is one for a certain market -- the geek who'll spend hours buying DVDs of it, downloading it on the Internet etc; and being the only film of this type it will succeed accordingly.. Paranoia and state interference has been an intriguing topic for books and films long before George Orwell wrote 1984, so with a new millennium upon us, this year's conspiracy theory movie is Antitrust.Ryan Phillippe stars as Milo, a talented computer programmer who is recruited by computer billionaire Gary Winston to work on his company's latest media software. I watched this movie thinking that it was going to be another hack job by the young actors of Hollywood. Overall a good movie to watch and I don't think I would have been upset at spending 7 bucks to see the thing in the theatres. AntiTrust is a slick, watchable thriller that pits a young, idealistic computer geek (Ryan Phillippe) against a Bill Gates-like billionaire (Tim Robbins) who wants to rule the information world by devising a system that will link all sources of communications through his satellites. If you haven't seen The Firm, you may like this film; but if you have, don't watch AntiTrust, that is unless you actively enjoy annoying yourself.. Milo Hoffman (Ryan Phillippe) and Teddy Chin (Yee Jee Tso) have been offered jobs at NURV, a Microsoft type company run by Gary Winston (Tim Robbins). Ryan Phillipe had his time in the sun with films like I know what you did last summer and cruel intentions.

tt0058586

A Shot in the Dark

Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) is called to the country home of millionaire Benjamin Ballon (George Sanders) to investigate the murder of his chauffeur, Miguel Ostos. The chauffeur was having an affair with one of the maids, Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommer), and attacked her in her bedroom after she broke off with him. Miguel was shot and killed in her bedroom and Maria was found with the smoking gun in her hand, but claims no knowledge of how it got there as she maintains she was knocked unconscious. All evidence points to Maria as the killer, but Clouseau is convinced of her innocence because he has developed an immediate attraction to her. Realizing Clouseau has been inadvertently assigned to a high profile case, Commissioner Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) has him removed and personally takes charge of the investigation.Dejected, Clouseau returns home. He is awakened in the early hours of the morning by an apparent attempt on his life by a Chinese assassin. When the phone rings, the life or death struggle ceases and it becomes apparent that his assailant is his valet, Kato (Burt Kwouk), to whom Clouseau has given instructions to attack him when he least expects it to keep his senses sharp. The Inspector is reinstated to the Ballon case and immediately orders Maria Gambrelli's release from prison, as he is convinced she is shielding the real killer, who Clouseau suspects is Ballon himself.A series of additional murders of the Ballon staff follows. Each time the evidence points to Maria, who is continually arrested, only to have Clouseau release her again despite the growing number of murder charges laid at her feet. One of which involves, both Clouseau and Maria being arrested after fleeing from a nudist colony... without their clothes.Clouseau's actions embarrass the Sûreté in the press, but Commissioner Dreyfus is unable to remove him from the case because Ballon has exerted political influence to keep the unorthodox and seemingly incompetent detective assigned to the investigation. As Clouseau continues to bungle the case, Commissioner Dreyfus becomes increasingly unhinged and suffers a nervous breakdown that reduces him to a delusional psychotic. He stalks Clouseau in order to assassinate him, but accidentally kills a series of innocent bystanders instead and adds further notoriety to the case.When Clouseau confronts the Ballon household to unmask the murderer, it is revealed that Ballon, his wife (Tracy Reed), and three members of the staff are all guilty, as each of them has killed at least one earlier victim due to crimes of passion or subsequent blackmail attempts. Only Maria is innocent of any crime. As a massive row breaks out between employers and staff, the lights are cut (an arrangement Clouseau had made with his assistant), and the guilty take the opportunity to pile into Clouseau's car and escape. They are all killed when the car is destroyed by a bomb that had been planted by Commissioner Dreyfus. Having witnessed the explosion, and realizing that he has failed again to kill Clouseau, Dreyfus is reduced to an animalistic fury and is taken away. Clouseau and Maria celebrate the clearing of her name with a long and passionate kisswhich is swiftly interrupted by another sneak attack by Kato.

comedy, mystery, murder, violence, comic

train

imdb

tt0327679

Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted is a modern-day Cinderella fairy tale staring Anne Hathaway. Ella is given the gift of obedience by her fairy godmother (Vivica A. Fox). Ella must obey any orders that are given to her by anyone. Her mother knew about the spell and did not use it to hurt Ella. Ella's mother dies and a few years later, her father remarries. Her new stepmother has two mean daughters. They find out about the spell, and they begin to order Ella to steal items at the store and do as they wish. Ella runs into the prince and soon falls in love. Ella searches for her fairy godmother and pleads with her to take away the gift, so she can be normal. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)Ella is born into an ordinary household. Her mother is a fairy and there is another household fairy, Mandy living at their house. Ella's fairy godmother, Lucinda, comes when Ella is just a baby. Ella's mother and Mandy try to hide her, but Lucinda finds Ella and gives her the "gift" of obedience. Because of this, Ella must obey any order given to her by anyone.Even with this curse, Ella grows up to be a strong-hearted young lady. In school, when she is a kid, she saves a girl called Areida and they grow up to be bestfriends. Ella's mother then falls very ill. She tells Ella not to tell anyone about the curse and says "whatever anyone says, what is inside you is stronger than any spell." She then gives Ella her necklace and dies.Now Ella is a grown woman. Her father gives her the news that he has married again, to a rich woman called Dame Olga, because they need the money. Dame Olga and her two daughters Hattie and Olive come to live at their house. Almost immediately, Ella's father goes away on a job. Hattie orders Ella to do things and soon she finds out that Ella has to obey every command.Meanwhile, Prince Char comes to their town with his Uncle who is the temporary king. He is a handsome young man and all the women, including Hattie and Olive has a crush on him. But Ella is against him because she does not like Char's uncle's ruling and she thinks that Char is also like that. Later she meets Char and after he saves her from a horse-drawn carriage coming towards her, they start talking. But they're soon interrupted by Hattie and Olive; Hattie orders off Ella and Olive and tries to chat up Char, but he runs away.Ella and Areida are at the marketplace and Hattie and Olive see them. Hattie orders Ella to steal some glass shoes on a nearby display, but a guard spots her. Ella starts running and after a long chase he catches her. At home, Dame Olga scolds Ella. Hattie tells Ella to say that it was Areida who told her to steal. So when Dame Olga asks, Ella is forced to say Areida and Dame Olga orders Ella to tell Areida that she couldn't ever see her again. Areida comes to see Ella and Ella says what Dame Olga said.Later, Ella decides to go look for Lucinda and ask her to take away the curse. Mandy gives Ella a book and tells her it's Benny, her boyfriend, whom she accidently turned into a book. Benny is able to show Ella a picture of anyone in their present surroundings and also maps and other useful information. Ella asks to see Lucinda and they see that Lucinda is in Giantville because everything else around her is huge. Ella then sets off with Benny. Benny shows Ella a map of the forest. Suddenly they come to a clearing where two people are teasing / hurting an elf. Ella saves the elf, Slannen, and he takes her to an elf restaurant to eat.Meanwhile, an invitation to the Prince's coronation ball arrives for Ella, and Dame Olga, Hattie and Olive get it.Slannen sets off with Ella to look for Lucinda. In the forest they encounter some ogres. Ella was told not to speak and not to move. Then they tied her up and hung her down from a tree branch over a boiling pot. Slannen is tied to another tree. Just as they were lowering Ella to the pot, Prince Char arrives, saves Ella and defeats the ogres. He thinks that the ogres killed his father. Ella talks to Char about how bad the giants are treated, but Char says that his uncle probably doesn't know about that. So he goes to Giantville with Ella and sees that the giants are being treated as slaves.Ella, Char, Slannen and Benny go to a giants' bar where Ella learns that Lucinda has already left the place. Char talks to a giant and tells him that once he becomes king, the giants won't be slaves. Char asks Ella to stay there that night and resume the search for Lucinda tomorrow. They have a fun night at the end of which they kiss. Char tells her that he may be able to help her find Lucinda using the books at the library at his castle. So the next day they go to the castle.At the castle, Char and Ella meet Hattie with a group of other women who are on a tour of the castle. Ella and Char run away and they meet Char's uncle Edgar and his pet snake. Ella is introduced to Edgar and then she goes off to the library with Benny. In the mean time, Char tries to talk to Edgar about the giant enslavement and how the elves aren't allowed to do anything but sing and dance (Slannen wants to be a lawyer). Edgar says they'll talk about it after the coronation ceremony. Char then reveals to Edgar that he plans on asking Ella to marry him at the ball at midnight. Same time and same place where his father proposed to his mother.Ella finds a clue to Lucinda's whereabouts in Benny's book. Meanwhile, Hattie and Olive are chatting with Edgar. Hattie tells Edgar that Ella does everything she's told, that she can't help it. In return, Edgar says that Hattie can have Char's hand in marriage when he becomes king. Edgar then goes to the library and tells Ella that Char will take her to the hall of mirrors and ask her a question. And at the stroke of midnight, Ella has to plunge a dagger (Edgar takes out a dagger) through Char's heart and kill him. Edgar says that it's lucky Ella's here because then he won't have to do it himself. Ella is shocked that he's willing to kill his own nephew. Edgar reveals that in fact, it was he who killed his brother, Char's father, the king. Then Edgar orders Ella's not to tell anyone about this.Ella quickly goes to find Lucinda, but a fairy there tells her that Lucinda was thrown out of there. Beaten, Ella writes a letter to Char saying that they couldn't be together. Then Ella tells Slannen to chain and padlock her to a huge tree in the middle of a meadow, away from the castle. After that she tells Slannen to go to the castle, find Benny, and to keep Edgar away from Char. At 23:30 that night Lucinda suddenly appears in the meadow. Ella begs her to take the gift back. Lucinda is offended and tells her that she has to get rid of it herself. To "prove what a gem she is," Lucinda then unchains Ella from the tree amid her protests and suggests that she should be at the ball dancing with the Prince. Lucinda then magically prepares Ella for the ball with a beautiful white gown.Ella is forced to go to the ball where she immediately meets Char. She tells him that she loves him when he asked to tell him how she really feels about him. Then he tells her to come with him and takes her to the hall of mirrors. The time is 23:57. There Ella starts crying and tries to explain to Char what's happening when he proposes. But Char doesn't understand. All this time, Edgar is watching the whole thing. As the clock strikes midnight, Ella starts sobbing and we see the dagger behind her back. Char hugs her to try to comfort her. Ella raises the dagger over Char, but using all her strength she fights against plunging it into him. She has flashbacks and suddenly remembers what her mother told her before she died. "What's inside you is stronger than any spell." Then Ella screams, "You will no longer be obedient!" and Char looks up and sees the dagger in Ella's hand in the reflection. The spell is broken. Ella drops the dagger but Char thinks that Ella tried to kill him. Edgar barges in and calls the guards and orders them to take Ella away to the dungeon.Char is having trouble believing that Ella might hurt him, so Edgar and his pet snake tell Char that, what happened in the forest with the ogres, was all planned by Ella and the ogres so that she could get close to Char and kill him. Edgar tells Char to concentrate on tomorrow's coronation ceremony and leave Ella to him. Later Edgar tells the snake that he has an idea on how to prevent Char from becoming king.The next day, Slannen comes to the castle with some elfin friends and two giants. They find Benny in the rubbish bin outside. Slannen rescues him and Benny shows them that Ella is in the dungeon. The three ogres from the forest also join them in the rescue mission. They get into the castle by hiding themselves in a carriage driven by Slannen who is disguised as the executioner. Meanwhile, the coronation ceremony is starting. Slannen gets the guard to open the dungeon doors by saying that he is Ella's lawyer. The ogres then disable the guard and Slannen releases Ella. Ella asks Benny to show Edgar. They see Edgar placing a poisoned crown in the place of the original crown. Ella, Slannen, and the others dash off.Just as the poisoned crown is about to be placed on Char's head, they burst through the hall doors and a huge fight erupts. Char jumps in to save Ella. During the fight, Ella explains to Char what really happened right down to where Edgar poisoned Char's crown. Mandy tries to change Benny back to a real man and gets it on the second try and Benny joins in the fight too. Ella then takes Char aside and tells him that Edgar is the one who killed Char's father. Char is unable to believe it and Edgar comes and says, "Of course it's not true. Who are you going to believe, a lying twit or the man who raised you?" At that point Ella sees that Edgar's snake is about to strike Char and steps on it. All the women there attack the snake because it was about to kill their beloved Char. Char finally believes everything Ella told him. Edgar is very angry and starts shouting. In his excitement he forgets that the crown is poisoned and places it on his head and immediately passes out.Ella and Char get married.[By: Shuwey]

violence, action, feel-good, fantasy, comic

train

imdb

And is therefore not to be taken seriously, it should be watched for the pure enjoyment of getting away from the daily humdrum.I have seen this movie twice and both times the audience was literally buoyed by the fun of the movie, though I must say the best parts and lines come from Uncle Edgar(a deliciously evil Cary Elwes) and Heston the snake(the slimy voice of Steve Coogan is wonderful). Only that the wonderful and memorable lines come mainly from the more evil characters.Joanna Lumley (as the evil Dame Olga) and Minnie Driver(one of her best yet, possibly only beaten by her surprisingly good turn in "Phantom of the Opera") are also great in their minor roles, providing colorful characters and not just filling in screen time. Eric Idle, Jeniffer Higham, Jimi Mistry and Parminder Nagra are also memorable, particularly Jimi as Benny, Eric as the Narrator and Parminder as Ella's best friend, though I think Parminder's talents are woefully under recognized in this film and I would love to see her in more main roles like in "Bend it like Beckham".But I digress.Hopefully those watching this movie will remember the fun it is supposed to be and not fall into the trap of over analyzing this piece of light-hearted happiness.. The story of young Ella who was given the gift of obedience is a very frustrating movie, it should be wild and charming and funny and the best thing since sliced bread, or if not sliced bread then The Princess Bride, but some how it doesn't quite work as whole.The cast is game, the special effects are good and the direction seems to be mostly on target, but somewhere along the way the movie decided to be too hip, too happening, too many things all at once. Somehow I think that there were too many people with too many ideas (good ideas) but no one to say too much is a bad thing.I like this movie a lot, the pieces much more than the whole, but I can't help but wanting to beat up everyone involved in it because this should be so much better.Six out of ten. I was very happy to see Eric Idle was the narrator and Anne Hathaway was brilliant and instantly likable as Ella, with Hugh Dancy the perfect handsome prince. I would definitely recommend 'Ella Enchanted' to anyone who wants a fun and entertaining film.. Given the recent success of fantasy movies, it was probably inevitable that "Ella Enchanted" would get its turn on the silver screen. One only wishes it had translated to screen better.Levine comes up with a clever explanation for the reason why Ella (played in the film by Anne Hathaway) must slave for her horrid step-family: at her cradle, a well-meaning but rather dim fairy godmother (Vivica A. Refusing to be resigned to her lot, Ella sets out to return the unwanted gift--and en route, find romance with Prince Charmont ("Char" for short, played by Hugh Dancy).Unfortunately, it is here that the similarities to the source material end. It doesn't help that the screenwriters have seen fit to muddy Ella's quest with a standard-issue villain in the form of Char's Claudius-esquire uncle (Cary Elwes, channeling the spirit of Prince Humperdink and accompanied by a very unconvincing CGI snake), and some business about the oppression of the kingdom's non-humans.Like "Shrek," "Ella Enchanted" takes the fractured fairy-tale route, throwing in sly references and anachronisms at every opportunity. Unfortunately, both Fox and Minnie Driver as Ella's more sensible godmother feel miscast, and Parminder Nagra (the talented star of "Bend it Like Beckham") is virtually wasted as Ella's foreign-born friend."Ella Enchanted" is nice enough to sit through--Hathaway's presence keeps things going, and there are enough nice visuals. In conclusion I would not suggest this movie to grown ups- as they would certainly NOT enjoy this step out of reality – however this would be a great movie for kids and may be pre teenagers and if you are an Anne Hathaway fan like me – well than don't miss this.. Ella Enchanted, starring Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Minnie Driver, and Eric Idle, is a contemporary epic fairy tale, sitting on the top shelf with such classics as The Wizard of Oz, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. A deeply telling and romantic tale, set in the land of magic, with many important messages, ranging from personal freedom, self empowerment, truth, and equality, to the simple pleasures that create the beautiful contrast of fairy tales, humor, song, beauty, friendship.A family movie, Ella Enchanted will be enjoyed by adults and children, and is sure to bring a warmth to your heart. Anne Hathaway steals your heart with her charm, personality, and ability to carry the movie no matter where it leads, with great beauty and skill. In this storybook fairy tale gone wrong, Anne Hathaway plays Ella, a girl given the magical gift of "obedience" by her fairy godmother at birth which turns into a curse because she can't refuse any command, even from those who abuse this fact. In the end I think kids will really like Ella Enchanted Rating 7/10 if you have never read the book then you have a better chance of enjoying it. Ella Enchanted (2004) Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Cary Elwes, Minnie Driver, Vivica A. Delightful fable has all the old-fashioned ingredients from the storybook (evil uncle, wicked stepsisters, etc.), but lively pop-songs, goofy humor, and a nice nod to the Grimm Brothers give it a hip kick, though the fantasy effects look only half-hearted at best. Gone are the interesting and well developed character interactions, and Ella's curse, which in the book was a constant source of true emotional and physical discomfort, is, with the exception of its use as a catalyst in the end of the film, mainly exploited as comic relief. Ella Enchanted is got to be the worst movie based from a book I've seen so far. Levine allowed them to wander away from the original book plot and setting, to allow such a wonderful book be "frankensteined" into this horrible movie.I laughed hard when i heard from an interview with Hugh Dancy (who plays Prince Char)when he said "...and make it into a better, more modernize version." More like a horrible.But i guess it was aimed towards younger children, begin 14 i find this was quite silly and corny. If the movie writers/director had not strayed from the book plot/time setting, then i bet it would of been a better film at least.I give this a 1/10.. I like the casting for the step family and for Ella and prince Char, but everyone else falls flat in comparison to the characters described in the book. The writing is sloppy and childish, and by changing some of the key characters like Mandy and Lucinda the movie loses some of the impact that made the book great. I think Anne Hathaway should step away from her more stereotypical fairytale movies (i.e. Ella Enchanted, The Princess Diaries) because they're getting old. However, I do think they could have picked a more attractive person to play Char.The scenery and set and general plot of the whole movie was good though, and I may invest in the book version to see how much has been changed.All in all, I do think there are things that this film could have done that would make it better, including better casting.. The rest of the story roughly follows the story of Cinderella, but with Ella as a more resourceful heroine than the typical fairy tale damsel in distress.This movie takes that basic premise, and the characters set forth in the book, and pretty much runs it own way with it, with disastrous results. One day Anne Hathaway will look back on Ella Enchanted and admit publicly that it was the most embarrassing movie she's ever made. I wasn't expecting a Merchant-Ivory film (Ella Enchanted comes from a kid's book after all), but this movie turned a perfectly good book into a 1970s nightmare. I feel sorry for Anne Hathaway (she should have left this movie to lesser-talented starlets), but I weep most for Hugh Dancy, the handsome British actor who plays the prince. I always expected that if Ella Enchanted were to be made into a movie, it would have the same seriousness and visual design as other "fairy tale" movies like Ever After, but they made the entire thing "blingy" and flashy and very, very fake. While Anne Hathaway really was a beautiful girl and could have potentially played Ella well, this movie's design and implementation was altogether awful. While the book is a moving and lovely story, the movie is little more than a mass of junk that coincidently happens to have characters of the same name. Ella Enchanted is based on book, I understand that the filmmakers have taken some liberties with the adaptation and in this case there are six writers credited in this adaptation which rather tells it own story.Ella Enchanted was given the gift of obedience by an obnoxious fairy which causes her problems as she has to literally obey all commands a problem when her stepsisters move in with her As you can gather the film is also a reworking of the Cinderella story made more hip.The casting of Cary Elwes as the villainous uncle of Prince Charming is there to remind you of the far superior The Princess Bride as this film is appalling. It wants to attract the Shrek type of knowing satire but the film is so awkward with some bad special effects such as the CGI snake.Every time the step sisters commanded Ella I cringed. Baby Ella (Anne Hathaway) was given a 'gift of obedience' by Lucinda the fairy (Vivica A. I am not a fan of Harry Potter at all but I do love fairy tale and fantasy movies with an appealing story and this sounded appealing to me. Before Anne Hathaway became an obedient slave to Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada she was under an obedience spell in Ella Enchanted, courtesy of her hip fairy godmother Vivica Fox. Though I'm not sure why this is such a good thing for anyone, it does provide some of the plot basis for this updated pop version of Cinderella.Anne Hathaway as the dolefully obedient Ella is wonderful in the part, even getting five finger discounts at the village medieval mall because her stepsisters tell her to. Come on, who can't be in hysterics when Ella breaks out into a Queen song with giants as her backup singers.Although we have the book, I've never read it, but I've got to compare it with the movie. The costumes for the lovable characters weren't anything extravagant, but the people you love to hate sure did have some memorable outfits.The whole movie is a big parody of fairy tales that everyone will find amusing. (Well, OK, I did cringe a little when she rips off the gown to reveal the short skirt in the final dance number.) It was cute, it was clean, it was very funny.I have not read the book (indeed I did not know of it until seeing this film, but will certainly look for it) so I cannot comment on it's accuracy. Ella Enchanted was a delightful movie, not as good as The Princess Diaries, but it was still good nonetheless.Parts of it seemed like a play being acted out in front of the audience but overall it made a good effort and played out well. The soundtrack for Ella Enchanted is definitely worth buying, even if you didn't like the movie. Derivative, sure, but with its' heart and wit in the right place (that would be on the clever page from writers Laurie Craig, Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith), and with a great little supporting cast (including Hugh Dancy, Cary Elwes, Joanna Lumley (the evil stepmom), Minnie Driver, Aidan McArdle (the elf who wants to be a… but that would be telling) Eric Idle, Steve Coogan (as the voice of a duplicitous anthropomorphic snake), Jennifer Higham, Lucy Punch (the requisite evil stepsisters) and Parminder Nagra (perhaps the only underused one present)), Ella is a winner. I liked the acting of Anne Hathaway, which made the movie as good as it was. I didn't check into much before going cause I wasn't expecting much, however to see stars like Eric Idle one of the best of the Monty Python bunch, Mimmie Driver, Cary Elwes, and more working their magic in the movie was a pleasant surprise. Excellent and totally enjoyable..Reminiscent of Princess Bride.The movie gives us a good story and adventure to follow with both humor and sorrow.I took my 7 1/2 year old to it and we both enjoyed it. "Ella Enchanted" is a movie for all of those who still believe in the fantasy (even just a little bit!) and all of those who like to escape to an alternate reality where dreams really do come true. All in all, any fan of the romantic genre or the fairy tale comedy (yes, indeed the elements of "Shrek" are palpable!) will love to carried away and certainly this movie "won't go breakin' your heart.". Ella Enchanted, I've read the book (many times) and seen the movie (once). I enjoyed it too, but I would have liked it much better if it had not been called Ella Enchanted.They say based on the book. I say loosely based on the book, very loosely.The story follows Ella, a young girl cursed with the gift of obedience. But whomever got involved in production dumped too much crap in it, too much singing and pop culture and it weighed it down, despite an otherwise good story.Anne Hathaway is enchanting and the enchantedly cursed girl who's forced to obey any orders directed at her. But instead it's got so much singing and dancing the story gets lost, which is a shame, because it's a good story of a girl who's very goodness is used against her, but still has to find a way to save the Kingdom and herself.I haven't read the Gail Carson Levine book, but I can only assume that with the three other writers listed on IMDB.COM, it's not only Tommy O'Haver's direction that's at fault. And the mixing of modern ideas like fan clubs, malls, and pop music with a medieval setting provided intentionally ironic laughs much better than did the attempt at the same of "A Knight's Tale." The one change from the book that did irritate me was how Ella's obedience was more of a plot device than the purpose of the story. Along the way, she campaigns for the rights of ogres, giants, and elves, and falls in love with a handsome prince.A plot like that leaves a lot of room for adaptation to the big screen. (One of the funniest scenes is when Ella is in the giants' bar and reacting to their orders of `sing', `put some soul into it,' and `dance'.you don't want to miss this scene!) I also thought the pacing was excellent; I never felt bored and the movie lasted just the right amount of time. Well, the movie does succeed wonderfully because Anne Hathaway, who plays Ella, is likable, intelligent, charming, and beautiful. Also adding to the delightful daffiness of the plot are Slannen the Elf (Aiden McArdle), Benny the Talking Book (Jimi Mistry), the evil Prince Edgar (Cary Elwes), his talking snake Heston, the household fairy Mandy (Minnie Driver), and Ella's two stepsisters Hattie and Olive. First of all let me start by saying that if I had never read this book before and if I was under the age of 12 I may have enjoyed this movie because it is a cute light hearted tale. Above all the movie did have its good aspects, however they force the film to fall under the category of cutesy children's fairy tale instead of the beautiful coming of age story it should have been. Anne Hathaway is naturally lovely as Ella, a girl who is given the gift of obedience at birth, and Eric Idle is good as the narrator. I expected it to be bad, and it was definitely much worse than I ever could have imagined.I'm another one of the people who read the book before seeing the movie, so naturally I was very disappointed in the screen adaptation of one of my favorite childhood stories. It is offendingly obvious that not only minor parts of the story, but even the biggest parts have been changed to suit a celebrity-obsessed, media-controlled audience, and of course to make as many people rich as possible.So many things were different that the movie should not be allowed to share the same title as the great book I read when I was younger. Anne Hathaway was a great choice to play Ella, she's innocent and radiates kindness and has a very fairytale like essence to her. Hathaway is different because she was for sure the best choice, I don't think anyone else could've played Ella like she did. "Ella Enchanted" is usually the sort of movie that I would heckle, but Anne Hathaway is not someone whom I heckle. In fact, it looks like they took the characters and the curse and mixed it with Shrek to get the movie. Take the humor and campiness from Princess Bride, add the musical likeness from A Knight's Tale, and the great character development from the mini-series 10th Kingdom and you have this movie! the kids will love it, but if you are looking for the story from the book ELLA ENCHANTED i don't know how much you would like it. This movie is hardly anything like the book - sans the names and basic plot that Ella must be obedient.

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The Negotiator

Lieutenant Danny Roman, a top Chicago Police Department hostage negotiator, is approached by his partner, Nate Roenick that according to an informant (whom he refuses to name), members of their own unit are defrauding large amounts of money from the department's disability fund, for which Roman is a board member. When Roman goes for another meeting, he finds Roenick murdered seconds before other police arrive, pinning Roman as the prime suspect. Matters become worse for Roman when Internal Affairs investigator Terence Niebaum, whom Roenick's informant suspected of involvement in the embezzlement, is assigned to investigate the murder. After the gun that killed Roenick is linked to a case Roman had worked on, Niebaum and other investigators search Roman's house and discover papers for an offshore bank account with a deposit equal to one of the amounts of money embezzled. Roman is forced to surrender his gun and badge and his colleagues are doubtful of his protests of innocence. With embezzlement and homicide charges pending, Roman storms into Niebaum's office and demands answers about who set him up. When Niebaum refuses to answer, Roman takes Niebaum, his administrative assistant Maggie, police commander Grant Frost, and weak willed con man Rudy Timmons as hostages. With the building evacuated and placed under siege by his own CPD unit and the FBI, Roman issues his conditions: locating Roenick's informant and summoning police Lt. Chris Sabian, the city's other top negotiator. Roman believes he can trust Sabian because he talks for as long as possible, sees tactical action as a last resort, and being from another precinct eliminates him as a suspect in the disability fund scheme. Sabian clashes with the CPD but is given temporary command of the unit after they hastily attempt a breach that goes awry, resulting in two additional officers becoming Roman's hostages. Roman trades Frost to Sabian in exchange for restoring the building's electricity. With help from Rudy and Maggie, Roman accesses Niebaum's computer and pieces together the scheme: corrupt officers submitted false disability claims that were processed by an unknown insider on the disability fund's board. He also discovers recordings of wiretaps, including a conversation that suggests Roenick was meeting his informant before he was killed. Sabian, using the information Roman provided, claims to have located Roenick's informant in a bid to get Roman to release the hostages. Roman realizes Sabian is bluffing when Niebaum's files reveal Roenick himself was the IAD informant. When Roman threatens to expose Niebaum in an open window, leaving him vulnerable to sniper fire, Niebaum admits that Roenick gave him wiretaps implicating three of Roman's squad mates in the embezzlement scheme. When Niebaum confronted the guilty officers, he received a bribe from them to cover up their crimes while Roenick refused to take it, which led to his death. Niebaum says he does not know who the inside ringleader is, but that he has the taps corroborating the three officers' guilt. The same corrupt officers have secretly entered the room via the air vents under the pretext of being part of a team to take Roman out in case he started killing hostages; upon hearing Niebaum's confession, they open fire and kill Niebaum before he can reveal where he has hidden the wiretaps. Roman single-handedly fights them and the rest of his squad off using the flashbangs he seized from the two officers in the previous failed breach. Believing that Sabian and the police cannot resolve the situation, the FBI assume jurisdiction over the operation, cease negotiations, relieve Sabian of his command, and order a full breach. Sabian begins to believe in Roman's innocence and gives him a chance to prove his case: while the FBI and SWAT raid the building and rescue the hostages, Roman escapes disguised in a SWAT uniform. Roman and Sabian proceed to Niebaum's house, but are unable to find the wiretaps. The police arrive and the corrupt officers enter the house, but they back off as Frost enters and tries to talk Roman down. Sabian observes Frost discreetly taking one of the guns and realizes that Frost is the ringleader of the conspiracy and Roenick's killer. In front of Frost, Sabian seemingly shoots Roman dead and offers to destroy the "evidence" they have uncovered in return for a cut of Frost's take. Frost agrees and effectively makes a full admission to his and the other three officers' crimes. When Frost exits the house, he discovers Roman had feigned death and used a police radio microphone to broadcast his confession to the police surrounding the area. Frost attempts to commit suicide but is disarmed and arrested with the other corrupt officers. As Roman is loaded into an ambulance, Sabian gives him back his badge and departs.

comedy, suspenseful, neo noir, murder, psychological, mystery, violence, plot twist, tragedy, revenge

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wikipedia

When he's framed for a crime he didn't commit, against his fellow police officers no less, he knows that the only way out is to bring in an equally tough negotiator, Lieutenant Chris Sabian played by Kevin Spacey, who's from another precinct and who therefore could not have been contaminated by the bad elements within his own force, which buys him the necessary time to bluff and blindside while he finds the clues he needs to prove he's innocent. It doesn't have any qualms with taking a far-fetched concept and treating it with absolute seriousness, but unlike most movies that are willing to do this (especially some recent ones involving very large asteroids and very large lizards), it is able to pull it off by combining a tight script with strong, strong acting.If this were a perfect world, Jackson would deserve an Oscar nomination for his performance here. Samuel L Jackson at his best playing the role as Danny Roman, a negotiator with nothing to lose but all to prove. However, it gets a much needed injection from its cast, especially the two leads Jackson and Spacey, whose verbal exchanges are exciting and dynamic.The far-fetched yarn introduces us to Chicago hostage negotiator Danny Roman (Samuel L. Hostage negotiator Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey) arrives on the scene to talk Roman into surrendering his hostages.The ease with which Jackson's character is framed for a crime he didn't commit is hard to believe, and his subsequent decision to take hostages in order to clear himself stretches credibility to the limit. Jackson then retaliates by using extra-legal means.What makes this movie are the performances by both Jackson and Spacey, with good performances by the supporting cast, including the late J.T. Walsch who made a career of playing heartless and emotionless middle-age men. All credit must go to Samuel L Jackson for a great performance in playing a specialist police officer who finds himself an innocent fall guy, supported very well by the late J. Jackson makes his character an actor himself, as a psychopath to the cops he holds at bay and a careful family man to his new wife whilst slowly but surely convincing his hostages of his innocence. Similar credit for great performances go to Kevin Spacey as the neutral respected negotiator dropped into a tense situation completely blind to events, and I have yet to see a poor performance by David Morse, who followed up this film with another good performance in "The Green Mile". Lieutenant Danny Roman, just married and quickly becoming recognized as one of Chicago's top hostage negotiators, has his life turned upside down when he's framed for the murder of his partner and embezzlement of his department's pension fund. Sharp, intelligent thriller should be your run-of-the-mill cop flick, but its plot twists are so convincing, its police procedures so realistic, and its acted with such great conviction that you don't want to miss a single moment of it! Where did it all go wrong for the poor guy?Samuel L Jackson plays police negotiator Lt. Danny Roman, a hostage negotiator with the Chicago PD who's a nice guy and all-round good bloke. Facing fellow negotiator Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey), can Danny discover the truth before his one-time colleagues put a premature end to the siege? Spacey looks a little out of place - he's too nice to play the stone-faced good guy with a mean streak - but his performance supports Jackson's wild-eyed paranoia perfectly. The biggest problems I found was that the story took a while to get going and when it did, it was actually rather obvious who the villains are.I was actually a little tired of hostage movies after watching the equally brilliant "Inside Man" a little while ago but while that was a little on the slow side, this kept up a cracking pace until the very end. Jackson is full of perfectly managed rage as Danny Roman, achieving a better performance than the ones he got in other movies where he carried guns, like "The Long Kiss Goodnight", "Rules of Engagement", even "Shaft" and definitely "SWAT". Chris Sabian appears late in the film, but in the skin of Kevin Spacey he encounters Jackson's craziness and "The Negotiator" elevates itself into a whole different level. Jackson gives it his all and unexpected things that happen in this movie like the end and when one of the hostages gets shot by a S.W.A.T. member downsides: Kevin Spacey and Ron Rifkin weren't that good to my opinion those are really the only downsidesfor anybody who has not seen this movie yet should definitely go rent it. OK i had recently seen the negotiator and its almost a 10 year old movie,but needless to say i just watched it recently and i was blown away.I'm a big fan of Kevin Spacey,i believe is one of the greatest actors out there.and Samuel L Jackson is great in this too,we can all forgive him for;snakes on a plane.this is more than a good cop bad cop movie,it involves police corruption,Samuel L Jackson plays a good cop,a veteran whose partner is murdered,he gets set up as a patsy and...,well no way am i going to spoil this.you must watch this to find out what happens.you see both Samuel L Jackson and Kevin Spacey are both police negotiators,and yes both are good guys.also actor JT Walshes last movie,he died when this was released,JT Walsh was mostly known as his role in the Robin Williams comedy/drama good morning Vietnam as the Sargent major who clashed with Robin Williams character.but i cant say enough about the negotiator,i don't know why i never saw it before but there's that old saying better late than never. Fast paced, well made thriller about a framed police negotiator (Jackson) who takes hostages and demands to speak with a counterpart from another precinct (Spacey). It's clear to me that Armageddon takes the cake but The Negotiator shouldn't be forgotten being slightly inferior.While The Negotiator wasn't filled with dazzling special and visual effects and didn't have the end of the world premise, it still delivers a high level action packed film with thrills and chills that place you on the end of your seat.Immediately opening up with Samuel L. Michael really shines in his supporting role as the caring sniper who can't be against a colleague like Danny while Morse really plays the guy that we love to hate just because he's such a jerk.It's got a lot of action for being such a claustrophobic film and mainly having two sets. The GOOD - The movie sports an interesting cast, actors who usually entertain, such as Kevin Spacey, Samuel L. I'm not a fan of Samuel L Jackson or Kevin Spacey, but this movie is one of the best i've ever seen! Anyway, i would like to congratulate to both actors Jackson and Spacey, who have been a great combination as the negotiator in this movie! Gary Gray (Friday, The Italian Job "2003", Set It Off) made an entertaining, suspenseful, action-thriller with sharp performances by Jackson and Spacey. After a while, Chris begins to think Danny is innocent, and starts helping him uncover the truth.The Negotiator is a very interesting film that sets up a very interesting plot very well. The Negotiator (1998)I don't think I expected much more than a standard contemporary police corruption thriller, and this was better than I expected both in the story line (which has a couple great twists) and the acting and pacing (thanks to both Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey are both excellent as two police negotiators in this tense, well acted, action thriller.The plot takes off quickly as does the action as Danny Roman (Jackson) is framed for a crime, and he suspects someone on the inside, a fellow officer, is responsible. Jackson, Kevin Spacey and the late great J.T. Walsh could be all bad, and "The Negotiator" is watchable largely because of its strong cast. But what could have been an excellent suspense film unfortunately is overlong and ends up feeling like a competent but forgettable TV movie with some bad language thrown in.One of the biggest problems is a thundering, distracting musical score that sounds like every action movie you've seen in the past five years. It's at this time that the other lead, Kevin Spacey, shows up as the other negotiator and while it's interesting to see these two intense actors perform together all I could think of was when will this be over. The Negotiator was a action/drama that fails to live up to its build up.Without giving too much away, a top-notch hostage negotiator (Jackson) takes a group hostage when he is framed for a crime and calls in a top-notch hostage negotiator from the other side of town (Spacey) to run the negotiation of his demands.So effectively, we have two top notch actors pitted against each other in a hostage negotiator stand off. But instead, nothing much is revealed by his periodic investigation (don't forget, he's also managing a hostage negotiation at the same time) and the ending is more or less predictable - even though they threw in a deeply contrived 'twist' right at the end which was BOTH stupid and far-fetched.Finally, I'm getting a bit sick and tired of seeing Stockholm Syndrome feature in every hostage film these days. The only thing that saves this film is the acting by Jackson and Spacey, with several good supporting performances, too. Sabian quickly realises that this is no normal situation, and his usual routine simply won't cut it.Now Spacey and Jackson, both give typically great performances, but the movie has a few too many flaws to be a really great one, that said is does have some good action, a few good thrills and a decent script, so if you fancy it, its certainly worth your time.8/10 mainly for Spacey and Jackson.. Unfortunately I discovered, along with many others that have commented here, that the movie's script is overblown, contrived, and asks for way too much suspension of disbelief.After Jackson's partner is killed and he's framed for it, his friends and colleagues turn on him waaaay too easily. In any case, the confrontations with the police and hostages become sillier and sillier when you realize that this man is trying to prove his innocence.Jackson and Spacey make a good duo. Standard Hollywood cop/hostage movie gets special credit for some great scenery (filmed on location in Chicago), and some genuine but very sporadic suspense. The movie also stars that other golden-tongued Hollywood boy, Kevin Spacey, as the cop who at first hesitates but then decides to help Jackson's character. I really didn't know what my expectations were going into this, since I'd never seen Kevin Spacey in a movie before, and I didn't really know the plot of this film. A lot.The plot follows top police negotiator Danny Roman (Jackson) as he realizes that he's been framed by one or more people inside the police department, so he takes the people he believes to be responsible hostage, as well as some innocent bystanders who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and barricades himself and them in an office room. The office raid and shootout, final standoff, and initial hostage takeover scene were all great.Besides some graphic language (it's pretty bad), I loved this movie, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes a great action/thriller movie, and especially to fans of the two main actors, as they really make this movie work. Maybe it's because its two lead normally get linked with other nineties classics, i.e. Samuel L Jackson with 'Pulp Fiction' and Kevin Spacey with 'American Beauty.' Yes, there may not be quite as many explosions and high-octane chases in this one, but it still seems like it should exist in the same (and to use a modern phrase) 'shared universe.'Jackson plays a police negotiator who gets framed for a crime he didn't commit. Therefore, if you can overlook the fact that this film probably should have been called 'The Negotiators' (plural) it really is pretty good fun.There's always going to be a market for films where you can basically forget about realism and enjoy the action and when you have two leads like Jackson and Spacey, you know they're going to turn in excellent performances. There are enough other characters they interact with along the way, but you probably won't remember too many of them (with the possible exception of a weirdly-young looking Paul Giamatti) - it's the two leads who you'll remember all the way.It's a simple premise and what little 'extras' to the plot I won't go into for fear of spoiling it, but if you ever get bored of watching Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage saving San Francisco, or Keanu Reeves flagging down buses, you really could get a similar 'fix' of action from spending a couple of hours with Samuel L Jackson and Kevin Spacey.. Jackson and Kevin Spacey,the films plot easily could have been given to any well known action star who would bring in the money but not a great performance,but instead they got Jackson and Spacey,who aren't necessarily action stars,and we get to enjoy this movie much more and feel even more for these characters.I was having trouble finding Jackson's character likable,which he was obviously suppose to be,but he held a bunch of people hostage in order to prove his own innocence,but was committing a crime in the meantime,although I did like seeing him use both personalities as he is great at being both a good and evil character.Action packed and very intense,I would definitely recommend the Negotiator to anyone looking for a good crime drama or action. Put Kevin Spacey and Samuel L Jackson opposite each other in a movie and your guaranteed great performances and thats this films ace card. Without that and some very competent suspense building direction this film could have descended into b-action movie hell.Having a hostage negotiator forced to take hostages himself is a nice concept and the director really knows how to ramp up the tension during the negotiation scenes and when Spacey and Jackson are on screen together the sparks do fly. It seems that Mr Jackson is more of an action/comedy man, while Mr Spacey appears more likely to star in a serious comedy, or serious drama, where you must use every extent of your brain to understand every extent of the film. Sam Jackson is very good as Danny Roman, a police negotiator, who is framed for a pension theft and has to take matters into his own hands to clear his name. I mean that after treating myself to the Good (X -Files), the Bad (Godzilla), and the Ugly (Saving Private Ryan--although ugly still very, very unforgettable) this summer at the movies, it was nice to get a movie that got the adrenaline flowing smoothly while somehow managing to keep me guessing right up to the final scene of the flick AND providing me with intelligent dialogue!"The Negotiator" is the kind of film I've been waiting for Kevin Spacey to do. Jackson and Kevin Spacey in an action thriller together expectations have got to be high, and I'm glad to say that The Negotiator doesn't disappoint at all. Gary Gray, who is equally at ease here getting the best out of the dramatics as he is at delivering the thrills during the films action sequences, all combine to make an extremely enjoyable and very satisfying whole.The performances in this film are all very well handled with Spacey and Jackson utterly compelling as the two negotiators on opposite sides of the situation, with David Morse, John Spenser, Paul Giamatti and the late J.T. Walsh (in his last screen role) all offering excellent support. This movie had an intriguing plot, Samuel Jackson and Kevin Spacey portrayed their roles as negotiators excellently.The movie (unlike most others) made excellent use of the SWAT team, and overall there was plenty of action. Jackson) gives Chris Sabian (Kevin Spacey) 20 minutes to talk to him or he's going to kill a hostage. Its saving grace(s) come in from the performances of Samuel Jackson and (especially) Kevin Spacey, who makes his every scene at least palatable.. The interviewer noticed that Spacey was more happy than when he gave the interview on The Negotiator set, he said that he liked the acting much better on American beauty because it is a good movie, unlike The negotiator. The story is about a Police Negotiator known as Danny Roman (Samuel L Jackson) who is 'apparently' accused of corruption and killing his partner. The acting was brilliant especially from Samuel L Jackson and Kevin Spacey who were unarguably the stand-out performers of this film. The Negotiator is an enjoyable movie-especially if you love good performances by some of today's best actors: Samuel Jackson, Kevin Spacey, TJ Walsh. I loved the acting in this movie b/c Kevin Spacey is my favorite actor (and he has never failed to give a great performance regardless of the movie's script), while I think Samuel L. Even though I now own the video on DVD (I own most of Spacey or Jackson's movies), I always forward-fast to the scenes between these two actors rather than watching some of the other weaker elements of the film.. Kevin Spacey, in my opinion, made the movie, because he is such a great actor. JACKSON) is the best hostage negotiator on the Chicago police force and one day is framed for embezzlement and murder. Jackson and Kevin Spacey's wonderful chemistry makes this movie work. This is a one man show.If you like Samuel L Jackson you gonna love this movie.If you don´t I´m not so sure.I saw this film on the cinema a couple of weeks ago.I thought it was great.Samuel and Kevin Spacey are both great.David Morse is also good as the confused SWAT-leader.I also think that it was a little bit to long,and sometimes it´s hard to follow.It´s 7.5 of 10. Jackson + Kevin Spacey + Paul Giamatti + intelligent script = fun, enjoyable movie.

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FleshEater

A group of teenage kids are taking a hayride in the countryside on Halloween. They pay the local farmer to take them to a secluded area of the forest. The kids arrive and begin drinking, telling the farmer to come back after dark to pick them up. As the party wears on the group separates to find their own little love nests.Meanwhile, another farmer has stumbled across a large tree stump which he proceeds to remove with the help of his tractor. Under the stump is a large wooden box with an ancient seal telling not to break open the box. The farmer breaks the seal and opens the box. Inside is the "Flesheater", a zombie who precedes to eat the farmer making him a zombie in the process. Both zombies head towards where the kids are.Two of the kids who retreated to the barn for some alone time are killed by the Flesheater. As the ghoul is killing the kids, two of their friends walk in and see what's happening then they run outside back to the woods to warn the group at the party. Inside the barn, the kids who were attacked become zombies and head out of the barn to look for for fresh victims. One of the girls is attacked in the woods by the Fleasheader. It tears a chunk of shoulder away but the girl is saved by her boyfriend who hears her screams and tackles the ghoul.The remaining kids retreat to the old "Spencers Farm" a dis-used farmhouse in the woods. They proceed to nail up the windows and doors. They manage to phone the police but the call is cut short when a zombie outside rips the phone line out.Meanwhile, the two kids who escaped from the barn have caught up with the group (who refuse to open the doors in case of an attack) so the two kids hide in the basement and lock the door. Upstairs, the girl bitten on the shoulder dies and returns as a zombie. Just as she gets up the Fleasheader and the rest of the zombies outside break in and all of the remaining group are slaughtered, each becoming a zombie and heading into the woods for more victims.A little later at nightfall, a police car then turns up at Spencer's farm responding to the cut-short phone call. The police officer is attacked by a group of zombies, and despite killing two of them by shooting them in the head, he is attacked and eaten alive. The two kids in the basement open the door and see the body of the policeman. They take his gun and kill his half remaining zombie corpse and escape into the night.The Fleasheater and some of the zombies find their way to a residential street where they proceed to eat a local family inside their home turning them into zombies in the process.Meanwhile, the two kids find a local stable where they try to warn the owner about the coming attack. He goes inside the house to find that his wife has become a zombie. More zombies appear and the man is cornered and eaten alive and the kids flee again.They find a large barn where a Halloween party is being held. The kids try to warn the group about the undead but they laugh it off as Halloween nonsense. Soon the zombies arrive and slaughter all of the party-goers. The two kids who survived the basement find a hiding spot inside the framework of the barn.Back in town, the police department is assembling a posse after hearing of the officer who was killed at Spencer's farm. As daylight approaches, the posse have arrived at the woods. They find zombies emerging from the woods and proceed to kill the creatures. They proceed through the woodland killing zombies as they go. The posse arrive at the barn and find the party-goers are all zombies. The posse kill them as the zombie group come out of the barn. The two kids hiding in the barn hear the gunshots and think they are saved. They exit the barn and are shot on site by sniper rifle (by the same actor who shoots Ben in Night of the living dead).The posse throws all the bodies inside the barn and barricade it shut. They set it on fire burning the remaining few zombies inside. The posse thinking they destroyed all the zombies head home.A few days later, a police officer is checking out the remains of the barn when he is attacked by the original Flesheater, who kills him by biting his neck out... and the zombie outbreak begins all over over again.*********************************************************************************************************** Addition to synopsis by movewtcher:WARNING: Adult Language The movie starts out with a quote This evil which will take flesh and blood from thee and turn all ye unto evil. Kids on a hayride. We see a farmer putting a strap around a stump of a tree. The hayride continues down the road and one of the kids asks Where is he taking us? There are 10 teens and they jump off the trailer. One of the teens says Sammy Perkins and his girlfriend came up to the woods a year or so ago to go parking and no one saw them again. One of the girls said that Sammy joined the army and Janie got pregnant and went to Virginia to her aunts to have the baby. He said that a good source says they were murdered up there. Old man Spences dog came home one day with a hand in his mouth with a ring that had the initials SHP on it. One of the teens start smoking a joint. Two teens are sucking face by a tree when Eddie <James J. Rutan> is shaking a beer, opens it and sprays the lovers. The girl calls Eddie an asshole. We go back to Farmer Dave <DavidA. Sogergren> who tears the tree trunk out of the ground with a John Deere tractor #2630. The farmer starts clearing leaves and dirt from the ground and finds a slab of cement with a circle carved into ithe thinks it was college kids on his property again. As he is clearing the area he finds a seal with the words This eviletc. carved on it. The farmer pries the saying off the coffin and opens it. The body comes to life and tears the farmers throat out and sucks his blood. Back to the kids: they are dancing and laughing. One of the girls starts stripping and shows her bare breasts to her boyfriend. (The farmer gets up and growls.) A couple goes off and spreads a blanket on the hay in the barn. Carrie <DeniseMorrone> tells Bill <Mark Strycula> that she just wants to have fun and has liked him since Julies party. They are kissing in the barn and the Carrie puts Bills hand on her breast. The shirt comes off and you see her bare right breast. The girl hears something and it happens to be the Flesheater <S. William Hinzman>. Bill grabs a pitchfork and shoves it at Flesheater. Flesheater takes the pitchfork off Bill and rams it into the boys chest. Flesheater grabs Carrie, strangles her and shoves his hand through her stomach. He digs out her liver and guts and blood and gore everywhere. The rest of the group is sitting around drinking beer. The hayride driver <Tom Madden> suggests a fire. The driver says if they want to stay the night in the woods that it gets real cold there. One of the teens says that Carrie and Bill can stay warm in a snow storm but the rest of them couldnt . The driver says he will come back at midnight and the teens could tell him then if they want to say in the woods all night. The teens go to collect firewood. Eddie scares Lisa <Charis Kirkpatrik Acuff>. The hayride driver tries to start his rig and one of the teens comes up behind him and asks him to get some beer for them. The zombie farmer <David A. Sogergren> grabs the hayride driver by the neck, chokes him, and eats him. Lisa finds the zombie with a big hunk of flesh between his teeth and runs. The Flesheater grabs her and takes a huge chunk of flesh out of her neck. The teens take Lisa to a farmhouse. Bill and Carrie arise as zombies. The teens try to find weapons and board up the windows and door. Eddie turns away Bob <John Mowod> and Sally <Leslie Ann Wick>. They hide in the storm cellar. Ralph <Kevin Kindlin> uses a phone and calls the sheriffs office. They are staying in Spences farm off Route 5. He tells the dispatcher <Terrie Godfrey> that they were attacked by a monster and the dispatcher wants to know if it was a Godzilla type of monster or a Frankenstein type of monster. Flesheater rips the phone wire off the side of the house and the phone goes dead. Ralph shot the hayride driver in the head with a shotgun. Flesheater breaks into the farm and puts a hatchet through Tonys <Matther C. Danilko> head. Everyone upstairs is now living dead. Blood runs from the ceiling in the storm cellar and splatters on Sallys face. The dispatcher calls Harv <David Ashby> and tells him to go to Spences farm. Cut to a nice house: Susan <Susan Marie Spier> takes off her clothes. Full frontal nudity. A shower scene. Caramel apples are being made by Chris <Chris Bross>. Susan is still showering. More nudity as Susan showers in a glass shower stall. Susan comes out and blow dries her hair. Heidi <Heidi Hinzman> answers a knock at the door and theres Flesheater to trick-or-treat. Flesheater grabs Heidi and eats her as blood splatters all over a Krunch bar. Zombies attack the house and eat. Flesheater rips Susans towel off and eats her. Harv arrives at the farm and sees a zombie with his head blown off. The sheriff is bitten by a zombie. They surround his car and eat him but he manages to shoot one zombie first. Bob and Sally come out of the storm cellar and find the sheriff laying in his car with his guts hanging out of his body and his face torn off. His arm lies on the ground. The mass that was once the sheriff, rises and Bob shoots him. Farmer Ned <Rik Billock> and Farmer Neds wife <Jackie Sodergren>. The wife asks Ned if he is going to feed the horses. Ned puts on his red cap and goes out to his barn. Bob and Sally find Ned. They ask for a phone. Cut to the news about a prostitution operation. The Water Authority increases rates 18% next year and the tax payers will pay $48.00 per year. A fire at 181 South something street. Damages were 80k, no injuries. Zombies eat Ned. A Halloween party in a barn where teens are drinking Iron City Beer. Bob and Sally warn the party attendees. The vampire <Andrew Sands> tells Bob and Sally that they have watched too many cheesy zombie movies. A zombie bites off the vampires nose and blood gushes out of his face. A Posse forms. The sheriff (a different one) tells the crowd to shoot em dead! Bob and Sally are still hiding. Bob and Sally have been dating for almost two years. Blah, blah, talk, talk. Sally suggests they go away to Tampa. Her sorority motto is The future lies ahead. Bob and Sally come out of hidingthe posse shoots them in the head (ala Night of the Living Dead.) The sheriff torches the barn. There are sounds of zombies screaming. A sheriff walks around the burnt out barn and finds burnt zombies. Flesheater gets the sheriff. The End.

violence, murder

train

imdb

I think it was just as good as The Dead Next Door(a B grade zombie flick that gets a lot of attention as being an unknown classic). Don't expect great acting,top quality production, and whatever else most people think it takes to make a good film. I was surprised to see one of the zombies in this movie was Bill Hinzman, the cemetery zombie who chases after Barbara in the original Night Of The Living Dead. I must admit, this film does seem to borrow a little from the original Night Of The Living Dead, but I don't care. As other reviewers have mentioned, Flesheater stars Bill Hinzman of Night of the Living Dead fame as the title zombie in an all out attack in the undead. The film by no means gets close to the entertainment level of the movie it draws inspiration from, Night of the Living Dead, but is still entertaining to a degree despite being highly predictable. The acting is not the greatest and the story drags at times, but some scenes are pretty spooky, such as when Hinzman and some other zombies wander into town and attack a family in a suburban house. All in all, Flesheater may not be the greatest horror film ever made, or even a great zombie movie, but it's not totally awful, either.. Now this is no night of the living dead but what it is its fun great zombiploitation if you will.Starts off with some young people on a hayride going to drink beer and have some fun.This tractor riding dude unearthed zombie bill hinzman than all hell breaks loose lots of gore nudity and sleaze exploitation for sure the DVD is wonderful media blasters do a great job with their product and this is a fin example.If your a fan of zombies exploitation and cheesy 80s cinema buy this!Also its a zombie movie that happens to be set on Halloween sweet and yes the movie is somewhat of a rip off of the original night of the living dead but who cares its exploitation and its mighty entertaining.. This is another film in the long line of killer zombie rip-offs since Night of the Living Dead. This movie is not bad, but it doesn't have near the impact that the Living Dead series created by George Romero. Especially when you know that the director (who also plays the first zombie in the film) is the guy playing the zombie on the cemetery in "Night of the living dead".. Each teenager is attacked and transformed in zombie, spreading the evil and attacking the locals, making a hell night in the area."FleshEater" is surprisingly a great zombie B-movie and a gem to be discovered by the fans of the genre. I have never actually heard this movie called "Flesheater" as the title of the page suggests, but instead it was called "Revenge of the Living Zombies." Either way, this movie was a lot of campy fun. This is an obviously cheesy low budget "ZOMBIE" movie........Just the way I like theme extra cheesy!I am kinda surprised this did not get a 5.0 or something better I mean this is really a good "ZOMBIE" film cool music,stupid plot,cool/cheesy "ZOMBIES" and naked women to try to sell the movie better but you do not need nudity for an already good "ZOMBIE" movie ya you guys might disagree but oh well.This is the kinda movie you should watch on a Friday with your friends while drinking soda and eating pizza.The acting in this is obviously not great but oh well the special f/x is pretty dang good for a low budget "ZOMBIE" movie.Now I know I may make a lot of people made on what I am going to say but this is better than George A. Flesheater (1988) is a very laughable zombie movie, the plot (if you could call it that) is about a bunch of college kids who want to spend the night in the farm/forest type place having a party.A farmer discovers a zombie grave and opens it up to discover this old zombie man inside, of course the zombie awakens and then bites the farmer, turning him into a zombie....... What also made this film great fun was the gore, there's lots of killings and lots of nudity too which is always nice to see in a horror movie, so to sum this film up i'd say that it's a very entertaining zombie gore movie and i highly recommend it to lovers of low budget horror and zombie movie fans too. Bill Hinzman (who played the zombie on the cemetery in the great horror-classic "Night of the Living Dead") was responsible for the production, the script and the directing of this flick, that is even better than the similar Romero-rip off "The Dead Next Door", which was shot about five years earlier! Of course, the plot and nearly all ideas were stolen from Romero´s brilliant cult movie, but in comparison to J.R. Bookwalter´s homage there´s just more suspense, a plenty of gore and sometimes surprisingly good acting! Woah,what a movie!!The plot is incredibly simple:a group of teenagers is devoured by bloodthirsty zombies.I agree that it's a total rip-off of Romero's earlier zombie epics.Yes,it has also bad acting,stupid dialogue and funny zombies,but you can't say that "Flesheater" isn't enjoyable or entertaining.Lots of blood is spilled and lots of people are eaten,the gore is plentiful and the main zombie played by director S.William Hinzman is really cool!So if you like cheesy horror movies with plenty of bloodshed give this rather obscure film a look.. From its poor opening start and very poor zombie acting the film plods on and on, while gaining a good pace in the gore department. I know this sounds like strange advice but the director/main zombie comes across as quite arrogant and bitter and quite spoils further watching of this otherwise top movie.. Obviously the main inspirations for this film are George Romero's classic zombie flicks; principally Dawn of the Dead, but there's clearly things lifted from other entries in the series; not to give anything away, but the ending is a direct lift from Romero. As you can imagine, there is very little in the way of plot and the film is mostly made up of zombies eating people; which is OK, but really it needs some sort of story to go with it, or at least something else to keep the audience interested. It's not long before he comes back as the flesh eating living dead, and after some of the kids are bitten, things start to get out of control.Considering there's not really a plot, you have to expect some decent gore...but Flesheaters even disappoints on that front. Many post-Romero zombie flicks feature some sort of tribute to the master, often ham fisted stuff like calling a character "Romero", but this film goes a step further and not only does it cast Bill Hinzman - the first zombie from Night of the Living Dead - he's cast in a pivotal role! Anyhow the zombie from Night of the Living Dead (you know the first zombie in the cemetery at the beginning of the flick) stars as a recently dug up muncher. But then again, zombie movies don't need much of a plot, just the living dead runing around and killing everybody. The script is such a complete theft from night of the living dead it I am puzzled there wasn't a lawsuit.The only good things in this porr excuse for a movie were breasts and ok-quality filming at times. William Hinzman, whose one claim to fame was his memorable role as the cemetery zombie in George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. This film might well have been titled The Further Adventures of George Romero's Cemetery Zombie, because that's essentially what it is -- except that it lacks even a trace of the talent that Romero brought to his masterpiece.Once Hinzman's zombie rises from his grave early in the movie, the film becomes a non-stop killing spree punctuated with numerous scenes of gratuitous nudity. As the saying goes, "you get what you pay for."The first and last part of the film are reminiscent of Night of the Living Dead -- victims trapped in a farmhouse surrounded by zombies; local yokels rounding up the zombies and shooting them. It is, however, watchable, and the gore effects should please hard-core zombie fans who know exactly what they're getting when they watch this kind of movie. Apart from Bill Hinzman, the film entertains with a lot of (often very clumsy) gore, and occasional female nudity, which was probably thrown in to keep the viewers watching. The film follows the basic outline of Night of the Living Dead and only deviates slightly to show some nudity. The film was made in 1988 so surely Bill Hinzman (the first zombie seen in the original NOTLD) was not living in a cave and had surely seen the bar for the zombie genre has been raised a little. He pulls the farmer down in the coffin and starts chewing on his neck.Some college students are having a party in the woods, drinking lots of Iron City Beer (I'm sure Iron City appreciated the plug) and they start getting bitten by Hinzman and the farmer who by now has turned into a zombie, himself.The remaining students flee and barricade themselves inside a farmhouse, but the zombies break through and kill most of them. Flesh Eater (1988) * 1/2 (out of 4) A group of college students are out on a hayride and camping trip when a farmer lets loose a zombie (Bill Hinzman) who begins to kill them. He will always be best remembered for playing the cemetery zombie in the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and it's easy to see why he decided to make his own zombie movie. Still, if you're a fan of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD then it's mildly interesting seeing Hinzman return as a zombie. I had hoped to find a decent zombie film but with a title like "FleshEater" I honestly didn't expect too much. And that's a good thing because what I found was pretty much what I expected: A low budget zombie film with terrible acting, a very weak script, bad special effects and extremely bad performances by the zombies. After all it is a zombie movie, and wait, it gets better (or so you'd think), it has Bill Hinzman - the original zombie from Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" movie - as the zombie here.Initially I thought it was a little tasteless to cash in on this fact that he was the original zombie in that movie and then spawn this movie from that fact.However, having seen this movie now, I must shake my head. Also, if you've watched Night of The Living Dead, then you've already seen this film.You know that zombie in Night of the Living Dead? After establishing that they are all a bunch of chugnuts, and ugly too, Bill Hinzman rise up from a grave and starts killing everyone, turning them into badly acting zombies. Twenty years after he was immortalised on film as the cemetery zombie in Night of the Living Dead, actor Bill Hinzman directed and starred in Flesheater (released on DVD in the UK as Zombie Nosh!), a gory, low-budget tale of the undead that shamelessly ripped-off the plot from George Romero's 1968 horror classic.Being much better at acting dead than at making movies, Hinzman inevitably turned out a technically poor effort hampered by leaden pacing, dreadful acting and terrible dialogue. Fortunately, however, the inclusion of much cartoonish gore and female nudity prevented this mess from being completely unwatchable, and fans of z-grade trash who stumble upon the film should have a fair amount of fun as the untalented cast struggle to remember their cues, fail to convincingly deliver their god-awful lines, and try to look scared as Hinzman and his fellow flesheaters stagger clumsily towards them.The film opens as a group of college students prepare to spend Halloween in the woods, drinking Iron City beer, dancing (badly), smoking weed, and having sex. Only one couple escapes the onslaught, and they must struggle against the odds to survive the night...Dubious highlights include gratuitous child munching, loads of OTT gore, some very bad 80s fashion, more dodgy dancing than you can shake a bloody stump at, and lots of tits and bush (Hinzman's lead zombie gets to grapple with a couple of the nekkid girls—a perk of being in charge, I suppose); insufferable low points include the opening hayride (several protracted shots of a slow moving tractor), a laughable chase scene through the woods (why does the girl throw away her jacket?), a miserable performance from one particularly bad actress as a policewoman, all of the actors feeble attempts at looking shocked, and the entire last half hour, which follows a bunch of rednecks as they clear up the zombie problem (and yes, Hinzman does go so far as to even rip off Romero's shock ending from NOTLD!).. William Hinzman) managed to stick his hand into one girls stomach and pull out some organs, and he stuck his hand completely through the body of another victim.You just have to wake one zombie and he can exponentially increase the flock, which is what happens in this film. Of course Bill Hinzman (RIP my good man, you will be missed) the cemetery zombie from NOTLD directs and stars, but did you know that when George Romero and company set out to make NOTLD, the working title was "Night of the Flesh Eaters" yet another film, 1964's "The Flesh Eaters" discouraged George from using "Flesh Eater" in the title, but Bill seemed to use "Flesh Eater" to further the NOTLD mythos. This was a good zombie film that is underatted so much because some people think this is a copy of the infamous NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. People need to watch this and see it for what it truly is A GOOD MOVIE WITH SOME NICE ACTING AND MEMORABLE SCENES. I think it great that Hinzman, the first zombie seen in "The Night Of The Living Dead" who walks in the cemetary to chase Barbara, should reprise his role and eat flesh once again! It has gore, female nudity, zombies, HALLOWEEN...what else could you possibly ask for in a horror flick! The last half of the film, nearly thirty minutes plus, is direct head-to-head confrontations with the zombies, and that leaves a lot of fun times to be had from this. If you're into the low-budget zombie genre, have a tolerance for the cheesy 80s films or the fans of the original, while those who aren't big on the first two categories should heed caution.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language, Full Nudity and a sex scene. Flesh Eater (aka Revenge of the Living Zombies aka Zombie Nosh) is directed by and stars Bill Hinzman, the first zombie you see in Night of the Living Dead (the one that chases Barbara through the cemetery). There really isn't much to say about this movie as the plot line is almost identical to Night of the Living Dead. ahem* resemble Night of the Living Dead or other zombie films of the 70's and 80's. This movie is a great low-budget zombie flick with tons of gore, nudity, and zombies! - - - Bah, if you ever wanted to know what makes "Night of the Living Dead" so special, then you need look no further than "Flesheater." Devoid of everything that makes Romero's debut engaging, Hinzman piles on the gore and bodies with reckless abandon and even tries to repeat the movie's ending. Enjoyable Night of the Living Dead rip-off for zombie aficionados. As a straightforward rip-off of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, this isn't bad at all, a fast-paced, poorly-budgeted little number with plenty of outrageously good gore scenes to keep the blood flowing for horror freaks. Not content with gore alone, there's a prolonged shower scene, and somehow all the girls Hinzman attacks manage to lose their tops at some point.So, exploitation is the name of the game, and that's just about the only thing this film has going for it. S. William "Bill" Hinzman, part of cinematic history for having portrayed the memorable Cemetery Zombie in "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), adds another zombie portrayal to his repertoire in this unabashed, straightforward gore fest. Romero's sublime "Night of The Living Dead" in which he had a modest – but very memorable – role as the zombie with whom it all begins. Bill Hinzman clearly is trying to trade off on some minor notoriety as the first zombie seen in George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" by directing (and starring in) "Flesheater." Hinzman might say he is paying homage to Romero, but what he is doing is clearly ripping Romero off - blatantly. The acting could not possibly be any worse, the dialogue is horrendous, the movie is choppy, badly edited and badly written, with little attention paid to continuity, but it delivers on entertainment in a big way so I'm willing to overlook the fact that technically speaking it's terrible and give it a mild recommendation if you enjoy these kind of things.It was made by none other than Bill Hinzman, the tall graveyard zombie who kills Johnny and chases Barbara around at the beginning of the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Towards the end is another scene completely ripped off from night of the living dead and it leaves it open for a sequel.Highlights? Oh yeah and the cop that's supposed to look eaten, I think they just covered him in sausage links and old ketchup.As I mentioned earlier, this movie is a complete night of the living dead rip off nad an extremely bad one at that. This first zombie out of the casket is none other than the original graveyard ghoul from "Night of the Living Dead" played by Bill Hinzman.

tt1321865

Carlos

Part one of the mini-series version (98 min.)Ramírez Sánchez, who has fought alongside the Palestinians in Jordan, carries out a series of attacks in London in 1973. He moves to Paris where the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) puts him in charge of its European branch under the command of a Lebanese militant, Michel Moukharbal, alias André. He coordinates several operations, in particular the hostage taking in the French Embassy in The Hague by militants of the Japanese Red Army. When André is arrested, French agents of the domestic intelligence service, the DST, want to know more about Ilich, who has by now adopted the nom de guerre "Carlos." To escape arrest, Carlos shoots André and three policemen. He then joins the head of the PFLP, Wadie Haddad, in southern Yemen. Haddad entrusts him with a daring mission; taking hostage the oil ministers of the OPEC countries at their forthcoming conference in Vienna.Part two of the mini-series version (106 min.)Most of the second episode is devoted to a detailed account of the operation that remains one of the most spectacular terrorist acts of the period. It is December 21, 1975. Leading a group of six militants leftists from German Revolutionary Cells and Palestinian militants including Anis Naccache. Carlos seizes control of the OPEC headquarters, taking ministers and accompanying delegates hostage. He is at the height of his notoriety in the media. However, he and his group are unable to find asylum in the countries of Algeria, Tunisia and Libya and are unable to fly to Iraq because the plane they requested, a DC-9, does not possess the range to fly the thousands of miles necessary. By finally releasing the ministers at Algiers airport in exchange for a large ransom, he fails the mission that Haddad had given him, despite the enormous amount of money he has procured for Haddad's group. This marks the end of relations between the two men. From now on, Carlos becomes a mercenary for hire to whichever country offers the most, including first Iraq, then Syria. He switches operations to behind the Iron Curtain, moving between Budapest and East Berlin under the protection of the East German Stasi. He works with the remnants of the Revolutionary Cells, in particular Johannes Weinrich and his wife Magdalena Kopp, who soon leaves Weinrich for Carlos. Carlos traffics weapons into various points around Europe in the hopes that he can establish terrorist cells for future coups.Part three of the mini-series version (115 min.)Carlos' band, based in Budapest and protected by Syria, fosters links with various clients interested in their particular capabilities, among them Ceausescu's Romania and Libya. This intense activity of geopolitical destabilization, orchestrated by Carlos who is trafficking arms, handling huge sums of cash and leading the life of the "Godfather of European terrorism", is soon to come to an end. His decline is closely linked to the changes in the world order. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, he loses several of his backers, is told to leave Syria, and his arena of operation is drastically reduced. He also learns that the various countries around the world who had previously wanted him for crimes in their countries aren't interested in him anymore. Even the CIA considers him at the bottom of their list. He gathers Magdalena and his young daughter and they leave Syria for Libya. When they arrive in Tripoli, Qaddafi's head of security informs him that his presence in that country is "undesirable". Carlos & Magdalena return to Syria. Magdalena informs him that she'll be leaving him with their daughter; Carlos' mother has offered them a place to live. Magdalena is also spurned since she knows that Carlos has yet another mistress.The last place offering refuge is Sudan: Carlos is by now retired, has taken a new alias and is still tracked by the secret services of several countries. He has been abandoned by his closest allies, a long way from the center stage of international politics. His role as a player is over; he is left to observe the shifts in global power from a distance. With the complicity of the Sudanese authorities, and due to immobility from a testicular condition, he is captured on August 14, 1994 and brought back to Paris to stand trial for crimes that have not been forgotten in France.

avant garde

train

imdb

tt0380599

Oliver Twist

In the 1800s, young orphan Oliver Twist is forcibly brought to a workhouse in an unidentified town In England on his ninth birthday. He and the other resident children are treated poorly and given very little food. Facing starvation, the boys select Oliver (through a lottery) to ask for more food at the next meal, which he tentatively does. This results in Oliver being chastised, and the workhouse officials, who are wealthy, well-fed, hypocritical men, decide to get rid of him. After nearly being sold as an apprentice to a cruel chimney sweep, Oliver is sent to Mr. Sowerberry, a coffin-maker, whose wife and senior apprentice take an instant dislike to the newcomer. After more poor treatment, Oliver snaps and attacks Noah, the snotty older apprentice, for having insulted his mother. Noah howled instantly and brought Mrs. Sowerberry and Charlotte rushing in to drag Oliver away and lock him in the cold dark cellar. The Violent behavior of the orphan was duly brought to the notice of Mr. Sowerberry and also Mr. Bumble. Oliver was beaten, and knowing his life with the Sowerberrys will only get worse, he escapes on foot early the next morning. With little food, Oliver determines to walk 70 miles to London. After he collapses from hunger and exhaustion, a kindly old woman gives him food and lodgings for the night. After a week of travel, he arrives at the city, barefoot and penniless. He meets Jack Dawkins, or "The Artful Dodger," a boy-thief who takes Oliver to his home and hideout at Saffron Hill that he shares with many other young pickpockets and their eccentric elderly leader, Fagin. Soon, Oliver is being groomed to join their gang. On his first outing with the pickpockets, two of the boys steal a man’s handkerchief and Oliver is framed. However he is proven innocent by an eyewitness, and the owner of the handkerchief (the wealthy Mr. Brownlow) takes pity on Oliver, who had collapsed from a fever in the courtroom. Brownlow, believing that Oliver is innocent, informally adopts him, giving him new clothes and the promise of a good education. However, while out running an errand for Brownlow, Oliver is forcibly returned to the pickpocket gang by Fagin’s associate, the evil Bill Sikes, and the young prostitute Nancy (who is in a complex and abusive relationship with Sikes). Fagin and Sikes worried that Oliver would "peach," and tell the authorities about their criminal activity. Oliver is put under supervision until Bill Sikes discovers the boy’s connection to the rich Mr. Brownlow. During midnight, Sikes and his accomplice, Toby Crackit, force Oliver to aid them in robbing Brownlow’s house. They are discovered and Oliver is wounded in a brief shootout between Brownlow and Sikes. As the three escape, Bill decides to murder Oliver to ensure his silence, but falls into a nearby river before he can take action. Sikes survives his near-drowning, but is confined to bed with a heavy fever. Fagin, despite treating Oliver kindly, remains crime-focused and plots with Sikes to kill Oliver when Sikes has recovered. Nancy has a maternal love for Oliver and does not want to see him hurt, but she is controlled by the abusive Sikes. She drugs Bill, and goes to Brownlow’s house where she arranges to have him meet her on London Bridge at midnight so she can provide information about Oliver. At the meeting, Nancy cautiously reveals that Oliver is staying with Fagin, and that the authorities will easily find them. Brownlow leaves to call the police. The Artful Dodger, who had been sent by a suspicious Fagin to spy on Nancy, had heard everything and is bullied by Bill Sikes to give up the information. Sikes is furious at Nancy’s betrayal, and brutally beats her to death in their apartment. The next day, information about Oliver and Fagin appear in the newspaper, along with Nancy’s murder and Sikes is a suspect. Sikes’s ever-present dog, Bullseye, is a dead giveaway to his identity. After unsuccessfully trying to kill the dog, Sikes takes up residence with Toby Crackit. Fagin, Oliver, and the boys are hiding there too, after escaping their previous location before the police could find it. Bullseye escapes his master’s cruelty, and leads a group of police and locals to the group’s hideout. Eventually, Dodger, outraged at Sikes for killing the good-hearted Nancy, reveals their location to authorities. Bill Sikes takes Oliver onto the roof, knowing they won't shoot if the boy is with him. When trying to scale the building using a rope, Sikes, distracted by his dog, loses his footing and accidentally hangs himself to death. Some time later, Oliver is living comfortably with Mr. Brownlow again. Fagin was arrested for his pick pocketing actions, and Oliver wishes to visit him in jail. Brownlow takes him to the prison, where they find Fagin ranting and wailing in his cell. Oliver is distraught at Fagin’s fate, as he had been something of a father figure to him. Oliver tells Fagin "You were kind to me," but soon, their bond breaks when a policeman initially tells Oliver to leave, thinking that Fagin can play tricks on the boy's innocent mind, and wanting to escape execution. As Mr. Brownlow escorts a tearful Oliver to his own carriage, gallows are being set up in the courtyard. Townspeople begin to gather to watch Fagin’s execution, while Mr Brownlow and Oliver leave to start their new lives afresh.

tragedy, murder

train

wikipedia

It is one of my all time favorite stories and plays and I have been disappointed with the past Oliver Twist films. Also, finely performed were the parts of the artful dodger (Harry Eden), Mr Brownlowe (Edward Hardwicke) and of course Oliver Twist (Barney Clarke). The cinematography is as accomplished as always in a Polanski film and the lighting helped to create dramatic moods well.All in all a very competent and entertaining version with great acting, a fine pace and an outstanding final scene of Fagin finished and soon to face death gripping hold of Oliver tightly. This time honoured story by one of the world's greatest writers has been given excellent treatment by a fantastic director.First, the acting is quite good, not just as one would expect from Ben Kingsley (who out does himself as the scheming cantankerous Fagin), but from the child actors as well, most notably Barney Clark and Harry Eden (who play Twist and Dodger, respectively). Polanski has reworked the story and taken out the 19th century coincidences, e.g., the highly improbable fact that Oliver is Brownlow's grandson and the business with the portrait of Oliver's mother, given the old tale a fresh coat of paint with new amazing character actors such as Leanne Rowe, a young and thoroughly charming Nancy, Henry Eden, a scamp of a Dodger, Jamie Forman, a repulsive Bill Sykes with no redeeming features whatsoever and the veteran Edward Hardwicke as Brownlow. Add to the acting the coherent script and the three dimensional characters, the romantic goodbye scene in jail between Oliver and Fagin, and one could definitely say that the film contains all the elements of a sensitive and well made movie.. As Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist includes many more characters and subplots than can be fit into a just-over-2-hours film . This version narrows down and streamlines the story to focus on misfortunes of Oliver , the Artful Dodger , scheming Fagin , evilness by fearful Bill Sykes , Nancy , Mr. Brownlow and other criminal elements of London . The idea of making a new version of Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" was suggested by Emmanuelle Seigne r, director Roman Polanski's wife , while he was looking for a plot that their children would find interesting. Oliver is wounded, while Mr. Brownlow tries to save Oliver.Roman Polanski's version of Oliver Twist is another great adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens novel. Just look at the credentials - Roman Polanski directing Ben Kingsley in an adaptation of Charles Dickens' OLIVER TWIST - sadly it fails to deliver on this fabulous premise.This must rank as the lamest Polanski film after the horrible PIRATES (1986). The film is brimming with magnificent performances - among them, Sir Ben Kingsley as a pitiable Fagin, a pitch-perfect Barney Clark as Oliver, Jamie Foreman as a terrifying Bill Sykes. Adapted from the classic Dickens tale, Oliver Twist is the story of an idealistic orphan struggling to survive in a savage adult world. Here he falls in with a band of pickpockets led by Fagin (Ben Kingsley) - a central character typifying hypocrisy, greed and cunning - but finds salvation in the form of Mr Brownlow (Edward Hardwicke) who recognizes the goodness in Oliver and endeavors to extract him from his, albeit unsuccessful, life of thievery.As he did with his award-winning, "The Pianist", Polanksi drew on his own life experiences as an orphan in the ghettos in World War II to recreate certain moods. The result is a foul, exploitative, groveling survivor –a desperate and pitiful villain, but not a completely heartless one.The elimination of many of the twists of the novel means that this film may disappoint viewers familiar with the intriguing undercurrents of Dickens' plot and richness of his characters' and their relationships. The only incredible discovery that Oliver makes in this version is that there is a better life to either the workhouse or the den of thieves.While adaptation to film necessitates simplification of the story and as Polanksi points out "For today's taste, you need to abandon a certain amount of melodrama that was very typical for the period", it is easy to feel that in this paring down we have been left with an entertaining adventure set in 19th century Britain. Eden has already appeared in many movies (Pure, Peter Pan) and knows how to act sincerely without overdoing and exaggerating things.By leaving the characters and taking a closer look at the story itself, I have to acknowledge the visual accomplishments of Polanski's adaptation. The pace of story developments is very subtle and sometimes too slow, the dramatic developments could have been made more straightforward, with more captivating climaxes and less pauses between them.Oliver Twist has never really been a children's story in its most common sense, and Polanski's version is also not necessarily suited for the faint-hearted. The camera work and the visuals are very persuasive, the settings are authentic and detailed; all that lacks to make Oliver Twist a masterpiece is a too indifferent performance by Barney Clark and an occasionally too slow pace of dramatic developments. So much was artificial and though much was made of the fact that the largest set constructed for many years had been created in Prague, I wonder why they bothered?To see a true representation of this great novel, and a brilliant reconstruction of Dicken's London, look no further than David Lean's masterly 1948 version, now available as a remastered DVD. If you want to watch a proper version of this novel watch David Leans or if you want a good time watch the musical either is better than this dogs dinner of a movie.. Even though most film adaptations of novels can never totally capture the essence of a story the way the original author of the book does, Roman Polanski's film adaptation of "Oliver Twist" does not disappoint. The direction, costumes, music, and beginning of the movie were also very good.One element of the film that I did not particularly enjoy was the lack of character development for the others (save Nancy and Sykes). Oliver (Barney Clark) escapes from a bad chimney-sweeper stepfather following a stint at a workhouse, walks 70 miles to London, and exhausted and with bad feet is taken in by the "artful dodger" and his quasi father figure: Fagin (Ben Kingsley, a natural for a character archetypal with little subtle moments in the big expressions), a pickpocketer who teaches his little minions how to pickpocket for him. Like pieces to a precise form, Oliver Twist pits these characters in a story of conscience in a world gone to the dogs, and where justice is always solved with a hanging.While (according to those who have read the book, which unfortunately I have not) the movie strays from the book in the second half, it doesn't really feel compromised in Polanski's hands. Beneath the side of the story that (obviously) contains statements about London's tragedies and the little notes of crime in the underworld with the likes of Sykes, Oliver Twist strikes best when it's an emotional tale, with those who come close to Oliver as really strong figures of strength (hence the final scene with Oliver and Fagin being one of the best in any Polanski film).There are little squabbles to be had with such a huge and sprawling production, but not many. If you love "Oliver Twist" and want nothing more than a very straightforward retelling of the Dickens classic, you will be well served by this movie. In this regard, Polanski remains faithful, but he never should have made Oliver the true focus of his film.The movie looks great. Roman Polanski, a talented actor and director, after his mega popular THE PIANIST with Adrien Brody made a movie based on Charles Dickens' tale, OLIVER TWIST. Although Polanski is not my favorite director, I went to see the movie since I read the book as a child, liked it much and wanted to see to what extend the adaptation fits to the original work by Dickens. However, I saw something else throughout the film - the answer which Polanski gave in an interview when asked why it was OLIVER TWIST and not another movie he wanted to make after THE PIANIST ... always remain yourself even if the world badly desires to change you and kill your dreams, BE YOURSELF, ONE DAY LIFE WILL SMILE AT YOU.OLIVER TWIST is worth a look for both Dickens and Polanski fans. If Roman Polanski proves one thing with this, his 2005 adaptation of Dickens' Oliver Twist, it's that the lasting allure of such a text plus abiding charm of said tale is very much still apparent and that such a story can still be told, years later, in an engaging and exciting manner. Oliver Twist turned out to be good adaptation, at parts abbreviated and reductive but very fair to this period of history with all its social problems and that's the most important to Dickens' atmosphere and bright ideas personified in his characters. Finally, it is worth to mention another very good performance of Harry Eden as Artful Dodger and remarkable work of all actors who played supporting characters.Although most of the audience clearly were disappointed (no visual effects and explosions, no swearing or sexual references) I found Oliver Twist one of the best films I have seen this year. I think that was a grand idea by the screenwriter to remake such a famous story like "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens and to actually not only make it better and more interesting but darker and more sinister. Master Charles Bates (was this a pun even then?) Bad Bill Sikes, who shows the darker edge to all of this dangerous fun, and the innocent & pure Oliver Twist, who is the very definition of nature over nurture.A great movie, just like the book. As competent a film as Polanski's "Oliver Twist" is, it has a few liabilities: like the fact that a lot of viewers are mentally comparing it to David Lean's version (1948) and the stupendous Lionel Bart musical (or rather operatic) version by Carol Reed (1968). Ben Kingsley's efforts as Fagin can only pale when compared to Alec Guinness' and Ron Moody's and the same goes for every other character (especially the Oliver character who acts like a wooden Pinocchio puppet who doesn't come to life until the very last scene). The only new scene in this version is the final jail cell confrontation of Oliver and Fagin which is heartbreaking - if a tad too morose for children viewers - and which probably exorcises Polanski's demons rather than Dickens' own.. Overall this is a very pleasant and well-made film, if you are a fan of Polanski, Dickens or Twist then you would need no prompting, but if you think that the "Story" just isn't your type, then you are truly missing out and this movie deserves to be asking for More.. The book has been read by generations of children and adults and there have been TV and film adaptations aplenty.The most well remembered version is the musical Oliver! with Mark Lester, Oliver Reed and Ron Moody.Roman Polanski has dared to do a slightly different adaptation, he keeps faith with Dickens expression of the brutality of Victorian life for the have nots and the wretched.When Oliver meets Fagin we get a homage to the musical Oliver as Fagin teaches him how to pick a pocket or two.What is strange is the narrative moves rather rapidly from Fagin's gang to him being taken care of by the kindly Mr Brownlow to being snatched by Sykes.Jamie Foreman seems to have been miscast as Sykes, a big man but seems to lack menace even though his father was a real life London villain.I felt Mark Strong would had been an interesting Sykes but he plays another character in this film.Kingsley has the difficult job of re-interpreting Fagin by I think he does a functional job, Ron Moody is still tops.Barney Clark has the face for Oliver and holds the film together well as the unfortunate orphan.. When you have read classic novel like Oliver Twist in your childhood , the excitement pumps up in your vein to watch the movie which is directed by none other Roman Polanski. Oliver Twist delivers and delivers very well.Based on classic novel by Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist describes the story of an orphan who lands up in bad company of a cruel and cunning , Fagin( played brilliantly by Ben Kingsley) where he learns to steal for living. Charles Dickens's novel of Oliver Twist has been adapted for the screen a number of times, but rather than simply returning time and again to the source novel successive versions have taken cues from each other, gradually refining the tale over the centuries. I remember all too well turning to my friend Katrina as we left our local cinema, and asking: "Did we just watch the 1968 musical without the singing?" To which she replied with a smile and a puzzled look on her face: "Actually, I think we did!"The Plot: The traditional tale by 19th century author, Charles Dickens, of a young orphan by the name of Oliver who unfortunately and innocently stumbles upon a life of crime in London. (Charles Dickens)Here's an impressive new version of the well worn but worn well classic tale about the orphan boy who "asked for more" in the gruesome Orphanage, later flees to London and meets up with the sinister Fagin who runs a gang of child pickpockets lead by The Artful Dodger. Also much of the Dickens droll humour which lightens the grim situations is in the written word, often lost in translation to film.So Roman Polanski, that brilliant if sometimes quirky director, has done a truly remarkable job with his Oliver Twist. The other stock British character players in the new film all look and perform splendidly to add the "Dickens image" to the story.It is some 35 years since a feature length Oliver Twist has been filmed. It would be quite hard for a film version of the best known of Charles Dickens' novels to play out badly, especially with Roman Polanski at the helm. What when cannot possibly deduce from the trailer is that Oliver Twist doesn't really reach a climax in any certain point and I think this is its main drawback.The story is beautifully depicted and one sees a nice picture of past centuries' London, the story is very interesting, but not a great amount of intensity is added to it by Polanski.Certainly worth watching, but unfortunately not the masterpiece one could have expected from the Dickens-Polanski combination of its creation.. But I was completely wrong, I'm glad to say.Roman Polanski is a true genius, and he certainly does a great job adapting Charles Dickens' classic tale onto the big screen. I think that Oliver Twist is a decent piece of work, Roman Polanski did another very decent movie. The film is set in 19th century London, England and is about a young orphan boy named Oliver Twist. Oliver Twist has good direction, a good adapted screenplay, good performances by the entire cast, good original music, good cinematography, good film editing, good production design, good art and set decoration and costumes. The film's director Roman Polanski successfully adapts the story to the big screen and does a very good job of it. Oliver Twist is an entertaining film that is also very good looking with it's sets and costumes and is well directed as well. Overall this version of Oliver Twist is an entertaining and captivating film with a good look and feel to it as well. Oliver Twist, the main character of this movie, is an orphan in early 19th century England who escapes from his rude undertaker employer and goes to London where he's taken in by a group of pickpockets lead by Fagin. Roman Polanski's adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist is genius as it has far reaching insight. Roman Polanski's new 'Oliver Twist' movie was extremely well done. The new and slightly improved Dickens classic is rather dark but very effective, Roman Polanski has painted a stark, and provocative image of Victorian era London as young orphan Oliver Twist has a number of close shaves with villains galore until he is finally taken in by a caring family, but must still face the hardships of the crooks who want him back. I'm reading "Great Expectations" at the moment, which is also heart-whelming and I think I can understand why this boy Oliver Twist is so inspiring.Charles Dickens had a beautiful and unique way of writing; and people from all over the world have tried to adapt his novels so we can see them come to life. Full of life they appear one by one, Barney Clark as Oliver, Jamie Foreman as Bill Sykes, Leanne Rowe as Nancy, Harry Eden as Dodger and a delightful Ben Kingsley as Fagin.Maybe Polanski's "Oliver Twist" is not as good as other children films, like Alfonso Cuarón's flawless "A little princess", or "Charlie and the chocolate factory" and "Matilda", based on books by another famous author; but it is good, funny and charming. An excellent movie version of "Oliver Twist" !!! "Please sir, may I have some more?" Ah, the immortal line from Charles Dickens' classic, from the book Oliver Twist, telling the story of an orphaned boy, with sheer incredible luck and a melancholic, likable face. For the first half of this "Oliver Twist" I thought that Roman Polanski had chosen to do yet another version of the Dickens tale because kids today tend not to watch black and white films so won't see David Lean's classic and a movie provides a Cliffnotes take on a plot for kids with short attention spans so get restless with the mini-series adaptations that have captured the story more fully.This first half has wonderful character actors with distinctive faces that match Dickens's names and colorful descriptions as bureaucrats and hypocrites are humorously pilloried. I don't know why Roman Polanski decided to make another version of the Charles Dickens classic novel Oliver Twist.

tt0122690

Ronin

In a Montmartre, Paris café, an Irish woman named Deirdre (Natascha McElhone) meets five men, taking them to a warehouse and briefing them on a mission. The men, Spence (Sean Bean), Larry (Skipp Sudduth), Gregor (Stellan Skarsgård), Vincent (Jean Reno) and Sam (Robert De Niro), are all former Special Forces soldiers or intelligence operatives now working as mercenaries. The team are planning to attack a heavily-armed convoy and steal a suitcase, its contents unknown (a MacGuffin). Following the briefing, the team begins assembling their equipment. Deirdre meets with her handler Seamus (Jonathan Pryce), who reveals that Russian gangsters are bidding for the case and that the team must act quickly to intercept it.The team goes over the plan with Deirdre. Vincent will provide the team with any technology they need, including vehicles with modified engines. Spence is a weapons expert who sets up an exchange for the team. He, Sam, Vincent and Larry meet Spence's contacts under the Pont Alexandre III (Bridge of Alexander III) on the Seine. When Spence talks to the dealers, he's dismayed to find that they brought only half the weaponry he'd ordered. The other half is allegedly in another car on the other side of the bridge. Sam immediately smells a trap but agrees to accompany Spence for protection. As they approach the dealers' shady boss, a fat man in an overcoat, Sam sees a sniper hiding in the rafting of the bridge and shoots him. The rest of the dealers open fire while Spence, Vincent and Sam return it. Larry picks them up after securing the cases and the team roars off at high speed. When they determine they're not being pursued, they pull off the street, allowing Spence to exit the car and vomit. Vincent asks Sam why he took the job and Sam tells him he needs the money. He and Vincent share a knowing smile.Later at the warehouse, Spence is exposed as a fraud when he offers an incompetent plan of attack and is summarily released from the team. Deirdre informs them that they'll capture the case near Nice. The team departs for Nice, where for the next several days they observe the convoy and plan an ambush. During their surveillance, Deirdre and Sam pose as husband and wife and grow somewhat close. Sam observes that security surrounding the man carrying the case is airtight and that he keeps it handcuffed to his wrist at all times.The team engages the convoy and pursues them through the surrounding highways in the country. After a lengthy car chase and gun battle, they successfully obtain the case, but Gregor betrays the team and switches the case with another, identical case that explodes, seriously injuring Larry. Gregor disappears.Gregor attempts to sell the case to the Russians but when his contact pulls a gun, he shoots the Russian contact and kills him. Gregor contacts Mikhi, the leader of the Russians and threatens to sell the case to the Irish unless Mikhi pays a grossly inflated price for it, which Mikhi agrees to. Meanwhile, the rest of the team track Gregor through one of Sam's old CIA contacts and corner him in the Roman arena in Arles, where he is meeting the Russians. A tense standoff and hectic gun fight follows as Deirdre, Sam, and Vincent attempt to capture Gregor while the Russians try to kill them. In the melee that follows, Vincent comes face-to-face with a man he recognizes from a previous job and is nearly shot. The man is distracted by Sam and his bullet ricochets off the stone wall and hits Sam in his abdomen. Vincent shoots and kills the man instantly. Gregor escapes the coliseum. As he runs from the arena, he is intercepted and captured by Seamus, who has already killed Larry. They escape with Deirdre at the wheel just as Sam and Vincent emerge from the coliseum.Vincent takes Sam, who was seriously wounded by the stray bullet during the fight, to his friend Jean-Pierre (Michael Lonsdale) in a villa in rural France. Vincent removes the bullet and allows Sam a day or two to recuperate. Vincent asks Jean-Pierre to help him locate Gregor, Deirdre and Seamus. Meanwhile, in a Paris slum, Seamus learns that Gregor has mailed the case to himself at a post office in Paris. Seamus and Deirdre escort Gregor to the post office where they retrieve the case, and they are ambushed by Vincent and Sam. Sam, feeling a bit of closeness with Deirdre, hesitates when he could have stopped her escape by shooting her; she gets away and picks up Seamus and Gregor. During the high-speed chase that follows, they drive the wrong way against traffic and through the streets and tunnels of Paris. Vincent finally shoots out one of Deirdre's tires. The care crashes and falls over the unfinished end of a highway overpass. Construction workers pull the three from the car shortly before it explodes, but Gregor once again escapes with the case.Vincent and Sam, considering their options, discover that the case is identical to one used by figure skaters. They surmise that Gregor had been working with the Russians all along and that they had made the decoyed case for him. They conclude that if they can find the Russians Gregor plans to sell the case to, they'll find Gregor.Intelligence gleaned from Jean-Pierre's contacts also suggest the Russians are involved with figure skater Natacha Kirilova (Katarina Witt), a protégé of Mikhi, who is performing in a show at the local arena that night. Vincent and Sam appear at the arena as Mikhi, already there with Natacha, receives a call from Gregor, who demands to meet in a backstage broadcasting room. At the meeting, Mikhi exchanges money for the case when Gregor, prepared to leave, reveals that he has positioned a sniper somewhere in the arena that will shoot Natacha if Gregor is betrayed before he can leave safely. Mikhi shoots Gregor anyway, and Natacha is also killed by the sniper. Mikhi and his bodyguard leave the arena with both the case and his money, blending in with the panicked crowd fleeing the arena. Vincent and Sam follow the crowd out of the arena in time to see Seamus, disguised as an arena security guard, ambush and shoot Mikhi and his bodyguard before stealing the case. Sam runs ahead of Seamus and finds Deirdre sitting in the getaway car, where he encourages her to leave. He reveals that he is after Seamus, not her and that he'd never actually left the CIA. Deirdre hesitates and asks him to leave with her, but he refuses, and she flees, leaving Seamus. Seamus' exit is blocked by the crowds. Sam and Vincent confront Seamus, but are momentarily distracted by the security guards, and Seamus shoots Vincent. He escapes through the crowd back into the arena building. Sam pursues him. Seamus wounds Sam and is about to kill him when Vincent opens fire from scaffolding above the arena, killing Seamus before collapsing from his own wounds.Some time later a BBC radio broadcast reveals that, as a result of stability resulting from the death of the terrorist Seamus, a peace agreement has been reached between Sinn Féin and the British. Sam and Vincent share a drink in the same Montmartre café from the first scene. Vincent tells Sam that Deirdre will not be returning to the cafe. He asks Sam what was in the case. Sam replies, "I don't remember." They part as friends and Sam drives off with his CIA contact. Vincent disappears up a staircase into the streets of Paris.

mystery, neo noir, murder, violence, action, suspenseful

train

imdb

Ronin returns to the gritty, rustic and deadly serious actioners of the Seventies, much like Frankenheimer's own French Connection 2.The title refers to Samurai warriors in ancient Japan who were left with no cause, or purpose, if their master was killed. Simultaneously lonely, seductive and mysterious, it surely is one of the best themes ever and anyone with sense would go out and buy the soundtrack CD right away.Ronin is perfection from beginning to end, from Frankenheimer's strong, imposing direction to David Mamet's script, riddled with cryptic dialogue and double-meanings.No one can deny Ronin's importance as a real action picture. If you're sick of action flicks, or films in general, where the audience just sits there passively and is fed information, then Ronin is the cure.It may sound like a bizarre comparison, but it's on par with Lost Highway, as one of those movies you have to figure out in your own damn time.. "Ronin" is one of those rare action films like "The French Connection" and "To Live and Die in L.A." that will keep a viewer watching from beginning to end. All of the key characters deserve a lot of credit, ranging from De Niro, Reno, McElhrone, Pryce, Skarsgard, and especially, Michael Lonsdale, who fills in the missing link with such detail and looks like he made the little samurai action figures with extreme care. The best scene of the film isn't the shootouts or car chases, it's the conservation that Sam (De Niro) and Jean-Pierre (Lonsdale) have over the Ronin myth. However, it's an outstanding film, exploring the characters with a huge action movie in the background.It's visually interesting and doesn't ever let you know the things you think you need to know, but by the end you've forgotten that you wanted to know them in the first place. The movie begins with a bunch of international mercenaries, five to be exact, gathering in a bistro in Paris… Working only for money, their job was strictly to take intact a metal suitcase from several men—very well armed— who'll be intent on preventing them… No information was given about its contents, value or purpose… An extraordinary cast of actors forms the group:Robert De Niro, the ex-CIA agent and expert strategist; Jean Reno, the French mercenary; Stellan Skarsgard, the mysterious computer professional; Sean Bean, the ace field man; and Skipp Sudduth, the specialist in driving getaway cars… Dierdre (Natascha McElhone) is the icy Irishwoman who explains the mission, but she is not necessarily the one fully in charge… It seems that the 'handler' who pulls the strings is an Irish fugitive called Seamus (Jonathan Pryce). The film becomes tense and very exciting when one of the five members double-crosses the rest of the team, replacing the suitcase and leaving with the one they got… Here appears a mysterious man— apparently in love with Natacha Kirilova played by Katarina Witt, the East German figure skater, 4-time world champion—interested in the suitcase… "Ronin" combines exotic European locations with the most sophisticated movie car chase ever filmed on a superhighway when McElhone takes her black BMW through the wrong lanes followed by De Niro in a blue FWD Peugeot… De Niro is great to watch as the tough Sam, who remains cool regardless of the peril of the operation… Equally not susceptible to alarm are Skarsgard and Reno… Natascha McElhone brings a chilling, glacial quality to the role of the forceful woman not afraid of anything… Frankenheimer doesn't recapture the intensity he once created in movies like "The Manchurian Candidate," and the "French Connection". Provacateuse Deirdre (McElhone) assembles ex-Cold Warriors who are at loose ends to do a single job: retrieve a case "from several men who will be intent on preventing us." The crew includes French scrounger Vincent (Reno), American driver Larry (Sudduth), English gunman Spence (Bean), Russian computer whiz Gregor (Skarsgard) & American tough guy Sam (DeNiro). To give you an idea of what to expect I regard the scenes where it is just Reno and De Niro to be ten times better than Paccino and De Niro in 'Heat' (which is arguably the greatest Thriller/action movie ever made). The car chases surpass the racing scenes from his 'Grand Prix' and there is some of the best acting we have seen from one of his casts in this film. You should probably see the movie for the acting itself, and for the tension between the characters that fluctuates as you go through the scenes.This is the single best real-life spy movie I've ever seen (as opposed to high tech/high action spy movies like James Bond / Bourne series).Reno and De Niro made a great roles here, but so did McElhone and Skarsgard.The whole plot is about a chase after a suitcase, or at least it seems so. When a friend told me it was the best car chase ever, I thought, "This guy haven't seeing "Bullit", but I was wrong, and he was right, the angle that they shoot the chase sequences, make that seem really dangerous, we always expect them to crash, it look so real.The acting, as you expected from De Niro, Reno and Stellan Skarsgård, is really great, but De Niro deserves attention, he appears always safe about what he is doing, which strengthens the idea of him being so wise, and experienced. Jean Reno is also credible as his French accomplice, while there are notable performances from Stellan Skaarsgard and Sean Bean.The best sequences, by far, during the movie are the car-chases, which are brilliantly filmed all the way around France. (Between 80 and 90 percent of those comments were basically positive.) Although Robert De Niro and Jean Reno were the only two actors in the film who definitely had more on-screen time than Natascha McElhone, (Dierdre, the chase car driver from HELL!) around 20 reviewers commented on other actors, whose on-screen time wasn't half that of hers. (Except that Natascha McElhone looks like she has never driven fast in her life!)" Well, all I can say is, after having screened the scene at least a dozen times, it seems to me that this reviewer was watching a different RONIN! Apparently, all this tends to bear out the title of this review..."Clothed women in Action films are invisible to male viewers!"Sad, because RONIN has a lot more to offer than just the chase scenes. There also are tons of twists to this crime story.It also features a wonderful international cast" American Robert De Niro, Frenchman Jean Reno, Britain's Sean Bean and Natascha McElhone (both of whom are better playing Irishmen, as they do here) and Swede Stellan Skargsgard. A woman called Deirdre (Natascha McElhone) assembles a team of professional mercenaries (Robert De Niro, Jean Reno , Sean Bean , Stellan Skarsgård , Skipp Sudduth , among others) from all over the world , they are specialists of every kind , whose services are available to everyone at exchange of money . These mercenaries are like Ronin , in Japan ,"Ronin" (coming soon a film starred by Keanu Reeves titled 47 Ronin) means a Samurai without master .This exciting espionage picture packs noisy action , thrills , car pursuits , and spectacular outdoors from France such as Arles , Nice , Cannes and Paris . Very good support cast such as Stellan Skarsgård as Gregor , Sean Bean , Jonathan Pryce , Michael Lonsdale , Jan Triska , Feodor Akine , Amidou and Skipp Sudduth requested to do his own stunt driving during the car chases and John Frankenheimer agreed . He took another opportunity to change to the big screen , collaborating with Burt Lancaster in The Young Savages (1961) and Birdman of Alcatraz (62) ending up becoming a successful director well-known by his skills with actors and expressing on movies his views on important social deeds and philosophical events and film-making some classics as ¨The Manchurian candidate¨, ¨Seven days of May¨ and ¨The Train¨ and , in addition , ¨Grand Prix¨ also with great car races . I don't think it's quite fair to criticize it for what it is not, such as saying that it's a poor film because there are movies out there with better car chases.I saw it at the theatre and thought it was OK, saw it on video expecting to be more disappointed, and actually liked it better the second time.I don't think the plot is as difficult to understand as some might claim. I think not, they used them all.I could go on all day about the other errors, inconsistencies and, but I've got better things to do than waste any more time on this piece of rubbish, I just had to write because I wanted to see some more alternatives to the mostly "YEAH, GREAT LIKE ACTION AN CARS AN SHOOTIN AN STUFF" simple-minded 'reviews'.([email protected]). This international intrigue thriller set in France has all the usual Hollywood action excesses (car chases ad nauseam, stunts, pyro, firefights, etc.), and excellent cast, and even a bit of a story which keeps us, the audience, wondering what's in the case, why do they want it, etc. The plot circles around five former agents (Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Stellan Skarsgard, Sean Bean and Skip Sudduth) hired by a fine Irish lass to steal a case for her. As I said before this is a great action film, with some of the most spectacular car chases I've seen.I'd recommend it to anyone. Ronin takes place in France stars Robert DeNiro as Sam, who is among couple of others (which include Stellan Skarsgård and Jean Reno) hired by one mysterious female to get one briefcase and bring its content to that female (and her superiors which remain anonymous) without asking too many questions. The direction is excellent during these scenes - highlighting the speed, danger and narrowness of the streets, the only criticism would be the camera lingering on several multiple pileups in the wake of the action, these made me feel like I was watching the Blues Brothers or Cannonball Run rather than a thriller.The characters are good, if a little stereotyped. Movie has an international feel to it with actors from multiple countries with Robert DeNiro(USA), Jean Reno(France), Jonathan Pryce(Wales, but playing Irish), Stellan Skarsgards(Sweden, but playing Russian) and Sean Bean(UK).The chase scenes are the best chase scenes in any movie you're going to see. They manage to have some of the best car chases and action scenes of any film I've seen in a long time without sacrificing the story as some films do. The Direction is Neat, The Cinematography is Stunning, The Performances are Impressive & the Screenplay, is it's biggest & best merit.'Ronin' stars Robert De Niro and Jean Reno as two of several former special forces and intelligence agents who team up to steal a mysterious, heavily guarded suitcase while navigating a maze of shifting loyalties and alliances.'Ronin' catches your attention from the word GO. RONIN is somewhat better than the average action film, as it focuses more on the development of the characters and the storyline than most movies in this genre. Screenwriter David Mamet (writing under the pseudonym Richard Weisz) went to great lengths to avoid the many annoying clichés found in this genre, and even throws in a Hitchcock-styled McGuffin (as seen in PULP FICTION and MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE III, to name a few) for good measure.The acting is a large part of what sets this movie apart from many of its kind, as the all-star ensemble of Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno, Sean Bean, Stellan Skarsgard, and Natascha McElhone do remarkable well in a genre that doesn't usually require much in the way of acting.Cinematographer Robert Fraisse also did well to infuse a sort of noir element in this movie. I cannot remember the last time a movie featuring the flamboyant city of Paris looked so devoid of flair and colour.Bottom line: There's plenty to be had in RONIN; lots of action for the visceral action fans, excellent dialogue and acting, a great screenplay, decent storyline, and good music. This film will mainly be known for it's great action scenes and it's memorable car chase. The team is assembled by an Irish woman named Deirdre (Natasha McElhone) which includes an ex-CIA intelligence officer named Sam (Robert De Niro), a computer expert (Stellan Skarsgard), a fast getaway driver (Skipp Sudduth), a French man who knows how to track down anything and everything (Jean Reno), and a former IRA weapons expert (Sean Bean).The film is gritty and played out with a realistic hand due to Frankenheimer's constant vision of keeping things real, and not using any kind of CGI-trickery. Much like 1994's The Professional (another film about a gun for hire, which also stars Jean Reno), Ronin is exciting, entertaining, well acted, well scripted and doesn't ask you to buy into preposterous events in order to get some sort of satisfaction out of enjoying the film; you buy it whole sale from the beginning and it never cheats you out of its believability.The film features two absolutely amazing car chases, which have now become a part of film history, ranking up there with Bullit and The French Connection, and also went on to inspire such films as The Bourne Identity and Supremacy. It's a good ending in terms of where it leads you as a viewer, it just doesn't bear up to analysis well.The Paris-in-winter vibe, which director John Frankenheimer mentions in his worthwhile commentary as a critical element in what he wanted to bring to the film, is nicely done, as are the realistic car chases and street-side shoot-outs where innocent bystanders get hit in the crossfire. All too routine, and more than a tad silly, but the film is mostly saved from self-parody by the excellent cast (standouts include Robert de Niro, Natascha McElhone and the always-wonderful Jean Reno), beautiful, fluid location camerawork, and superb stunt sequences, all under the veteran direction of John Frankenheimer. Like spiritual cousins "Bullitt" and "The French Connection", "Ronin" features gritty, realistic settings, handsome actors exuding an air of rumpled coolness, attention to procedural detail and the insertion of a cracking good car chase whenever the action threatens to flag. In fact, one could imagine an even-older master such as John Huston being the director.In contrast to other new films such as "Mission: Impossible" or "The Saint" it does not pander to a young audience with "coolness".What "Ronin" does offer is what almost all James Bond movies promise but fail to deliver: roller-coaster car chases, erotic suspense, spectacular scenery, witty dialogue, and above all a super-luxury cast with magnetic attraction.Another wonderful trait of Frankenheimer is his attention to detail: no sloppy cuts, no circular dialogue, no stupid special effects.The only thing missing in this eminently entertaining film is more women.. The only good thing that I will say about this movie is that it would be great for a beginning film student who wants to make action movies: Every basic shot, angle and result of a car chase is covered, including cars that explode for no reason. Natascha McElhone's Deirdre is a developed enough in her own way femme fatale that is thrown into the mix and Frankenheimer finishes his car chases explosively rather than blow everything up along the way alá Michael Bay. This is Ronin; this is a two hour, but never feeling like it, thrill ride of suspense; action; twists and turns tackling issues of identity and mindset amongst a then changing world order; the likes of which are rarely seen these days.. With lots of bloody shoot-outs and some incredible chase scenes that rival the famed "The French Connection" one, this movie is slam-bang full of suspense and action.Set in the French Riviera (finally, a movie set in St. Tropez and Nice without any topless beach scenes) and with an international cast led by Robert DeNiro and Frenchman Jean Reno, the story involves a group of the best hitmen in the world hired by an mysterious Irish woman named Deidre (Natasha McElhone) to retrieve a briefcase for them. Much like Heat, the characters bring a certain depth to this movie that departs from other action thrillers.Just look at the calm way that DeNiro and McElhone fall in love. "Ronin" is an Action - Crime movie in which we watch a group of people who were hired by an anonymous person to track down and get a mysterious package that is wanted by the Irish and the Russians. I also liked the interpretation of Robert De Niro who played as Sam and I believe he was the best in this movie with Jean Reno coming second. About the direction which was made by John Frankenheimer I believe that it was just outstanding, with many action scenes, gunshots and everything I was expecting from this movie to present.To sum up, I have to say that "Ronin" is a great movie with an interesting plot that will grip you, an outstanding cast with simply amazing interpretations and an equally good direction. From 1998, Ronin is directed by John Frankenheimer and stars Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno, Jonathan Pryce, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård, and Sean Bean.The title is taken from the Japanese; it describes Samurai without a master. The chase is on.Wonderful action movie with fantastic performances all around, but especially from DeNiro and Reno. If you like car chases, you'll have a good time watching RONIN. I really enjoyed this film as it is a breath of fresh air compared to most spy-action movies out there.It has an all star cast with Robert De Niro, Jean Reno and Sean Bean to just name a few. Then I researched him to see that he also directed Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), which is another fantastic movie.To sum this film up it has great car chases, great action and a good storyline to match.8/10. In fact if you like mystery, action and a darn good yarn, or just car chases, just go buy the DVD because I guarantee it gets better every time you watch it..

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Death Wish

Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) and his wife Joanna (Hope Lange) vacation in Hawaii. They return to New York City, where Paul works as an architect.Joanna and their daughter Carol Anne (Kathleen Tolan) shop for groceries at D'Agostino's. Three hooligans (one played by Jeff Goldblum) are wreaking havoc in the supermarket. They catch Joanna's address after she asks that her groceries be delivered. They follow her to the apartment, burst in and trash the apartment. They search for money but find only $7. The hooligans then rape Carol and savagely beat Joanna, escaping scot-free.Paul's son-in-law Jack Toby (Steven Keats) calls to tell him only that Joanna and Carol are in the hospital. After waiting impatiently, Paul is told by a doctor that his daughter is okay and that she was sedated and put to bed, but his wife has died. Devastated, he is told by police that the likelihood of catching the criminals is small since his wife is dead and his daughter, the only witness, traumatized from her ordeal of being raped, cannot speak. That night, a frustrated Paul goes out for a walk and quickly encounters a mugger who attempts to rob him with a gun. Carrying a sock full of quarters, Paul swings it at the would-be-mugger and flees, narrowly escaping from being shot.The next day, Paul's boss gives him an extended business vacation to Tucson, Arizona to meet a client, Ames Jainchill (Stuart Margolin), who shows him the ropes. Paul witnesses a mock gunfight at Old Tucson, a reconstructed Western frontier town used as a movie set. At a gun club, Ames is impressed when Paul shoots near bulls-eye accuracy. He reveals that he was a "CO" (conscientious objector) during the Korean War who served his country as a combat medic. Ames drops him at the airport, slipping a little going-away present into Paul's bag.Back in New York, Paul visits Jack who tells him that his daughter is catatonic and will likely never recover. At home, Paul opens his suitcase and the gift box that Ames left him to find a nickel-plated .32 Colt Police Positive revolver. He pockets the gun and takes a stroll that night. While walking alone in Riverside Park, Paul almost immediately encounters a mugger, a doped-up ex-convict named Thomas Leroy Marston who attempts to rob him at gunpoint with a .38 Smith & Wesson Model 36 revolver. Paul shoots him with his own revolver, killing him.Shocked that he just killed a human being, Paul runs home and throws up. But his vigilantism continues the following night, when he guns down three black men (one with an afro is played by an uncredited Denzel Washington) who are robbing a defenseless old man in a vacant alley.A few nights later, two muggers see Paul on a subway, holding a bag of groceries. They attempt to rob him at knife-point but Paul shoots them both with the revolver. Paul again gets away.Another night later, Paul is sitting in a sleazy 8th Avenue coffee shop surrounded by prostitutes and assorted street people. He pays his bill to the cashier purposely revealing a wallet full of cash. He leaves followed by two black thugs, named George and Joseph, who have taken the bait. Yet again a robbery attempt is made in a subway tunnel. Paul shoots one but the other manages to stab him in his shoulder before he gets shot as well. As a wounded Paul stumbles off, the one who stabbed him gets away mortally wounded, dying at a hospital.Police Lt. Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) investigates the vigilante killings. His department narrows a list to men who have had a family member recently killed by muggers and who are war veterans. The public, meanwhile, is happy that somebody is doing something about crime.Lt. Ochoa soon suspects Paul. He is about to make an arrest when the District Attorney (Fred J. Scollay) intervenes and tells Ochoa to "let him loose" in another city instead. Ochoa doesn't like the idea, but relents.In the meantime, Paul has his daughter committed to a mental hospital in upstate New Hampshire where she will remain catatonic, possibly for life. After returning to New York, Paul hides his .32 gun in a hidden drawer in his office while adjusting (and possibly enjoying) committing murder against muggers to "clean up the city". When Paul invites Jack over for dinner, Jack cannot understand Paul's sudden and happy mood.(Note: The three muggers who murdered Paul's wife and assaulted his daughter are never seen again in the movie, so their fate is left ambiguous. Since Paul was not present during their attack, it is implied that Paul only targets random muggers to vent his frustration at not being able to find the ones who assaulted his family.)One evening, Lt. Ochoa anonymously phones Paul at his office to tip him off that the police are watching him, hoping to provoke a reaction or slip up from Paul. When Paul is briefly detained by the police after leaving his office, they do not find any gun on him and allow him to continue on his way.Aware that the police are starting to catch on to him, Paul gives them the slip by sneaking out of his apartment building through a backdoor service entrance. He goes to his office to retrieve his gun and then goes out looking for more would-be muggers where he is confronted by three street gang members in Central Park who try to mug him. Paul shoots two of them before he is wounded in his right leg by a third mugger who is armed with a .45 caliber M1911A1 pistol. Despite his wound, Paul chases the third mugger through the park, the streets, and to an industrial warehouse area where the third mugger gets away as Paul attempts to take aim at him, only to fall to the ground.Hospitalized, Paul is confronted by Ochoa after a sympathetic policeman finds Paul's revolver near the latest crime scene and gives it to the detective. Ochoa makes Paul promise to leave New York, permanently in exchange to avoid prosecution for the vigilante killings. Paul replies, "By sundown?"In the final scene, set one week later. Paul arrives in Chicago Union Station by train. Being greeted by a company representative, he notices a group of hoodlums harassing a woman. He excuses himself and helps the woman. The hoodlums make obscene gestures, but Kersey points his right hand like a gun and smiles... suggesting that his vigilantism will resume sooner or later.

revenge, cult, neo noir, murder, violence

train

imdb

Death Wish (1974) is a classic, realistic powerful cinema action drama about a men and origins of how he become one-men army type to fight against hoodlums and criminals at night on the street of New York. It's not the action-packed thrill-fest that movies like "Kill Bill" or "The Punisher" seek to be, instead it's a haunting, sometimes intoxicating look at our society's views on justice.Charles Bronson is Paul Kersey, a New York architect whose wife is killed by a group of muggers ransacking their apartment, an attack that also leaves his daughter catatonic. Kersey soon realizes the cathartic release of enacting vigilante revenge as the media reports his killings and other private citizens take action, all while police officer Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) leads a task force to capture the vigilante and stop future violence."Death Wish" was a product of its day -- a Nixon-era knee jerk reaction to rampant crime that turned out to be quite a hit. I'm sure the movie's audiences in New York, and probably across the country, enjoyed living out their revenge fantasies vicariously through Kersey.It should be said that Bronson, normally criticized as a wooden actor, gives a remarkably strong performance. One of the best favorite action movies of all time, Death Wish glitters Charles Bronson's glory famously. At present(2009) while the remake version is being filmed I have to say that; no matter who will perform Paul Kersey for the second time, he won't be able to impress us as Bronson did.Rather than Bronson's performance Death Wish has its significant themes and screenplay components which were used at almost every action/crime movie later on, thus became clichés of their genre. Charles Bronson was already a major movie star in 1974 in Europe and a top action actor in the USA but it was "Death Wish" released that year that made him the super star that he became. What's so unusual is that in the movie "Death Wish" he played a man who was a pacifist all of his life, he served in the Korean War as a conscientious objector, who then turned into the vigilante executioner! A role which Bronson has become known for and identified with more then any of the scores of actions roles that he made during his long film career.Bronson as well as director Michael Winner and writer Brian Garfield touched a raw nerve in "Death Wish" with the American people in big cities under siege like no other movie ever did before and, now some 30 years later, after. Some time later going to Arizona to do his job as a land developer for his firm in NYC he's given a .32 handgun as a gift by the person that he worked for Ames Janichill, Stuart Margolis, for the great job that he did for him.One night back home in New York City taking a stroll in the park with the gun on him Kersey is accosted by a local junkie who pulls a handgun on him but Kersey draws first and shoots and kills him. When Bernie Goetz in December 1984 gunned down four muggers, much like Charles Bronson did in the movie "Death Wish", who tried to attack him in the New York subway crime dropped a lot more then if one hundred policemen were put on the trains. Nobody can doubt now that Charles Bronson's "Death Wish" was not only a major milestone in films about urban crime but also a major milestone in what the public thinks about crime and what's best to do to stop it.. Directed by Michael Winner and starring the late Charles Bronson in the lead role, this is a gritty inner city revenge film which comes off as a competent and effective social statement.Paul Kersey (Bronson) is a liberal architect living in a not so nice, crime ridden area of the city. Kersey becomes a vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter is sexually assaulted during a break in at the family home.Few films in the 70s have the reputation that is afforded Michael Winner's Death Wish, it seems that if you like the film then you must be an advocate of fascist exploitation cinema, or if you don't like it then you are a bleeding heart liberal. If you are a fan or not, rate or hate, Death Wish is a landmark in cinema history, it's an urban nightmare as an everyman working Joe takes up arms and fights back against the slime that would take all that we hold dear, purely because they don't have it themselves.Outside of the moral questions that Death Wish throws up, the film contains a searingly brilliant turn from Charles Bronson as Kersey, a sedate hard working man reduced to being vigilante on account of a society that can't protect the honest. Before I saw Death Wish, I knew there was more than just the context of it being a starring vehicle for one of the major bad-asses of the action picture, Charles Bronson (who's best role is still the one with the least words, Once Upon a Time in the West), and that it contains the elements that would spark an entire sub-genre (for better or worse). The rest of the film unfolds as it would, at least under the circumstances of the genre.Yet within the grip of Death Wish being a genre picture (and this is something that the sequels and other lessor B films have forgotten) is that there has to be a sense of reality, and real dangers, to the film, not to mention the sort of evolution of Kersey into how he becomes- a killer, a vigilante of the scum who try to rob and threaten to kill. It starts with a chilling rape sequence - still provocative thirty years on - and develops from there into an exciting and perversely funny story of how a man whose life is affected by these disturbing events gets his revenge.New York businessman Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is devastated when his wife (Hope Lange) and daughter (Kathleen Tolan) are sexually assaulted in their own home. Near the end, Bronson's actions even seem to have driven him a bit mad, loosening his grip on reality (evidenced when he confronts the last thug and starts vacantly spouting Western cliches like they're both in "Gunfight at the OK Corral").But (and as they say, this is a BIG BUT) I can't enjoy the uncut film because the murder of Kersey's wife and the viscous rape of his daughter is simply too repulsive to watch. I think this is nonsense, since if this movie is violent, then what about others like "First Blood", "Commando" or "Rambo" just to name a few?...If one watches this movie carefully can see it´s a very likely story.Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is not a violent man at all, it´s a liberal and broad-minded architect who leads an ordinary life until his wife is murdered by some punks... The one that started it all, and of course the best, sees our unforgettable vigilante, Paul Kersey (Bronson), deliver justice to those punks at night, who like to do stick ups, and rob us innocent folk. Then he stalks the slums of N.Y. and takes the law into his own hands, searching vengeance on crooks, hoodlums, muggers, pimps making the neighborhood safer and bumping off delinquents and street scum.This first outing from the novel ¨Death wish¨ by Brian Garfield contains suspense, noisy action-packed, intrigue, thrills and lots of violence.Bronson with his usual stoic acting displays efficiently his weapon such as ¨Harry the Dirty¨ and killing mercilessly nasties .It's certainly thrilling , though the morality may be questionable , even in this time, as the spectators were clearly on the Kersey-Bronson's side . His nearly-mute daughter unable to identify her attackers, Bronson is left to stalk the streets and make a statement rather than seek revenge, capping whomever approaches him.Director Michael Winner's result was a timely and culturally pleasing comment on the good guys vs. Charlie's performance overall is abundantly subdued, but he did manage the incredible once-in-a-lifetime feat for an actor: becoming a movie-star sensation in his 50s."Death Wish" isn't a perfect film, the set-up dragging listlessly to its middle, and the shooting becoming painfully repetitive (Bronson turns, gun in pocket, blam!, ad naseum). Bronson plays Paul Kersey, a typical liberal New Yorker who struggles with his bleeding heart ideals after his family become the victims of a violent crime. But there's no doubt that Bronson attained his enduring popularity on the strength of the five films in the series.In this the original Death Wish, Charles Bronson introduces us to Paul Kersey, successful architect and family man with wife Hope Lange and married daughter Kathleen Tolan. Bronson usually plays stoic characters in his films, but in the Death Wish series he never articulates what's going on with him, but you see it in a face that was made for movie closeups in the same way that Gary Cooper's and John Wayne's faces were.A trip out west on a project brings him in touch with a different mentality about settling urban problems and the present of a 32 Caliber pistol from the man he was contracted to work for gives Bronson a whole new outlook. And Stuart Margolin as Bronson's western host who presents him with the tool of his trade is also worth noting.In 1982 Bronson finally due to a lot of audience demand and the fact that the money was too good to turn down, repeated his role of Paul Kersey in a series of Death Wish films of varying quality. Let's look more closely at the film....Charles Bronson, in his seminal role, plays mild-mannered architect Paul Kersey. INTRO Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is a successful architect who turns vigilante after his wife and daughter are ferociously attacked by a gang of violent thugs in their New York city apartment.Set in the mean streets of New York city, Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) plays a man completely overcome by the horrific assault on his family,with that his comfortable professional life comes to an abrupt end. When the police are slow to respond, Paul Kersey (Bronson) takes the law into his own hands and sets out seeking revenge by himself with a revolver, prowling for muggers on the crime ridden mean city streets at night. It's not long before he becomes a well known vigilante in the city by both the cheering residents and the sympathetic police who funny enough actually see the urban crime rate start to fall in the city.MY VIEWS Being a fan of the late, great Charles Bronson I enjoyed "Death Wish" very much with it's exciting quick pace and engaging music by Herbie Hancock, builds the tempo for a great powerful 70's classic thriller. Charles Bronson, is extremely well cast in this film as he plays a gentle professional family man Paul Kersey who is driven to complete despair when his family is set opon by savage thugs. With the help of great directing from Michael Winner this film will captivate you for the full 93mins, as the good guy (Charles Bronson) seeks revenge on the city streets stalking the muggers and thugs. Now My point is, many will tell you "Death Wish" is his masterpiece, and though I don't quite agree it's undeniably the best of the series and does show that he had hidden acting skills that unfortunately weren't tested often enough.Everyone knows the story by now: Architect Paul Kersey, when coming home from work finds that his wife and daughter have been raped. Self defense is one thing, getting revenge is one thing, taking it out on a large group of people whom despite being a problem and a nuisance, don't quite deserve death.It's a well told story, but the points it's trying to make are hard to find at first, and could have been done slightly more effectively, but it's nevertheless a pretty good movie. This is the film that Charles Bronson is best known for as a man named Paul Kersey who turns vigilante after his wife and daughter were attacked by muggers. Death Wish (1974) **** (out of 4) A mild manured Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) turns vigilante after his wife and daughter are attacked by muggers. If you like Charles Bronson and want to see him bust up some punks and like to see great revenge films with great action then watch Death Wish!. I don't think it is an accident that there is a sequence in Death Wish where Charles Bronson's character travels to a western settlement and learns there that the lessons of the wild west gunfighter had to be brought back to his crime infested home town of New York City. Both films are, or course, supremely politically incorrect; and naturally even more entertaining to watch because of this.The story follows a liberal architect from New York whose life and attitudes are turned upside down when his wife is murdered and his daughter raped by a trio of thugs. These sequences are well shot and the city of New York is a major character in this movie, it really truly had mean streets in those days.This grim, controversial film remains a thrilling watch partially because it is a well-paced and very direct crime-thriller but also because it is the kind of thing we just don't see very much of these days any more. Vigilante Man. When Michael Winner asked the late Charles Bronson if he'd like to star in his new movie 'Death Wish', about a mild mannered chap who goes on a rampage shooting scumbags when his family is attacked, Bronson replied "Id like to do that". With its violent rape scene and apparent condoning of Paul Kersey's vigilante activities, Vincent Canby of the New York Times called it "one of the sickest movies ever made", claiming that it "raises complex questions in order to offer bigoted, frivolous, oversimplified answers".The films message in enunciated best by Kersey in conversation with his wet blanket of a son in law; "What do you call people who, when they're faced with a condition of fear, run away?". Charles Bronson is too macho an actor for the role of "bleeding heart liberal" turned vigilante Paul Kersey. We follow his exploits as he continues to carry on his new found role as armed and dangerous decoy.The story continually gives us examples of just how even a well trained and hard working Police Department cannot have Cops everywhere and that it is still up to us to be prepared to defend ourselves.At the time of its initial release, there were some critics who described DEATH WISH as being gratuitously violent and having an appeal to a lynch-mob mentality. Charles Bronson, who'd enjoyed previous success in feature films prior to Death Wish, became an anti-hero of sorts in a couple dozen movies throughout the next fifteen years after its release.Bronson plays Paul Kersey, an architect who lives in a New York City apartment. Before the days of Steven Seagal and Sylvester Stallone, and before movies such as Kill Bill (2003), Taken (2008) and The Equalizer (2014), Death Wish has always been the definitive vigilante movie.Mild mannered bleeding heart architect Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) who lives a peaceful life in New York City. Kersey decides to clean up the town - to remove all thugs within the city of New York.This is a good crime thriller - and extremely graphic/violent for 1974, a forewarning to people that cannot watch extreme violence on film.If you like Death Wish the you might like: Death Wish 2 or 10 to Midnight (both films are starring Charles Bronson).8/10. Although 1974's "Death Wish" spawned a bunch of inferior sequels in the 80s, the original film stands out as an excellent drama/thriller about a "bleeding heart liberal" man, Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson), who turns to vigilanteism when his wife is murdered and his daughter turned into a vegetable by low-life scum in New York City. Architect Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is a liberal in New York City who hasn't held a gun since his father was killed in a hunting accident. A New York City architect (Charles Bronson) becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his wife (Hope Lange) is murdered by street punks in which he randomly goes out and kills would-be muggers on the mean streets after dark.Not only is this the film debut of both Jeff Goldblum and Denzel Washington, it is possibly the greatest revenge film of all time. Mild-mannered architect Charles Bronson becomes a street vigilante in New York City after his wife and daughter are attacked in their apartment. Maybe we just limit ourselves to reading the obits every day and hoping to see a name, but Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) took the step that we all have wished at one time or another that we had the guts to take.Being a liberal, opposed to the death penalty, that is hard to say, but it is true. Maybe we just limit ourselves to reading the obits every day and hoping to see a name, but Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) took the step that we all have wished at one time or another that we had the guts to take.Being a liberal, opposed to the death penalty, that is hard to say, but it is true. DEATH WISH (1974) is Bronson's best movie ever & his greatest performance as an actor & his vigilante Paul Kersey is my number 1 favourite movie character of all time!!!! Michael Winner directs this controversial & hard-hitting urban vigilante thriller that casts Charles Bronson as architect & family man Paul Kersey, whose life is shattered when his wife and daughter are viciously attacked by degenerate muggers in their apartment. Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is a land developer whose wife is killed and daughter is viciously raped by burglars in his New York City apartment. The story is rather simple, Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is a nice man who loves his wife.

tt0410097

Hustle & Flow

DJay (Terrence Howard) is a pimp and drug dealer who is dissatisfied with his life. After acquiring a keyboard and reacquainting himself with an old friend from school, Key (Anthony Anderson), who has become a sound technician, DJay decides to try his hand at making hip hop songs. Key and his sound-mixer friend Shelby (DJ Qualls) help DJay put together several "flow" songs in which he expresses the frustrations of a small-time hustler struggling to survive. DJay quickly proves to have a real talent for lyrics, and his first fixed-length song, done at the urging of his friends, appears to have a decent chance of becoming a hit and getting local radio play. The group experiences many setbacks throughout the creative process. DJay must hustle those around him in order to procure proper equipment and recording time, and Key's relationship with his wife becomes strained. DJay throws out one of his prostitutes, Lexus, along with her one-year-old son Roger, for ridiculing his art. DJay's pregnant prostitute, Shug (Taraji P. Henson), joins in the creative process, singing hooks, and the group eventually records several fixed-length tracks, including "Whoop That Trick" and their primary single "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". After their first recording, DJay falls in love with Shug. DJay's friend, Arnel (Isaac Hayes), informs him that Skinny Black (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges), a successful Memphis rapper, will be returning to the neighborhood for a Fourth of July party. DJay gains admittance to the party under the pretext of providing marijuana, with the intention of giving Skinny Black his demo tape. Black is dismissive at first, but after a long night of reminiscing DJay successfully persuades him into taking the tape. Before leaving the party, however, DJay discovers that the drunken Black has destroyed his tape, leaving it in the toilet. When DJay confronts Skinny Black, Black laughs at the idea of touring with DJay and insults him. In a fit of rage, DJay beats and pistol whips Black with his own gun. Realizing what he has done, DJay attempts to resuscitate the unconscious Black, until a member of Black's crew enters the bathroom and quickly pulls out his gun. DJay shoots the man in his arm, then uses him as a human shield to make his escape. DJay arrives home to find the police and Black's associates waiting for him. DJay turns himself in and tells Nola (Taryn Manning) to keep his writing pad, with his rap lyrics. He tells her she is "in charge" of getting his songs on local radio stations, and exchanges a glance with a tearful Shug. DJay is charged for assault and possession of a firearm and is sentenced to 11 months in prison. While serving his time, DJay gets a visit from Key. When Key asks DJay if he really knew Skinny Black, DJay reveals that he made it up in order to keep the group's dream alive. DJay learns from Key that Nola has hustled the local radio DJs into playing his songs, which have become local hits. Key says he and Nola want to discuss his future plans. The film ends as we see a friendly duo of prison guards who have their own rap group asking DJay to listen to their demo, much as DJay had approached Skinny Black. Humbled and flattered, DJay accepts their tape and responds with: "You know what they say, everybody gotta have a dream".

tragedy, violence, murder, romantic

train

wikipedia

When he comes into the possession of an electronic keyboard, DJay plays around with it and finds he has a talent for writing and performing hard, violent lyrics.On its face, this seems like a typical "man rises from the ashes of his hardscrabble life to experience success and then watches it all crash down around him" kind of movie. When he obtains the keyboard, inspiration strikes, and a chance encounter with an old classmate (Anthony Anderson) who's now a producer (of sorts) gives DJay the opportunity to jump out of the rotten life he's carved for himself.This never feels like a typical rise-and-fall story, and that's thanks in no small part to the powerful performance by Howard, who's much better here than in the critically lauded (by some) Crash. Appearing with Howard in Crash was Ludicrous, who also has a big role in Hustle and Flow - hey, some rappers are very good actors, it turns out. Terrence brings depth of character, pathos, and sympathy to a low brow pimp with low quality product to hustle.This movie could've turned out bad with clichéd acting and over the top performances (there were moments where I felt his strip club whore was too much), but what makes you stick with the story, is that you really feel sorry for these people and you want them to succeed. I enjoy rap, but don't find crunk and a lot of lyrics enjoyable, but I must admit, in the context of the world it comes from and the hopes that these characters have, I was one of many people (the black ones in particular) who found myself swaying and singing the lyrics to "Whoop that Trick" et al.As for the person on this board who commented that he too was at the Los Angeles Film Festival and found the white characters "acting black" tiresome, it must be said that in the south, black speech patterns and culture get picked up by whites. There was one comment in the movie where DJ Qualls arrives and Terrenc Howards character pulls Anthony Anderson aside and and questions the white boy's skills as a beat junkie, but that was the only time his color was brought up. Cuz it's hard out here for a pimp, ya'all.Ps. For those feminists who get their panties all twisted because of any images of female exploitation, I must comment that all the women in this film (as broke down and trashy as they are) have dreams too, and Terrence's character realizes that they deserve better and strives to help them by helping himself. However, this John Singleton produced flick snipes at the genre from a different angle.The increasingly talented Terence Howard (recently seen in Ray and Crash), plays DJay, a pimp turned rapper who wants to prove his worth and swap his tricks for a trade in America's crunked up south.Newcomer Craig Brewer takes the helm as we visit Memphis and see it through the eyes of the down but not outters consisting of DJay and his working girls. When he reunites with school friend Key (Anthony Anderson) they decide to take charge of their lives and realise their dream by putting together a demo tape of their skills, with the hope of hitting the big time.This is not a bad movie, in fact Howard is equally as convincing as a pimp with a newly found heart and as a rapper, something that was both a bold and a fruitful choice. If the star hadn't convinced on any level it is a sure-fire guess to say a non-rapper would never be allowed to rap in a movie, but he did and he did it well.The standard underdog making it to the big time route has been bypassed and replaced with a story that hold's your attention and has an unpredictable and real conclusion.Amongst Flow's supporting cast, Isaac Hayes takes stage as the bar-owner who puts DJay in touch with the hometown's former star- Skinny Black, played sneeringly by Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges. (Synopsis) DJay (Terrence Howard) is a streetwise hustler and Memphis pimp with a stable of 3 girls, Shug (Taraji Henson) who is pregnant and not working, Lexus (Paula Jai Parker) who works in a strip club, and Nola (Taryn Manning) who works out of DJay's old beat-up car in a back alley. DJay believes he can hustle Skinny to hear his tape, and his dream will come true.(Comment) The movie was filmed all around Memphis during 2004. As for the movie, Terrence Howard's role as DJay is a remarkable one in that he becomes immersed in the character of DJay. Howard comes off as a real pimp with all the anger, conflicts, and frustrations, which he encounters in life. There is no such thing as a good pimp, but the character of DJay realizes that his women have dreams too, and that he wants to change everything around him and them for the better. You could say he's the next "it" black actor, but really black,white,yellow,magenta whatever this guy drops it like its hot here, this performance will make you keep an eye out for his next movie on the IMDb. As for the story, well its about a hard livin pimp from Memphis wanting to accomplish a dream of becoming a rapper and getting his songs heard. However I will also throw this out there, my 50 year old mother who thinks rap music is foul and has zero interest in gritty subject matter (ie, Pimpin) saw this movie at Sundance and thought based on the acting alone it was the best movie she had seen. Terrance Howard plays a failure of a pimp who mistreats his prostitutes and throws one of them on the porch in the middle of the night along with her crying baby in his walker.This movie depicts that there is no craft to making rap music and that it is the theme music of the slime of society. At first glance Hustle and Flow may appear to be a goofy film about the hard- knock life of a pimp trying to break into the rap world, but after viewing the film at Sundance it is clear that this dramatic film stands heads and shoulders above its peers. TERRENCE DASHON HOWARD has a break-out performance as DJay, the pimp with bigger dreams of becoming a rap star. People, let me tell you something, and please read this through so you don't get the wrong impression here: I'm not a big fan of movies containing similar plots that involve mostly "black" culture, Ebonics, pimps and the kind of materialism they promote. It ends with him having a hit single after getting into a gunfight and doing time, so I guess the moral of the story is "anyone without talent can succeed in rap if you are violent enough." Sadly, this is probably true.Although I am completely against censorship, I found myself agreeing somewhat with those who felt films like this one, Get Rich or Die Trying' , etc. But you can't have it both ways: either the black community is badly served by these movies since blacks are really just good people like everyone else; or these films are truthful, blacks are to be feared and therefore the police are justified in racial profiling. Yes, Terrence Howard gives a good acting performance, but I didn't find the movie that entertaining since it doesn't have much of a plot. 'Hustle & Flow' rocks.Performances: Terrence Howard is fantastic, the soul of the film. And for a movie with some dark themes, it's a lot of fun to watch.If you're a fan of music, you're bound to love the lengthy scene in which DJay (Terrence Howard, in a fabulous Oscar-nominated performance) is trying to lay down a track for his breakthrough hip-hop (and Oscar-winning) song, "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp." It's fascinating to watch the whole process. Hustle and Flow is fiction.Howard does a great job of making a dirt bag seem human.It is a workable film for its audience -- I (a white dude that believes "Saving Private Ryan" is the most incredible movie ever made) saw it in a theater that was 99% young black movie goers.The music is good -- expect MTV to work a couple of those in their mix soon.Of all the characters, Shug was the most believable. This little gem was one of the few surprises of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, and was certainly the best film in American Dramatic Competition (along with "Brick" and "Thumbsucker").Yes, the plot is riddled with clichés - but the film manages to transcend these shortcomings due to the slick camera-work of cinematographer Amy Vincent (who won the cinematography award at Sundance), the powerful and poignant performances by Terrence Dashon Howard in the title role (Djay), Taraji P. Henson (Shug), and, of all people, Anthony Anderson (Key).The film follows a down-and-out Memphis pimp/hustler named Djay (Howard), who, along with his "primary investor" ho Nola (Taryn Manning), run tricks out of his beat-up Caddie in a back alley.Djay is then swept up in the crunk-rap game, with the emerging success of hometown Memphis product Skinny Black (Ludacris). He's aided by an old friend Key (Anderson), who's still kept his rap-dream alive by recording gospel music at the local church, and his sidekick Shelby (DJ Qualls), who's got some ill crunk beats.Djay's pregnant "first lady" Shug (Henson) provides the hook to their second single ("You know it's hard out here for a pimp / when you trying to get the money for the rent / all the Cadillac and gas money spent / will have a whole lot of b*tches jumpin ship"), as well as some much-needed tenderness that helps ground Djay's rough, pimp-slappin character.This film won the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and rightfully so - it's very engaging and a lot of fun. Even when the sparks fly in the 3rd Act, and filmmaker Craig Brewer throws a left-hook featuring delicate material, the film is redeemed by its close.I enjoyed this film much more than Curtis Hanson's "8 Mile", and must thus crown "Hustle and Flow" as the greatest rap film ever made.(The title of this post is a reference to Djay's first, catchy single). The subject matter of the movie probably is a little harsh for some people, but it is handled with so much sensitivity for the characters involved that the performances really make it a film well worth seeing. I expected some heavy booty shaking and bling bling-stuff but the movie had more profound soul than its surface did tell.Djay (soulful Terrence Howard) is a pimp. Terrence Howard plays a pimp named Djay but wants something different from his life. While most movies with this kind of theme feature star rappers who can't act as the lead role, Howard takes his character to a new level. This is, remember, the genre that begot "Glitter." In the past three years, however, the genre has risen high in the ranks of populist entertainment in both its fictional ("8 Mile") and non-fictional ("Ray" or "Walk the Line") forms."Hustle and Flow" crackles and pops onto the screen in its first frames as a throwback to character-driven 1970's movie-making that explored a certain criminal or non-traditional subculture of society (ala "Taxi Driver" or "Mindnight Cowboy"). A great ensemble cast and hyper-intelligent script give it a surprising emotional resonance and moral complexity, much in the same way P.T. Anderson peered into the dysfunctional family of adult filmmakers in "Boogie Nights." The characters in "Hustle & Flow" use music in the same way the characters in "Boogie Nights" used filming sex, as an abstract way to connect and communicate with the people around them.Terrance Howard (previously seen in a pivotal supporting part in the socially conscious "Crash") gives a powerhouse performance in the lead role. I mainly went to see this film because I like Terrence Howard and he got a great review from Ebert and Roeper. Terrence Howard is a great actor and he gives DJay such character. Take a look at Terrence Howard's performance in "Crash," and then go see what he does in "Hustle & Flow." The guy does all the little (and big things) a film actor has to do to be credible. I just take issue with it.Terrence Howard is great as DJay, a pimp with a few other side hustle (Taraji Henson, Paula Jai Parker, and Taryn Manning, are all terrific in their roles).They're all living with him, and one is his baby's mama, and exerts a lot of pressure in trying to get him to be the man that she wants him to be (a recurring theme in the movie, and with that I'll mention that Anthony Anderson was also great in his supporting turn). Terrence Howard turns in a perfect performance as a pimp, pusher and aspiring rapper, working all the angles to get his first record made and leave the mean Memphis streets behind.This is a gritty and moving story. Just like in "8 Mile", the no-punches-pulled songs are the only chance of a new beginning.Terrence Howard had appeared in some movies before "Hustle & Flow", but this was truly his breakthrough performance. I'm not a hip-hop fan but the soundtrack works very well.Terrance Howard is solid in the lead role and gets great support from Taryn Manning, especially, Anthony Andersen, Taraji J Henson and Ludicrous. Not to mention, the Oscar-winning song, "Its hard out there for a pimp" is not as good as the original song created for "Empire"; and it pretty much the only song in the movie.I fear many of those who see the reviews and awards for "Hustle & Flow" are going to be as disappointed as my wife. DJay (Terrence Howard) is a Memphis pimp and a drug dealer with a dream. Part rap, part urban drama and set in the south.Terrence Howard is a Memphis pimp, Djay who runs a stable of prostitutes and still has trouble making ends meet. No wonder life is hard for a pimp.After an encounter with an old school friend who also works as a music mixer he decides to write and rap about his life experiences and hopes to have a shot at the big time.He hopes by persuading a big music star played by Ludicrous to listen to his tape.Terrence Howard would not be seen as your first choice to play a rapping street hustler as he tends to be known for more urbane characters in films such as Crash.He holds attention as the hustler and rapper who lives for today. Terrence Howard was very good as the pimp in this movies. Comic actor Anthony Anderson is surprisingly subtle as Key, and along with Elise Neal's sharp turn as his high-strung, upwardly mobile wife Yevette, represents the middle-class black lifestyle with observational precision.The three women who play the prostitutes leave vivid impressions - Paula Jai Parker powerfully shows the angry desperation of the aging Lexus; Taryn Manning combines the hick and huckster of Nola, the only one making DJay money; and in the film's most poignant performance, Taraji P. As he moves fluently back and forth between scarifying and tender, Howard makes DJay not heroic but real and painfully wanting of a better lot in life.The DVD has several extras - Brewer's insightful commentary on an alternate audio track and three solid featurettes that lend insight to the production - "Behind the Hustle", which includes the cast members talking about their roles and showing their various auditions; "By Any Means Necessary", in which Brewer and producers John Singleton and Stephanie Allain talk about the struggles to get the film made; and "Creatin' Crunk", which showcases the various funk and rap stars called upon to create the memorable songs DJay and the others perform throughout the film. Anthony Anderson and Ludicrous both give good performances too and also Taraji henson and Taryn Manning were very good in their roles as the women who were pimped by DJay (Howard). In HUSTLE & FLOW writer/director Craig Brewer has finally given him a vehicle that allows him more screen time and the opportunity to create a character that burns his image on our memory indelibly.The story of a pimp and drug dealer in Memphis, stuck in the poverty level and rapidly drowning in mid-life crisis, who pulls himself into the stream of his need and dream to be something different, a rapper star, has been told before but never in the gritty realistic atmospheric way this film does. Hustle & Flow has a rock-solid supporting cast, but Terence Howard needs an Oscar for his portrayal of the rapping pimp, D-Jay. He made it real, he brought D-Jay to life, he gave him his heart, the good, bad, inspiring, self-defeating, overcoming, and redeeming. For others the only option they have to survive is to make it big.In this movie hustle and flow you see the struggle the main character, Dee Jay, takes as he sees a way out through music. Terrence Howard delivers a great performance as the pimp with the dream. Is it like the message of dreams in great stories like "Raisin in the Sun." It would've been that much better if we knew and was able to see a fair and just argument on why dreams do or do not come true.Now, I would like for people who don't understand life, who live in sheltered worlds where reality is on the opposite side of the bridge or those who know of that reality but want to act like it doesn't exist in order to avoid stereotype and to fit in with others, STOP MAKING RIDICULOUS COMMENTS ABOUT MOVIES PERIOD. Everyone else was really good as well but these 3 made the film.And,when the Academy Award Nominations are announced,it'll be a damn shame if Terence Howard is left out for his wonderful role, as the first time ever in a movie a pimp,is portrayed as a decent human-being,when really he's not!

tt0032390

The Devil Bat

Dr Paul Carruthers [Bela Lugosi] appears to all of Heathville as a kindly doctor and research scientist for Heath-Morton Cosmetics, Ltd. But in his secret laboratory, Carruthers is actually conducting personal experiments--one of which is a formula for an oriental shaving lotion; another is the creation of a giant bat who hates the smell of the lotion. Bitter because founding fathers Martin Heath [Edward Mortimer] and Henry Morton [Guy Usher] got rich on his formulas while he himself is awarded with menial bonuses, Carruthers plans to sic his giant bat on their families.First to go is Roy Heath [John Ellis]. Investigative reporter Johnny Layton [Dave O'Brien] and cameraman 'One Shot' McGuire [Donald Kerr] of the Chicago Register are sent to snoop for a story. The only clues are the victim's neck wounds that look like they were made by the beak and talons of a bird, a peculiar faint odor about the wounds, and some mouse or bat hairs. That afternoon, Layton and McGuire have tea with Carruthers and Martin's daughter Mary [Suzanne Kaaren], and Layton and Mary become smitten with each other. Mary invites Layton to come back to the estate that evening.That evening, Johnny sees Martin's son Tommy [Alan Baldwin] attacked in the garden by a giant bat. When Don Morton [Gene O'Donnell], son of the other founding father, Henry Morton, is subsequently killed in the same way, Layton finds a bottle of shaving lotion of the same scent discovered on all the bodies. In an attempt to provide a picture of the 'devil bat', McGuire photographs a fake bat which is proven fraudulent by a scientist on a talk radio program. Layton and McGuire are fired by their paper, but they stay in Heathville to get to the bottom of the story. They trace the lotion to Carruthers and interview him in an attempt to expose him, but he readily admits to creating the formula. He even gives Layton a bottle to try. That night, Layton and McGuire are dive-bombed by the giant bat, which Layton kills. The size of the bat has scientists marvelled, and Layton and McGuire are exonerated and rehired.Carruthers creates a new devil bat and sics it on Henry Morton. That night a giant bat attempts to get into Mary's bedroom, and it is learned that someone has switched her perfume with formula. While Carruthers tends Mary, Layton visits his laboratory. He waits for Carruthers to return and follows him into his secret lab where Carruthers releases the devil bat. Layton asks Carruthers for a bottle of the lotion and informs him that he intends to sit in the garden and hopefully attract the bat with it. Layton even invites Carruthers to watch, but he splashes lotion on Carruthers and the bat ultimately kills Carruthers. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl.]

revenge, cult, murder

train

imdb

tt0219854

The Kid

Russ Duritz (Bruce Willis) is blunt, demanding, obnoxious and rich; a highly sought out image consultant. He is also a workaholic, single, and doesn't stop to smell the roses. He requires the same kind of commitment from his staff, expecting them to jump to his every whim even at 3.00 in the morning. Into his well ordered life comes his former 8 year old self, Rusty. Rusty is still excited about life and considers his older self a loser because he doesn't have a chick, isn't a pilot and doesn't have a dog named Chester, things that he always said he would have when he grew up.Rusty is chubby and gets picked on at school back in 1960. Trying to make sense of the situation Russ thinks it must be his job to help the younger Russ so encourages him to stop eating rubbish and takes him to a boxer to help him learn to fight his bullies. Russ' co worker Amy takes a great liking to Rusty, seeing in him qualities that are completely missing from his older self. Rusty picks up on the fact that Russ and Amy may have a future and in an effort not to lose out on such a lovely young woman he proposes to her himself. Unfortunately Russ comes along and events once again show him in an unfavourable light. Amy apologises to young Rusty and leaves. Eventually it dawns on Russ that maybe Rusty has been sent here to help Russ. Russ has blocked out his childhood memories so remembers little of his past life. His relationship with his father is not a good one. By spending more quality time with Rusty and encouraging the boy to tell him about his life back home Russ slowly begins to recover his memories. They aren't good. Russ takes the day off work so the two of them can enjoy their birthday together. They go for a drive and whilst listening to Rusty telling him about being bullied by bigger boys and worse about how these boys torment a poor three legged dog Russ remembers everything. They drive through a tunnel and emerge in 1960 complete with vintage car and clothes! Russ warns Rusty that this is not a good day. As a boy he tried to stop the bullies from setting off fire crackers around the dog's neck and got beaten up for his pains. What was worse he didn't even manage to save the dog. It is recess when they arrive at the school and the bullies see Rusty and call for him to join him. Even though he knows what is in store for him he decides to face them. At least Russ will be there this time. After a rough start he gets the better of the main bully and saves the dog. However he is hauled in front of the Principle and his mother is sent for. Russ warns Rusty that it is not over yet. The day is about to get a lot worse. Rusty's mom takes him home and arrives at the same time as his dad. His father is furious to find that his wife who is seriously ill has been to school takes his worry out on little Rusty. He screams and shouts at him and tells him that his mother is going to die and that it's Rusty's fault. Russ goes to him as soon as their dad has gone back in the house and explains that dad was just worried and so said things he shouldn't. Rusty wants to know if it is his fault that his mom is dying. Russ reassures him. He hugs the kid and they weep together. It is the first time that Russ has cried since he was 8. Russ takes Rusty for a ride in their car and they find an old diner which keeps appearing and disappearing throughout the film. Whilst they are eating a dog comes running up to Rusty. His owner shouts for him to come back. He calls him Chester! The two of them race from the diner and onto a private air strip where the dog's owner an old man in a red baseball cap comes to greet them. He is an older version of them, aged about 70. He admits that he has been behind everything. They say goodbye as he walks towards his own plane. There waiting is an old lady who looks as if she might once have been the younger Amy. They are thrilled to see her there and equally thrilled to see Russ Snr fly the plane himself. They both jump for joy on the tarmac, excited to realise that one day they will fulfill their childhood dream of becomming a pilot! Russ looks at the sky again and when he turns back Rusty is gone and he is back in the present. The following day he turns up at Amy's house with a little puppy and she invites him in.

humor, melodrama

train

imdb

tt0068615

Frogs

Wildlife photographer Pickett Smith (Sam Elliott) is canoeing alone through a swamp off the coast of Florida, taking pictures of the local flora and fauna. He notices a number of instances of pollution, documenting these as well. Siblings Clint and Karen Crockett (Adam Roarke, Joan Van Ark) are driving in a speedboat nearby. Clint is drunk, and causes a near collision with Pickett's canoe, which overturns. More than a little annoyed, Pickett hurls Clint into the water first chance he gets, much to the amusement of Karen. Together they tow Pickett's canoe back to the island estate owned by Clint and Karen's father, Jason Crockett (Ray Milland). They promise Pickett some dry clothes and offer for him to join their annual family celebration. The celebration is in honor of the 4th of July, as well as several family birthdays, including Jason's.Jason is an extremely crotchety old man confined to a wheelchair. Due to his immense wealth, the members of his family are used to indulging his every whim, usually at the expense of their own dignity. Jason reluctantly welcomes Pickett, although it becomes clear that they are on opposite ends of the spectrum involving all things pertaining to nature. Pickett has respect for the natural world, while Jason seems furious that he cannot control it. The private island is experiencing an overpopulation of frogs and toads, which Jason is trying to curb by spreading various types of pesticides and poisons. Jason proudly calls himself and his family the "ugly rich", which seem to be true, as the various members of his family seem to be entirely self-absorbed and selfish. The one exception seems to be Karen, who doesn't take everything as seriously as the rest of her family. She and Pickett are attracted to one another.In private, Jason convinces Pickett to explore the island to examine the way the pesticides have affected the environment. He also asks him to look out for Grover, an employee he sent to the other side of the island to spray more poison and insecticides. While Pickett is hiking, he discovers hordes of dead animals, most of them snakes and frogs. After finding Grover's jeep, he finds Grover himself lying face down in a marsh, his body covered with writhing, poisonous snakes that cling to him possessively. After removing the snakes with a stick, Pickett turns him over to find him dead, his face horribly swollen and disfigured.After returning to the estate that evening, Pickett doesn't tell anybody about Grover's body until talking to Jason, who thanks him for keeping it quiet. The next morning, as the Crockett family begins to set up for the celebration, other fatalities begin to happen. Michael Crockett (David Gilliam), Jason's younger brother, goes out to check on a downed telephone line and suffers a hideous death. He accidentally shoots himself in the leg, which immobilizes him under a tree with scores of low-hanging moss. To his horror, a horde of tarantulas descend from the tree, biting him all over his body. The moss seems to act on its own as well, binding him tightly. The spider venom begins to paralyze him, and ultimately he is totally cocooned in moss and webs, the tarantulas presumably feeding on his body.Jason's older sister, Iris (Holly Irving), sends her son Kenneth (Nicholas Cortland) into the greenhouse to gather flowers for a centerpiece. While he is alone in there, scores of lizards enter behind him, swarming over the shelves and knocking over bottles of noxious chemicals until the liquids converge into a toxic cloud of gas, which asphyxiates him.A little later, Iris herself rushes off into the trees, chasing after a butterfly with a net; she is fond of creating dioramas using real insects and flowers, and she sees a butterfly she is anxious to add to her collection. She is stalked by several snakes, which dangle from from tree branches and approach along the ground. After a group of frogs frighten her off the path into the trees, the snakes attack, and she is confronted by a large rattlesnake. Driven further into the brush, she goes into a panic and stumbles through thick undergrowth, which destroys her hairstyle and clothing. She falls into a dirty ditch filled with leaves and filthy water, emerging covered in leeches. Bloodied from the leeches and disgusted by what has happened to herself, she wanders back to the path and is bitten on the arm by the rattlesnake, resulting in her immediate death.Nearby is Iris' husband, Stuart (George Skaff), who misses discovering her body by only a few feet. He is cornered by alligators and driven into a shallow marsh, where the gators kill and eat him.Back at the estate, Kenneth's body is discovered in the greenhouse, much to everybody's horror. His girlfriend, Bella (Judy Pace), is distraught and demands to leave immediately. Jason forbids Kenneth's death to interfere with the plans for the party, resulting in an immediate schism between those who want to leave and those who want to stay in order to placate Jason. Bella leaves with two of the servants, the long-suffering butler Charles (Lance Taylor Sr.) and cook Maybelle (Mae Mercer). Clint agrees to take them across the water in his speedboat to the mainland. Once they reach the other side, the three of them are attacked by seagulls.After looking around the bait and tackle shop on the pier which is deserted as well as the area, Clint returns to the boat only to see that the line has been tethered and it is drifting to the middle of the lake. Clint swims out to his where he is attacked and bitten to death by various water moccasins. His wife, Jenny (Lynn Borden), witnesses Clint's mishap through a pair of binoculars. Rushing down to the water's edge, she becomes stuck in the mud and is immediately attacked and killed by an alligator snapping turtle.Pickett and Karen realize there is no choice other than to leave. Jason remains belligerent, determined to continue with the 'celebration', furious that this bizarre course of events has interfered with his plans.Pickett and Karen head down to the water with Jenny's and Clint's young children, Jay and Tina (Hal Hodges, Dale Willingham). Pickett discovers Jenny's dead body floating in the shallow water, the turtle perched on her submerged head while crabs devour the exposed parts of her body. They shield the children from seeing Jenny's remains and usher them into Pickett's canoe. He paddles them across the water, although their escape is temporarily halted when the canoe becomes stuck on rocks and Pickett is attacked by water moccasins while dislodging it. He escapes unharmed, and they make it to the dock with Pickett fighting off more water moccasins with the paddle and shooting an alligator that attacks.Just beyond the dock area, the four survivors discover the luggage of Bella, Charles and Maybelle, leaving their ultimate fate undetermined. They reach a nearby road and flag down a passing car, driven by a mother and her young son. The mother offers them a ride, and she says that the four of them are the only people they've seen for miles, suggesting that maybe the phenomenon is widespread. The boy shows them a large bullfrog that he acquired at summer camp where his mother picked him up...Back at the estate, Jason is now alone inside the mansion, save for his dog Colonel, surrounded by an increasing army of frogs outside as it begins to get dark. He listens to patriotic music on his Victrola record player, until frogs begin to crash through the glass of the windows. Although he tries to ignore them, the horror of the situation proves too much for him. As the frogs swarm over him, he falls out of his wheelchair and suffers a heart attack on the floor. The frogs have succeeded in destroying their tormentor. In the final shot, all of the lights in the mansion go out... implying that nature has won and the rest of humanity is next....

cult, revenge, grindhouse film, boring, violence

train

imdb

tt0415978

Me and You and Everyone We Know

The structure of the film consists of several subplots which all revolve around an intertwined cast of characters. The film begins by introducing Richard (John Hawkes), a shoe salesman and recently separated father of two. After being thrown out by his wife Pam (JoNell Kennedy), he gets an apartment of his own to share with his children, Peter (Miles Thompson) and Robby (Brandon Ratcliff). He meets Christine (Miranda July), a senior-cab driver and amateur video artist, while she takes her client to shop for shoes, and the two develop a fledgling romantic relationship. Robby, six years old, and his 14-year-old brother, Peter, have a joint online chat which he later depicts in another chat session as "))<>((", an emoticon that means "pooping back and forth, forever." This piques the interest of the woman at the other end and she suggests a real life meeting. When Robby and the woman meet at a park, she realizes he's a child and kisses him and walks away. Two of Richard's teenaged neighbors, Heather (Natasha Slayton) and Rebecca (Najarra Townsend), develop a playful relationship with a much older neighbor Andrew (Brad William Henke) who works in the shoe store with Richard. He does not say much, but he keeps leaving signs on his window about what he would do to each of them. As a result of this relationship, Heather and Rebecca ask Peter if they can practice oral sex on him, so that he can tell them which of the two does it better; so they do. He says both were exactly the same. The daughter of a neighbor peeks in the window, sees what is happening, and quickly leaves. Heather and Rebecca later come to the neighbor's house intending to have sex with him as practice, but he appears afraid when he sees them through his window and he pretends not to be home. Meanwhile, Christine's work is rejected by a contemporary art museum, but then later accepted by the curator, who turns out to be the woman who was instant messaging with the brothers. The plots come together in the end, with Peter developing a friendship with the daughter of a neighbor, having been introduced to the hope chest that she has, Christine and Richard displaying a show of mutual acceptance of their attraction to each other, and, as a final plot device, Robby finding that the noise he had awoken to early every morning was that of an early-rising businessman tapping a quarter on a street sign pole. When asked why he is doing it, he stops and turns around, saying "just passing the time", and gives Robby the quarter. When his bus drives away and Robby tries it out himself, the sun heightens with each tap, time literally passing as he does it.

psychedelic, humor

train

wikipedia

tt2278388

The Grand Budapest Hotel

A young woman walks into a cemetery in the Republic of Zubrowka, a place said to have fallen on hard times. She passes a bench with three men singing and then approaches a memorial with several hotel keys attached to it, dedicated to a man known only as Author. The woman puts a key on the memorial and then takes out a book titled "The Grand Budapest Hotel".1985 - We meet the Author (Tom Wilkinson) in his home as his grandson runs around firing his toy gun. The Author addresses the audience and begins to tell the story behind his book as it was told to him in a very unexpected way.1968 - In his youth, the Author (here played by Jude Law) travels to Zubrowka, a place that has been devastated by war. He ventures up to The Grand Budapest Hotel, which was once well-renowned. It sees very few guests apart from the Author, and several unnamed patrons.One day while chatting with concierge M. Jean (Jason Schwartzman), they happen to see an old man (F. Murray Abraham) sitting in the lobby by himself, looking rather sad and lonely. When The Author asks who he is, Jean informs him that the old man is Zero Moustafa, the owner of the hotel. It is widely-known that Mr Moustafa has procured many other fine lodgings throughout the world, but Jean surprises The Author, when he explains that in The Grand Budapest, he occupies a small servant's quarters.However, their conversation is interrupted when a man in the lobby begins choking. As Jean rushes to help him, The Author returns to his room, via elevator. As the days go on, curiosity about Moustafa continues to haunt The Author, until they chance to meet in the hotel's bath.Moustafa invites the Author to dine with him that evening. When they meet again, Zero begins to tell his story.Part 1 - M. Gustave1932 - Zero starts off his story in his teenage years. We first see Zero (here played by Tony Revolori) assisting other members of the Grand Budapest Hotel, at the beck and call of the legendary concierge, M. Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), as they prepare a meal for the concierge, and an elderly woman known as Madame D. (Tilda Swinton).During the meal, the old woman tells how she is frightened to leave the hotel, afraid she'll never see Gustave again. The man keeps assuring her that she's worrying over nothing.Before her car pulls away, she requests that the concierge light a candle for her, before the say "I love you," and she is driven back to her home.It was then that Zero was "formally" introduced to Gustave. Originally wishing to just send him off to light the candle as Madame D has wished, Gustave soon questions the young man's employ. Soon finding out he's there on a 'trial basis,' Gustave initiates an impromptu interview with Zero. Despite what Zero begins telling him, Gustave determines that the boy has no hotel experience, education, or family. When asked why he would want to be a lobby boy, Zero replies, "Who wouldn't, at the Grand Budapest Hotel?" Gustave is pleased with this answer. Zero asks him if he was ever a lobby boy. Gustave merely replies, "What do you think?"With Gustave acting as his mentor, Zero works at the hotel just as quickly and efficiently as everybody else. He never misses any detail to ensure the guests are perfectly pleased with their visit, taking all the tips Gustave gives him, to heart.As for just who owns The Grand Budapest, the identity of the hotel's owner is a mystery, but it is well-known that the owner sends an emissary, Deputy Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum) to the hotel to check up on business. Zero also learns that many of the hotel's most special guests would come for Gustave. It became well-known that the man would sleep with a number of elderly blonde women with insecurities and a need for attention.During this time, Zero would come to meet the love of his life, Agatha (Saoirse Ronan), a baker with a distinctive birthmark on her cheek who works at Mendl's, Gustave's favorite pastry shop. However, though Old Zero makes a small mention of her (now), he quickly moves on to other matters in his story.Part 2 - Madame C.V.D.u.TWhile fetching newspapers one morning, an article catches Zero's eye. He rushes back to the hotel to show Gustave, that Madame D. has been found dead in her bathroom. A shocked Gustave immediately takes Zero on a train where they travel to Madame D.'s estate.On the train, they stop by a barley field on a day that is known as the "Closing of the Frontier". Gustave and Zero see soldiers standing in the field. A group of soldiers enter and ask to see the documents of both men. Gustave shows his papers, but Zero has none as he is an immigrant. The main soldier orders Zero to come with him. Gustave defends Zero and gets into a fight with the soldiers. They pin the two of them against the wall, and Gustave, seeing Zero in trouble, barks at the soldiers, "TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF MY LOBBY BOY!"The fracas soon catches the attention of Inspector Henckels (Edward Norton), who enters the car, and quickly recognizes Gustave! When Gustave hears the names of Henckel's parents, he quickly remembers who they were, as well as Henckel's childhood name of "Little Albert". Henckels gives Zero a pardon for the trip, but urges him to get official papers immediately.Gustave and Zero soon after, arrive at Madame D.'s mansion. Her maid, Clotilde (Lea Seydoux), guides them to the old woman's body lying in a casket. Gustave speaks to her corpse, praising her as if she were still alive.Eventually, Clotilde tells Gustave that the butler, M. Serge X (Mathieu Amalric), wishes to speak to him. However, Serge is frantic and panicky, and quickly rushes off, with Gustave and Zero in pursuit.They soon find themselves in the trophy room of the house, where all manner of relations to Madame D are present for the reading of her will. Surprising to both Gustave and Zero, is Mr Kovacs, who is the executor of her estate, and who has analyzed her will, and its numerous amendments.Key among the inheritors mentioned, are her son Dmitri (Adrien Brody) and his three sisters, Marguerite (Michaela Caspar), Laetizia (Sabine Urig), and Carolina (Heike Hanold-Lynch). There are also small provisions for other members of the family, but Kovacs claims that a new amendment was sent to his offices just recently. Reading it aloud, the amendment (which is still being investigated), thanks Gustave for his kindness, and allows him ownership of cherished painting, titled "Boy With Apple."When Gustave steps forward, Dmitri angrily confronts him, hurling several homophobic slurs, and refusing him the painting. A small war of words causes a small scuffle among Dmitri, Gustave, Zero, and Dmitri's right-hand man, J.G. Jopling (Willem Dafoe).Gustave then takes Zero to the room where "Boy With Apple" is hanging. After admiring it for a little while, the two take it down, and replace it (with a rather vulgar painting). Gustave then has Serge wrap up "Boy With Apple". Unseen by anyone else, Serge tucks an envelope labeled "CONFIDENTIAL" into the rear of the painting, before it is wrapped in brown paper, and given to Gustave. Before Gustave and Zero leave, Gustave remembers that Serge had wanted to speak to him before about something, but the Frenchman does not say anything more.On the train ride back, Gustave claims he will cherish the gift from Madame D, but quickly realizes that Dmitri may come looking for the painting. He proposes to Zero that they sell off "Boy With Apple" on the black market, and, in exchange for his services, Zero will be given 1.5% of the cut and Gustave will make him his heir. Zero agrees, and quickly jots down the concierge's declaration, to make it "official."Once back at the hotel, the two hide "Boy With Apple" in the hotel's vault, before Henckels arrives, to arrest Gustave as the suspect murderer in Madame D's death. As Zero watches, Gustave attempts to run, but Henckels and his men give chase.Part 3 - Check Point 19 - Criminal-Interment CampOne week before his trial, Gustave is imprisoned. Going to visit him, Zero is shocked to find his senior has suffered injuries, but Gustave simply claims he had to prove himself to the others, once they questioned his virility.Zero has also met with Mr Kovacs, who explains that a deposition was given by several members of Madame D's family, that Gustave had secretly entered the mansion, and poisoned Madame D with strychnine. However, the one who claimed to have seen the events unfold, Serge X, has gone missing.Gustave is pretty sure that Madame's family forced Serge to bear false witness, and though Gustave has an alibi as to where he was at the time, he fears bringing the woman to whose company he was in (the Duchess of Westphalia) into the events, as it will ruin her reputation.In the meantime, Dmitri has secretly begun his own search for the missing Serge, sending his henchman Jopling to check on Serge's sister, who claims she has not seen her brother recently.Zero soon ends up acting as the middle-man for Gustave's correspondence with the staff of the Grand Budapest, reading them the concierge's letters, and his own prose poems. Gustave also requests that any issues should be addressed to Zero in his absence.Back in the prison, Gustave has almost become a concierge to the inmates there, serving many of them mush with a cheery air. He has also shared the Mendl's pastries he receives, with several inmates: Pinky (Florian Lukas), Wolf (Karl Markovics), Gunther (Volker Michalowski), and Ludwig (Harvey Keitel). Gustave's hospitality towards the men pays off, and they want to help him break out of the prison. However, the amount of tools to break out of the prison are limited, but upon looking at the Mendl's box, Gustave hatches a cunning plan.It is at this point where Old Zero becomes overwhelmed with emotions and he starts to cry. He explains to the Author that talking about Agatha makes him emotional. Old Zero then stops his main story, and gives some background on his and Agatha's relationship, of which even Gustave was privy to (though seemed to also flirt with, much to Zero's ire), even 'interviewing' the young woman to see if she was proper for his Lobby Boy.Returning to the story, Zero worked with Agatha, to place specific tools, baked into several pastries sent to Gustave. This fashioning of them to look like baked goods fooled the prison guards, and allowed Gustave and his comrades the proper tools to attempt their escape.In regards to Madame D's will, Kovacs is of the mind that something is missing from the paperwork, and that along with the disappearance of Serge, the executor asks Dmitri and his sisters to bring the local authorities to look into the matter...of which Dmitri quickly refuses to do so. Dmitri simply seems to want what he feels is owed him, while Kovacs is of the mind that he must follow the instructions his former client laid out, and proceed in an honest matter. This retort is met with Dmitri storming out of the room, and Jopling throwing Kovac's cat out the window to its death.Later, Kovacs collects the cat's body and boards a trolley, but soon finds Jopling following him. Kovacs attempts to lose the bodyguard, by ducking into the Kunst Museum (after quickly disposing of his dead cat in a trash can). However, as he attempts to leave out a rear door, Jopling stops him, slamming the door, severing 4 of the man's fingers, before murdering him. Kovac's absence is felt the next day at The Grand Budapest, when a note is received from his office, telling that his usual visit has been cancelled.As the time for Gustave's escape draws near, Zero tells Agatha about "Boy With Apple." Fearful that he and Gustave might be caught, he gives her the necessary information to remove it from the hotel's vault (information which she reluctantly takes).At the prison, Gustave and his fellow inmates begin to put their plan of escape into action. Aside from a noisy prisoner who sees them escape (who is quelled by an inmate whom Gustave gave mush to), the group finds their biggest obstacle in an underground hatch, which is occupied with several guards playing poker. Gunther sacrifices himself for the group, killing the guards, but dying in the process.Finally, the remaining men reach the outside of the prison with Zero waiting for Gustave. Ludwig, Pinky, and Wolf part ways, overtaking a nearby bus. However, Gustave soon grows upset at Zero when he finds the lobby boy has not procured a safe house, spare clothes, or brought his favorite cologne. Gustave then angrily lashes out at the boy, criticizing his culture, before the boy shames the concierge, by telling how his family was killed, forcing him to retreat and look for work on his own. Gustave sincerely apologizes to Zero, before the escape sirens blare, and the two make a run for it.In the aftermath of the escape Henckels and his men investigate the break out, but also find Jopling in their midst. Henckels also informs Jopling that Madame D's lawyer was found dead just recently. Jopling claims he was aware Mr Kovacs had gone missing, but claims he knew nothing of the man's death, before being escorted from the prison.After traipsing across the snow-covered countryside, Gustave and Zero find a telephone box. Once he gets through, Gustave then relays a special request to...Part 4 - The Society of the Crossed KeysThe society turns out to be an inter-woven group of numerous hotel concierges. Gustave's message for help, soon finds it's way through concierges M. Ivan (Bill Murray), M. Martin (Bob Balaban), M. Robin (Fisher Stevens), M. Georges (Wallace Wolodarsky), and M. Dino (Waris Ahluwalia).In the end, it is M. Ivan who retrieves Gustave and Zero from the countryside. The concierges have also learned through sources, that Serge has sought refuge in a mountain range known as Gabelmeister's Peak. The concierges have been able to obtain train tickets for the two, as well as Gustave's favorite cologne (though in a much smaller bottle, Ivan regrets to say).With Mr Kovacs now deceased, Dmitri attempts to go over the remnants of his mother's will. It is during this time that the painting "Boy With Apple" returns to his mind...and is the first time he has found it missing from the mansion's study! Clotilde the maid then confirms that the painting was removed by Gustave.During this time, Agatha decides to retrieve Boy With Apple" using Zero's information, but grows wary when she hears footsteps approaching her room.The next day, Serge's sister is found beheaded, the missing body part in a laundry basket (most likely the handiwork of Mr Jopling). Also near her, was a telegram envelope, with its contents missing. Henckel and his soldiers investigate, and also are able to retrieve the telegram's information from the offices, which tell Serge's sister to meet him near Gabelmeister's peak.Gustave and Zero attempt to rendezvous with Serge at an observatory near the summit of Gabelmeister's peak, only for several monks, to direct the two to a monastery high in the hills.In a confessional in the rear of the monastery, Serge informs Gustave and Zero of the death of his sister, as well as his witness to the creation of a second will Madame D had made (in the event she was murdered). Serge explains that Dmitri and his family destroyed it, but that he (Serge) was able to obtain a copy of it. However, before he can tell where it is, Serge falls silent.Gustave and Zero soon find that Serge has been strangled to death, and see Jopling leaving out a side door!The two give chase down the hills, Jopling on skis, and Gustave and Zero on a sled. The wild ride through the snow ends with Jopling pulling off to the side, while the sled plows into a hill, sending Zero into the snow, and Gustave hanging precariously over the edge.Jopling attempts to loosen the icy ledge that the concierge hangs from, when Zero pushes the deranged murderer over the edge, to his death. However, their victory is short-lived, as Henckel is seen across the way, demanding the two not move. Gustave and Zero then take Jopling's motorcycle, amid gunfire from Henckel's troops.Part 5 - The Second Copy of the Second WillThe war finally comes to the residence of The Grand Budapest Hotel, with numerous members of the Military taking over its many rooms. In the absence of Gustave and Zero, concierge duties have now fallen to a man named M. Chuck (Owen Wilson)Retrieving Agatha, both Gustave and Zero have her enter the hotel under the guise of delivering complimentary pastries from Mendl's, as a cover to retrieve "Boy With Apple" for them. However, as they watch the front door, Dmitri and his sisters pull up to the entrance!As the family enters the lobby, Dmitri spies Agatha...who quickly turns around and attempts to escape. The two find themselves in an elevator, where Dmitri tears a corner of the paper wrappings...which reveals a portion of the painting to him. Once they arrive on the 6th floor, Dmitri attempts to chase.Meanwhile, fearing for Agatha's life, Gustave and Zero enter the hotel disguised as Mendl's associates...only to encounter Dmitri! Dmitri attempts to kill Gustave, but the gunfire rouses several other Military men on the floors, and an impromptu shootout breaks loose!Henckel soon reaches the floor, demanding all parties cease-firing. However, the silence is broken when Agatha's voice is heard calling for help! Zero sees her dangling off the edge of the third floor suite, the painting hanging nearby. Rushing to her aid, he ends up pitching over the edge along with her, before they both fall off the building...and through the roof of the Mendl's pastry wagon they came in!After "Boy With Apple" is retrieved, the Confidential paperwork Serge hid on the back is found. With Gustave, Dmitri, Zero, Agatha, and a number of the hotel staff and armed forces around them, Henckels opens the second will, and reads from its contents. Gustave is not only vindicated of Madame D.'s murder, but the second will also gives him numerous portions of numerous businesses she own, including ownership of the Grand Budapest Hotel (of which she was the previously-unknown owner!). In a newspaper article, it is also mentioned that her son Dmitri has disappeared without a trace (and who was suspected of the woman's murder now).As Old Zero continues the story, he notes that Gustave had almost taken on the same aire as the numerous older women he pleasured. As well, with Gustave now having new-found wealth and financial freedom, Zero was then promoted to concierge of the hotel.A scene is shown briefly of Gustave presiding over Zero and Agatha's wedding (with The Society of the Crossed Keys as witnesses), but Zero tells that both his wife and their first child died shortly afterwards, from a fatal disease.The story then switches to Gustave, Zero, and Agatha on a train (some time before her death). During this time, Gustave finally answered the question Zero had asked him some time ago, about if he ever was a lobby boy. The wealthy man says yes, but admits that Zero was a much better lobby boy than he ever was.During the journey, the train stops again in the same barley field as before, and a number of soldiers board checking for papers. While Gustave and Agatha check out, the soldier does not accept Zero's pass. Gustave attempts to use the pass Henckel gave them on their last trip, but the man tears it up, showing that it has no value in their current wartime climate, as the country on the pass (Zubrowkia) has now ceased to exist. Though Gustave threatens the soldier with punishment, the man knocks out Zero with the barrel of his gun, causing the former concierge of the Grand Budapest Hotel, to leap to his feet and assault the man.As Old Zero comes out of his story, the Author inquires what happened to Gustave after that. Old Zero then tells that the soldiers had him killed, and with his death, everything that he owned, was willed to him (Zero).After the story and their meal, the two men head to the front desk, though the concierge is nowhere to be found. Zero then goes behind the counter, and retrieves the keys to both of their rooms. One of the key's large tags reads: "M Gustave Suite."As they wait for the elevator to their rooms, The Author asks Zero if he chose not to sell the hotel to maintain a part of Gustave's world. Zero replies he kept the hotel as a tribute to Agatha, and the best years of his life. He believes the world Gustave had was gone before he worked at the hotel. He departs from the Author. The Author states that he would later travel to South America after visiting the hotel, which he describes as "marvelous ruins that he never returned to."The film closes with a shot of the young woman finishing the Author's book at the cemetery.

comedy, boring, fantasy, murder, whimsical, violence, flashback, absurd, humor, psychedelic, entertaining

train

imdb

This marvelous attention to detail, the way he composes his shots( tracking shots, the symmetry, the characters running in slow-motion), chase scenes, love story, nostalgia, explanatory montages, the colourful set design and the prevalent theme of every one of his films: family. Though the tale (with Tom Wilkinson as the author of the story) and the tale within the tale (with Jude Law as the young author & F Murray Abraham as the mysterious owner of THe Grand Budapest Hotel) have straightforward narratives, the tale within the tale within the tale, which comprises the bulk of the film and is set in the years preceding the Second World War, is a wild uproarious train ride of story telling. It also boasts the cast of a life time: Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson & countless cameos. I was very excited for The Grand Budapest Hotel, because of its excellent cast, the fact it's directed by Wes Anderson and just by how unique it looked. After watching The Grand Budapest Hotel, I can confidently say that it's my new favourite Wes Anderson film, and probably his best.As I was hoping, the story to The Grand Budapest Hotel is very original and unique, some may even say strange. This was a great benefit to my viewing experience as I loved everything I saw, and felt as though nothing was spoiled from watching too many trailers.I haven't been a huge fan of most of Ralph Fiennes' work since his phenomenal performance in 1993′s "Schindler's List", but this is easily his best performance since then. I won't get into the whole supporting cast because there's so many who were all so great, but I was particularly impressed by Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law and Saoirse Ronan.The Grand Budapest Hotel is definitely a Wes Anderson film, down to its very core. It's probably Wes Anderson's best film, it has gorgeous visuals, excellent acting and a wonderful story. The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest from Wes Anderson, and what great fun it is. The answer is a near masterpiece of cameos that add up to a highly entertaining and memorable film.In a complex serious of flashbacks, Tom Wilkinson plays an author remembering his younger self (Jude Law) being recounted, a number of years before, the life story of The Grand Budapest's mysterious elderly guest Zero Moustafa, played by Abraham. What follows is a madcap pursuit across snowy landscapes, various grisly murders, a couple of civil wars, some disconnected fingers, a prison break and a downhill ski chase.All the cast seem to enjoy themselves immensely, but it is the production design and cinematography that really shines through: every single shot of the film is just a joy to look at, from the bright pastel colours of some scenes to the oak-panelled finery of the elderly lady's mansion. A wonderfully funny fable of the adventures of world's greatest hotel concierge (a brilliant, inventive and hilarious performance by Ralph Fiennes) and the friendship he strikes up with the hotel's new lobby boy (a strong debut by newcomer Tony Revolori). This was the tale of Gustave H, the legendary and infamous Concierge of The Grand Budapest Hotel, a rather glamorous edifice perched atop a mountain and his protégé and most trusted friend Zero, The Lobby Boy. This is a tale of friendship, murder, revenge and deep dark plotting. As I said a host of stars in this film ranging from Ralph Fiennes, Jeff Goldblum, Jude Law and Bill Murray to Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson and Harvey Keitel to name a few, but one of the outstanding performances must go to Tony Revolori, a relatively unknown young actor who plays Zero, who is In almost every scene. That it was directed by Wes Anderson (who has a unique style that really fascinates, but admittedly not everybody will like or warm to his style) and that the cast is so stellar were reasons enough to see 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' in the first place, as well as its many accolades and critical acclaim.While it isn't quite flawless, and it is easy to see why a number of people don't like or will not like it (due to a lot of the cast's roles being pretty short, only Gustave and Zero being fully fleshed out of the characters and those who have a problem with Anderson's style), 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' is a visually stunning, hugely entertaining, wonderfully weird and impeccably cast and acted film.It really stuns visually, with cinematography that is not only clever in technique but also gorgeous in aesthetic and tight, fluid editing. Anderson directs superbly, the story balances darkness and quirkiness to great effect (the prison scene is unforgettable) and it's never too simplistic or convoluted (though of course the visuals, dialogue and performances make much more of an impact) and the screenplay is a sublime mixture of the dark, the quirky, the witty and the subtle delivered with rapid-fire.'The Grand Budapest Hotel' boasts an impeccable cast and pretty much everybody does a splendid job, though many of the roles are short. Murray Abraham, Jeff Goldblum, Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson give very entertaining performances, while Edward Norton is delightfully droll and Adrien Brody and especially Willem Dafoe bring sinister foreboding to the film. The film belongs to Ralph Fiennes, in what is essentially the heart of the film, while he has always been a fine actor he has not given a performance this brilliant in years, never knew he could be so riotously funny.In conclusion, a wonderful film and a hotel well worth revisiting more than once if to one's taste. Director of Photography Robert Yeoman brings back the signature style of Wes Anderson films that audiences have grown to love. At this point, his films are an acquired taste, and there's enough of a body of work for people to make up their minds whether they like the brand of hand-made, exquisitely carved life-sized doll houses he's selling (if you told me a major director was also a serial killer, my first guess would be Wes Anderson). The Grand Budapest Hotel has it all: great actors, an interesting story-line, beautiful cinematography, a dreamlike set, and of course a brilliant director. It is weird, it is old, you wouldn't believe this is a 2014 movie but like Gustav' tastes, it takes a gourmet to appreciate it.There's something delightfully refreshing in "The Grand Budapest Hotel" in the way it doesn't call for any particular analysis, and provides nothing that can encourage your mind to venture into intellectual considerations. You don't need and you shouldn't, because if you try, you're likely to find yourself in some sort of private joke you're the only one not to get.So, embrace that big joke of a film, that shaggy-dog story where each shot, looks like the vignette of a comic-book, enjoy the dry with of Ralph Fiennes in his greatest comedic performance since "In Bruges" and don't take the whole thing seriously. The only serious aspect about it is that the film is a visual masterpiece with a unique use of colors, contrasts and environment shots, Anderson is a director, who like Jeunet in "Amélie" knows how to make people move in an environment, whether a hotel lobby, a jail or a mountain. The uses of costume is another aspect that immediately associates the film with the animated world, nothing is too wacky or over-the-top if it means a great-looking shot or a hilarious gag, or both.The film is also known for his ensemble star-cast and indeed, it's part of the publicity, it would take a whole paragraph to list all the actors, but the thing is that the film owes them nothing, they're giving their best shot even for a few minutes of screen-time (Bill Murray doesn't have more than a minute but he steals that minute) because they know the film is good enough to have fun with it. Their relationship, which is one of the mentor and master can be very inspiring at time, even poignant, so maybe there are a few things to appreciate beyond the zaniness, after all.But apart from that, it's a film that can be tasted like a treat and full of tricks whose only purpose is to make you laugh, the whole thing wrapped up in a sumptuous visual package à la Anderson, a cinematic Mendl. Wes Anderson is undoubtedly one of the finest directors we have working today, and this is very much evident throughout the span of his latest film The Grand Budapest Hotel. It doesn't have anything to separate itself from previous quirky and dark humor filled films that Wes Anderson has released, it doesn't have the heart from Moonrise Kingdom, the charisma of The Fantastic Mr. Fox, or the mystique from The Darjeeling Limited. Yes, every director may have their own styles and tweak it differently for each of their works, but Wes Anderson only adds some minor plot differences to his films to make them slightly "different," yet still far too similar. Yes, I am harshly bad mouthing this movie, but I did still find some enjoyment in watching the gorgeous film making and the once in while funny script, but come the third act, all the twists just become much too predictable, and ultimately unsatisfying. Having lost almost 2 hours of my life watching this pretentious, awkward, tedious,repetitive nonsense masquerading as a film, I felt an urgent need to warn my fellow movie goers of this stinker of a movie.The Great Budapest Hotel is "in your face" director's overindulgence in experimenting. Just like most of his films, the style and personality are written all over it, from aesthetics to pizazz, but compare this to the others, The Grand Budapest Hotel crafts something that is nearly otherworldly which (obviously) makes it very charming. It is a part thriller and part comedy film that is perfectly coated by its artistic panache, but looking deep within the structure, you may also find a bunch of witty humor and rich character development from the two leads which makes it a really special experience.The film is actually a set of layered events telling how many generations have reached the story of the past hotel owner, Gustave H. The rest of the cast are just equally terrific at they are doing, whether it's to deliver great humor or give a lot of life in each scene.The Grand Budapest Hotel is often manic yet (obviously) often creative and witty. A hotel employee is framed for the murder of one of the frequenters but none of it is actually essential to the filming of a project that most likely appeals to Wes Anderson fans only. The extraordinarily many famous actors do not reach anywhere to potential - instead it seems like squeezing in as many stars as possible in roles that do not offer full scope for their talent.The second character, Zero Moustafa, as young played by an Indian-looking (apparently Latino) actor, as old by a white Caucasian (why?), may ring fresh with current political news for a British/American audience as he is a refugee who has had to leave his home country due to war - and due to this fact the constant nonsense-speaking Gustave excuses himself for a "racist" remark. I don't know that I'd call "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Wes Anderson's latest bit of whimsy, exactly a misfire, but I certainly didn't like it as much as some of his other recent films.Almost always there's a strong emotional core to Anderson's films that anchors the idiosyncratic absurdity that defines his style. I was excited when, for example, Jason Schwartzman made his entrance, because he's been given the opportunity in previous Anderson movies to make such a comedic impression, but he gets about two minutes of unremarkable screen time before the story whisks on to the next disposable character. It's the first Wes Anderson film I can think of that caused me to actually be annoyed by his self conscious style, a sure sign that in other respects Anderson was off his game.I should add, though, that Ralph Fiennes is sensational. The Grand Budapest Hotel is written and directed by Wes Anderson,starring Ralph Fiennes as a concierge who teams up with one of his employees to prove his innocence after he is framed for murder. I have never been fortunate enough to watch works of the Director Wes Anderson but I do not usually connect with the works of a director in today's movie industry but the satisfaction of laying eyes over the imagination and absolute freedom of this director attracted me to write a review.The Grand Budapest Hotel wasn't flawless or a masterpiece in my eyes or even what I would categorize as a movie. It merely gave away a confusing vibe, felt cheap at points and it had wrong pacing at points but the fact is that The Grand Budapest Hotel is a movie for just about 2 minutes until you are immersed into the words of a book for a matter of minutes and then again into imagination and thoughts of a fantastic listener who barely lays a word into the story. I don't know why I never learn: ever since Rushmore, a film to which I simply could not warm up, every time I watch one of Wes Anderson's films, I end up disliking it intensely. The Grand Budapest Hotel is a pretentious film, in which visual style stifles any substance its talented actors might have brought to the story.. In 1932, in the glorious days of the Grand Budapest Hotel, Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori) is hired to work as lobby boy under the command of the legendary concierge Monsieur Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) that becomes his friend. Will his friend Zero leave him die in the prison?"The Grand Budapest Hotel" is another original and weird movie by Wes Anderson with his usual bizarre characters. And his was the only character about whom I had any feeling for care or concern.Will I ever watch a Wes Anderson film? "The Grand Budapest Hotel", Wes Anderson's most successful film to date, is visually enthralling, every frame a veritable art museum painting (and not just on the level of "Boy with Apple"), cleverly utilizing glass-paintings and CGI-enhanced locations in Germany and Poland actually to the level of picture postcards. Anderson's latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel, is very much in the audacious visual style of his previous comic fantasies - absurd situations, oddball characters, and zany action unfolding at a frantic pace. Though on the surface, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a Mack Sennett-like comedy, beneath the surface, the film touches on universal themes and has a serious purpose. Such a delightful character and his sheer poise is the source of most of the humour.The Grand Budapest Hotel is a must see for all Wes Anderson fans and all of those that want to see a comedy with wit, style and finesse.. He has away with telling the story, directing and getting his characters in the flawless brilliant, funny scenarios that will leave the viewer with a lasting impression of his ultimate, original brilliance.The Grand Budapest Hotel is an instant classic. So what i would like you to know about the plot is that it's about a concierge (Ralph Fiennes) at a hotel called Grand Budapest. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)** (out of 4) Wes Anderson's critically acclaimed film tells the story of concierge M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) who befriends a young lobby boy and goes on an adventure dealing with a priceless stolen painting.THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL has gotten some of the greatest reviews of the year and it even managed to pick up several Oscar-nominations but it just didn't work for me. I'm saddled by the fact that I really don't ever feel like I would seek out to watch a film of his a second time, and Grand Budapest Hotel certainly leaves me with no desire to watch it again. Well, Wes Anderson is the man about wild ideas and he surpasses his own impressive credits (Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Royal Tenebaums, Rushmore, etc) with this zany and delightful romp.GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL recounts the adventures of Gustave H (Ralf Fiennes, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka between the wars, and Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. Ridiculously detailed to every nook right down to very twirls at the end of moustache of Mr.Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is a must watch for the fans of Wes Anderson. If that's your game TGBH is her name!TITLE: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL DIRECTED BY: WES ANDERSON STARRING: RALPH FIENNES, TONY REVOLORI, WILLIAM DAFOE, ADRIAN BRODY, EDWARD NORTON, OWEN Wilson & BILL MURRAY RATED: R RATING : 08/10 RUNTIME: 100 MINUTES. Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is a great film and one of my favorite Anderson films. The story is about hotel concierge Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) and lobby boy Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori) as they navigate their way through a murder mystery and a growing war in Europe in the 1930s. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" has everything you want from an Anderson film. Ralph Fiennes is wonderful, as are all of the usual actors in Anderson's films. Anderson's films are definitely stylised to say the least and not all people like his style of still shots with a vintage look and feel. The Grand Budapest Hotel is now one of my all time favourite films and I am proud to say so. I have not seen all of Wes Anderson films, but what I have seen I like. Those who turn their nose up at the thought of another fussily-filmed, wildly colourful journey into the world and mind of Wes Anderson, will no doubt detest his latest, and arguably most perfect work, The Grand Budapest Hotel. If you like Wes Anderson, you will love this movie.

tt0263975

Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalim

A classic and endlessly watchable love story that never dates Inspired by the novel of acclaimed writer Cengiz Aytmatov, Atif Yilmaz adapts one of history's greatest love stories to the screen with the greatest finesse. It is said, in fact, that the French poet Aragon described The Girl With The Red Scarf as "the world's greatest love story".We begin by being lured into the captivating world of Ilyas, a truck driver who delivers sand to a dam construction, his newly acquired wife Asya and their young son Samet. But the legendary love affair between Asya and Ilyas is soon shaken by jealousy, an alcohol habit and extra-marital affair. Ilyas, who genuinely loves his wife but is hampered by an ever weakening character, ends up walking out when job-related problems come to a head. The helpless Asya is left with their son to cope alone. She waits patiently for her husband to return Until she runs into Cemsit, a sympathetic figure who Samet soon begins to identify as his father. When she finally surrenders to his affections, life takes on an entirely new hue.But then, years later, Ilyas suddenly appears from nowhere, demanding his wife and child back. His arrival rekindles the questions that have preoccupied hearts and minds since time immemorial. What is love? What makes a lover? What makes a spouse? What makes a father?... And which is harder: to go back or not to go back?The Girl With The Red Scarf stands out for its brilliant casting, the polished performances of its three leads, Türkan Soray, Kadir Inanir and Ahmet Mekin, the refined direction of Atif Yilmaz and highly effective score of Cahit Berkay. Be warned: this is a film that plays mercilessly on the heartstrings.

romantic

train

imdb

tt1024715

Choke

Victor Mancini is a sex addict who works as a reenactor of life in Colonial America. He works with his best friend, Denny, who is also a reformed sex addict. To support his hospitalized mother, Ida, Victor cons others by intentionally choking at restaurants to get money from his rescuers. When he visits his mother one day, he meets Dr. Paige Marshall, who takes care of her. She tells Victor that his mother's condition is worsening and that they could try an experimental stem cell technique that would require harvesting cells from the umbilical cord of a newborn baby with Victor's genes. She convinces Victor to have sex with her so she can have his child and save his mother. Victor never knew his father and is anxious to obtain the information from his mother, but she never recognizes him when he visits. He asks Denny to pose as him and ask her questions. Denny agrees and reveals that Victor's mother kept a diary. Victor finds it, but it is in Italian. Paige tells Victor she can read Italian and agrees to translate the diary. Victor and Paige try several times to have sex, but Victor cannot maintain an erection. After discussing it with Denny, he realizes he loves Paige. She then reveals to him that his mother may have fled Italy because she stole Jesus' foreskin, and used its cells to conceive Victor, making him the Second Coming. He is reluctant to believe but, in the end, accepts Paige's assertion. However, his mother finally recognizes him and tells him that she stole him as a baby and she has no idea who his real parents are. As she tells him this, he feeds her chocolate pudding and accidentally chokes her to death. While Paige tries to resuscitate Victor's mother, a hidden band around her wrist falls into Victor's view, revealing that she is actually a patient in the hospital—not a doctor. Paige then reveals that she was admitted to the hospital years ago, in a catatonic state, and fell in love with Victor through the stories his mother told her about him. As she was a former medical student, the nurses allowed her to wear a white coat, as it calmed her down. Paige, a voluntary patient, checks herself out without saying goodbye to Victor. After his mother's funeral, Victor boards a plane. He goes to the bathroom and the door opens to reveal Paige joining him.

pornographic, comedy, flashback, absurd, psychedelic, romantic, storytelling

train

wikipedia

tt1229822

Jane Eyre

=== Introduction === The novel is a first-person narrative from the perspective of the title character. The novel's setting is somewhere in the north of England, late in the reign of George III (1760–1820). It goes through five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead Hall, where she is emotionally and physically abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she gains friends and role models but suffers privations and oppression; her time as governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; her time with the Rivers family, during which her earnest but cold clergyman cousin, St. John Rivers, proposes to her; and her reunion with, and marriage to, her beloved Rochester. During these sections the novel provides perspectives on a number of important social issues and ideas, many of which are critical of the status quo (see the Themes section below). Literary critic Jerome Beaty opines that the close first person perspective leaves the reader "too uncritically accepting of her worldview", and often leads reading and conversation about the novel towards supporting Jane, regardless of how irregular her ideas or perspectives are. Jane Eyre is divided into 38 chapters, and most editions are at least 400 pages long. The original publication was in three volumes, comprising chapters 1 to 15, 16 to 27, and 28 to 38; this was a common publishing format during the 19th century (see three-volume novel). Brontë dedicated the novel's second edition to William Makepeace Thackeray. === Jane's childhood === The novel begins with the titular character, Jane Eyre, aged 10, living with her maternal uncle's family, the Reeds, as a result of her uncle's dying wish. It is several years after her parents died of typhus. Mr. Reed, Jane's uncle, was the only person in the Reed family who was ever kind to Jane. Jane's aunt, Sarah Reed, dislikes her, treats her as a burden, and discourages her children from associating with Jane. Mrs. Reed and her three children are abusive to Jane, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The nursemaid Bessie proves to be Jane's only ally in the household, even though Bessie sometimes harshly scolds Jane. Excluded from the family activities, Jane is incredibly unhappy, with only a doll and books for comfort. One day, after her cousin John Reed knocks her down and she attempts to defend herself, Jane is locked in the red room where her uncle died; there, she faints from panic after she thinks she has seen his ghost. She is subsequently attended to by the kindly apothecary, Mr. Lloyd, to whom Jane reveals how unhappy she is living at Gateshead Hall. He recommends to Mrs. Reed that Jane should be sent to school, an idea Mrs. Reed happily supports. Mrs. Reed then enlists the aid of the harsh Mr. Brocklehurst, director of Lowood Institution, a charity school for girls. Mrs. Reed cautions Mr. Brocklehurst that Jane has a "tendency for deceit", which he interprets as her being a "liar". Before Jane leaves, however, she confronts Mrs. Reed and declares that she'll never call her "aunt" again, that Mrs. Reed and her daughter, Georgiana, are the ones who are deceitful, and that she shall tell everyone at Lowood how cruelly Mrs. Reed treated her. === Lowood === At Lowood Institution, a school for poor and orphaned girls, Jane soon finds that life is harsh, but she attempts to fit in and befriends an older girl, Helen Burns, who is able to accept her punishment philosophically. During a school inspection by Mr. Brocklehurst, Jane accidentally breaks her slate, thereby drawing attention to herself. He then stands her on a stool, brands her a liar, and shames her before the entire assembly. Jane is later comforted by her friend, Helen. Miss Temple, the caring superintendent, facilitates Jane's self-defence and writes to Mr. Lloyd, whose reply agrees with Jane's. Jane is then publicly cleared of Mr. Brocklehurst's accusations. The 80 pupils at Lowood are subjected to cold rooms, poor meals, and thin clothing. Many students fall ill when a typhus epidemic strikes, and Jane's friend Helen dies of consumption in her arms. When Mr. Brocklehurst's maltreatment of the students is discovered, several benefactors erect a new building and install a sympathetic management committee to moderate Mr. Brocklehurst's harsh rule. Conditions at the school then improve dramatically. The name Lowood symbolizes the "low" point in Jane's life where she was maltreated. Helen Burns is a representation of Charlotte's elder sister Maria, who died of tuberculosis after spending time at a school where the children were mistreated. === Thornfield Hall === After six years as a student and two as a teacher at Lowood, Jane decides to leave, like her friend and confidante Miss Temple, who recently married. She advertises her services as a governess and receives one reply, from Alice Fairfax, housekeeper at Thornfield Hall. Jane takes the position, teaching Adèle Varens, a young French girl. One night, while Jane is walking to a nearby town, a horseman passes her. The horse slips on ice and throws the rider. Despite the rider's surliness, Jane helps him to get back onto his horse. Later, back at Thornfield, she learns that this man is Edward Rochester, master of the house. Adèle is his ward, left in his care when her mother abandoned her. At Jane's first meeting with him within Thornfield, Mr. Rochester teases her, accusing her of bewitching his horse to make him fall. He also talks strangely in other ways, but Jane is able to give as good as she gets. Mr. Rochester and Jane soon come to enjoy each other's company, and spend many evenings together. Odd things start to happen at the house, such as a strange laugh, a mysterious fire in Mr. Rochester's room (from which Jane saves Rochester by rousing him and throwing water on him and the fire), and an attack on a house guest named Mr. Mason. Then Jane receives word that her aunt Mrs. Reed is calling for her, because she suffered a stroke after her son John died. Jane returns to Gateshead and remains there for a month, attending to her dying aunt. Mrs. Reed confesses to Jane that she wronged her, giving Jane a letter from Jane's paternal uncle, Mr. John Eyre, in which he asks for her to live with him and be his heir. Mrs. Reed admits to telling Mr. Eyre that Jane had died of fever at Lowood. Soon afterward, Mrs. Reed dies, and Jane helps her cousins after the funeral before returning to Thornfield. Back at Thornfield, Jane broods over Mr. Rochester's rumoured impending marriage to the beautiful and talented, but snobbish and heartless, Blanche Ingram. However, one midsummer evening, Rochester baits Jane by saying how much he will miss her after getting married, but how she will soon forget him. The normally self-controlled Jane reveals her feelings for him. Rochester is then sure that Jane is sincerely in love with him, and he proposes marriage. Jane is at first sceptical of his sincerity, but eventually believes him and gladly agrees to marry him. She then writes to her Uncle John, telling him of her happy news. As she prepares for her wedding, Jane's forebodings arise when a strange woman sneaks into her room one night and rips her wedding veil in two. As with the previous mysterious events, Mr. Rochester attributes the incident to Grace Poole, one of his servants. During the wedding ceremony, Mr. Mason and a lawyer declare that Mr. Rochester cannot marry because he is already married to Mr. Mason's sister, Bertha. Mr. Rochester admits this is true but explains that his father tricked him into the marriage for her money. Once they were united, he discovered that she was rapidly descending into madness, and so he eventually locked her away in Thornfield, hiring Grace Poole as a nurse to look after her. When Grace gets drunk, Rochester's wife escapes and causes the strange happenings at Thornfield. It turns out that Jane's uncle, Mr. John Eyre, is a friend of Mr. Mason's and was visited by him soon after Mr. Eyre received Jane's letter about her impending marriage. After the marriage ceremony is broken off, Mr. Rochester asks Jane to go with him to the south of France, and live with him as husband and wife, even though they cannot be married. Refusing to go against her principles, and despite her love for him, Jane leaves Thornfield in the middle of the night. === Other employment === Jane travels as far from Thornfield as she can using the little money she had previously saved. She accidentally leaves her bundle of possessions on the coach and has to sleep on the moor, and unsuccessfully attempts to trade her handkerchief and gloves for food. Exhausted and hungry, she eventually makes her way to the home of Diana and Mary Rivers, but is turned away by the housekeeper. She collapses on the doorstep, preparing for her death. St. John Rivers -- Diana and Mary's brother -- and a clergyman save her. After she regains her health, St. John finds Jane a teaching position at a nearby village school. Jane becomes good friends with the sisters, but St. John remains aloof. The sisters leave for governess jobs, and St. John becomes somewhat closer to Jane. St. John learns Jane's true identity and astounds her by telling her that her uncle, John Eyre, has died and left her his entire fortune of 20,000 pounds (equivalent to over £1.3 million in 2011). When Jane questions him further, St. John reveals that John Eyre is also his and his sisters' uncle. They had once hoped for a share of the inheritance but were left virtually nothing. Jane, overjoyed by finding that she has living and friendly family members, insists on sharing the money equally with her cousins, and Diana and Mary come back to live at Moor House. === Proposals === Thinking Jane will make a suitable missionary's wife, St. John asks her to marry him and to go with him to India, not out of love, but out of duty. Jane initially accepts going to India but rejects the marriage proposal, suggesting they travel as brother and sister. As soon as Jane's resolve against marriage to St. John begins to weaken, she mysteriously hears Mr. Rochester's voice calling her name. Jane then returns to Thornfield to find only blackened ruins. She learns that Mr. Rochester's wife set the house on fire and committed suicide by jumping from the roof. In his rescue attempts, Mr. Rochester lost a hand and his eyesight. Jane reunites with him, but he fears that she will be repulsed by his condition. "Am I hideous, Jane?", he asks. "Very, sir: you always were, you know", she replies. When Jane assures him of her love and tells him that she will never leave him, Mr. Rochester again proposes, and they are married. He eventually recovers enough sight to see their first-born son.

insanity, cruelty, gothic, flashback

train

wikipedia

I have seen most of them, some multiple times–-both out of my deep love for the tale, and as part of the research for my novel "The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë," the true story of Charlotte's remarkable life, her inspiration behind "Jane Eyre," and her turbulent, real-life romance.Every screen version of JANE EYRE has its merits. Rather than telling the tale in a linear fashion, it begins at a crisis moment later in the story, and tells the majority of the tale in flashback–-which works wonderfully well, enabling screenwriter Moira Buffini to effectively compress a long novel into a two-hour time span.The movie opens as Jane is fleeing Thornfield after having discovered Mr. Rochester's dark and heartbreaking secret. As Jane ruminates about the past events that led to her escape, we are treated to the story in flashback.The casting of Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre also sets this production apart, since she is closer in age than most actresses who've played the role to the character in the novel, who was about 18 years old in the Thornfield section. Although I wish Mia's Jane was a bit more "swoony" over Mr. Rochester earlier on (yes, she is supposed to be stoic, but I missed that phase where we get to see her blossom as she falls in love with him, and then is utterly crushed when she believes him to be in love with Miss Ingram), Mia truly inhabits the role, beautifully portraying Jane's sense of self-respect, integrity, and restraint, as well as her passion and vulnerability.Michael Fassbender embodies Mr. Rochester with the ideal blend of charisma and sinister brooding, while at the same time allowing glimpses of his underlying desperation and the wounded depths of his soul. Sally Hawkins as Mrs. Reed effectively portrays the icy ogre who menaces the young Jane (a spirited and appealing Amelia Clarkson.) And Judi Dench, as always, gives a superb performance as housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax.The film's locations do justice to the novel's often gloomy, atmospheric tone. It caught me off guard but I must say that scene left me breathless and is an effective way to convey how much Jane longed for her true love.But in the end, even though I adore Fassbender, he still hasn't replaced Timothy Dalton as my favorite Rochester. This is a beautifully filmed, engrossing, and haunting version of the classic Charlotte Bronte novel Jane Eyre. I hope the Academy Award is awake and paying attention!Loving the novel as I do, I found a few flaws I must mention: I didn't think Blanche was nearly pretty enough; Bertha was not frightening enough; Rochester's kindnesses to Jane were not displayed here (an audience member might wonder why she loved him as she did); St. John Rivers was a much harsher character here --not gentle and lovable as he was in the book; and lastly, the film was less than two hours long and therefore too much was left out of the story. Hopefully, it will prompt new generations of fans to read the novel and fall in love with Jane Eyre, as so many of us have since it was published in 1847.This film is beautiful, romantic, frightening, sometimes funny, and ultimately very moving. Charlotte Brontë's seminal literary work "Jane Eyre" has been adapted countless times and prepared in a myriad of ways from the 1943 Joan Fontaine/Orson Welles version that was whittled to an hour and a half to the 1983 BBC mini-series with Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton that spans five-plus hours. That certainly begs the question of why anyone, from writer Moira Buffini to director Cary Fukunaga to Dame Judi Dench, would feel inspired to recreate this coming-of-age story about love and accepting its blemishes.Fukunaga's ("Sin Nombre") take doesn't exactly provide an amazing revelation or epiphanic justification for bringing "Jane Eyre" back to life, but it does prove that no classic can be so overdone that it becomes untouchable; even the most tried and dated of love stories can find new life. Fukanaga has given "Jane Eyre" a photorealistic makeover devoid of frills and fiercely au naturel, but no less gripping than the story's "livelier" retellings.Fictional period dramas often feel overtly pristine and glazed over to the point of fairytale, but in watching this film, you get the sense that this is quite possibly how the story would have looked and felt if it had been true. Nevertheless, the short beginnings prevent the film from showing the whole scope of Jane's troubled life.Fassbender and Wasikowska work terrifically and manage to communicate the class and age discrepancy that made "Jane Eyre" a juicy read back in the 19th Century. His love for Jane then feels more sincere.An actress as magnetizing as Judi Dench choosing to play the caretaker Mrs. Fairfax sums up the humble attitude of this "Jane Eyre." She uses her gravitas to the effect of being the film's lone comic relief and complements the scenes rather than stealing them from Wasikowska, who is 55 years her junior.The film itself aims for subtlety and chooses not to amp up the shock value of the story's most pivotal scenes. It should introduce a new audience to the classic tale.After scoring in the title role in Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND, Aussie thesp Mia Wasikowska is compelling with a plain Jane styling here again as title character, with her story told effectively in flashback, starting with her escape from the Gothic mansion of Rochester (Michael Fassbender), getting a school marm's gig from sympathetic young pastor "Sin-jin" (St. John, played by Mr. BILLY ELLIOT himself, Jamie Bell).Her "tale of woe", as Rochester mockingly describes it before even hearing a word, is the familiar Charlotte Bronte yarn -suffering a scary childhood at the hands of such ogres as Mrs. Reed (Sally Hawkins, in her least giggly role to date -very effective). The visuals alone make this remake worthwhile, backed by the BBC but definitely not a "Masterpiece Theatre" small-screen effort like the recent re-dos of all of Jane Austen.The big reveal regarding Rochester's "secret" is well-done, though I was a bit disappointed that the hindsight of two versions of Jean Rhys' prequel WIDE SARGASSO SEA was not taken into account here. I think it may be one of the most underrated books of all time.Now for the movie.Let's get to the good: 1) The casting- Michael Fassbender is perhaps the hottest Rochester I could ever imagine. Instead, the writers went for a Jane Austen ala P&P sequence that slowly fades out with them.Boring and anti climatic to a very predictable movie based on a very harsh and real love story.How can a true fan of the book say this is great? But Jane still loves Mr. Rochester and feels only fraternal love for St. John Rivers."Jane Eyre" is a visually stunning adaptation of the classic romance of Charlotte Brontë, with a perfect lead actress in the role of Jane Eyre but missing important parts of the story. Jane Eyre is a classic story for a reason, and this is as fine an adaptation I've encountered with great acting all-around, but it's the visuals and Gothic atmosphere that really made me enjoy this as much as I did. I'm speaking specifically of Jane and Rochester, who are portrayed as being totally in love with each other without much of a reason why ever seen by the audience.That's a small complaint, though, and one that's easily overlooked if you're watching the movie for more than just the romantic aspect, like I was. Cary Fukunaga (The Director) has done a very good job considering these difficulties.The casting of Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre) and Michael Fassbender (Edward Rochester) are appropriate. Jamie Bell's performance seems to be dwarfed by the acting of the two lead actors, which is otherwise a decent performance.The ending of the movie, in my opinion was a bit abrupt – considering the way it is narrated in the novel.Overall this movie is one of the best adaptations of classical literature I have seen.10 out of 10.. I certainly can't fault much of Cary Fukunaga's interpretation of Charlotte Bronte's timeless story of a woman who resents being anyone's property and is one of literature's first women to seek independence from men, but I can't say that I found this film particularly entertaining.The story of an orphan girl who was mistreated for most of her life until she finds love in the arms of Mr. Rochester, Fukunaga's film follows the original novel quite closely, though some important details were seemingly deleted for no reason, and can be found in the special features of the DVD.Mia Wasikowska, in a very strong yet dreary performance (also seen this year flexing some excellent acting muscle in "Albert Nobbs") plays the titular character in a very honest, earnest fashion, but never seems to enrapture her enough to truly click with the viewer. Michael Fassbender, so strong in a bunch of films this year, including "X-Men: First Class," "A Dangerous Method" and "Shame" (for which many feel he was robbed of an Oscar nomination), makes it terribly easy to understand why anyone, not just Jane, would fall in love with his terribly handsome face and masculine demeanour. Masculine is the word I think.In this version of Jane Eyre you actually see the difference between Jane and Rochester - physical, intellectual, social, and emotional - and Mia and Michael do a convincing job of making us see why these two unlikely lovers should fall in love, and their ultimate reconciliation echoes the truth of that love which surmounted those difficulties, made them aware of their faults, brought them together as equals, and promised a happy life thenceforth.I was delighted to see that minor character were not overlooked, and were given their proper share of importance. I was very disappointed because you do not get the feel for the characters and the story behind each of them.I can see how it would be hard to capture the book in it's entirety in a two hour movie but some of the best parts and little details were left out which really upset me.I would not watch it again. Though there have been many versions of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 Victorian novel JANE EYRE the current incarnation as sensitively written for the screen by Moira Buffini and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga at least for this viewer is the strongest thus far. She is completely believable in the role of a Governess to Adèle (Romy Settbon Moore), a brave young outspoken lass to her evil Aunt (Sally Hawkins), a good friend to the housekeeper (Judi Dench), a responsible teacher for the missionary St John Rivers (Jamie Bell) and his sisters Diana (Holliday Grainger) and Mary (Tamzin Merchant), and most importantly she stands up to her own coming of womanhood to the harsh Edward Fairfax Rochester (Michael Fassbender). We are always on Jane's side, no matter what decision she makes, not through a bias in the story but because of how convincingly Wasikowska plays the role.If you've followed me or have read my posts at all, you know that I am a massive fan of Michael Fassbender and any new performance of his is cause for celebration for me. Perhaps I'm talking this film up a bit but I just really enjoyed it, could feel the depression, anguish, love of the characters and was impressed so much by the performances by Judi Dench, Jamie Bell, Mia and Michael Fassbender.Go see it!. This Jane Eyre version excels in every department: acting, screen writing, music, sets, costumes, pacing and story development. Indeed the cast which includes Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre, Judi Dench and Michael Fassbender as Rochester sets a very high standard for good Classic work. There are countless of stage, film and television adaptations of Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre, that you may wonder if the world needs yet another version, if not to update and reintroduce it to another generation who have yet to read the source material, and through a different medium be intrigued enough to want to find out more, especially on subplots not covered. Directed by Cary Fukunaga, you'd come to expect a certain aesthetic quality associated with a period film, and this one doesn't disappoint.Essentially telling the story of the titular character from childhood until her late teens, we go through her miserable time at her aunt's at Gateshead, and fast track through her strict education at Lowood School, essentially told in quick flashbacks that glossed over plenty of details and being spared a series of wrong doings dished out toward this outspoken little girl, whom by the time she's played by Mia Wasikowska, we're introduced to a very mannered, cultured young woman where the bulk of the narrative takes place during her stint as a governess at Thornfield Hall for the ward of Edward Fairfax Rochester (Michael Fassbender). Therein lies a problem, given societal norms of the time what with social standing, and impropriety coming from an employer-employee relationship, which Mrs Fairfax (Judi Dench) never fails to remind.Starring Mia Wasikowska who shot to prominence here in Tim Burton's adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, she played the character of Jane in truly plain Jane fashion and constantly decked in frumpy coloured clothes to highlight her dedication and quiet strength, coupled with her high morals in refusing to do what's not right nor succumbing to the affairs of the heart, despite what I would believe are concerns that are likely glossed over in today's context. I have not seen any previous film adaptations but love the story of Jane Eyre.My analysis about this film is that if you have not recently read the book...or you don't remember a lot about it...this film is not for you.The film does a good job at showing what it shows but it leaves the viewer to remember and fill in all the important things that it does not show. The key roles in this latest film version are played well by Dame Judi Dench (Mrs. Fairfax), Michael Fassbender (Rochester) and Mia Wasikowska (Jane). We could have spent more time, for example, justifying Rochester's Proposal and on the uncomfortable moments leading to the wedding; and, as much as I loved Judy Dench and her performance, we could have lost a bit there (I don't remember that character having such a big role.) Things were missed, but you can't keep everything.Books can obviously not be replaced, so I'd urge fans of the movie to pick it up. Director Cary Fukunaga wisely chooses to play it fairly straight with this latest version of Jane Eyre, and what results is a moody and atmospheric film that hits all the right notes of the classic tale.For a novel to be adapted repeatedly as Jane Eyre has speaks volumes about the quality of the source material, and as such it's probably unnecessary to delve into the story too much here. 'm gonna get into my review of Jane Eyre, based on the classic novel by Charlotte Bronte.Centering on young, seemingly emotionless girl, Jane Eyre (Played terrifically by Mia Wasikowska), the film follows her struggles through an orphaned childhood, and then to the age of 19, a time where she now works as a governess for a rich, but cold Englishman (Played by Michael Fassbender). It's a powerful expression of quiet emotion that easily makes her the MVP of the cast, and that's saying something, considering that she has to hold her own against the likes of Michael Fassbender and Judi Dench.I must also applaud the film's visual designers for contributing lovely work to the movie. This was such an exquisite film that I had to go back and read the novel all over again - when I did, I couldn't help but picture Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender and Dame Judi Dench as the characters - I now probably always will. "Jane Eyre", the book, is not some musty and quaint relic from the Victorian past, it is a timeless story that deeply touches our humanity - I was thankful for this film sending me back, once again, to Charlotte Bronte's wonderful classic.. This Jane Eyre version with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender definitely wasn't my favorite for various reasons. This time Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) plays the main character, Jane Eyre, and Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds) plays her love interest, Edward Rochester. Film Review: "Jane Eyre" (2011)After an impressive first feature "Sin Nombre" directed by Cary Fukunaga releasing on Sundance Film Festival in January 2009, comes this following up picture based on several-times adapted content of Charlotte Brontë novel "Jane Eyre" from 1847 on the story of an handmaiden, falling for a man of property, who she works for; beautifully shot by cinematographer Adriano Goldman from sunny to stormy on-location countrysides in England, setting the mood for atmospheric classic drama led by actress Mia Masikowska, who portrays the character of Jane Eyre with dignity, but is unable to find a break-out scene of desperation, in which she might have been shown her dramatic qualities at an early age of twenty-one. This film adaptation of Jane Eyre is told in flashbacks but looks like a stripped down version of the story.Mia Wasikowska looks plain and innocent enough as a governess for the daughter of a wealthy man. The real gem is the cast, particularly Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre, Michael Fassbender as Edward Fairfax Rochester, Jamie Bell as St. John Rivers, Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax; these performers are quality signs to be followed and enjoyed everywhere. Charlotte Bronte's novel has been adapted countless times for television and cinema; yet the most obvious thing about this version is that 'Jane Eyre' has never looked better on the silver screen. It is always hard to like a movie when you have read the book or have watched a previous version, at least the factor of an unknown story isn't there but this isn't a weakness in Jane Eyre 2011 it sure isn't.

tt0092965

Empire of the Sun

The story begins in 1941, just prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Jamie Graham is a precocious and privileged boy living with his parents in Shanghai. His father is a rich British businessman and the family lives in a mansion on the outskirts of the city and Jamie attends an exclusive prep school. Much has been done to shelter Jamie from the Chinese culture that surrounds him and he is quite spoiled, treating the family's servants with utmost disrespect. Very interested in aviation, Jamie harbors an interest in one day joining the Japanese air force, a dream that his father finds disturbing.The family attends a costume ball thrown by one of the father's business associates, Mr. Maxton. While there, Jamie runs off to fly with his wooden glider. He finds the wrecked fuselage of a fighter plane near an abandoned airfield. While he plays with the controls, his glider slips out of sight behind a mound. He scrambles up the mound and finds an encampment of Japanese soldiers. While he stares at them, his father and Maxton appear and call him down, specifically telling Jamie not to run. As they walk away and the Japanese soldiers return to their camp, Jamie remarks that they "seem to be waiting for something to happen". Maxton suggests that Graham take his family to their apartment in the city and seek an exit from Shanghai, most likely by sea.The family returns to their Shanghai apartment. Early the next morning, Jamie spots a Japanese warship in the harbor communicating with land forces using flashing lights. Jamie begins using his own flashlight from his room when an explosion throws him back from his window. The Japanese move into the city in full force. Jamie's family is able to make it to their limousine but are unable to get very far due to the crowds of people filling the streets. They exit the limo and find themselves crushed and separated among the crowd. Jamie's mother manages to hold on to Jamie when separated from her husband but Jamie lets go of her hand when he drops his toy plane. He sees his mother being helplessly pushed away and she bids him to return to their mansion. Shortly after Jamie witnesses fighting between the Chinese resistance and the Japanese army, seeing a man die in front of him for the first time. The resistance fighters are quickly found and killed.Jamie arrives home to find the house empty. He sees signs of a struggle in his parents bedroom, perhaps indicating that his mother was taken from the house by force. He hears noise downstairs and finds the maid of the house with the other Chinese servant, stealing furniture. When Jamie demands to know what they're doing, the servant, whom Jim had treated badly over the years, calmly walks over and slaps his face and leaves.Jamie stays in the house several months (indicated by the falling level of water in the swimming pool), eating whatever food he can find. When his food and water run out, he rides his bike back to Shanghai to find that the Japanese have long since cemented their control of the city. Jamie tries to surrender to a passing battalion of marching soldiers but they ignore him and his bike is stolen. A homeless Chinese boy notices Jamie and tries to call him over. Jamie refuses and runs through the streets and back alleys, people ignoring his cries for help. The Chinese boy catches and beats him, taking whatever Jamie has on him. Jamie manages to break free and runs into the street, nearly being hit by a truck. The truck's driver, Frank, scares Jamie's tormentor off and takes Jamie with him to an abandoned freighter where Frank's friend, Basie, is cooking rice. Basie deftly searches Jamie for anything of value, taking Jamie's aviator sunglasses and a British crown coin he'd found in the swimming pool. He also gives Jamie a new name, "Jim" and coldly serves Jamie Frank's share of the rice he'd made.The next day Frank and Basie set about trying to "sell" Jim to anyone who needs a manual laborer. When they're unable to sell Jim they decide to leave him to the streets as an orphan. Jim pleads with them to let him stay, even offering them the pickings of rich houses in his old neighborhood outside the city. The three travel to Jim's old house where the lights are on and music, Jim's mother's favorite tune, can be heard. However, the house has been seized by the Japanese, who march out immediately and capture all three. As Jim is held back, Basie is severely beaten.Basie and Jim find themselves in a holding center for foreign prisoners in Shanghai. They spend a significant amount of time there; Jim discovers that the other kids there will steal openly from him to survive, a tactic he also learns from Basie. One day, when the Japanese come to select prisoners for transport to an official camp, Basie is chosen, who boards the truck and ignores Jim's pleas to take him along. Jim begs the driver to take him along and finds that the driver is unsure of the route to the camp. Jim assures the driver that he can guide them to the camp, which is near his parents' old country club. The truck driver throws the annoying Jim into the truck and they leave.The truck arrives at Soochow Creek Interment camp, which is situated right next to an airbase construction site. As the prisoners get off the truck they are ordered to carry white stones up to the spot where a runway is being laid. Jim breaks off from the group, seeing a work area for Japanese Zero airplanes. As he touches one of them, a guard, Nagata, prepares to shoot him. A group of three Japanese pilots approaches and Jamie salutes them; Nagata lowers his rifle when the pilots return Jamie's salute.The story jumps ahead to the Summer of 1945, near the end of the war. Jim has etched out a considerably active life for himself involving an intricate trade network among the other British prisoners and even Nagata himself, who has since been invested as the commanding officer of the camp. While dropping off Nagata's freshly polished boots, Jim slyly steals a bar of soap from the sergeant. Jim's last stop is at the camp infirmary, where he aides the camp doctor, Rawlins, in performing CPR on a dying patient. The woman moves her eyes slightly, seemingly looking at Jim, who now believes he's brought her back to life. Jim appears to lose control and Rawlins is forced to throw Jim off the dead woman. Rawlins has been schooling Jim in Latin and classical poetry, but is unable to teach Jim to recognize when his efforts go too far. Jim leaves the hospital and goes to the American prisoners barracks, delivering the soap to Basie. Basie shows Jim his latest project which involves laying snares in the marsh next to his barracks, hoping to catch pheasants for next Thanksgiving. Basie also makes a deal with Jim: if Jim lays the snares, Basie will let Jim move into the American dorm and take him along if he finds a way to escape the camp.That night the airbase is bombed by American pilots, who drop a bomb very close to the prison camp. In retaliation, Nagata and a few of his officers begin breaking windows in the British and American barracks. When Nagata moves on the infirmary, Rawlins tries to stop him. The sergeant begins to violently and mercilessly beat the doctor. Jim steps in, smashing two windows and begging Nagata in Japanese to cease his punishment, which he does. Rawlins, in gratitude for Jim's actions, gives Jim a pair of two tone golf shoes that belonged to a recently deceased patient.The next day, Jim steals away from the camp to the marsh near the American dorm. Waiting for the tower guard to sit down and leaving his golf spikes behind, he crawls into the marsh to place Basie's snares. However, Basie has another motive for planting the traps: he is using Jim to test the marsh for mines. Moments later, Nagata appears and yells at the guard to take up his post. Nagata finds Jim's shoes and wades into the marsh after him. He is just about to find Jim when a Japanese boy from the airbase calls the sergeant over; the boy has lost his toy glider in the marsh and Nagata retrieves it for him. As the two walk away, the boy salutes Jim, whom he'd seen all along. Jim is given his own space in the American dorm, much to Frank's chagrin, who has to give up some of his own personal space for the young upstart.One day, Basie and another American prisoner, Dainty, are going over potential escape plans using a cork and needle as a compass (provided them by Jim & his pilfering network). Nagata shows up unexpectedly and sees how comfortably Basie has been living. He also finds the bar of soap stolen by Jim and becomes instantly furious, beating Basie severely. Basie leaves Jim in charge of his possessions, knowing he'll be sent to the infirmary. Jim visits him there after seeing through his binoculars that Basie has been given the mosquito net usually reserved for dying patients. (Basie tells him that he merely bribed Dr. Rawlins for it.) During their conversation, Basie suddenly asks Jim why he isn't back at the dorm minding Basie's things; Jim says that the older and larger men in the dorm took everything, Jim being fairly helpless to stop them. Ashamed, Jim leaves the American dorm shortly after Basie returns from the hospital.Now essentially homeless, Jim awakes one morning after falling asleep on the grounds of the camp and sees a kamikaze ritual taking place at the airbase. Moved by the ceremony, he begins to sing "Suo Gân" a Welsh folk song from his childhood days of singing in the choir. As the planes take off one suddenly explodes in midair; a squadron of American P-51 Mustang fighters have arrived and begin to destroy the airbase. Exhilarated, Jim climbs to the top of a bombed out building to watch the battle and sees one of the American pilots waving at him. Jim begins to scream in joy. As the battle continues, Rawlins, fearing for Jim's safety, yells for the boy to come down. Jim doesn't listen and Rawlins climbs after him, finally catching him as the battle winds down. He yells at Jim to return to reality and Jim breaks down, saying he can't recall what his parents looked like. Rawlins carries him down, Jim blankly reciting the poem that Rawlins had been teaching him.The next day, the camp is evacuated by Nagata. The prisoners are told that there will be food waiting for them further inland and a march is quickly started. As they leave, Jim sees the young Japanese boy he'd befriended through the camp wire taking the ceremonial drink of the kamikaze pilots. The boy jumps into his plane but cannot take off because the plane refuses to fire up.The group reaches Nantao Stadium, many miles away, where the Japanese spoils from Shanghai are stored. Among the automobiles there, Jim finds his father's old limo. After being told that there's no food or water there, Jim stays behind with Mrs. Victor, a woman who acted as a guardian to Jim back in Soochow. Jim tells her to act dead so they can stay, however, Mrs. Victor actually dies. As a devastated Jim sits with her body, he sees a gigantic flash of light to the east, one of the atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Japan. Jim believes it is Mrs. Victor's ascending soul, however, he hears a radio broadcast later that reports about the new weapon and the surrender of the Japanese Empire, ending the war.As Jim staggers back to Soochow he notices large canisters falling from the sky on parachutes. They are from the Red Cross and contain food and other supplies. Jim gathers what he can and returns to the prison camp. There he finds the young Japanese boy from the airbase, who is angrily slashing at the marsh with his samurai sword. Recognizing Jim, he stumbles away crying. Jim hears an engine revving and sees a car break through a wall of fire. In the car are Basie and a couple of other men he'd joined up with who are looting the relief containers. The Japanese boy offers Jim a mango and is about to help Jim cut it with his katana when he is shot by one of Basie's companions. As the man rushes over Jim flips him into the marsh and leaps on him, wildly punching him. Basie pulls Jim off, who turns his attention to the Japanese boy. He tries to revive him using CPR but the boy is clearly dead and Basie again pulls Jim off. As he tries to soothe Jim, Jim pulls away, a crazed look in his eye; Jim's experiences during the war of stealing, death and fear have finally pushed him onto the path to adulthood. Basie decides to leave Jim behind, knowing Jim will survive. Jim stays in the camp a bit longer, riding a bike like he did in childhood and laughing. He is found by a U.S. Army unit, to whom he "surrenders".Jim returns to Shanghai and is housed in an orphanage for child war prisoners. The kids are assembled by the nuns for a group of parents who have returned to Shanghai following the war; Jim's parents are among them. They wade through the sea of children, not able to find Jim at first, but spot him after a few moments. Jim, scarred from his experiences and still in shock, doesn't believe his own eyes as he recognizes his mother by her face and hair and eventually collapses in her loving arms.

psychedelic, depressing, murder

train

imdb

This film makes use of the talents of Miranda Richardson and gives some early exposure to the likes of John Malkovich and Ben Stiller, but young Christian Bale steals the show. I had put off watching this until recently, I do not know why, I had not read reviews and for some reason imagined it to be a movie about a young Japanese prince(!!).I was captivated by the performance of Christian Bale as a privileged young boy named Jim Graham, growing up in Shanghai, very far removed from the poverty and despair all around him. When war breaks out, this changes him forever and hence the story.After some harrowing experiences he winds up in a prisoner of war camp where he befriends some interesting characters and quickly adapts to a life of conniving and subterfuge to survive.The transformation of Jim is beautifully captured, Steven Spielberg is a gifted director of child actors and gets a maximum performance always.I was enthralled from beginning to end, young Jim was forever changed by his experiences and this change is portrayed starkly here when he is finally reunited with his parents.8 out of 10 for equally impressive performances from John Malkovich and Miranda Richardson, but Christian Bale's performance deserved an Oscar.. When you watch this film you'll see it's not as much of a war movie as it is a story of survival and the brutal realities of life when the world has been turned upside down. John Malkovich and Christian Bale are incredible as usual, but in this film they bring to life a story of a boy who loses everything due to a country trying to conquer everything. When I first saw the epic film 'Empire Of The Sun' by the inspirational director Steven Spielberg I became emotionally involved in the story and could not help but shed a tear for the truly remarkable piece of cinema. A true heart throb in the making.As a history lesson Empire give us an insight to the happenings in China in WWII, and the ambitions of the Japanese Empire, which are never touched on in other WWII movies.The most emotional part of the film for me: Jim is looking through the fence at the Japanese airbase, the sun is setting, he is dreaming of flying in those incredible machines, pilots are smartly uniformed and decorated, offices passing drinks to the young pilots, superb music playing, Zeros ready to go, Jim salutes the Japanese heroes as they are flying out. The only disappointment is John Malkovich but I've never been a fan of his " Stoned Jack Nicolson " type of acting and like I said he does appear in the movie's best scene EMPIRE OF THE SUN has it's moments but that's all they are - moments . Empire Of The Sun is a really imaginative story of a young boy stuck in World War II China in a truly terrible situation cut off from his parents. Bale and his parents live in luxury among the millions of Chinese.What one should remember when watching Empire Of The Sun is that since the Opium War of 1841 western powers and Japan joined them took small little nibbles out of China and in fact were granted by the weak Chinese governments special treatment in their quarters. Empire of the Sun is a fantastic with a very well written and developed storyline and an outstanding and very dramatic cast.Its Steven Spielberg's first serious war film and while it isn't and good as the war related films he's given in more recent years (Schindlers List,Saving Private Ryan,etc.), it still is a great start for a director who has proved he can direct several different types of genres.The film cast is very professional, it's Christian Bale first big movie,he is very young in this movie and inexperienced but that dosen't show in this film,he delivers a very impressive performance,and that also goes for John Malcovich,another amazing actor,this being one if his earliest films.Fans of war films and Steven Spielberg definitely wouldn't want to miss Empire of the Sun. Story of a young boy who is forced to grow up quickly in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during World War 2.. Acting-wise the two main forces in the film, one a young, brilliant-as-a-child actor Christian Bale embodies Jamie/Jim as a kid who does go through a transformation, the typical 'coming-of-age' where he loses more than just his parents in the chaos but part of himself. The other is John Malkovich, who plays the surrogate/friend during war-time to the boy, a more hard-edged but sharp guy who's out for himself but not completely shut-off from others.And as with any given Spielberg film, at least one or two visuals will strike up as being pretty close to what could be called "pure cinema", where you feel a kind of rush on the back of your neck at what can be done with color, light, composition, people (optional), and music. Time and again, his camera shows us scenes and shots that aren't actually happening in the 'real' world - Situations are seen as they are perceived or as they have been re-imagined in the memory of the film's twelve-year -old protagonist, Jim Graham (an astonishing Christian Bale). God taking a photograph: Jim thinks he sees that four years and seemingly several lifetimes later, as a starving, exhausted prisoner witnessing the brilliant light of the atomic bomb.What transpires in between, the sweeping story of Jim's wartime exploits after he is separated from his family, is set forth so spectacularly in Steven Spielberg's ''Empire of the Sun'' that the film seems to speak a language all its own. Based on J.G. Ballard's autobiography, "Empire of the Sun" portrays spoiled English boy Jim Graham (Christian Bale) getting taken prisoner by the Japanese army in WWII-era Shanghai. I've watched many Steven Spielberg's Films,and I like his style,appreciate his attitude towards war and human nature,such as Saving Private Ryan,Munich,Schindler's List.But,this film makes me absolutely disappointed.maybe you Americans consider it a classical work,but,you don't know how much pain we Chinese suffer in this war,which you will never understand.I don't know why Spielberg always uglify Chinese in this film.If it is a low taste film directed by a illiterate director,I won't care,and won't write such a comment not in my first language.But it's from Spielberg's hand,who always emphasizes equality and humanity.From the perspective of art,the description of the war between china and japan is too subjective,not objective at all,and leads to the failure.So,Spielberg's ignorance of China history become the biggest stain in this film.Maybe he just know something about Jews,but he know nothing about China.. In 1945, Lucky Strikes were green for the Armed Services ("Lucky Strike Green Has Gone to War.") This small erratum aside this is a wonderful movie, but a trifle long.Christian Bale as a young teenager is marvelous and you can see the makings of the fine actor he has become.The story line is simple and plot not complex. Where coffins housing the dead line a river during the opening few shots, a small suitcase in possession of the belongings held throughout by that of a certain character is seen gently floating off and away; the image signifying times having moved on, that the 'old' character is gone and a new, more-exposed-to-the-world in ways which would have never normally happened, is here.That character is Jamie Graham, played by Christian Bale; an infant initially living in the Chinese city of Shanghai just prior to Japan's attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbour and as a consequence, the majority of the Pacific's nations official entry into World War Two. He lives an affluent life with his rich parents, a blazer-clad boy singing harmoniously in a church when we first see him and later chauffeured back to a huge manor house in a neighbourhood firmly informing us of how he lives. Later on, things will appear to aesthetically 'normalise', as inceptions give way to a getting used to this newfound existence, it is through Americans Frank Demarest (Pantoliano) and John Malkovich's Basie; a seaman who lives out of a wrecked freighter in a harbour Jamie finds his feet.When one thinks back to Spielberg's oeuvre, specifically from that of the 1980s, Empire of the Sun is not the film which immediately comes to mind, and that is a shame - although not as much as the fact that the likes of 1984's Temple of Doom might very well do instead. Watching him 20 years later, it is fascinating to see the mature actor within the child who even at this young age can produce boyish enthusiasm to desperation to exhaustion at the crack of "Action." Some of his best scenes are simply he alone, such as a resourceful kid who seems like a lone post-war survivor when he first misses the round-ups of Europeans.It is probably because we are looking through his innocent eyes that the Japanese are shown far less stereotypically than most such movies, particularly as he establishes a tentative connection with a youthful flier (though through his young confusion distinctions between Chinese and Japanese are unfairly not clear). Visually arresting from start to finish, given a sumptuous musical score by John Williams and some of the finest cinematography ever seen, it is hard to understand why the film is not as highly acclaimed as it ought to be...nor is it fitting that it was nominated for six Academy Awards but received none.It's a sweeping epic but depends on capturing your interest by giving the main burden to the young Christian Bale who certainly has one of the great child roles of a lifetime as Jim--and becomes the character so completely that his final reunion with his parents brings tears to the eyes. By that time, the viewer has been through so much with him, watching as he grows from spoiled rich kid to a wily boy who must fend for himself among the wolf-pack of prisoners interred by the Japanese.Basically, it's the real life story of one boy's survival during the outbreak of World War II when he is separated from his British parents during the evacuation of Shanghai. But among the things that stunned me in this movie is Spielberg realistic and stunning recreation of the great World War. The film is also wonderfully shot in Shanghai, capturing the the feel of being in the People's Republic of China. In the middle of the confusion of the times during the Japanese invasion, Jim is separated from his parents and is forced to live by his own means in the almost deserted city.Soon enough Jim meats Basey(Malkovich), an American who's mane concern is himself, however, he sees potential in Jim and takes him under his wing.The film is very long but it captures every second of your attention to it, the acting is superb. I don't know how Spielberg filmed half of this movie, all I can say is "a LOT of time!".Empire of the Sun is a very emotional film, and all aspects of being a prisoner of war are very detailed. As a pampered British boy named Jim "Jamie" Graham who is separated from his parents following the fall of Shanghai before American involvement in World War II, Bale is simply astounding. I do like a vast majority of Steven Spielberg's movies, and Empire of the Sun I feel is one of his best, alongside Schindler's List, ET, Jaws, Jurassic Park and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Spielberg's direction is superb, and there is a thoughtful script and very touching story. Great performance by Christian Bale, he has been selected through 4000 young kids for a reason, too bad the box office didn't do that well as it sure to deserved a better recognition.You can always count on a good Director's vision, Steven Spilberg delivered an epic story that uplifts the sprite.This shows stupid human always used the war to solve their problems, every few generations we have to face to consequence of our mistakes, there is no way out for human mistakes.Human has no intelligent way to show the way of our revolution, other than killed each other for a potato.. Among other highlights of the cast are early performances from Miranda Richardson, playing a very sorrowful Englishwoman who augments as much as she can before the chance of diminishment heightens, Nigel Havers, playing a doctor who amidst all the pressure that keeps him on edge manages to keep Bale's rampagingly passionate youngster down to earth, Joe Pantoliano, even this early in his career playing life's punching bag in the form of a nagging sidekick, and Ben Stiller, the film's biggest surprise, in a bit part among many other no-names in the group of American boys at Malkovich's feet.Empire of the Sun tells a dynamic, lavish, and heartfelt story of a young English boy, adventurous and wide-eyed as can be, obsessively fascinated by airplanes, belonging to a rich family in Shanghai during WWII who is hit like a ton of bricks by the Japanese occupation. The most impressive thing about the film is its portrayal of this young boy's alien perspective of all that suddenly happens and his furiously fast learning of his situation, adapting to all that devastates his life.Those who feel that slight twinge of bias against Steven Spielberg for his mind-blowing and never-ending box office success, you are really missing out on the brilliant work of one of those filmmakers who is truly a master at what a movie, like a novel, is supposed to do, which is suck you into every sensory element of the world of its characters.. This movie shows that no one is winners in war and just how hard it would have been for a child to survive.The madness of war was creeping in and the emotions of each character was all there to be seen and it didn't treat the audience like idiots (perhaps it should have treated them simple as for some people just don't get his love for Zeros) If I could get my kids to watch it and really see it for what it is, perhaps they might learn something.I didn't see racism and I saw the good and the bad of all humans .... Steven Spielberg has always demonstrated a gift for bringing that child-like sense of wonder and working with young actors, most notably in writing "The Goonies" and directing "E.T." In "Empire of the Sun," he shows us war-torn China and Japan through the eyes of a 12-year-old Christian Bale. Considering the war films he's know for, kudos to Spielberg for focusing this story on one fraction of WWII and the survival of a young boy separated from his parents who is forced to lose his innocence in the throws of war.Jamie (Bale), lives in a lovely home with servants and his parents in Shanghai. When the Japanese invade in December of '41, Jamie gets separated in the streets from his parents and begins a brutal journey that ultimately brings him to Soo Chow internment camp where he's known as Jim. He carves a new life for himself as a crafty and inspiring young man.Tom Stoppard, who had just received an Oscar nomination for Terry Gilliam's "Brazil," doesn't provide an eventful script, but does create a compelling portrait of Jamie/Jim. His journey could rank as one of the most complete and intriguing child story lines in film history. This character arch is the winning feature of "Empire of the Sun." Little else nominates it for discussion among all-time great war films, but the perspective of a boy changes everything for the better.~Steven CVisit my site at http://moviemusereviews.com. I first watched 'Empire of the Sun' fairly recently and I'm appalled with myself for never watching such a masterpiece earlier.Empire of the Sun is a film adaption of the popular autobiography by JG Ballard which follows the life of a young boy, Jim (played by Christian Bale) where he embarks on an unforgettable and life-changing adventure when Shanghai is invaded by Japanese troops during World War 2.Jim is separated from his parents and is forced to fend for himself on the streets of Shanghai. He eventually befriends an American called Basie (John Malkovich) and together they survive the Japanese internment camps run by the Japs.A spectacular performance by a young Bale and a realistic representation of the War marks this film one of the greatest of our generation.. G. Ballard's autobiographical novel 'The Empire of the Sun' which tells the story of a boy, James Graham (Christian Bale, very young and very talented), whose privileged life is upturned by the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, December 8, 1941. With excellent direction from Spielberg, a very moving score from John Williams, and an unforgettable performance from the very young Christian Bale, Empire of the Sun makes for one of Spielberg's best. When the war finally draws to an end with Japan's defeat, Jim is left to find his parents, no longer the little boy he was when they were first separated.Welsh-born Christian Bale was just absolutely first class as young Jim. He would only have been twelve or so when filming but his performance proved there are some child actors who can show incredible talent that out-shines adult counterparts and he brings innocence, hope and spirit to his character. I've never seen such a brilliant child performance as his acting here, as it is essentially a film about his character-Jim. A young boy who is separated form his parents during the Japanese invasion of China during the second world war. Young Christian Bale offered a powerful performance in this drama about a young boy separated from his family after the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and sent to an internment camp, where he has to find a way to survive.Bale's portrayal of Jamie (or Jim) was the highlight of this movie. It's 1987: Christian Bale meets Steven Spielberg in this "coming of age" tale of a young boy, Jim, who is separated from his parents in the course of the Japanese occupation of China, that ended with the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings.

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Roy Colt & Winchester Jack

California, the 1870s. Roy Colt (Brett Halsey) and Winchester Jack (Charles Southwood) are outlaws and although they are good friends, they cannot get along peacefully. The opening sequence shows both of them engaged in a fistfight over who will become sole leader of their gang. Although Jack wins the fight, he falls to the ground, unconscious. Roy then decides that he has enough of being an outlaw and leaves the gang in search of a good, honest job in nearby Carson City.Roy arrives at the town's saloon just in time to save the crippled banker, Sam Lewis, from an eccentric gunman full of nervous tics, named Ticchio, who is looking for a treasure map supposedly held by the banker. Roy kills Ticchio, while two sinister-looking men in black (Bruno Corazzari and Federico Boido) leave the saloon to inform their boss, the Reverend (Tedoro Corra), about the hidden gold.Meanwhile, Jack rescues a young Native American woman, named Manila (Marilu Tolo) from two bounty hunters. Manila reveals to Jack that she is wanted by the law for murdering her abusive husband, whom she had been forced into marrying. Jack, however, decides to rape Manila as a show of authority to his gang, but as he soon finds out that she is more than willing to give herself to him. The only problem is that Jack is so filthy and Manila has to force him, at gunpoint, to have a bath in a vat filled with ice-cold water. After Jack makes himself "disgustingly clean", he complains when he finds out that Manila will only have sex with him if he agrees to marry her. In pace of marriage, she is willing to accept $10. Manila is definitely organized, and keeps track of her sexual conquests (and of the money that Jack owes her) by carving a line on a wooden necklace she carries on her at all times called a 'cuenta'.Jack and his gang attack a stagecoach full of gold, but are defeated by Roy, who as become Sam's right-hand man and is acting as a deputy in protecting the stagecoach. While Roy is riding away, Manila asks Jack who was that man. Jack responds: "one that would be just perfect for you. He's always full of money!"Back in Carlton City, the Revered and his gang are besieging Sam's house in order to retrieve his treasure map. The Reverend turns out at this point to be a former Russian priest who as turned to the quick and easy life of crime, perennially plagued by chills (since he managed to escape from the Czar's army years earlier by swimming in the frozen Don River). The Reverend is a specialist in dynamite and is his weapon of choice. Sam is finally persuaded to hand over the treasure map when the Reverend dynamites his house. At this point, Jack and the Reverend meet where its revealed that the two of them are old friends during their early days as outlaws in the Wild West, so both Jack's and the Reverend's gangs team up to look for the gold, despite Jack and the Reverend not trusting each other. So, Jack tears the map in two pieces and hands one to the Revered as a bargaining chip not to kill him.Roy arrives back in Carlton City too late to stop Jack and the Revered, but he is nominated sheriff by Sam. He gathers all the citizens at the saloon and with a rousing speech, asks for 50 or more brave men who are not afraid of death to follow him for a desperate mission to find the Revered, who kills people with dynamite. By the time Roy has finished his speech, he looks around and sees the saloon hilariously empty, save for the bartender (Vincenzio Crocitt) who turns out to be deaf. Roy's only solution is to ride off to face the gang's and recover the gold on his own.At the gang's camp that night, the Reverend falls sick, and dictates to Jack a lewd letter to his bride-to-be Conchia. The Reverend tells Jack that his lover is illiterate, but the nun at the convent where she resides will read the letter for her. Jack looks on with mounting hilarious annoyance as the Reverend describes lewd details of him to his bride-to-be. At the same time, a big fight erupts between the Reverend's men and Jack's gang. The Reverend manages to settle the men down by lighting a stick of dynamite and throwing it between them. The Reverend tells Jack that he learned how to use dynamite from his old friend, Rasputin.Jack leaves the camp with Manila and the rest of his men to scout the area for the gold. The Reverend's men follow them, planning to double-cross them when the time is right. Surprisingly, Roy arrives in the Reverend's camp and teams up with him. Telling the Reverend that the treasure map is a fake, and that he is the only one who can help him cheat Winchester Jack out of the gold, Roy persuades the Reverend to travel along a narrow canyon which is supposed to be a shortcut. But its soon revealed that Roy is double-crossing the Reverend in which Roy teams up with Jack's gang and they ambush the Reverend's men advancing in the narrow space. In the subsequent shootout, the Reverend's gang is destimated. But the Reverend escapes with two of his surviving henchmen, and vows revenge against both Roy and Jack. In the meantime, a mutual attraction is growing between Roy and Manila.To shake off the Reverend, Roy and Jack decide to make a deviation from their rout and head into Wilby City, where they pay a visit to a local brothel. Unfortunately for them, the Reverend has the same idea. When they bump into each other in the whorehouse waiting area, a huge fight ensures, and the place is hilariously trashed. Manila eventually comes to Roy and Jack's rescue, leaving behind the Reverend who has to deal with the furious, money-hungry Madame (Isa Miranda) who runs the establishment.That night at a campout, Manila seduces Roy at gunpoint, Manila asks Roy whether he loves her or not, which he replies that he like her more than his horse. Manila offers not to kill him in exchange to marry her. They are interrupted by Bellatreccia (Mauro Bosco), an old enemy of Roy's who suddenly appears and tries to kill his nemesis. Bellatreccia is surprised by Jack, who shoots him to death. When it seems that Roy and Jack are about to finally settle their differences, the Reverend and his last two gang members attack their camp. All of Roy and Jack's remaining gang members are killed. Once again, Roy and Jack have a fist fight. This time, Roy emerges as the victor. He flees into the night with Manila, but they are both captured by the Reverend and his henchmen, who force them to the location near a beach to where the gold is buried having secured both half's of the treasure map.The group arrives at the site, which is an Indian burial place on a hill overlooking the ocean. The Reverend forces Roy and Manila and his two surviving cronies to dig up the loot. The gold is finally retrieved in raw gold dust in several bags in a large trunk buried some 10 feet down. As the Reverend's two henchman haul the gold out of the pit, the Reverend double crosses his own men by lighting another dynamite stick and throws it at them, blowing them up in the hole. The Reverend then turns to Roy and Manila and lights another dynamite stick to throw it at them so he can have all the gold for himself. But Jack suddenly appears, having followed them to the burial sight and another gun battle ensues. But in the ensuing confusion, the Reverend forgets the lighted stick of dynamite that he is holding, and he gets blown up, paying the ultimate price for his insatiable greed.With the Reverend finally disposed of, Roy and Jack haul the gold into a wagon that Jack commandeered and prepare to head off, until for the umpteenth time, they soon engage in another futile brawl over who will get a larger share of the gold. Manila takes advantage of Roy and Jack's brawl to load up the cart with the gold and rides off. Apparently since Manila feels that since the gold was buried on her people's land, she feels that the gold belongs to her. Roy and Jack are too involved in their scuffle to even notice Manila riding off with all the gold. But she does leave behind a gift for them: her 'cuenta' necklace.

dark

train

imdb

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Rolling

The giddy highs and crushing lows of Ecstasy use are felt by a group of people looking to escape their troubles in this independent drama. It's Friday night in Los Angeles, and a handful of young hipsters are on their way to a massive rave party at a Los Angeles warehouse. Twentyish Summer (Rachel Hardisty) is looking for an evening of casual fun after breaking up with Josh (Joshua Harper), a high school kid who was taking things to seriously for her taste. Matt (Brian William Toth) is happy to have ended a bad relationship with his latest boyfriend, and is looking forward to blowing off some steam with his friend Samantha (Christine Cowden), a self-centered would-be actress. Dan (Albert Rothman) devotes his days to burning through his trust fund, and is looking for any excitement the night has to offer. Sarah (Angie Greenup) is a high school teacher who just wants to forget her work for a few hours. And Dustin (Garrett Brawith) is a drug dealer who is on shaky emotional ground after his girlfriend Rain (Sanoe Lake) walked out on him; what he doesn't know is she was pregnant with his child but had an abortion and is now wary of him. Nearly everyone at the party is looking for romance and hungry for Ecstasy, the club drug that's become de rigueur among ravers, and Dustin is more than happy to supply their demand. But a batch of tainted Ecstasy has been making the rounds; it's already claimed the lives of three users, and there's no telling where the deadly drugs will pop up next.Explores the use of MDMA, more commonly known as "Ecstasy", through documentary-style interviews with a number of characters about the events that occur one very long--but energetic and emotionally open--evening in Los Angeles with the drug. The societal cross-section includes a medical student, a teenage runaway, a lawyer, a drag queen, a high-school basketball player, a drug dealer and a young teacher. [D-Man2010]

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imdb

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Star Wars

Note: Italicized paragraphs describe scenes added for the film's 1997 special edition and updated for its DVD release.An opening title card reads:'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...'It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DeathStar, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy.'Following the opening crawl, the frame moves down in the star field and we see a pitched battle between two starships in orbit around the desert planet of Tatooine. A small Rebel blockade runner, the Tantive IV, is being pursued by a mammoth Imperial star destroyer, the Devastator. Inside, protocol droid C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and utility droid R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) are tossed about as their ship endures a barrage of laser bolts, and "3PO" concludes that escaping capture will be impossible. The Rebel ship is so heavily damaged that its main power reactor must be shut down. It is caught in the Imperial destroyer's tractor beam, pulled into the hold of the larger ship, and boarded by stormtroopers from the Empire's 501st Legion.A huge firefight ensues in the corridors of the Rebel ship, with many Rebel soldiers being lost in the battle. When the smoke clears, Darth Vader (David Prowse; voice: James Earl Jones), a man dressed in a black cape, black armor, and a black helmet that obscures all his features, briefly surveys the damage before interrogating the ship's captain, who claims that the ship is on a diplomatic mission to the planet Alderaan. Vader perceives that he is lying, noting that a consular ship would have an ambassador on board. (In actuality there is a diplomat aboard — Princess Leia Organa — but she is hiding from Vader, the second-ranking man in the Empire, which tends to support Vader's thesis that somebody on this ship is up to something.) Upon learning that "the plans" were not downloaded into the ship's computer, Vader strangles the captain. He then tells the troops to search the entire ship and to bring all the passengers to him — alive.C-3PO and R2-D2 manage to escape damage from the firefight. R2-D2 meets up with Princess Leia, who loads him with the stolen plans and records a holographic message for the small droid to take to the planet's surface. R2-D2 and C-3PO get away from the ship aboard an escape pod and go to the planet below; Imperial troops choose not to destroy the pod, as their scans detect no living organism on board, and presume it ejected due to a malfunction. Moments later the princess is stunned by Imperial troops and taken to Vader. He tells her that the Rebels have stolen some secret Imperial plans and transmitted them to her ship. She feigns ignorance and protests to Vader that she is a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to the planet Alderaan, but Vader doesn't believe her and orders her taken away. Vader's adjutant aide, Commander Jir (Al Lampert), insists that holding her captive is dangerous; news of her captivity would generate sympathy for the rebellion against the Empire. Vader instructs Jir to deceive the Senate and permanently erase any trace of Leia's whereabouts by faking her [accidental] death. Upon being notified by another officer that an empty escape pod was jettisoned during the firefight, he concludes that the Princess hid the stolen plans in the pod.C-3PO and R2-D2 land on the desert planet; R2-D2 mentions a mission to deliver some plans, but C-3PO is more concerned with staying in one piece long enough to find civilization. The two split up, and both are eventually captured by a group of diminutive scavengers called Jawas. The Jawas are junk traders, and R2-D2 and C-3PO are their newest assets. Meanwhile, a unit of Imperial Sandtroopers find the crashed pod and discover droid parts and tracks leading away from the crash site.The Jawas travel to the Great Chott Salt Flat settlement to sell droids and equipment to local homesteaders, eventually arriving at the homestead of Owen Lars (Phil Brown), a moisture farmer. The farmer purchases C-3PO for his translation skills, as he is fluent in six million forms of communication, but initially decides to buy a cheaper utility droid, R5-D4, which breaks down almost immediately after purchase. Eager to deflect accusations of selling shoddy merchandise, the Jawas offer R2 as a replacement. Owen accepts and tells his young nephew, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), to clean them up and put them to work. Luke had plans to meet some friends in the nearby town of Anchorhead, but his plans are put aside for work. During the cleanup, Luke stumbles across a short clip of the message stored in R2 by Princess Leia. The message is for someone named 'Obi-Wan Kenobi', and is a desperate plea for help. R2 insists that the message is simply a malfunction ("old data"), but Luke insists on hearing the complete message, intrigued by Leia's beauty. R2 then states that if Luke removes his restraining bolt, he might be able to play the rest of the message. Luke removes the bolt, but R2 doesn't play the message and claims not to know what Luke is talking about. Luke is called away for dinner (forgetting to replace the bolt, which will keep R2 within the boundaries of the moisture farm) and asks C-3PO to finish cleaning R2.During dinner, Luke tells his aunt and uncle that the droids may belong to someone called Obi-Wan Kenobi. This news greatly disturbs Uncle Owen, but he won't say why. Luke asks if Obi-Wan is possibly related to a hermit named Ben Kenobi who lives several miles away in the Dune Sea area, a vast terrain of sand and rocky canyons. Owen claims that Ben is "just a crazy old man," and that Obi-Wan is dead; Owen makes a comment which seems to indicate that Obi-Wan Kenobi knew Luke's long-deceased father, Anakin, but when Luke presses Owen for details, his uncle quickly changes the subject and instructs Luke to erase the droids' memories the next morning. Luke — who hopes to leave home for training at a nearby Imperial Military Academy to become a space pilot — leaves the room angrily to return to cleaning the droids. Luke's Aunt Beru (Shelagh Fraser) tells Owen that Luke is too much like his father to remain with them, but Owen holds out hope that Luke's desire for adventure will subside — and expresses a fear that Luke is too much like his father... suggesting that Owen may know something of Anakin's terrible past.After dinner, Luke discovers that R2-D2 has escaped to find Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke tells 3PO that it's too late to look for R2 because of the dangerous Sand People (also called Tusken Raiders) in the area, and that they will set out first thing in the morning to go look for him (hopefully before Owen discovers that due to Luke's negligence, his newest investment has disappeared).The following morning, Luke and 3PO set out in Luke's landspeeder to find R2. They locate him on the scanner and catch up with him. As soon as they find him, R2 informs them that his own scanner is picking up several creatures closing in on them. Luke fears the Sand People have found them, and confirms it using a set of minoculars. One ambushes them, hitting Luke over the head and knocking him unconscious. C-3PO goes tumbling down the side of a sand dune. R2 runs and hides.After stealing some parts off of Luke's speeder, the Sand People are frightened away by the sound of a vicious beast. The sound comes from a mysterious hooded figure. The figure checks on Luke and takes his hood off to reveal his features. He is an old, bearded man, who gently touches Luke's forehead. Luke quickly comes to and recognizes the man as Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness). Luke tells the man that his droid claims to belong to an Obi-Wan Kenobi. This knowledge startles the old man, who reveals (with a look of ancient mystery on his face) that he is Obi-Wan Kenobi but that he hasn't gone by that name in many years. After rescuing C-3PO, they go to Obi-Wan's home to discuss the matter.At Obi-Wan's home, Luke learns that Obi-Wan knew Anakin and that they were both Jedi Knights of the Old Republic. Luke had been told by his uncle that his father was a navigator on a spice freighter; Owen had been trying to protect Luke from the truth about his father, or perhaps simply trying to keep him safe. (Note: it's not clear that Owen knows the truth about Luke's father, other than that he was killed in a dangerous line of duty). Obi-Wan then produces Anakin's lightsaber, an energy sword which was the chosen weapon of the Jedi Knights; he seems to have kept it safe for some time. He gives the weapon to Luke, saying that Anakin wanted him to have it when he was old enough, but Owen would have none of it. Obi-Wan explains that a Jedi receives his power from the Force, an energy field that is created by all living beings that "surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together." But there is also a Dark Side to the Force, which draws power from negative emotions and baser impulses. A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was once a pupil of Obi-Wan, was seduced by this Dark Side. Vader betrayed and murdered Anakin, then became the Dark Lord of the Sith, the most feared enforcer of the Emperor. In this capacity, he proceeded to hunt down his former comrades, and the Jedi Order is now all but extinct.At this point Obi-Wan has R2 play Princess Leia's complete message. The princess reminds Obi-Wan of his past service to her father in the Clone Wars, and conveys his plea to assist in the Rebellion against the Empire. She senses that her mission to bring Obi-Wan to Alderaan has failed, and tells Obi-Wan that she has embedded information crucial to the rebellion in R2's memory banks. She asks Obi-Wan to deliver the droid to her father on Alderaan so that the information can be retrieved, and repeats her plea that he is now her "only hope."Obi-Wan cannot hope to undertake such a mission alone due to his advanced age, so he tells Luke that he should learn the ways of the Force and accompany him to Alderaan. Luke is adamant that he can't go, and that he must stay on Tatooine and help his uncle. Obi-Wan counters that the Rebellion needs Luke's help, and that the young woman in the message needs Luke's help (though she has not mentioned any personal request for help). They decide to go to the city of Anchorhead so that Obi-Wan can book a transport to Mos Eisely space port.Meanwhile, the Devastator has docked at the Death Star, a gargantuan space station resembling a small moon. Vader rendezvous with Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin (Peter Cushing), governor of the Imperial Outland Regions, and they enter a conference room where they meet the station's Command Triumvirate: Admiral Antonio Motti (Richard LeParmentier), High General Cassio Tagge (Don Henderson), and Chief Officer Mordramin Bast (Leslie Schofield). As the Triumvirs argue about the best way to exploit their newest "technological terror," Tarkin tells them that the Emperor has decided to dissolve the Imperial Senate and use the Death Star to intimidate all of the Empire's star systems into submission, suggesting that fear of force is preferable to its actual use. Motti is extremely confident in the new space station, calling it 'the ultimate power in the universe.' However, Tagge is adamant that the Death Star is not invincible, and that the Rebels will figure this out if they have a chance to read its schematics. Vader tells them that the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force. Motti callously mocks Vader's Jedi heritage, noting that the Force has not helped him recover the stolen schematics or pinpoint the Rebellion's headquarters. Angered, Vader uses the Force to strangle Motti, until Tarkin orders him to stand down. The commanders decide to focus on interrogating Leia until she gives up the location of the Rebel Headquarters. They will then use the Death Star to destroy it, killing two birds with one stone.As Luke and his companions travel to Anchorhead, they find the Jawa sandcrawler, completely destroyed with all the Jawas slaughtered; although they appear to be victims of the Sand People, Obi-Wan recognizes signs which indicate an attack by Imperial stormtroopers. Luke realizes that the only reason Imperial troops would kill Jawas is because they are looking for the droids which escaped the battle, and he races home, over Obi-Wan's objections that he is likely endangering his own life, hoping to warn Owen and Beru.However, Luke is too late. The Imperials have apparently come and gone, burned the homestead, and killed his aunt and uncle. Luke returns to Obi-Wan (who has used the opportunity afforded by Luke's trip to accord the massacred Jawas some measure of dignity), saying that with no reason to remain, he wants to go with him to Alderaan. More importantly, he declares his wish to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like his father once was.As they approach Anchorhead, Obi-Wan warns Luke and the droids that Mos Eisley is a hotbed of crime and near-lawlessness. Luke assures Obi-Wan that he knows how to handle himself in a fight. Upon entering the spaceport they are approached by Imperial troops at a roadblock asking questions about the two droids they have with them. Obi-Wan appears to induce a trance-like state in the lead guard, persuading him that these are not the droids they are looking for. When Luke is puzzled by the ease of their passage, Obi-Wan explains that the Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded.At the Mos Eisley Cantina, Luke gets into a scuffle with two criminals who threaten to kill him. When one of the creatures pulls a gun on Kenobi, the old Jedi Knight defends himself with his lightsaber — slashing off the creature's gun arm before it can shoot. Moments later they meet smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford), captain of the Millennium Falcon, and his first mate, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), a 7-foot-tall, 200-year-old Wookiee. Upon learning that Obi-Wan and Luke are trying to avoid Imperial capture, Captain Solo gives his price as 10,000 credits for the trip. Luke balks at that price, stating that they could almost buy their own ship for that, but Han is dubious that they could fly it themselves. Obi-Wan tells Solo that they will pay him 2,000 credits now and 15,000 more once they reach Alderaan. Han agrees.After Luke and Obi-Wan leave, Han tells Chewbacca that 17,000 credits could really save his neck. As Chewbacca leaves to make pre-flight preparations, Han hangs back to take care of their bar tab, and is stopped by Greedo (Maria De Aragon and Paul Blake), a bounty hunter working for feared crimelord Jabba Desilijic Tiure. Jabba had hired Han to transport a shipment of glitterstim spice (an illegal narcotic), but Han had to dump the shipment due to an unexpected Imperial boarding. As Greedo points a blaster pistol at Solo and forces him toward a secluded section of the bar, Han insists that he has the 8,000 credits he needs to cover the loss. Greedo suggests that Solo give it to him as a bribe not to turn him over to Jabba, forcing Han to admit that he doesn't actually have the money yet. Realizing that Greedo will either turn him over to Jabba or kill him for the bounty that Jabba has placed on him, Solo quietly removes his heavy pistol under the table, and when Greedo admits that he would just as soon see him dead as alive, Solo pre-emptively fires and kills him. On his way out, Han throws the bartender a few coins, apologizing for "the mess" he left.At the docking bay, Han is confronted by Jabba the Hutt and several other associates. Jabba expresses frustration over Greedo's death, and reminds Han of the nature of their business; he cannot "make any exceptions" of those who fail or cross him, lest he appear weak. Han insists that he will soon have enough money to pay off his debt, with interest, he just needs more time. Jabba reluctantly agrees, but warns Han that this is his last chance.Luke sells his landspeeder to raise money for their initial payment to Captain Solo. They head to the docking bay where the Millennium Falcon is being prepared for flight. Luke is somewhat perturbed to discover that the Falcon is a 60-year-old, run-down YT-1300 freighter, but Han assures him that he has made extensive modifications to ensure that she can run rings around any modern capital ship. Meanwhile, Imperial troops believe they are hot on the trail of the two droids when a local informant tells them the whereabouts of the fugitives after recognizing Luke and Obi-Wan.No sooner do Luke, Obi-Wan and the droids board the Millennium Falcon than the Imperial troops come running into the docking bay, hoping to arrest Luke and Obi-Wan and capture the droids. The troops fire at Solo and the Falcon, but the ship manages to escape. Once they clear the planet, they are immediately pursued by two huge Imperial star destroyers. Solo remarks that his passengers must be of particular interest to the Empire. They jump to light speed, escaping the Imperial ships.Princess Leia has been tortured by the Imperials and undergone a mind probe in an effort to extract the location of the Rebels' home base. They have found nothing. Tarkin, Vader, and Motti shift tactics, threatening to destroy the Princess's home planet of Alderaan if she won't reveal the Rebels' location. She reluctantly tells them that the Rebel base is on the planet Dantooine. Tarkin then orders his officers to proceed with Alderaan's destruction, noting that Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration of the Death Star's power. Alderaan is destroyed by a single blast from the Death Star's enormously powerful laser blaster while Leia is forced to watch.On board the Millennium Falcon, Obi-Wan is training Luke in the ways of the Force when he is greatly disturbed by a tremor in the Force. He feels that millions of people have died in an instant amidst great suffering, though he doesn't know how. He decides to meditate on this further as Luke continues an exercise in allowing the Force to guide his reflexes. Han is not impressed, and explains that he does not believe in the Force. Luke, however, manages to use his lightsaber to deflect four laser bolts in a row from a remote droid — all while wearing a helmet which covers his eyes.Back on the Death Star, Tarkin and Vader receive a report that there once was indeed a Rebel base on Dantooine but it has long since been abandoned. Outraged at Leia's successful trickery, Tarkin orders her scheduled for execution.Luke realizes that he is learning how to sense the Force. One of the Falcon's signals informs them that they are approaching Alderaan, but upon exiting light speed, they find the Millennium Falcon is in an asteroid field instead of Alderaan's orbit. Han confirms that they are in the right location but that the planet is missing; Obi-Wan quietly states that the planet has been destroyed by the Empire, but Solo laughingly insists that all the Empire's ships combined wouldn't have enough firepower to destroy a planet. Moments later they are overflown by an Imperial Twin Ion Engine (TIE) snubfighter. Obi-Wan concludes it is too small for long range flight, so there must be an Imperial base nearby. As they chase after the fighter to keep it from notifying the Empire of their location, they see the fighter heading toward a small moon — the Death Star. They are caught in the Death Star's tractor beam and, helpless to resist, are pulled aboard the station into a docking bay. Obi-Wan tells them that neither fighting or surrender are viable choices, but a third option is available to them.Imperial troops board the Falcon, but its crew are hiding in smuggling compartments below the floor. Vader orders scanning equipment to be brought aboard to look for life signs. While standing near the Falcon, he senses a presence he has not felt for some time. Vader leaves the hangar, pursued by the frustrating sense he is overlooking something of great importance.When two stormtroopers go aboard the Falcon to set up their scanning equipment, Luke and Solo shoot them both and steal their armor uniforms. The helmets conceal their identity and allow them to infiltrate a troop command center outside the docking port. Inside the command center, R2 plugs into the station computer system and discovers the location of the tractor beam generator. Obi-Wan sets out to shut down the generator so that the ship can leave. Luke wants to accompany him, but Obi-Wan orders Luke to stay, noting that Luke's destiny now splits paths from his own. Perhaps sensing that this is the last time he will see Luke in this reality, he tells Luke, "The Force will be with you... always."After Obi-Wan leaves, R2 discovers that the princess is being held prisoner on board the station. Luke suddenly takes the initiative, sparing no effort to convince Solo and Chewbacca to assist him in what is surely going to be a very risky rescue. Han, initially scared for his own neck, eventually agrees, but only after Luke suggests that a great monetary reward would surely follow her rescue. Luke and Han take Chewbacca "captive" and assume their trooper identities in order to infiltrate the prison block. In the prison block, the officer in command becomes suspicious of their arrival since he was not notified. As a result, Luke and Han's escorted "prisoner" escapes and a firefight erupts between the Imperials and Luke, Han, and Chewbacca. They manage to take out all the Imperials, but set off an alarm in the process. A squad of troops are sent to investigate. Han and Luke know they have only moments to find the princess's cell and escape.They find the princess, but the arriving troops cut off the only escape route. Leia shoots a hole in a garbage chute and tells everyone to dive in. They escape the Imperials, only to find themselves trapped in a large garbage compactor. To make matters worse, the compactor also houses a large, serpent-like creature — the dianoga — which yanks Luke under the murky, stagnant water in the compactor, almost drowning him. The creature inexplicably lets Luke go, but just as they catch their breath, the compactor activates and the walls begin to move in, threatening to crush Han, Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca. Luke calls 3PO on the communicator and orders him to have R2 shut down all garbage compactors in the detention level. R2 complies just in time to save them.Meanwhile, Vader informs Tarkin that he senses through the Force that Kenobi is aboard the station. Tarkin is doubtful, but the discussion is soon interrupted by an emergency report: Princess Leia has escaped! Vader tells a shocked and bewildered Tarkin the true explanation for Leia's impossible escape — "Obi-Wan is here. The Force is with him." Sensing that Obi-Wan wishes a final showdown, Vader sets off to find him. Unbeknownst to anyone, Kenobi has deactivated the tractor beam generator.After their escape from the compactor, Luke and Han dispose of their stormtrooper armor, but keep the troopers' utility belts and weapons. On their way back to the ship they're cut off by more troops. They are split up, with Han and Chewbacca fighting together and Luke and Leia running on their own.After being cornered between a great air shaft and a group of troopers, Luke shoots a blast door's controls with his blaster, locking the troops on the other side of the door. Unfortunately, the blast also destroys the controls that extend the bridge across the air shaft. After a gunfight with stormtroopers on the other side of the shaft, Luke uses a cable and grappling hook from his freshly confiscated Imperial utility belt to swing himself and Leia safely across the gorge.Obi-Wan, on his way back to the Falcon, encounters Vader. They exchange barbed comments. Vader boasts to his former master that he is so much more experienced and powerful than he was the last time they met that the tables have now turned, with Vader the more powerful of the two. Obi-Wan replies that Vader's turn to evil has made him oblivious to the Force's true power. A ferocious lightsaber duel ensues.Luke, Leia, Han and Chewbacca meet at the entrance to the docking bay. The lightsaber duel on the other side of the bay distracts the troops guarding the ship, allowing the four of them, along with R2 and 3PO, to sneak across to board the Falcon. As Kenobi and Vader continue to fight, Kenobi informs Vader that if Vader strikes him down, he shall become even more powerful, beyond what Vader could possibly imagine. Kenobi, seeing that the four heroes and two droids are safely boarding the Falcon, takes one last look from his comrade's son to the man who betrayed him, and smilingly withdraws his saber, allowing Vader to slice through him. His body instantly disappears. Vader is stunned and confused by this, as he determines that no one is in Kenobi's now-empty cloak on the floor. Luke, appalled by the sight of his mentor being struck down by Vader, lets out a shout of horror, alerting all of the troops to their presence. Another firefight immediately erupts, and they barely make it aboard the ship with their lives. Luke stays behind, attempting to shoot every Imperial soldier in the hangar, despite his friends urging him to join them on the ship so they can escape. Finally, he relents, hearing Obi-Wan's voice telling him to run, as Vader catches a glimpse of him through a rapidly closing set of blast doors. When the Falcon flies out of the docking bay, the Imperials are unable to activate the tractor beam, thanks to Kenobi.Having blasted their way out of the station's defense range, they are confronted by four Imperial TIE fighters. Luke and Han man two large gun turrets on the top and bottom of the Falcon and manage to destroy all four ships. Han starts to boast to Leia about his amazing abilities during her rescue. She insists that the Empire let them escape in order to track them to the Rebel base. Han is doubtful of that as she explains to Han that R2 is carrying the technical readouts to the Death Star. She has high hopes that when the data is analyzed, a weakness can be found in the station.Back aboard the station, Leia's fears are confirmed as Vader and Tarkin discuss their plan to track the Falcon to the hidden Rebel base. The Falcon makes it to the base, located on the fourth moon of the gas giant Yavin Prime. After R2's data is analyzed, it is determined that the Death Star does indeed have a weakness that can be exploited; a small (two meters) exhaust port not protected by any shielding, through which a well-placed proton torpedo could reach the main reactor and destroy the station. The port is situated in a narrow trench protected by General ARea Defense Integration Anti-spacecraft Network (GARDIAN) turbo-lasers. The Rebel commander, General Dodonna (Alex McCrindle), theorizes that since the GARDIAN array is designed to repel large scale assaults from capital ships, it could easily be outmaneuvered by smaller and faster snubfighters. A plan is devised in which a squadron of Y-Wing assault bombers (Gold Squadron, led by Captain Jon "Dutch" Vander (Angus MacInnes)), will skim the trench. A second squadron (Red Squadron, commanded by Captain Garven Dreis (Drewe Henley)), comprised of the faster, more maneuverable X-Wing snubfighters, will attempt to draw enemy fire away from the bombers. Luke will be flying one of the X-Wings, under the callsign Red Five. Fellow pilot Wedge Antilles (Denis Lawson) is skeptical about succeeding, but Luke is confident that the task can be accomplished, noting that he used to shoot at animal targets on Tatooine which were not much bigger than two meters.The Rebels set out to attack the Death Star just as the station enters the Yavin system. The Death Star will have to orbit to Yavin's far side in order to have a shot at the moon on which the base is located. The approximately 30 Rebel fighters have less than 30 minutes to fly to the station and destroy it.As Luke heads to the hanger, he is reunited with Biggs Darklighter (Garrick Hagon), who used to fly with Luke on Tatooine. Biggs congratulates Luke on finally making it off Tatooine and tells him that the coming battle will be just like old times.Having apparently collected the balance of his 17,000 credits payment for delivering the plans to the Rebellion (plus some unspecified reward for helping Leia escape from the Death Star), Han refuses to join the fight, stating that his reward will be useless if he is killed, and that he would rather take his money and go pay off his debts. Luke is disappointed, but boards his fighter and takes off, right after R2 is loaded into the rear of the fighter to provide technical assistance. Upon departure, he hears what sounds like Obi-Wan's voice speaking to him, saying "The Force will be with you." He quickly dismisses it.Both squadrons approach the Death Star and Wedge Antilles briefly marvels at its size before Captain Dreis cuts off the idle chatter and orders the squadrons to attack speed. Red Squadron initiates a strafing run on the station's surface to divert attention from the bombers, and Luke makes a run that detonates a mammoth fire within part of the Death Star — a fire so large his own ship suffers minor burns. When Vader is informed that the GARDIAN turbo-lasers are having trouble targeting the small rebel ships, he orders fighters led by Black Squadron, an elite TIE fighter squadron, to engage the X-Wings individually. In short order, six TIE fighters join the battle, soon followed by others, and Red Squadron scrambles to keep them away from the trenches. Dreis warns a wingman of an attacking TIE fighter but the X-Wing is immediately shot down before Biggs himself comes under attack; Luke swings behind the attacker and shoots him down.Vader notices Dutch and his Y-Wing group breaking away from the primary attack. He recruits two Black Squadron pilots, Mauler and Backstabber, to escort him as he boards a TIE Advanced x1 fighter to engage the bombers. Before this command group launches, the sky battle rages on and Luke himself comes under attack; Wedge rescues him by shooting into the belligerent TIE fighter literally nose to nose, just as Dutch and Gold Squadron commence the attack into the trenches.Vader and his two wingmen easily outmaneuver the Y-Wings, methodically dispatching them one by one; first pilot Tyree is killed, as Dutch begins to panic despite angry urging by his surviving wingman. Dutch is then killed and the surviving Gold Squadron ship aborts his run before he himself is destroyed.With Gold Squadron effectively wiped out, Dreis orders the surviving X-Wing pilots to start a second attack run down the trench. As they approach the exhaust port, Dreis turns on his targeting computer as two other ships cover his tail from enemy fire. The escorting ships are destroyed, but they buy enough time for Dreis to take a shot at the exhaust port. His shot misses. Moments later he loses an engine to Vader's gunnery and his fighter spirals into the surface of the station.Now nominally in charge of Red Squadron, Luke decides that it is his responsibility to try to destroy the port. R2 is preoccupied trying to keep the ship running, despite all of the damage they are sustaining. With Biggs and Wedge flying his wing, they start down the trench. Moments later, they are pursued by Vader and his wingmen, who partially disable Wedge's ship. Luke tells Wedge to head home, seeing that he can't be of any help in a crippled ship. Vader allows Wedge to withdraw, ordering his men to continue to pursue the two ships in the trench. Vader fires again, hitting Biggs' ship and destroying it. Luke is grieved by the loss of his friend, but presses on.As Luke gets closer to his target, he hears the voice of Obi-Wan, repeatedly telling him to "use the Force" and rely on his instincts more than the technology in his ship. Luke switches off his targeting computer and continues flying down the trench. When asked by Mission Control why he switched off the computer, Luke responds that nothing is wrong.Meanwhile, the Death Star has completed its run around Yavin and is cleared to fire on the Rebel moon. The countdown for the firing sequence begins. Bast tells Tarkin that he has analyzed the attack and concludes there is a real threat to the station. Tarkin scoffs at evacuation and insists the Empire will prevail. He remains on the station while some of the Imperial officers and troops evacuate as a precaution.As Luke draws on the power of the Force to help him hit his target, Vader senses the strength of the Force in his prey. He takes a shot, which misses the ship but hits R2-D2. Just as he locks on to Luke's ship to finish him off, Backstabber's ship explodes unexpectedly. Out of nowhere appears the Millennium Falcon, which has just destroyed the Imperial fighter — diving vertically towards Vader and the remaining wingman. This sudden turn of events distracts Mauler; he loses control of his ship and crashes into Vader's. Mauler's ship ricochets into the trench wall, destroying it, and sends Vader's ship spinning out of control, up and away from the Death Star.Han informs Luke that he is all clear to fire. Luke, having drawn upon the power of the Force, releases his proton torpedoes, which enter the exhaust port perfectly on target. Luke, the Falcon and a few other fighters race away from the Death Star just as the Death Star prepares to fire on the moon. Only seconds before the station fires, it explodes into a huge fireball, sending millions of fragments into space. Tarkin, Motti, Tagge, and most of the senior Imperial staff are killed.Vader, having been thrown into space during his collision with the wingman, is now apparently the only one to have escaped the station's destruction. He eventually manages to regain control of his wildly gyrating fighter, and when he finally stabilizes, he flies off to meet the Imperial Fleet as the Rebels head home to their base. When they reach the base, Luke is clearly delighted that Han returned to help him. Leia is thrilled to see both of her friends alive. And everyone is ecstatic that the Death Star has been destroyed. Their celebration is briefly interrupted as R2 is pulled from Luke's ship. He is heavily damaged from Vader's gunfire and does not respond to C-3PO. The golden robot is terribly concerned, but Luke and two mechanics assure him that R2 is repairable and will be fine.Later, an awards ceremony is held in a huge hall. Hundreds of Rebel soldiers, officers, and pilots are present. A door at the rear of the hall opens to reveal Luke, Han, and Chewbacca. They walk down the aisle to where Leia awaits, along with several Rebel leaders and dignitaries.Also present are a freshly polished C-3PO and a freshly overhauled and looking better-than-new R2-D2. Upon reaching the front of the great hall, Luke and Han are awarded medals for bravery by a smiling Princess Leia. The hall erupts into thunderous applause.

fantasy, murder, cult, atmospheric, good versus evil, humor, action

train

imdb

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) is a classic phenomenal arguably the best sci-fi film in trilogy away, the one that started all and arguably changed the face of cinema forever. This movie is what it is, a perfect 10, because it takes the vision of one of the most imaginative directors on Earth, and realizes them almost perfectly with all the tools that fit the task -- actors, stunts, puppetry, models, and Special Effects.Star Wars is a film that I have watch it now and I will always watch it , because how much I really, really enjoy this film. This fun, pure joy, entertaining and truly a great film is like a classic, I recommend this film to any fan of the Star Wars trilogy, my favorite will always be A New Hope. It was the most fascinating thing to see when i was eleven, but to this day i am still a Star Wars nerd.The cast of characters includes some of the coolest, funniest, and most tragic in film, and the actors who play them fit seamlessly into this new universe. Maybe the characters I liked most in this one are Old Obi-Wan Kenobi, wonderfully portrayed by Alec Guinness, and Han Solo, Harrison Ford's first important role, they're both great.Not to mention John Williams' wonderful score, without of it, the movie wouldn't have been this great it's a perfect mix, that's what it is!. Originally conceived as a serialized popcorn movie in the manner of the old action movies that Lucas grew up with, Star Wars surpassed even George's keen and bombastic imagination to become a central part of movie history.There are countless tales of the making of this movie; how Lucas never believed he would get the chance to complete the series, how it spawned an industry and made the name of nearly everyone who touched it a household word. The film turn on the endlessly renewed battle between good and evil, the former represented by the Jedi knights and the mystical Force which they are in touch with, and the latter by the Galactic Empire with its Nazi-like storm-troopers… Luke Skywalker's simple farming life on a remote planet is dramatically changed when he intercepts a distress call from rebel leader Princess Leia Organa… The message leads him to Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi and with the two droids C3PO and R2D2, and later Chewbacca and Han Solo, their journey to release the princess from the evil Empire begins… Now a quarter of a century old, Lucas' project has benefited from improvements in special effects technology, but his vision has remained the same: a naive, even childlike belief in absolute good and evil, a preference for action over character and spectacle over everything. I saw the film for the first time three months ago and loved it, and since then I have watched all the Star Wars movies. I was disappointed with the prequels (Attack of the Clones was my least favourite), but this, Return of the Jedi and Empire Strikes Back were perfection.I have to say that the film looks absolutely amazing even after thirty plus years, with highly imaginative sets and dazzling special effects. Whether a space opera, action fantasy, science fiction or a family drama Star Wars was for years a great source of pleasure and 'comfort movie' for me and even now as an adult I am in awe of the imagination and creativity that went into this film and the two episodes that followed it.It is frankly too bad that Star Wars fell into the hands of Disney, JJ Abrams and became a tool solely for cashing in and a line item on someone's accounting ledger, but I guess it was inevitable. Watching Han go from scum to a leader of men, a space-age version of King Aragorn even, was one of the best things about the original Star Wars trilogy.The story itself is the stuff of classics in that it shows the most unlikely of heroes doing things that everyone else claims to be impossible. This film came along at just the right time for me.Upon it's initial release in 1977,I was 12 years old,which is the perfect age to see something this eye opening and different.I remember sitting and watching with just as much awe and amazement as perhaps 12 year olds from past generations seeing their first cowboy movie.I remember the thrills as though I saw it fresh yesterday.Upon seeing it again recently for the first time in many years,now well into my adulthood,I find,unfortunately,that the thrill that came with my first viewing did not come with me across the years.Despite this fact,I still saw a great film,one worthy of any home library.It's suspenseful,thrilling,and contains a great story line and interesting characters that we care about.It was great looking back on Harrison Ford when his hair wasn't quite so gray,Mark Hamill,whom we all thought would go on to be a great film star,though he has done little beyond this trilogy,Carrie Fisher, and,at least in voice,James Earl Jones(Darth Vader).Though the initial childhood thrill is gone,this is still a great film.. At the time of its release, science-fiction was considered a dead genre with the only major films from Hollywood's recent cannon being the work from Stanley Kubrick and cheesy, yet still fun flicks like Logan's Run. Yet, no other futuristic movie wowed more than George Lucas's space opera. While Star Wars is playing, all eyes are on the screen savouring every delicious moment, whether it be a fantastic lightsaber duel or a quiet scene between Luke and Obi-Wan. The visual effects (including those in the special editions) are seriously some of the best in motion picture history as they manage to make the viewer believe they're in space, surrounded by various creatures and flying ships. Ironically, he himself remade one of the finest works of film master Akira Kurosawa, the Western-themed "Hidden Fortress," with one scene (the fight in the bar) lifted from "Yojimbo." As a result, "Star Wars" has a bit of the jittery discomfort of characters trying to fit into a story that wasn't quite made for them, like people with past life experiences that intrude into the present. Basically thanks to the same as he is a revolutionary with Fox-Alan Leddu-jr.About those troubles that hit the film crew can be spoken for hours, but it's best to watch the wonderful documentary film The Dream Empire - the story of the original Star Wars trilogy.Looking for the first time Episode 4, I began to look at the movie differently. And the more it is pleasant to know that New Hope gave the world Harrison Ford.Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo and Chewbacca, Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, Princess Leia and Wedge Antilles - each of us in our dreams associated ourselves with some of those icons. And in the robots contain a lot of information that is able to properly save the galaxy from the yoke of the imperial.Imagine, this is only the first fantasy of Lucas (started with the IVth episode, thinking that he risks and the series can fail), and we are waiting for 2 masterpiece episodes in front and a semi-pop trilogy behind.Many charismatic and memorable characters distinguish Star Wars from other serials. Director/Writer George Lucas's immensely Influential Film was itself Influenced by a Myriad of Classic Stories, Films, and Mythology.He Packaged all of the Seminal Hard-Wire of Humanity, Soul Searching, and Hero's Journey into a Kid-Friendly, Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi Template that Everyone, including Adults, immediately Tapped into and the Movie became an Entity so Enormous and Epic that it Remains to this Day Synonymous with a Religion.The Movie is Entirely Entertaining at its Core and like all Classics can be Viewed with Multiple Meanings with Layers of Characters both Good and Evil Battling for the Control of Existence.Decidedly Deconstructed and Rendered Under a Microscope from Pop Culture Scholars and Cultists the Film has been Analyzed, Annotated, and Admired for what it was and what it has become.The Formula has been Broken Down to its Individual Elements and Commented Upon by the Countless Voices of Fanatics and Film Historians. what can you say about his movie.it set the bar by which all movies to come would be judged,and this was 1977.i'm talking about the visual effects,which were nothing less than astounding.it still stands up well to any movie in that regard.remember,they didn't have the benefit of CGI back then,so they relied on miniatures.when you add to that,a compelling story and a soon to be iconic villain(not to mention,the colourful cast of characters)and you have box office gold.sure,the dialogue may be wooden and stilted at times,but that is overshadowed by the achievement of the film.Besides,the film was marketed at 12 year olds,so they're not gonna care about stupid things like dialogue.The original "Star Wars" or as it is subtitled "a New Hope,was a landmark film and single handedly reinvented the science fiction genre. But there's a place for dreaming dreams of things that have never been, too, and "Star Wars", with its epic tale of an Empire and a rebellion in a galaxy far, far away, was the dream a generation didn't know it wanted to have until George Lucas gave it to us.Is it juvenile, at times? But having watched more movies than most people my age now, I feel comfortable saying that in its way, "Star Wars" is as much an independent auteur's film as anything by John Cassavetes or Woody Allen-- it has the same sort of daring, the same desire not to settle for less than showing us something we've never seen before. While it may be kind of fun to jokingly tell others 'May the force be with you', no one should seriously be getting their theology from it (as a few cult like followers seem to) since really, it's essentially a science fiction fairy tale.As everyone must surely know, this original Star Wars tells the story of a handsome young farm boy and our hero, Luke Skywalker, who teams up with Han Solo, Chewbacca, a couple of 'droids' (C-P3O and R2-D2), and of course the grand master, Obi-Wan Kenobi to protect the galaxy from the villainous Darth Vader and save the beautiful Princess Leia from the clutches of the Evil Empire.The movie became part of everyday life in the late 1970's and 1980's, and the phrase 'Evil Empire' so commonplace and universally understood that President Raegan used it to describe the Communist regime of the former Soviet Union. In fact, the problem for me with the later Star Wars movies is that, apart from developing the character of Darth Vader and revealing the origin of his wickedness, the other films are primarily effects, star fighting, and galactic bars. Teaming up with a cocky pilot who is more caring than he lets on named Han Solo and his CoPilot Chewbacca (big dog/ape/bigfoot like creature) the heroes are thrust into adventure beyond Luke's wildest dreams, complete with a heroine, henchmen, space ships, battles and the most menacing villain a movie has ever seen.Star Wars is a movie you won't forget soon after watching it. It was also a shock to go back and see the special-effects in here after viewing those final three films issued in recent years.I always got annoyed, to be honest, at two things in this initial Star Wars film I felt were overdone: the "Rambo" mentality in which hundreds of shots are fired at the good guys and never hit them and the constant arguing between Carrie Fisher ("Princess Leia") and Harrison Ford ("Han Solo"). If you want to look for the perfect example of "the roller-coaster" of movie excitement, rising action spaced out with occasional dips, rising to a peak and then falling as the story ends are tied together; well, you're going to find its the original Star Wars.Like with any category of product or scientific field, forms of entertainment have things that shove them forward, that innumerable people after the fact owe a lot too. Movies like "Star Wars" do not come along very often, when they do, they set a precedent in the film industry!! There was no way my review of this classic slab of pulp sci-fi was ever going to be anything but glowing; as a nine year old I saw George Lucas' space opera on its original release and instantly became one of a legion of fans who spent the next twenty years worshipping at the altar of the great turkey-necked director (until The Phantom Menace shattered all of my illusions).Thirty years on, and I'm revisiting Star Wars with my two children, hoping that they will fall in love with it as much as I did, way back when all that seemed important was having a bag-full of marbles and a decent sized pile of comics to read.I'm not going to describe the plot (surely you know that!), nor am I going to go into great detail about how Lucas borrowed elements from the movies he loved to bring us his epic about a farm boy who becomes a legendary warrior; all I can say is that the film has lost none of its ability to astound and my kids sat entranced (despite not being able to follow the story without the benefit of some additional info from their sci-fi geek dad). (Did it stop at 11 M $ ?) In 1977 the movie landscape was very well mixed, but It lacked Space Adventures who was far out there.Spielberg's "Close Encounter" from the same year did not speculate in fantasy as deep as Lucas' adventure; here we got a whole table of pure imagination and creativity from a guy who just wanted to show us the eternal battle between good and bad, dark and light, his way.And by 1977's standards and special effects options of the era: What an enjoyable classic!It's an adventure who has a good mood from start to finish. Now it has to be said that all that followed 20th Century Fox's historic blockbuster didn't run with the baton, in fact most pale into comparison on impact value, but for better or worse (depending on the discerning viewers peccadilloes), Star Wars stands as a bastion of adventure laden entertainment.It is by definition one of the most successful films in history, George Lucas perhaps didn't know it at the time, but in what was to become an almost operatic anthology, he didn't just make a movie, he created a whole new world seeping with style and rich texture. Now in times where the saga is (hopefully) complete, "Star Wars" still stands out as one of the most important movies of the film history.Even though some dialogs may be silly (but memorable nevertheless) and in spite of several logical mistakes, George Lucas' Science-Fiction-film can easily be considered as one of the most entertaining works ever. Harrison Ford's Han Solo is probably the film's most memorable human character and with his headstrong and hipster attitude, he was what a lot of children wanted to be like when they first saw Star Wars back in 77. I've seen this film so many times,in fact I grew up with the Prequel trilogy and still love this one.Actually the only prequel I liked was the Revenge of the Sith,although the Lightsaber duel between Qui-Gon Jinn,Obi Wan and Darth Maul is very entertaining but the thing I love about the originals is too hard to describe in one word,I love the story,the character,the sets are incredible,the acting is very good,and of course.......Darth Vader himself.This was when George Lucas wasn't a money grabbing idiot,when he actually wanted to make a good film,I just bought the Blu-Ray,I'm not exactly keen on the CGI filled changes Lucas put in there,but the picture quality and sound makes the experience even better.A Great movie that will NEVER get old. This great classic has so many good elements it's almost impossible to list them all: The breathtaking visual effects, still awesome 28 years on; the brilliant script, which mixed epic battles and duels with matinée-serial-style characters and dialogues; the debut of one of the greatest villains in cinema history, Darth Vader; John Williams'amazing and unforgettable score, among the Top 10 best scores ever...All those things are just some of the reasons Star Wars is among the best movies (not just sci-fi) ever made: viewing after viewing, it never stops being impressive, and words are nearly useless to describe the impact it still has on the audience.George Lucas basically took a medieval story and moved it to a distant galaxy, on weird and fascinating planets. Almost everything is taken from the Middle Ages: there are knights, sword-fighting, evil Empires, unsatisfied people who want to overthrow the system, beautiful princesses waiting to be rescued...Then we've also got speeders, light-sabers, peculiar (and, in the case of Jabba the Hutt, disgusting) creatures, the Death Star, and of course the Force, that fascinating energy which is supposed to bring balance to the galaxy.The cast is a gas, both the newcomers and the veterans: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford are great as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Han Solo (Ford in particular is hilarious as the arrogant but ultimately nice "scoundrel"), but the most memorable performance is of course Alec Guinness'portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the old, wise Jedi who returns one last time to initiate Luke to the mysteries of the Force.But let's not forget what everybody immediately thinks of when Star Wars is mentioned: Darth Vader. Almost immediately we are introduced to one of the great movie villains of all time, Darth Vader who is voiced with true menace by James Earl Jones, and it becomes clear that this film is not quite like anything we have seen before.Star Wars may seem to be your typical good versus evil swashbuckling adventure but there's a lot more going on here. Luke Skywalker may be the nominal hero of the film but it is Ford as Solo from which Star Wars gets most of its personality.George Lucas has crafted a true masterpiece here.

tt0113636

Leprechaun 3

PlotIn a Las Vegas pawn shop, a decrepit old man with one leg and hand shows up and pawns the shop owner Gupta with a statue wearing a medallion around its neck. The old man claims the statue is his good luck charm and warns Gupta to never touch the medallion it's wearing. When the old man leaves, Gupta cannot resist taking the medallion, so he removes it from the statue. Then a Leprechaun (Davis) suddenly springs to life from his statue prison, jumps on Gupta's back, and bites off a part of his ear, accusing him of being a greedy thief. He then beats Gupta's legs with his walking stick and notices that he's wearing leather shoes. He removes one and states that he "appreciates a good pair of shoes." The Leprechaun takes a hold of his foot and then proceeds to bite the man's big toe off. Before he can cause him anymore harm, Gupta reveals that he is wearing a medallion that he found on the Leprechaun's then petrified body. The Leprechaun runs from it and hides in the basement, where Gupta follows him and is shot in the arm with an arrow from a Cupid statue.Gupta then attempts to negotiate with the Leprechaun by allowing him to have half of the gold in exchange for the Leprechaun's freedom. Knowing he is being tricked, Leprechaun tosses the medallion aside. Gupta runs back upstairs to call for help, but is strangled to death by the Leprechaun via the phone cord. Meanwhile, college student Scott McCoy has just arrived in Las Vegas, but while driving on the streets, he notices a woman with car trouble. He stops and gives her a ride to the Lucky Shamrock Casino, where she works. She is introduced as Tammy, and Scott becomes immediately infatuated with her. While at the casino, Scott can't resist gambling, so he plays at the tables. After losing all of his money at the roulette wheel, Scott goes to the local shop to pawn his watch, where he uncovers Gupta's lifeless body on the floor. While calling for police, Scott unknowingly finds and takes Leprechauns coin and is given one wish. The computer on the counter next to him states in folklore that one wish grants the mortal anything he or she desires and that it remains permanent. After hearing this, Scott sarcastically wishes that he had a winning streak.After he leaves the shop (via the coin's magic transporting him back), Scott strikes rich at the casino (realizing his wish had come true). He is later robbed by Loretta and Fazio, casino employees and attacked by Leprechaun. He is able to throw Leprechaun out of the hotel window, but in the process is bitten and some of Leprechaun's blood mixes with his. During his stay at the casino, Scott begins to undergo Leprechaun-like tendencies (for instance, quoting random limericks in an Irish accent). In the meantime, Loretta and Fazio, along with the Lucky Shamrock's owner Mitch pass the coin around making wishes. Mitch wishes he could sleep with Tammy, Loretta wishes for a new body, and Fazio wishes that he were the greatest magician in the world.Obviously, Leprechaun has survived the fall and one by one, he kills them off. When Mitch goes up to have sex with Tammy, Loretta steals the coin, and when it leaves the vicinity of the room, Tammy snaps out of the coin's spell. After she leaves the room, the Leprchaun enters, using magic to turn the television on. There is a very sexy woman who looks just like Tammy on the television and starts speaking Mitch's name. The woman comes out of the television and starts kissing Mitch. Mitch hears the Leprechaun on the television and looks up. When he looks back at the woman, she is actually a robot. She then proceeds to electrocute him.After uncovering Mitch's dead body, Scott and Tammy spot the Leprechaun beside Mitch's body asking for the coin to be given back to him. Scott and Tammy subdue the Leprechaun and flee Mitch's room. Outside the casino, Scott has begun to turn slowly into a Leprechaun himself from being bitten and must fight his urges. When Tammy takes him to the nearest hospital, Scott is promptly taken to the examination room. The doctors notice irregularity in both his skin and blood, due to Scott's transformation. Scott, now a tall Leprechaun, stands up from his stretcher, subdues the medical officials observing him, and starts wandering around the hospital sensing that the Leprechaun is somewhere in the building. Tammy, worried over Scott's condition, ventures into the empty hospital hallways to find him. The Leprechaun manages to capture her at the morgue and threatens to kill her if she doesn't tell him where Scott is. Before he can cause fatal harm to Tammy, Scott immediately appears and a showdown commences between the two. As they each use magic to subdue one another, Leprechaun warns Scott that his Leprechaun-like tendencies cannot be fought so easily and that he would eventually be drawn to the gold's power. Scott then informs him that Fazio is the one who has the coin, so Leprechaun strolls away in the stretcher & flips him off.Meanwhile, back in the casino, Loretta wishes for her 20-year-old body back. When confronted by the Leprechaun she tells him she doesn't have the coin anymore, the Leprechaun inflates her lips, boobs, and butt. The inflated Loretta tries to escape via a open door but becomes stuck when she tried to squeeze her newly inflated butt through. She continues to grow larger before finally exploding . Fazio was the last to die. He wished to be the best magician in the world. During his magic performance, the Leprechaun shows up. Everyone thinks he is part of the act. They do a trick about a person getting sawed in half. The only thing is the Leprechaun has a real chainsaw. Fazio attempts to make another wish on the coin that he would be at Caesar's Palace, but to no avail since the Leprechaun informs him that he already made one wish and that it's pointless. Everyone in the crowd starts insisting they want the saw trick to be done, not knowing that there would be that much blood and gore. The whole crowd, in disgust, sees Fazio being killed on stage.Tammy and Scott arrive and warn the people to leave for their own safety. The audience immediately leave, while Scott continues to battle with the Leprechaun. Still in Leprechaun form, Scott can't resist the pot of gold the Leprechaun leaves on the stage floor. Leprechaun promises Scott that if he takes the pot of gold, they'll share it, and Scott will be trapped forever as a Leprechaun. After hearing Tammy's pleas to not take it and that the Leprechaun's powers lie in his gold, Scott burns the gold, which in turn incinerates him. Scott morphs back to his regular self, and he and Tammy share a kiss and happily leave the casino together.

good versus evil, cult, murder

train

imdb

There isn't even a thread of a narrative to connect the movies other than there's an evil leprechaun who speaks in ridiculous rhymes and needs his gold and will kill anyone in his way to get it. I enjoyed where the plot was going, the Leprechaun was throwing some classic one-liners, the deaths were highly amusing, but then it would shift gears and focus on a particular character or subplot that no one cares about and it would kill its momentum. If the whole movie focused on the main narrative of the coin going 'round and 'round the casino and the Leprechaun having to go through hurdles to find it and kill every poor sap in his path, it would've been a good movie. Other than that, it has no redeeming value, is classless, has poor acting and even poorer dialog....but sure was fun to watch a couple of times.The Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) has some very funny lines and rhymes and is the undisputed star of the show. Maybe I should check out the DVD, which was subsequently released.Lee Armstrong provided the female lead role and she was a pretty woman but obviously not much of an actress and few people have heard of her before or since.If you want something stupid but entertaining, a good mix of horror and comedy, this little dirty Leprechaun should fill the bill....but only this edition. Then the story changes in "Act Two" with "Scott" getting infected with the Leprechaun's blood, and after that it's nothing but a good time.One cool thing is that this time, Warwick Davis gets to speak nearly all of his dialogue in rhyme, and in "Act Two" he's downright funny at times. This time the leprechaun must get back one of his gold coins which is making its way through the hands of patrons at the Lucky Shamrock Hotel & Casino. It starts off in a pawn shop in Las Vegas, we see that the leprechaun we know and love is stone-like - captured thanks to a magical golden medallion put around his neck. The coin gets passed around to so many people in this third film, and each time they wish for something, the leprechaun twists their wish around and kills them with it. The cast and crew just had so much fun with all the material and since they knew they weren't going to make a star-studded masterpiece, they went with the best option and created a hilarious and exciting "camp gem", unlike the second one which took itself too seriously, and look how that turned out.Leprechaun 3 is just non-stop laugh out loud entertainment. With rhymes like the leprechaun makes in this one, you can't help but laugh your tail off at how cheesy and humorous the whole film is. These are comedy horrors and harmless ones at that.Leprechaun 3 is noted as being Warwick Davis favourite and I can see why, it blows the others I've seen out of the water with it's fantastic humour and performances by the cast.Our leading lady however retired straight after production, perhaps this isn't what she had in mind when she went into acting.This third part see's our titular character venture to Las Vegas where one of his golden shillings is stolen. Cue the bloodshed & brilliant comedic quips.Watching this almost helped me forget about the embarrassment that was the WWE's reboot of the franchise back in 2014 with Origins.Harmless fun and the best one of the franchise that I've seen up until now.The Good: Humour is on point Cast is great especially Davis Looks solid The Bad:A bit silly in places Things I Learnt From This Movie:Leprechauns need health insurance toI really want to see a Leprechaun vs Chucky crossover now. Several people die like in the other films, but even an evil and greedy leprechaun knows better than to disrespect Elvis in Sin City-he briefly bonds with an Elvis impersonator without causing him any harm.The lep also has some good lines, and this one even features a naïve college student (Scott) who gets bit by the lep and starts to turn into one of the green monsters. Scott even manages to avoid becoming a little evil green midget at the end of the film.My favorite death scenes are the one where the an older woman jealous of Tammy's good looks finds one of the lep's coin, and wishes she was beautiful again. The other good death scene is where the dirty old man casino owner gets seduced by a sexy female robot with big boobs, and then gets electrocuted by the lep.The lep also manages to ruin Fazio's magic trick by turning an animal into a pile of poop in his hand-that was also very funny. in this one you actually get to see some people make wishes with the elusive gold coin, the coin get's passed from one person to another, and it always seems like the little Leprechaun is always one step behind,, the interesting thing in this one is that the leprechaun bites our "hero" in the arm,, and the "hero" has shades of becoming a fellow Leprechaun, interesting premise here, he actually starts to look a little bit like one, there is a lot of scenes in the casino,, and views of the Las Vegas Strip.. Anyway, the Leprechaun is resurrected (from a statue in Las Vegas) and chases after a shopkeeper who attempted to steal his gold, one of the gold coins gets lost and winds up in a young college student's hands, after that it rolls arouns the casino where greedy characters attempt to exploit it (Creating some great situation comedy). Brian Trenchard Smith 'gets' it: those who settle down for a third instalment of the Leprechaun series aren't expecting a groundbreaking work of art… they simply want another undemanding dose of tongue-in-cheek horror, with Warwick Davis hobbling around spouting appalling rhymes, and a spot of really hokey gore. And that's exactly what Trenchard-Smith delivers with Leprechaun 3, along with some T&A for good measure.This chapter sees the malevolent titular character causing trouble in Las Vegas, killing those unfortunate enough to find themselves in possession of one of his gold shillings. With help from beautiful magician's assistant Tammy (Lee Armstrong), can Scott defeat the evil Oirish fellow and thus return to normal?Highlights from Leprechaun 3 include Indian pawn shop owner Gupta (Marcelo Tubert) having his ear and toe bitten off, Caroline Williams (Stretch from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) exploding, magician Fazio being sawn in half with a chainsaw (John DeMita), casino owner Mitch (Michael Callan) electrocuted by a topless female cyborg, and virtually any scene featuring the lovely Lee Armstrong, since she spends the majority of the film in corset and stockings.. This is my favourite entry into the series (I've watched three so far) because it makes good use of its new casino setting and has a more interesting cast of characters than usual. The true craziness of the leprechaun in on full display in this straght to video sequel that entirely gives up on the idea that the franchise has any potencial to be scary and just does everything it can to be more funny and silly than any horror movie has any right to be.. The idea of a person turning into a leprechaun is absurd but given the nature of the materiel and the context of the film the acting on Gatins part lends a lovely, cheesy blend to all of those scenes. Stopping at a Las Vegas casino, a hapless young man begins a winning streak after coming to possession with a leprechaun's magic coin that soon turns the other patrons of the casino against each other as the leprechaun continues his quest to find it.This one had some really enjoyable elements about it. Again, like the others in the series, this one does tend to focus more on cheese than being scary or frightening while also forging new rules for dealing with him that don't make much sense, so they're not as big a deal as the film's rather bland, lifeless first half here where it sets up the down-on-his-luck atmosphere too much and keeps the kills and leprechaun off-screen which drags the pacing off. The hunt for the coins lead him to Las Vegas, which he encounters a boy who soon turn out to be a worthy opponent.Finally on its third sequel, a Leprechaun movie is made which is up there, if not better with the original. The wonderful Warwick Davis returns as the monster Leprechaun, with the standard "hunt for gold coin" storyline being placed in Las Vegas. I could go on about the terrible performances, or how the film tells us everything we never wanted to know about leprechauns in a cheesy little computer program. they did 5 leprechaun movies,but this one (leprechaun 3 in las vegs) is by far the best of the series,this movie is funny and very entertaining,the special effects are creative,it s well done for a low budget film,i gave a 8/10 it was a big surprise!!!!. this is such a great flick,its clever and funny hip and has good settings,but most of all its scary and after i saw this movie i never went to vegas and stole an irish midgets gold ever again!the only thing it could have used some help with was boobies,it lacked boobies in several occasions. Then there's the convenient thing where the shop owner was looking up Leprechaun lore on the computer, that plays into the next section At the casino, Scott--our hero--is having a losing streak, then goes to pawn the watch and finds the dead shop owner dead. The gold coin shifts hands so many times and the Leprechaun keeps killing until the final showdown; which has something to do with Scott not feeling quite like himself.All in all, it's a farce, a decent but predictable farce.. After watching Leprechaun 2, I thought the series from this film and on, with it's oddly absurd scenes and horrible dialogue would soon fall flat on it's face. Even the deaths this time round I felt were funnier.I mostly have to give props to Warwick Davis as the Leprechaun again, as he did a marvelous job with making him more interactive with the human side of life, which includes meeting an Elvis lookalike or sawing fazio on his magic show with a Chainsaw! All of these elements which I positively praise, I think make this sequel a tad stronger than it's predecessor.Sure like every Leprechaun film so far, many of the plot lines and the story itself don't make sense, but it doesn't matter. These films are an excellent time waster, because of how funny they are.I highly recommend Leprechaun 3 as it is definitely one of the best in the series by far.It'll be 7.5/10 schillings out of 10 me las. RELEASED TO VIDEO in 1995, "Leprechaun 3" is the second sequel in the series about a hideous little leprechaun (Warwick Davis) who likes to kill those who take from his pot of gold. This one's set in Las Vegas and features a young dude who gets infected with the Leprechaun's green blood and starts to morph into a (taller) leprechaun himself (John Gatins).Although "Leprechaun 3" plays it pretty straight there's also quite a bit of camp. Too bad she left acting behind the same year "Leprechaun 3" was released (1995), but at least we have this film to remember her awe-inspiring beauty.THE FILM RUNS 90 minutes and was shot in Las Vegas.GRADE: B+ (but Tammy/Lee Armstrong rates an A+++). The only things about it that scared me, like the first two, were some of the blood and gore and when the leprechaun (Warwick Davis) suddenly appeared or jumped out from somewhere. More laughs and kills from Warick Davis the Leprechaun and this time it's set in Vegas. Leprechaun 3 has the Leprechaun (Warwick Davis)going to Las Vegas.It has a good Beginning but goes downhill fast.I don't know why they continued the series considering the huge disappointment in the second.It beats the second but doesn't come close to the first.It's got funny parts that deprive it from the original;But it's still a pretty good movie.I give it *** out of ***** stars.. It goes without saying that no Leprechaun movie is "good," and the series never attempts to claim otherwise. Only Warwick Davis walked away from this movie and at the time, he was only able to walk as far as Leprechaun 4, The Leprechaun Goes Into Outer Space. So the setting itself was actually not a bad choice.Again, as in the previous two movies, the leprechaun (played by Warwick Davis) is on a killing rampage and spewing rhyming obscenities. Leprechaun 3 (1995) ** (out of 4) Surprisenly entertaining third film in the series has our favorite leprechaun (Warwick Davis) being set in stone where he's then sold to a pawn owner. Luckily the movie has some redeeming qualities in it, which still makes this movie a quite entertaining one.Warwick Davis again gets to do some nice stuff as the evil leprechaun character, that just basically is a shorter and more Irish version of Freddy Krueger. Especially Lee Armstrong gets annoyingly bad at times.At least it's more entertaining that the previous sequel but it's by no means a great movie.5/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/. I know that they're a bunch of horror movies out there that really don't need to have sequels.The Leprechaun series is one of them! After the pawn merchant takes off the medallion from his neck, the leprechaun comes to life and kills those in his way while traveling with his pot of gold to Las Vegas. John Gantis is the down and out college student who wants to make it in the big time in Vegas but loses all his money until he meets Lee Anderson, a kind waitress who falls in love with him.The problem with all of the leprechaun movies is that they refrained from horror to make them funny. this installment of the "Leprachaun" franchise is better than the last two.it's still not great,in fact,it's not quite good either.but it does have a much better pace to it.there are a few more funny moments and one almost hysterical sequence.the body count is higher in this one,and Warwick Davis,once again as the Leprachaun,really gets to cut loose at times.there's definitely a higher energy level this time around.the movie is still not scary at all.and once again,the story is not connected to the previous entries,other than having the same psycho Leprechaun trying to get back his gold.this time,the setting is Las Vegas.for me,so this third "Leprechaun" is the best of the series so far.4/10. Not as good as the first, yet better than the second, but not by much.This time, they're in Vegas, and the Leprechaun's on a roll. Disappointing sequel finds the evil leprechaun (Warwick Davis) from the first two films as a lawn orinament that is brought back to life in Las Vegas. The acting is alright & Davis seems to enjoy his role as the evil Leprechaun, a special word for Armstrong as Tammy who is one fine looking lady & gets to wear a great outfit for the majority of the films duration which is fine with me.I liked Leprechaun 3 overall & it's far better than than the crap second film Leprechaun 2 (1994). 'Leprechaun 3', somewhat continues with that, as none of the characters from the first & second film aren't seen or mentioned at all in the film, also the movie doesn't explain, why Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) is frozen in stone, unless this is a sequel to 2003's 'Leprechaun Back 2 tha Hood', which I doubt. Once again, the makeup work for the Leprechaun was great, and Warwick Davis was a treat to watch, as the short status villain. Despite that, another thing, great about this movie, is the addition gimmick that one of the leprechaun's gold shillings grants whoever holds it, a wish. I give this film 3/10 Bad acting performances, bad scriptwriting/storyline, bad Leprechaun scenes , though a good character development, and great performance by Warwick Davis.. Warwick Davis again reprises his role as the evil rhyming Leprechaun with a hunger for his gold, but this time... He does a lot of humorous things in this film, that it leaves out a bit of the horror, but it is still a great instalment to the franchise. But without a doubt, the greatest about this movie is when the Leprechaun stops to play Craps at the Casino while still looking for his pot of gold, it just seems like the thing that he would do, and when I saw him do that, then those guys come to try and make him stop, then he shoves a token down that guys throat and makes him spit out a lot of coins like a slot machine. This is a great film, again it is a bit more comedy then horror, but I find that to be for the better, I recommend this movie to anyone that wants a bunch of laughs, this is your movie. Otherwise, you probably won't like this much at all, especially if you expect the first Leprechaun movie but in Vegas.5/10 or: C-. But this movie had a good plot that a man found the Leprechaun's gold after he killed a pawn shop owner. I did enjoy part 2, but this 2nd sequel to the '92 sleeper is better and recommended for anyone who wants to enjoy themselves and laugh for an hour and 30 minutes.!!!POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!This time the little monster is released in Las Vegas and finds out that one of his coins is lost in a Casino. While the Leprechaun explores the Las Vegas strip and slowly makes way to finding his gold coin, and Scott is given a room at the hotel by greedy owner Mitch (Michael Callan), Lucky Shamrock Casino workers Fazio (John DeMita) and Loretta (Caroline Williams) are fascinated by Scott's good luck.

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Richard III

The play begins with Richard (called "Gloucester" in the text) standing in "a street", describing the accession to the throne of his brother, King Edward IV of England, eldest son of the late Richard, Duke of York. Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York; And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. ("sun of York" is a punning reference to the badge of the "blazing sun," which Edward IV adopted, and "son of York", i.e. the son of the Duke of York.) Richard is an ugly hunchback who is "rudely stamp'd", "deformed, unfinish'd", and cannot "strut before a wanton ambling nymph." He responds to the anguish of his condition with an outcast's credo: "I am determined to prove a villain / And hate the idle pleasures of these days." Richard plots to have his brother Clarence, who stands before him in the line of succession, conducted to the Tower of London over a prophecy he bribed a soothsayer to finagle the suspicious King with; that "G of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be", which the king interprets as referring to George of Clarence (without realising it actually refers to Gloucester). Richard now schemes to woo "the Lady Anne" – Anne Neville, widow of the Lancastrian Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. He confides to the audience: I'll marry Warwick's youngest daughter. What, though I kill'd her husband and her father? The scene then changes to reveal Lady Anne accompanying the corpse of the late king Henry VI, along with Trestle and Berkeley, on its way to be interred at St Paul's cathedral. She asks them to set down the "honourable load – if honour may be shrouded in a hearse," and then laments the fate of the house of Lancaster. Richard suddenly appears and demands that the "unmannerd dog" carrying the hearse set it down, at which point a brief verbal wrangling takes place. Despite initially hating him, Anne is won over by his pleas of love and repentance and agrees to marry him. When she leaves, Richard exults in having won her over despite all he has done to her, and tells the audience that he will discard her once she has served her purpose. The atmosphere at court is poisonous: The established nobles are at odds with the upwardly mobile relatives of Queen Elizabeth, a hostility fueled by Richard's machinations. Queen Margaret, Henry VI's widow, returns in defiance of her banishment and warns the squabbling nobles about Richard. Queen Margaret curses Richard and the rest who were present. The nobles, all Yorkists, reflexively unite against this last Lancastrian, and the warning falls on deaf ears. Richard orders two murderers to kill Clarence in the tower. Clarence, meanwhile, relates a dream to his keeper. The dream includes vivid language describing Clarence falling from an imaginary ship as a result of Gloucester, who had fallen from the hatches, striking him. Under the water Clarence sees the skeletons of thousands of men "that fishes gnawed upon." He also sees "wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl, inestimable stones, unvalued jewels." All of these are "scatterd in the bottom of the sea." Clarence adds that some of the jewels were in the skulls of the dead. He then imagines dying and being tormented by the ghosts of Warwick (Anne's father), and Edward of Westminster (Anne's deceased husband). After Clarence falls asleep, Brakenbury, Lieutenant of the Tower of London, enters and observes that between the titles of princes and the low names of commoners, there is nothing different but the "outward fame", meaning that they both have "inward toil" whether rich or poor. When the murderers arrive, he reads their warrant (issued in the name of the King), and exits with the Keeper, who disobeys Clarence's request to stand by him, and leaves the two murderers the keys. Clarence wakes and pleads with the murderers, saying that men have no right to obey other men's requests for murder, because all men are under the rule of God not to commit murder. The murderers imply Clarence is a hypocrite because, as one says, "thou ... unripped'st the bowels of thy sovereign's son [Edward] whom thou wast sworn to cherish and defend." Trying to win them over by tactics, he tells them to go to his brother Gloucester, who will reward them better for his life than Edward will for his death. One murderer insists Gloucester himself sent them to perform the bloody act, but Clarence does not believe him. He recalls the unity of Richard Duke of York blessing his three sons with his victorious arm, bidding his brother Gloucester to "think on this and he will weep." Sardonically, a murderer says Gloucester weeps millstones – echoing Richard's earlier comment about the murderers' own eyes weeping millstones rather than "foolish tears" (Act I, Sc. 3). Next, one of the murderers explains that his brother Gloucester hates him, and sent them to the Tower to kill him. Eventually, one murderer gives in to his conscience and does not participate, but the other killer stabs Clarence and drowns him in "the Malmsey butt within". The first act closes with the perpetrator needing to find a hole to bury Clarence. Richard uses the news of Clarence's unexpected death to send Edward IV, already ill, into his deathbed, all the while insinuating that the Queen is behind the execution of Clarence. Edward IV soon dies, leaving as Protector his brother Richard, who sets about removing the final obstacles to his accession. He has Lord Rivers murdered to further isolate the Queen and to put down any attempts to have the Prince crowned right away. He meets his nephew, the young Edward V, who is en route to London for his coronation accompanied by relatives of Edward's widow (Lord Hastings, Lord Grey, and Sir Thomas Vaughan). These Richard arrests, and eventually beheads, and then has a conversation with the Prince and his younger brother, the Duke of York. The two princes outsmart Richard and match his wordplay and use of language easily. Richard is nervous about them, and the potential threat they are. The young prince and his brother are coaxed (by Richard) into an extended stay at the Tower of London. The prince and his brother the Duke of York prove themselves to be extremely intelligent and charismatic characters, boldly defying and outsmarting Richard and openly mocking him. Assisted by his cousin Buckingham, Richard mounts a campaign to present himself as the true heir to the throne, pretending to be a modest, devout man with no pretensions to greatness. Lord Hastings, who objects to Richard's accession, is arrested and executed on a trumped-up charge of treason. Together, Richard and Buckingham spread the rumour that Edward's two sons are illegitimate, and therefore have no rightful claim to the throne; they are assisted by Catesby, Ratcliffe, and Lovell. The other lords are cajoled into accepting Richard as king, in spite of the continued survival of his nephews (the Princes in the Tower). Richard asks Buckingham to secure the death of the princes, but Buckingham hesitates. Richard then recruits Sir James Tyrrell, who kills both children. When Richard denies Buckingham a promised land grant, Buckingham turns against Richard and defects to the side of Henry, Earl of Richmond, who is currently in exile. Richard has his eye on his niece, Elizabeth of York, Edward IV's next remaining heir, and poisons Lady Anne so he can be free to woo the princess. The Duchess of York and Queen Elizabeth mourn the princes' deaths, when Queen Margaret arrives. Queen Elizabeth, as predicted, asks Queen Margaret's help in cursing. Later, the Duchess applies this lesson and curses her only surviving son before leaving. Richard asks Queen Elizabeth to help him win her daughter's hand in marriage, but she is not taken in by his eloquence, and eventually manages to trick and stall him by saying she will let him know her daughter's answer in due course. The increasingly paranoid Richard loses what popularity he had. He soon faces rebellions led first by Buckingham and subsequently by the invading Richmond. Buckingham is captured and executed. Both sides arrive for a final battle at Bosworth Field. Prior to the battle, Richard is visited by the ghosts of his victims, all of whom tell him to "Despair and die!" after which they wish victory upon Richmond. He awakes screaming for "Jesus" to help him, slowly realising that he is all alone in the world, and cannot even pity himself. At the Battle of Bosworth Field, Lord Stanley (who is also Richmond's stepfather) and his followers desert Richard's side, whereupon Richard calls for the execution of George Stanley, Lord Stanley's son. This does not happen, as the battle is in full swing, and Richard is left at a disadvantage. Richard is soon unhorsed on the field at the climax of the battle, and cries out, "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" Richmond kills Richard in the final duel. Subsequently, Richmond succeeds to the throne as Henry VII, and marries Princess Elizabeth from the House of York.

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. .": and the movie wouldn't be right without it.The other actors, Britain's elite of the time, seem to be tyrannized by the boss; and the text should have been edited better, because if you don't know the play and practically the whole history you'll get lost. Because "Richard III," like "Patton" or "Scarface," is essentially a one-man show, and Olivier was the best Shakespearean actor of his time or since, we are in good hands. Finally, he finds the ample stores of humor Shakespeare gave this, one of his darker plays."A sweeter and a lovelier gentleman...the spacious world cannot again afford," Richard says of one man he killed, and Olivier invests moments like this with a firm tongue in cheek. Surely Olivier could have set more up as part of the opening text narrative, and gotten down to business with that famous opening soliloquy.A worse fault is the woodenness of some of the actors, like the ones who play Catesby, Brackenbury, and especially Lord Hastings. Seen to better advantage are Claire Bloom as the woman Richard woos, Michael Gough as a murderer, and Patrick Troughton as the nasty child-killing nobleman Tyrell.Ralph Richardson gives the second-best performance in the play as the Duke of Buckingham, a half-step behind Richard in guile and cruelty, but trying to catch up in his own cold-blooded way. Also, you have to mention Pamela Brown's Mistress Shore, who has no lines (because Shakespeare wrote none for her) but manages in Olivier's direction to play a central role by currying the bedside favor of King Edward and of Hastings.But Olivier of course is the only reason this movie is still watched. Yes, he may have won World War II making his movie version of "Henry V," and his "Hamlet" was when he became Hollywood's favorite emissary of high culture, but "Richard III" is still the thing to catch the conscienceless of the king, his moment of highest dungeon and merriest perversity. But I suspect that most people would say his greatest Shakespearean film (both as star and director) was this one - his performing the greatest villainous role in the English language, King RICHARD III.One can carp about the historical accuracy of RICHARD III from now until doomsday. The Duke notices this, and soon is off on his ill-fated rebellion.RICHARD III was a first rate film - in my opinion it may be the best filmed version of a Shakespeare play made before 1980. The eccentricity of the ambitious, crippled and sadistic, Richard of Gloucester makes for a surprisingly funny yet dark tragedy.Olivier's expertise in stage technique, married with an exceptional talent, makes for shots that last for more than a minute before the cut while he delivers the goods to camera.Set mainly in a castle ,simple but true to stage, with powerful monologues from all concerned.The dialect used is easier for the novice Shakespearian to understand than it is in some other such plays.The ultimate treacherer who can,"add colours to the camelian and set the murderous Machiavelli to school".He makes no secret to the audience of his villainous disposition.Likewise the role makes no secret of Sir Larry's brilliance. But he certainly does cover it well.In fact this production boasts the talents of five knighted thespians in its cast, Olivier as Richard, John Gielgud as Clarence, Ralph Richardson as Buckingham, Cedric Hardwicke as Edward IV and Stanley Baker as the Earl of Richmond. I think Olivier like Shakespeare wanted to emphasize the evilness of Richard as opposed to the tormenting doubts that Henry and Hamlet suffer. is Richard the only Shakespeare film she did????Geilgud is wonderful as the doomed Clarence, done to death by the scheming Richard; my only disappointment was in Buckingham, played by Ralph Richardson. The costumes I liked, the settings I liked, the music by william walton was great (olivier had good taste in music though he was definitely not a musician himself) and really suited the swiftly changing reflective to agitated moods of the characters.That said, I believe Laurence Olivier's Richard III to be (with perhaps the exception of his Henry V) the most worthily majestic film ever made in England. The greatest of course, would have been to see such a master of his incandescent talent on stage as Richard since Olivier was finest on stage live, but to be realistic, there is not much of his stage performances recorded, if any, and to be left this masterpiece that Shakespeare himself would have been proud to see performed, is a tribute to the most incredible actor of this century, and most probably, of all time.. This excellent production of "Richard III" features a terrific performance by Laurence Olivier in the lead role, plus a fine supporting cast, good color photography, and plenty of color and pageantry to set off the action. It's especially enjoyable if you get the restored widescreen version.Olivier is unsurpassed at performing Shakespeare, keeping the balance between giving life to his characters while making sure that they remain part of the play as a whole, rather than drawing all the attention to himself. Playing Richard gives him a chance to be charming, devious, tyrannical, and more, and the role offers some choice solo speeches plus other scenes that have excellent give-and-take with the other characters.The rest of the cast also deserves praise. When an actor, like Laurence Olivier, it makes all his performance in the movie (or it is better to speak about a pure stage?) a complete treatise of the perfect actor: soliloquies of several minutes ‘in crescendo', looking at the camera and sharing with the audience his diabolic tricks, one and more time and making captivate to us... It is kind of sad to know that this was Lord Laurence Olivier's last film by the works of William Shakespeare simply because it failed in the movie theaters. I am sure William Shakespeare is proud of the work done by actors like Olivier, Gielgud, Richardson, Welles, Hardwicke, and hundreds of others. I love the play too, it is not my favourite of Shakespeare's plays but it does have some memorable scenes and lines and Richard III himself is a character you are unlikely to forget. For me, this film version, with the great Laurence Olivier in the role of Richard 3rd., is far superior to any otherinterpretation. Although I liked this movie, I still prefer the McKellen/Loncraine version of 'Richard III'.First of all, Olivier is more of a stage actor and director than a filmmaker. It remains a mystery how this Richard could successfully woo a widow over her husband's dead body and how he could be haunted by the specters of those he killed.Nevertheless, the performances of Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud are good, and Olivier's monologue on 'the winter of our Discontent' is great. Yet the king's Machiavellian younger brother Richard (Olivier) plots to revive old hatreds and scheme and murder his way to the crown.After tackling "Henry V", in a slightly overwrought way, and "Hamlet", for which he was more than a bit too old, Olivier relies on the fruit of past successes and failures for his screen Shakespeare apotheosis. The play itself is indisputably among Shakespeare's finest, using the wonderful plot elements woven together throughout Henry VI (part1 through 3) and offering an epic conclusion that stands on its own, thanks to the wonderful character that is Richard.Using some almost theatrical staging at times, Olivier immerses us into the tale by including late scenes from Henry VI to great effect, allowing his audience to understand the context and characters before embarking on his roller-coaster ride. what might outrage in principle works wonders on screen, as Olivier's reworking only serves to make the story more clear and cinematic.At 160 minutes, "Richard III" gives us a compelling, baffling story that never outstays its welcome, a wonderful edifice marrying Olivier's direction with Shakespeare's art, and propping it up on four sturdy pillars of acting excellence: Olivier of course, but one mustn't forget the superb work by Claire Bloom, John Gieguld, and Ralph Richardson as Richard's confidant Buckingham (whom, rumor has it, Olivier once wanted Orson Welles to play).A must-see!. Aided by his cousin the Duke of Buckingham (Ralph Richardson) he soon replaces King Edward IV (Cedric Hardwicke), rids himself of his other brother George (John Gielgud) and dispatches his young nephews to the tower and then brings their tender lives to a premature end.The deformed, despicable hunchback even seduces the widow of a man he murdered for his own purposes, Lady Anne (Claire Bloom).Once Richard ascends to the throne he finds that he has to do battle with a rival who also stakes a claim to the hollow crown.This is a chance to see Olivier, still in his pomp speaking the Bard's verse. His portrayal by Sir Laurence Olivier in the 1955 film version of Richard III] has left a lasting impression of a bitter, crippled, and deformed man who murdered Henry VI, Henry's son Edward, his brother Clarence, and his nephews Edward and Richard, although the historical truth remains in doubt. It is here that the director introduces the king (Cedric Hardwicke) and queen (Mary Kerridge), their two young sons, Gloucester (Olivier) and brother Clarence (John Gielgud), his cousin Buckingham (Sir Ralph Richardson) and his friend Hastings (Alec Cunes). Well, this is the first Shakespeare movie I've seen that was done by Sir Laurence, he's done others of course, and probably was the first actor to seriously take a shining to filming the Bard's works, before Branaugh, Pacino et al. Richard III is of course about one of the more despicable Kings in Shakespeare history, killing men, women and children to get to his throne and stay there.Olivier is fabulous in this role, looking exactly like a crow, he is stubborn, cruel, selfish and barbaric, and Olivier seems to be having a ball reenacting this play for the screen. "Richard III" was the third, and last, of the three Shakespearean films directed by Sir Laurence Olivier, after "Henry V" and "Hamlet". The film opens with a scene not found in the play, the coronation of King Edward IV who is accompanied by his wife, two sons and adult brother Richard. Similarly, Edward's death and Richard's seizure of power took place in the spring and early summer of 1483, but here these events are shown as occurring during a bleak, snowy winter, to emphasise that the brief "glorious summer of this sun of York" is now over and that England faces a return to the "winter of our discontent".Olivier does correct one of Shakespeare's inaccuracies by removing the character of Queen Margaret who, at the time of the events depicted, would either have been in exile, or dead. Most of it was shot on stylised Gothic sets in the studio, although the final scenes depicting the Battle of Bosworth Field were for some reason filmed on location in a region of Spain that looks nothing like Leicestershire.Olivier's Richard is not just a pantomime villain; he is also a consummate hypocrite, able to be all things to all men as the occasion demands, so Olivier has to call upon the full range of his acting skills to play the parts of loyal brother, ardent lover and man of the people as well as ranting tyrant. Olivier dominates the play, but there are other good contributions, especially from John Gielgud as Clarence (a far more sympathetic figure than the treacherous drunkard of legend) and Claire Bloom in the thankless role of Lady Anne, Richard's wife, who should have every cause to hate him but who inexplicably marries him.The film was not a great box-office success when first released in 1955, particularly in America where its prospects were harmed by the curious decision to broadcast it on American television on the day that it opened at the cinema. Of the three Shakespeare plays that Laurence Olivier directed and starred in, Richard III is my favourite, though I think both Henry V (1944) and Hamlet (1948) are more filmic and wide-reaching visually. This is not necessarily a bad thing, for it captures probably one of the finest, most delicious performances ever in a context that respects its theatrical heritage (Olivier famously played Richard on stage earlier), and there is something about the very construction of the play that is very theatrical – essentially it is a series of small dramas or set pieces: scenes that in themselves are works of art, and beautifully crafted that way by Shakespeare. The staginess works best when Olivier speaks directly to us, because then he is using an unconventional film device (actors don't normally talk to the camera) to improve upon a common theatrical device, creating a bond between role and audience. That this is not employed throughout the play is as much Shakespeare's fault as Olivier's, because it is written that way –we get no direct address from Richard in the crucial demise at the battle, and are thus relegated back to being observers rather than "confidents".Upon re-watching it, I was struck by how much what seeing was itself an historical document –of a style of acting and staging that perhaps to us now seems dated, but which at the time was perfectly relevant and true. Michael Gough does wonders with his small part, and Claire Bloom is marvellous –the scene in which her character is wooed by Richard is one of my favourite in both the film and in all of Shakespeare.People have remarked upon the unevenness of the final act, with a sunny Spanish landscape so clearly standing in for soggy England that it distracts our attention away from the narrative; the theatricality is gone and we are suddenly made of this being a film location. The way this necessary shift from studio to outdoors is handled is much more deftly achieved in Olivier's earlier "Henry V", which also has a more satisfying battle scene, but that was written more precisely too; the battle scene in Shakespeare's Richard III only has a few lines and few directions so any film version will have to expand upon these. Richard III begins with Olivier breaking the fourth wall and delivering his gleefully atrocious plans to camera, boasting of his strategy to usurp his brother King Edward IV (Cedric Hardwicke), but not before ridding himself of his other sibling George (John Gielgud). He seduces the widow of the man he slew during the War of the Roses, Lady Anne (Claire Bloom), and conspires with his cousin the Duke of Buckingham (the astonishing Ralph Richardson).Shot in wonderful Technicolor and opting for minimalist set design, Richard III is a treat for the eyes. Hamlet and Richard III are the hardest characters to play and Olivier nails both, but is slightly better in this. Very, very, very few film performances are superior to Olivier as Richard III.. Sir Laurence Olivier is "Richard III," a film produced and directed by him. Just before he meets his gruesome death, RICHARD III utters those immortal Shakespearean lines--and, as delivered by LAURENCE OLIVIER, they are spoken in a highly melodramatic manner--as is most of the other prose whenever someone has a "big" scene to play.But Olivier gives most of the big moments to himself--and he does them with great finesse and dramatic flair. He almost seems like an innocent victim of Richard's machinations at times.CLAIRE BLOOM is lovely as Anne, but her sudden switch from mourning widow who spits at Richard to a woman who listens calmly to his loving talk and accepts an engagement ring is slightly ridiculous.The British cast is uniformly excellent, as always in these Shakespearean things, and JOHN GIELGUD is especially convincing as the ill-fate Clarence who gets drowned in a vat of wine.The killing of the two boys in the Tower could have been handled with more high drama than it is, but all the highly dramatic moments seem to go to Olivier only.Best acting job in the cast is done by ALEC CLUNES as Lord of Hastings, the only actor in the whole show who knows how to underplay effectively rather deliver bombastic shouts. CEDRIC HARDWICKE chews quite a bit of scenery in his death scene.William Alton's music is quite impressive, as is the color photography, vivid and affording many striking visuals of interiors and exteriors.The device of Richard speaking asides to the camera is a bit overused at times and is a bit distracting until the viewer gets used to it.Summing up: A good film, but not a great one--could have been so much better.. I always feel a little cheated watching Olivier knowing that we, as a film audience, are really getting a second-rate performance from a brilliant actor. Laurence Oliver, one of the kings of cinema, directs, adapts, and stars in what is William Shakespeare's RICHARD III.I would like to make clear right off the bat that THIS FILM IS NOT INTENDED FOR THE SIMPLE MINDED. So much for Buckingham!") and other stage directors from between Shakespeare's time up to 1955.One can't discuss a movie like this without mentioning the acting -- which, in this case, means Olivier, solely. A very disappointing end to Laurence Olivier's time as a Shakespearean film director. The best actors in the film are the only ones who give consistently subtle performances such as Andrew Cruickshank as Brackenbury, Alec Clunes (Martin's dad) as Lord Hastings, Laurence Naismith as Lord Stanley, Norman Wooland (who previously played Horatio in "Hamlet") as Sir William Catesby, Stanley Baker as the soon to be Henry VII and the great John Gielgud as the Duke of Clarence. Perhaps Orson Welles (whom Olivier originally wanted for the role) would have done better, but I think Richardson does just fine.All of the other actors do great, but I wanted to single out Claire Bloom as the tragic Lady Anne Neville, who is seduced and later murdered by Richard. However, with Lord Sir Laurence Olivier directing, producing and acting in the lead role, with a BAFTA win and Oscar nomination, no-one can complain that he is a good Richard III/ of Gloucester.

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Hollow Man II

At a plush cocktail party at Reisner Institute, a government think tank based in Redmond, Washington DC, the guests and scientists present are enjoying themselves. One such scientist, Dylan, suddenly begins to become manipulated by an invisible force, which creates a scene to the guests and drags the scientist into the nearby bathroom and proceeds to brutally beat and throw Dylan around the room. Dylan apparently knows who it is, and begs the invisible man not to kill him, as he "doesn't have it", but the invisible man persists as he's "getting worse" and he's "running out of time". Though he does not know how to make more, Dylan mentions that another scientist, Maggie Dalton (Laura Regan), knows the formula. Seemingly accepting this, the invisible man releases Dylan and tells him not to tell anyone he was here, to which he agrees. No sooner has he left, than Dylan attempts to call someone on his cell phone, but the invisible man, who only pretended to leave to see if Dylan would stay silent, smashes the phone on the ground, and slashes Dylan's neck with the broken circuit board, killing him.The police arrive at the laboratory to conduct an investigation, but the military supervisor of the laboratory, Colonel Gavin Bishop (William MacDonald), insists it is an internal military situation and the police have no jurisdiction over the crime, and refuses to relent even when one of the detectives, Frank Turner (Peter Facinelli), points out that they have no experience conducting a proper criminal investigation.Fearing another attack on the remaining scientists, the lab company owner, Dr. William Reisner (David McIlwraith), employs Turner and his partner, Detective Lisa Martinez (Sarah Deakins), to protect Maggie (despite the military forcing the police out of the investigation), but refuses to divulge any information to the detectives on the nature of the work they are doing, which includes refusing to tell them that an invisible killer is on the loose.Turner and Lisa, after gaining Maggie's reluctant cooperation, stand guard outside of Maggie's house. The invisible man watches from inside a nearby bedroom window where a teenage couple are working on a home sex video. Spotted by the night vision camera, he leaves the room and heads outside. When Lisa opens the door to let the cat in, the invisible man takes advantage of the distraction to sneak past Lisa into the house. Just as the invisible man reaches the study where Maggie is working, Lisa, having sensed something wrong, traces the source to the invisible man, who uses a lamp's wire to throttle her. Maggie and Turner promptly race to Lisa's aid, but it is too late.Suddenly, a large battalion of military commandos appears and storms the house, grabbing Turner and Maggie, and use night vision cameras and weapons to target and corner the invisible man inside the study. Outside, Turner confronts Bishop, as he has realised that he and Lisa were nothing more than pawns, to lure the invisible man to the house where the commandos were to terminate him to prevent the lab's work being exposed. Suddenly, several stun grenades are set off by the invisible man around the house, blinding the commando's sensors and, combined with his own invisibility, the man escapes in pursuit of Turner and Maggie. Closely pursued, Turner and Maggie force their way down a crowded street and run across a busy road. The man is poised to catch up to them, but a speeding car strikes the man. Badly injured, the invisible man reluctantly retreats to his abandoned apartment and injects himself with a mysterious blue liquid that disguises his now-visible wounds.Maggie is taken into protective custody by the police, where Frank's superior and friend; Captain Tom Harrison (Bruce Dawson), though sympathetic with Turner's desire for revenge, has received "higher orders" to have Maggie transferred to military custody and then intends to let the case go. Disgusted with his friend's attitude, especially when he knows Tom knows who the invisible man was, helps Maggie escape from the police station and, after stealing a car, flee together. When safe, Turner demands to know everything, as he wants to know more about the invisible man for the purpose of avenging Lisa's death.Meanwhile, Bishop and Reisner, knowing their work and careers would end if Maggie talks, make Turner into a fugitive.Maggie does indeed relent and tells the whole story in a flashback: Five years before, a team of molecular biologists broke the code for human invisibility, but almost overnight something went seriously wrong and all but two of the team were killed, and as such, the program was scrapped. One year later, the Reisner Institute was contracted by the Pentagon to restart the experiments, with covert funding from the Department of Defense, and the operations was codenamed "Silent Knight", and the idea was to create the ultimate national security weapon: an undetectable soldier. Reisner managed to reproduce the original test results, but a flaw in the invisibility code was found; the serum turns human tissue invisible, but it also has horrible side effects. Simply put, the serum allows light to pass directly through a person. The radiation damages the cells and causes physical and mental degradation, and over time, it kills them. Maggie was called in to correct the defects, and developed a compound to protect a person from the radiation, which was called "the Buffer".Eventually the project was cleared for human testing, and one specific soldier, Michael Griffin (Christian Slater), a highly-distinguished Special Forces operative and Bishop's protege, and served in Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq (where he was also disgraced for committing war crimes) and happily volunteered for the opportunity to become the first invisible soldier for the United States Army. The test, in which Dylan was revealed to be the one who administered the serum into Griffin's bloodstream, to turn him invisible succeeded and the results were favorable, but when the Buffer was injected into Griffin's system, it somehow failed and Griffin suddenly died, and Maggie was fired for failing. Maggie believes Griffin faked his own death so he can use his powers without restraint, but he needs the antidote to the radiation before he dies.Back at the Institute, Reisner and Bishop argue that Turner is not the only threat out there... there is also Griffin, but Bishop insists he can bring him in, as he knows Griffin has always worked on the "edge of anarchy" and when he goes into combat he "goes deep" and "goes black". Reisner pointedly asks why would he listen to him, Bishop says "he's still a soldier and I'm still his CO", but reluctantly agrees with Reisner to not let Griffin get the Buffer or Maggie.Maggie receives a text message from an unknown stranger named Ludlow, and she explains to Turner that Ludlow has been contacting her over the last several weeks, giving her warnings and subtle pieces of advice about the program. Needing a way to fight Griffin, Turner uses his street contacts to find Ludlow's hiding place, and Turner and Maggie eventually find him and discover Ludlow (Darcy Laurie), previously known as Timothy Laurents, was a soldier enlisted into the program before Griffin but after the first one (Sebastian Caine from the first Hollow Man movie), and as such he fled the program, but due to the radiation is slowly dying (already with three rare cancers, any number of failing organs and a permanent intolerance to light, and he's "just a little more dead" and "a little more visible" every day).Ludlow has been keeping track of Griffin, and reveals the true story to his supposed "death" and the program itself: Operation Silent Knight was never about national security, but political security, and as such Griffin was intentionally not given the Buffer, as Bishop and Reisner wished to use Griffin to assassinate the United States Government's political enemies (beginning with Senator Paul Hayes, who died of acute asthmatic asphyxiation on April 21, though his bedside inhaler, mere centimeters away, remained untouched. Next, Ninth-Circuit Judge Wyatt Jennings died of broken neck when his "clumsy feet" caused him to fall down the courthouse staircase on April 27, despite countless witnesses. Next, Retired CIA Operations Chief Warren Eshingburge drowned after falling off his fishing boat). Griffin's victims then became more "randomized", and as such Griffin has begun targeting ordinary civilians; such as a soccer coach, a truck driver, and an investment banker all over the last two weeks in the North Western United States. Griffin must be stopped.Meanwhile, Griffin makes his way through the Institute, murdering all the army guards and employees in his way (sparing a friendly blind female worker whom interacts with him and does not know he is invisible) and proceeds to take Bishop hostage. Bishop attempts to reason with his protege, as the Silent Knight program needed a "fail safe" to ensure its integrity, and Griffin no longer needs Maggie and he can get Griffin the Buffer if he turns himself in. Griffin, however, does not trust him. Getting desperate, Bishop shouts that if not for his support, Griffin would have been court martialed for what he did in Iraq, and stabs him with a pen. Griffin responds by stabbing Bishop with the same pen in the eye, killing him, and locates Ludlow on Bishop's computer. Griffin arrives at Ludlow's hideout and attacks Turner, but Ludlow saves him. In a lightning maneuver, Griffin snaps Ludlow's neck. Turner and Maggie use this distraction to escape.Griffin decides to make them return by kidnapping Heather Dalton (Jessica Harmon), Maggie's sister. Realising they have no choice, they reluctantly go to the train station where Griffin is hiding. Griffin silently captures Maggie and proceeds to try to turn her invisible so he can escape unnoticed, but Turner interrupts him just in time. After a short fistfight, Griffin escapes with Maggie as his prisoner, and Turner is left at the mercy of Reisner and his guards, who have come pursuing Griffin.Reisner pursues an invisible force outside, but he is soon captured and held in a wrist-lock. Thinking it is Griffin, Reisner says he can have the Buffer sent to them within 10 minutes and asks him to surrender, addressing him as Michael. The figure replies "I'm not Michael". It is Turner, who used Griffin's discarded syringe to hide from Reisner's guards. Reisner, upon being released by Turner, backs away from him too far and is hit by a speeding car and killed.Griffin takes Maggie to her old college laboratory, so that she can create the Buffer for him. After Maggie supposedly makes enough to save his life, Griffin, still suspecting foul play, forces Maggie to inject herself with it first, to make sure it is not fake. After proving it will not kill him, Griffin injects himself with another dose of Buffer. With his survival assured, Griffin, wanting to make sure his secret will stay secret, tries to kill Maggie, but Turner attacks and knocks Griffin out of the laboratory window just before he can. Turner runs outside to see if Griffin died, but he has survived and Griffin attacks him and knocks Turner unconscious. With no one left to help her, Griffin tries to kill Maggie again, but stops when he finds he is slowly turning visible. Maggie reveals to a shocked Griffin that he has, indeed, been poisoned as Buffer is based on rat poison, and Maggie deliberately left the doses she made from the poison just toxic enough to kill them both, and loses consciousness. Enraged, Griffin takes a shovel and attempts to kill Maggie with it, but a now-conscious Turner stops him and knocks him to the ground.At his mercy, Griffin asks "Do you feel it yet, Turner? What it does to you?" as he wants to know if Turner will end up like him. Turner calmly replies "Not yet", and stabs and kills Griffin with the shovel. Turner looks down at Griffin's bloodied corpse, thinks, and then says "now I do". Turner gathers Maggie in his arms and then carries her away for medical attention to the poison, leaving Griffin's body outside in the rain.A few days later, Maggie is recovering in hospital and is poised to be released. Heather tells Maggie that Turner has not been found. Maggie insists that Turner will come back to her, as she knows he needs her. Outside her window, both women are being watched by an invisible man in a hood who proceeds to walk away.

murder, flashback

train

imdb

tt0316465

Radio

Radio is a good human-interest story that was inspired by events in 1976 in Anderson, South Carolina. Cuba Gooding, Jr., who plays the mentally challenged Radio, does such a good acting job, you will believe he is the real Radio. His real name is James Robert Kennedy, and he was nicknamed Radio, because of his radio collection and listening to the radio all the time. Radio spends his days in this small town pushing or riding a grocery cart down the street, talking to no one. After some football players harass Radio, the football coach Harold Jones played by Ed Harris takes Radio under his wing. Radio begins to help out at football practice and sits on the bench at games. In time, Radio begins to trust the coach. However, some people in town think Radio is a distraction to the team, and they want Radio to go. By this time the coach and the team are all friends to Radio and they want him to stay. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)

cruelty

train

imdb

'Radio' tells the true life story of a high school football coach who befriends a severely mentally retarded young man (whom they nickname 'Radio' because he loves listening to the radio so much), lets him hang out with the team, and, thereby, changes not only the boy's life but the lives of just about everyone in the South Carolina town in which they live. For all its heavy handed manipulation, however, 'Radio' turns out to be a pretty decent little film due, primarily, to the superb performances by Ed Harris and Cube Gooding Jr., and to the fact that the movie doesn't overplay its hand as often as it might. The movie also isn't afraid to confront the issue of whether the people of the town - and that includes Jones himself - aren't actually being patronizing towards Radio in their treatment of him, and whether he isn't more of a 'mascot' for the team than a bona fide member. Excellent thought-provoking film done with super editorial work and world-class acting by Ed Harris & Cuba Gooding Jr.. Well it does, but certainly not what you'd expect.The film becomes at no point boring or too sentimental and the acting performances by Ed Harris & Cuba Gooding Jr. are some of their best in my opinion. Radio was a movie I had heard mixed things about, but because I'm such a huge fan of Cuba Gooding, I of course checked it out. I have worked with people who are mentally challenged and ever since then, I have grown to understand and deal with them with patience, so while I was watching the story unfold, I couldn't help but feel emotion for Radio. I really feel Radio is a nice feel-good story of a kid that's mentally challenged being accepted by the society that he is living in, and becoming a legend in his own right. (If you like to see inspiring movies, check out their website for past winners at camieawards.org) This story, from the writer of "The Rookie", is inspired by real events in the life of a mentally-challenged man named Radio (Gooding Jr.), who won the heart of a high school football coach, (Harris) a South Carolina football team and eventually the town of Anderson, SC. The story explores how Radio overcomes his handicap and personal struggles through kindness and compassion from Coach Harold Jones.Some people will find this too sentimental and cheesy. Also, the film is saying how many of us overlook people with problems that can be helped if only we have the patience Coach Jones showed to the young man because of his own guilt in his heart."Radio", directed by Michael Tolllin, is a formula film inspired on a true story. Yet, the movie is not a complete failure because of the inspired performances the director was able to get from his wonderful cast.Coach Jones is instrumental in getting the young man, who is called Radio because his passion for collecting them, involved in sports, a passion he discovers in this retarded man who has had only hard knocks in his young life. Radio is seen by the school kids as a mascot, at first, then, his sunny disposition wins him the acceptance of everyone because he is a good person without an ounce of malice in his body.The film owes a lot to Ed Harris and Cuba Gooding Jr. who make a great pair as the coach and Radio. Debra Winger, only has a few scenes in the film."Radio", while being sentimental, will warm anyone's heart because it shows how we tend to see some people are in our society that we know nothing about and how quick we are to judge them. As I watching this based-on-a-real-life story, I was thinking, "nobody is this nice, this tolerant." Mainly, I was referring to Ed Harris' role as "Coach Jones." I think they went a little overboard on his character, but that's better than the reverse: showing him worse than what he was in real life. Odd to see Harris playing the role, too, since he has a long resume of playing nasty, profane characters.Anyway, I never complain about a nice, feel-good film, and it is nice to see a bunch of well- meaning, kind people. Those folks direct their friendship, love and compassion to "James Kennedy," better known as "Radio," a mentally slow high school kid played by Cuba Gooding Jr. The story takes place in the mid 1970s in South Carolina. Sports are taken seriously in small town high school America (and elsewhere, I suspect) and I felt the portrayal of these competitive students opening their hearts to one less fortunate rang true, at least for me.The coach was never forced to choose between his daughter and Radio but rather came gently to the decision himself under Radio's loving and open ways. It's perfectly well acted by Ed Harris and Cuba Gooding Jr. The story is set in 1976,football coach Harold Jones(Ed Harris) is hard drivin in pratice, he seems to have very little time for his wife and daughter(Debra Winger and Sarah Drew). The movie is the portrayal of how their relationship develops, with Jones taking the young man under his wing, so to speak, and making him part of both the team and the school community, fighting the efforts of many of the townsfolk and school board officials to have him removed.It's certainly a heartwarming story, although it's not exactly what I'd call a tearjerker, although there are moments when tears might flow (particularly the death of Radio's mother.) There are question raised throughout the movie that are often hard to deal with. Although the whole community was concerned about the on-field performance of the football team, aside from one parent and one school board official, people seemed largely unconcerned about or uninterested in Radio himself - which struck me as a surprisingly bland reaction for a small southern town in the late 1960's to have for a mentally disabled young black man. The Hanna High team didn't have a great season in this movie; neither Radio nor Coach Jones inspired them to win anything of significance. The football team just became in some ways a microcosm of the community, as they grew more and more accepting of Radio, to the point at which Radio's presence was simply a given.This is a very well done film, one of the better "based on a true story" films I've come across. These moments of slapstick comedy had the audience howling with laughter merely purely because, `it's funny because Radio is retarded' This is shameless, Now I do not feel that the word `retarded' is an appropriate word at all to describe the mentally disabled, but this seems to be the stance the film is taking, `Radio is retarded, but that's okay, because he's cute and we like him.' Gooding's portrayal seems better suited for a John Water's film than an inspiring family drama. The characters' roles were painfully easyto read (i.e.- that banker guy was the obligatory anti-"Radio"element and Coach Jones' relationship problems with hisdaughter were brutally obvious).BUT having said that (and I'm sure I could bag on more of it), let'shope that children see this film. I saw the trailer, and said to myself, 'Wow, another 'inspired by a true story, Remember the Titans-esque, 'uplifting' film, only now we've got Cuba 'I'm an Academy Award winnner, yet I did 'Snow Dogs' Gooding Jr. as a retarded kid. The movie didn't try to show HOW being mentally retarded is a good thing...but I'm getting off topic.Just know that everyone sucked except for Cuba who was good but not great.ACTING SCORE: 4/10 All we did was watch some semi-interesting events that happened, and see a coach get reunited to his family (which wasn't even shown well).Overall, it felt like they wanted to make a movie about Radio, but didn't have a real point to it all, so just gave us some things to look at, and a couple of events to make the woman cry. The real life story of the relationship between South Carolina football coach Harold Jones(Ed Harris) and James Robert "Radio"Kennedy(Cuba Gooding Jr.)is explored here over the course of the 1976-77 school year. As "Radio" insinuates his way into the lives of the students,coaches and even Coach Jones' family(Debra Winger and Sarah Drew),he becomes an almost invaluable fixture around the small southern town as well as the school.There would be,actually,so many reasons to dislike this show:the story is painfully predictable,the writing starts to creak and crack when it tries too hard to push buttons(one example:when someone mentions how well Radio has learned since coming to the school,HAnna High,the response is "No,we haven't been teaching him,he's been teaching us!") and it is fairly vague as to much of Radio's actual life or personality,with the exception of his hard-working and skeptical mother(S.Epatha Markerson). Though seeing as how it's 8 AM and I haven't gone to bed yet (plus me being Swedish) expect some possible spelling errors and so forth.Either way, in all honesty this movie deserves a far better rating than what it has received here on IMDb. Not to mention that some of the reviews that have been written here giving "Radio" a low score are outright hateful for no good reason. There is no need for it since more than anything the movie simply addresses that those who suffer from whatever handicap are people like anyone else and should be treated as such.They don't make it into this HUGE thing, it's a slow process, I mean even towards the end of the film some people are still not accepting of this mentally challenged individual.What I am trying to say is that it's grounded in reality and it works in its favor. Once again, it works completely in its favor.It's a small town, one person finally doing the right thing in little steps, not everyone suddenly accepts the main character in the story and it isn't sappy.Even being a "strong burly man" I can admit to having cried to this movie all three times that I've seen it and I highly recommend it.In the words of Roger Ebert: "There is no cynicism in Radio, no angle or edge. This was nothing new for Coach Jones, contrary to the movie account: as a youth he defended a disabled neighbor from bullies with his fists.Now is a good time to revisit Radio, after the sickening perversion of school sports by a poisonous mix of pedophilia and money at Penn State's football program. The movie was about the bond forged between Radio (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and Coach Jones (Ed Harris), and how Coach Jones gave Radio another family in the football team. Radio is an unusual story, based on the factual friendship of a small-town high school coach, and a young developmentally disabled man.I find it a touching film; a tribute to the versatile acting talent of Cuba Gooding, Jr. A harmless, friendless, and misunderstood young man nicknamed "Radio" who wanders around with an ever-present transistor radio, (hence his nickname) is ridiculed as a "retard" by the locals. The two actors portray this simple yet touching friendship that makes them both grow as people with gentle sincerity.Occasionally, the film is hard to watch, what with cruel pranks played on the poor ingenuous Radio. This wonderful and true story centers on the friendship between a mentally retarded young man named Radio (played excellently by Cuba Gooding, Jr.!), and Coach Jones (Ed Harris), the football coach who befriends and defends Radio, taking him under his wing and teaching him the basics of education (reading, writing) and the value of work. I am so glad I did not give in to the peer pressure of letting my 11-year-old son see "Matrix Revolutions" with a friend of his, and instead brought him and my 8-year-old daughter to see "Radio."You know it's a good movie for kids when you hear them taking the time out to tell their dad (who hadn't seen it since he was out of town) what the movie was all about.I think it touched them as much as it did me. Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ed Harris do an excellent job of playing real people. The heroes of the movie are Coach Jones (played by Ed Harris), a man of strength and integrity, and Radio (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) a mentally retarded man who finds a way to contribute to his world. I left the movie feeling good, remembering that there are people like Coach Jones and Radio in my world. Especially when the real Radio is shown at the end of the movie – we realize how truly great Cuba's performance was.This is a movie that I enjoyed while in the theater, but now a day later realize that the message it conveys is still with me - "do what is right and it will always work out in the end.". I came for a movie that has Ed Harris in the leading role but I ended up with a movie that takes a true story and makes it a relaxed movie that makes you feel good, I don't know how much is true but it's fascinating how Radio is still remembered at this date. It's the story of James Robert "Radio" Kennedy (played by Cuba Gooding Jr.), a mentally disable young man who is fascinated by radios and football and is taken under the wing of the local football team's coach (Ed Harris as Coach Jones).What I really disliked about this movie was that the people here don't feel like people. When he is included in the behind-the-scenes of the school football team he feels more like a pet or a mascot than a real person and the film never really focuses on him, following Ed Harris' character Coach Jones instead of going about the more challenging task of showing us what this town really saw in James Robert Kennedy and giving him a real personality with flaws and all. There is also something off-putting about the fact that the people in the town very rarely call him by his actual name, instead calling him by his given nickname of "Radio" and that we never see any portrayal of the man's brother in the film, almost as if he refused to be included.Overall it does pull at your heartstrings and will likely get some sensitive audiences emotionally involved but the plot is the same one you have seen before: the misunderstood misfit shows the rest of the world that it's important to be more caring and understanding. He plays a mentally challenged young man in a small town in South Carloina mainly minding his own business until one day some teenagers from a high school football team play a cruel prank on Radio and coach Jones (Ed Harris) finds Radio all tied up and takes matters in to his own hands.He takes Radio in, and makes him part of the community.See the turmoil coach deals with helping Radio become part of the spirit in the school and community around him, you will be wrapped up in this courageous story that will touch you and make you feel good and will make you want to help someone yourself . I enjoyed the story very much and even though it may not be the best movie ever made, the on screen connection between the coach and Radio is very apparent and touching.Every once in a while we need to be reminded there are wonderful, positive people in the world.I think that the character of Radio is only disturbing because Cuba Goding Jr does such a wonderful job portraying a retarded young man. Cuba Gooding Jr. was WAY better in the movie "Radio" than he is usually given credit for. People who say that Gooding was bad in this movie have probably never had any contact with a mentally challenged person.I've actually worked with competitors in the Special Olympics and I can assure you that is performance is very authentic.I didn't want to believe that some people are like this, but I can assure you that they are. I honestly think that people like Radio probably know more about how to express true love than me or any of the people who for whatever reason have made such critical comments about this movie. Cuban Gooding Jr. showed in this movie that he is such a great actor, the way that he started in the movie being shy and then turning himself in a talker was amazing.Ed Harris also played a real class act in this movie, I loved how he stuck with Radio throughout the entire movie and didn't switch sides, which I thought was something that he was going to do the whole time.It's hard to believe that a story this good was actually true, great job with this film, it is something I would definitely recommend to watch.. Yes, it's sentimental...but you can't dispute that there is a real life person nick named Radio and he appears to be a well loved member of his community, as does Coach Jones (Ed Harris's character). set in 1976, A high school coach named Jones decides to take a mentally challenged black man nick named Radio under his wing in an attempt to inspire his football team to win. It's hard to watch it and know it's a true story, but it's wonderful knowing so many good things have come from a story like Radio's. I think the world needs more people like Coach Jones and Radio...their personalities are wonderful. This movie not only answers the question "am I my brother's keeper" but, if viewed with an open heart as well as an open mind, it tells us "why".Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ed Harris deserve nominations for their disarmingly realistic portrayals of Radio and Coach Jones (respectively). Cuba Gooding and Ed Harris were great in this film. A very powerful film with a great performance by Ed Harris as well as the high school football coach.

tt0102926

The Silence of the Lambs

FBI trainee Clarice Starling is pulled from her training at the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia by Jack Crawford of the Bureau's Behavioral Science Unit. He assigns her to interview Hannibal Lecter, a former psychiatrist and incarcerated cannibalistic serial killer, whose insight might prove useful in the pursuit of a serial killer nicknamed "Buffalo Bill", who skins his female victims' corpses. Starling travels to the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where she is led by Frederick Chilton to Lecter's solitary quarters. Although initially pleasant and courteous, Lecter grows impatient with Starling's attempts at "dissecting" him and rebuffs her. As she is leaving, one of the prisoners flicks semen at her. Lecter, who considers this act "unspeakably ugly", calls Starling back and tells her to seek out an old patient of his. This leads her to a storage shed where she discovers a man's severed head with a sphinx moth lodged in its throat. She returns to Lecter, who tells her that the man is linked to Buffalo Bill. He offers to profile Buffalo Bill on the condition that he be transferred away from Chilton, whom he detests. Buffalo Bill abducts a U.S. Senator's daughter, Catherine Martin. Crawford authorizes Starling to offer Lecter a fake deal promising a prison transfer if he provides information that helps them find Buffalo Bill and rescue Catherine. Instead, Lecter demands a quid pro quo from Starling, offering clues about Buffalo Bill in exchange for personal information. Starling tells Lecter about the murder of her father when she was ten years old. Chilton secretly records the conversation and reveals Starling's deceit before offering Lecter a deal of Chilton's own making. Lecter agrees and is flown to Memphis, Tennessee, where he verbally torments Senator Ruth Martin and gives her misleading information on Buffalo Bill, including the name "Louis Friend". Starling notices that "Louis Friend" is an anagram of "iron sulfide" — fool's gold. She visits Lecter, who is now being held in a cage-like cell in a Tennessee courthouse, and asks for the truth. Lecter tells her that all the information she needs is contained in the case file. Rather than give her the real name, he insists that they continue their quid pro quo and she recounts a traumatic childhood incident where she was awakened by the sound of spring lambs being slaughtered on a relative's farm in Montana. Starling admits that she still sometimes wakes thinking she can hear lambs screaming, and Lecter speculates that she is motivated to save Catherine in the hope that it will end the nightmares. Lecter gives her back the case files on Buffalo Bill after their conversation is interrupted by Chilton and the police, who escort her from the building. Later that evening, Lecter kills his guards, escapes from his cell and disappears. Starling analyzes Lecter's annotations to the case files and realizes that Buffalo Bill knew his first victim personally. Starling travels to the victim's hometown and discovers that Buffalo Bill was a tailor, with dresses and dress patterns identical to the patches of skin removed from each of his victims. She telephones Crawford to inform him that Buffalo Bill is trying to fashion a "woman suit" of real skin, but Crawford is already en route to make an arrest, having cross-referenced Lecter's notes with hospital archives and finding a man named Jame Gumb, who once applied unsuccessfully for a sex-change operation. Starling continues interviewing friends of Buffalo Bill's first victim in Ohio while Crawford leads an FBI HRT team to Gumb's address in Illinois. The house in Illinois is empty, and Starling is led to the house of "Jack Gordon", who she realizes is actually Jame Gumb, again by finding a sphinx moth. She pursues him into his multi-room basement, where she discovers that Catherine is still alive, but trapped in a dry well. After turning off the basement lights, Gumb stalks Starling in the dark with night-vision goggles, but gives his position away when he cocks his revolver. Starling reacts just in time and fires all of her rounds at Gumb, killing him. Sometime later, at her FBI Academy graduation party, Starling receives a phone call from Lecter, who is at an airport in Bimini. He assures her that he does not plan to pursue her and asks her to return the favor, which she says she cannot do. Lecter then hangs up the phone, saying that he is "having an old friend for dinner", and starts following a newly arrived Chilton before disappearing into the crowd.

dark, suspenseful, gothic, murder, neo noir, psychological, mystery, dramatic, cult, violence, horror, atmospheric, flashback, good versus evil, romantic, revenge

train

wikipedia

It is a powerful example of how great a movie can be when superb writers, directors, actors, and others work at the top of their craft.`Silence of the Lambs' is the story of a young FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) who is summoned to help find one serial killer called `Buffalo Bill.' by interviewing another. While Anthony Hopkins receives most of the (well-deserved) praise for his chilling portrayal of incarcerated serial killer `Hannibal ‘the Cannibal' Lector', it is Foster's performance that holds the movie together. He still is one of the key elements in this wonderful thriller, which sees Jodie Foster's Clarice Starling asking for Lecter's help to catch another killer.The result is a dangerous yet fascinating relationship between the young, unexperienced FBI-agent and the convicted,but basically omnipotent, psychiatrist.He's a step ahead of everyone all the time, and makes sure everyone notices, with his witty, unforgettable one-liners.If there had to be only one reason to worship this movie, then it would have to be the chemistry between the two leading actors.Never before has a non-sexual man/woman connection been more thrilling.Never before has a film's ending been more unsettling and brilliant and left us asking for more.Best watched with a nice Chianti...P.S. dear film-buffs, have the lambs stopped screaming?. Little did I realize how well-received this film would be and how it propelled Anthony Hopkins to super-stardom.Although entertaining, this is not always a fun movie to watch, especially with the scenes with Ted Levine who plays the killer, "Buffalo Bill." "Bill" and his kidnapped young woman are sick and profane people, respectively, and their scenes are very unpleasant. There also is some extreme crudeness in the jail/dungeon where Lecter and other inmates are held.Jodie Foster is excellent as the FBI agent "Clarice Starling" and Scott Glenn is low-key and effective as "Jack Crawford." A major part of the film is psychological more than violent as Lecter constantly taunts "Clarice," while she tries her best to manipulate him to help with a case. The looks on his face, his fascinating vocabulary with intelligent sarcasm and frankness, never ceases to entertain."Silence Of The Lambs" has turned into a modern-day "classic." If by some odd chance you have never seen this movie, be warned it is a dark, difficult story to watch at times....but it will get your mind off other things.. "The Silence of the Lambs" deals with a young FBI cadet (Oscar-winner Jodie Foster) who is sent to interview a captured madman (Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins in one of the greatest performances ever on the screen) to find out about a serial killer (Ted Levine) who is stripping the skin from his female victims after they die. After all these years The Silence of the Lambs remains in a league of its own and is a perfect exemplification of just how great a movie can become when all the right elements come together and work in perfect harmony to form a complete whole.Based on the novel of the same name, Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI's training academy. FBI agent Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a genius psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case of a serial killer called Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), that murders and skins his victims and that Starling as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to make him help with the case.The direction by Jonathan Demme is marvelous, as the film introduces its chilling sense of dread and has the audience on the edge of their seats, from the moment Howard Shore's ominous score hits the screen till the end of the film, especially during the climax with a lot of perfectly crafted suspenseful and nail-biting moments. Anthony Hopkins as the genius psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter is the perfect amalgamation of charisma, high intelligence and destructive violence, and gives a bone-chilling and memorable performance that will stand the passage of time as one of the absolute best. Due to the charisma and electrifying chemistry between the two actors every scene they share becomes an instant classic.In conclusion, the Silence of the Lambs is one of the greatest films ever made and a masterwork of brilliant direction, smart screenplay, splendid camerawork, tight editing, marvelous score and exquisite performances, that cemented the legacy of both Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster by engraving their iconic characters into the annals of cinema. STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits Rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is assigned to get into the mind of notorious incarcerated serial killer Dr Hannibal 'the Cannibal' Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to get his evaluation on the elusive Buffalo Bill, a serial killer who's been abducting and killing young women. You have a nice shootout on the end with Clarice and Buffalo Bill and Clarice get's her man, spoils her plans saves the hostage and saves the day.The Silence of the Lambs is the 1991 thriller that was the feature film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Thomas Harris and marked the first appearance of Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. (Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins in one of the greatest performances ever on the screen) Dr.Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter, is a brutal killer with revolting methods and habits, but he's also very intelligent, charismatic and with good taste (you can interpret that as you like). This flick got five major Academy Awards ("Oscars" for Best Movie, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay) it is no wonder why.Plot: FBI recruit Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is asked by the Bureau to elicit Lecter's help in tracking down a notorious serial killer who has kidnapped a US Senator's daughter. Hopkins would reprise his role as Lecter in two more films: Hannibal (2001) and Red Dragon (2002).Real life killer Ed Gein was the inspiration for Buffalo Bill as well as the inspiration for Norman Bates from Psycho and Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. This film is fun, intense, very well fast paced goes quickly around for those two hours.The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American horror-thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, and Scott Glenn. In the film, Clarice Starling, a young U.S. FBI trainee, seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Lecter to apprehend another serial killer, known only as "Buffalo Bill".This movie is a perfect 10 out of 10, it takes the vision of one of the most imaginative directors on Earth (Jonathan Demme) with a brilliant cast including Thomas Harris novel that was adapted from it. In fact, it won't be a hyperbole, that Anthony Hopkins's portrayal of cannibalistic Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs and more so in its sequel, Hannibal (which is my favorite of the series, as the story completely revolves around Lecter, giving him more exposure), is one of the best, the world of cinema has ever seen or offered. Jonathan Demme's astute adaptation of Thomas Harris' last good book entwines the horror and detective genres to enduringly shocking effect, while Anthony Hopkins' Lecter and Jodie Foster's Starling fizz up an unsettling chemistry that was utterly lacking in the sequel.I haven't seen a movie this perfectly wrapped in a while. Despite having some reservations of Brian Cox as Hannibal in MANHUNTER you do believe his burly presence does have the physical strength to overpower his victims , not so Hopkins I know it's very difficult , perhaps even impossible , but the best way to enjoy this movie is to erase from your mind the fact that it's one of only three movies to have picked up the Oscar in all five main categories , the fact that it made headlines about being the most terrifying film committed to celluloid , and the fact that it stands as the 28th best movie ever on this website . I would like to stay more in the performance of Anthony Hopkins that is really majestic and gives the film more quality.Hopkins gets to the skin of his role and makes you to feel that he is a real psycho killer.Also the direction is perfect by Demme and makes the viewers to be absorbed by the fight of the FBI agent Clarice Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter.Jodie Foster fairly wins the Academy Award for Best Actress in Leading Role.. The movie manages to perfectly capture the thrilling atmosphere of the novel, and for that reason alone, is a strong film in its own right.Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter is chilling right from his first shot. After a string of bizarre murders, FBI agent-in-training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is hired to interview psychopath Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to find the perpetrator. And no one would have expected the film to have a binary structure with a classic serial-killer's investigation in one hand, and a subplot involving one of the greatest movie villains of all-time and his interaction with the heroine, on the other.The script is tightly constructed, patiently leading us to assemble each piece of the puzzle until the series of interactions between Clarice and Hannibal approaches a disturbing truth. And it's no surprise that the film topped many list from the American Film Institute, #5 of AFI's 100 Thrills, #6 heroine, and good ol' Hannibal as number one movie villain, and he wasn't even the main antagonist in the film, which says as much as his winning the Oscar for less than 20 minutes on-screen, to find a character with the same cinematic aura, I guess we would go back to Vito Corleone."The Silence of the Lambs" reinvented the horror genre as the kind of movie that would have made Alfred Hitchcock proud : a scary villain, a sympathetic hero, a script respecting our intelligence, top-notch direction and editing, and for one thing, it didn't even need a twist ending. He recruits the young FBI trainee Clarice Starling (played by Jodie Foster) to talk to the brilliant and cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter (played by Anthony Hopkins). Jonathan Demme's tense thriller combines excellent actors and a wonderfully adapted screenplay to make, what seems to be one of the best, if not the best, thrillers of all time.The film follows three main stories, those being that of rookie FBI agent, Clarice Starling, the psychopath murderer Buffalo Bill and imprisoned psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter, imprisoned for murder and cannibalism. Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)**** (out of 4) Intense masterpiece about an FBI trainee (Jodie Foster) who is tracking down a perverted serial killer and must receive help from Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lector (Anthony Hopkins). The bug guys, Miggs, the deputies at the funeral home in Elk River, the chauffeur who "detests physical labor."Jonathan Demme's directing is so brilliantly subtle that it's easy to overlook given the gripping story and the incredible acting, but the last time I watched the entire movie I did indeed, "feel eyes moving over Clarice's body." I'd read about this before, and undoubtedly processed it subconsciously, but I'd never seen it so starkly. The Silence of the Lambs is an amazing one, while not my personal favourite of the year of 1991 it was a well deserved Best Picture win in my opinion.Jonathan Demme's direction is superb, the film is shot in a ceaselessly atmospheric manner and Demme never lets the suspense drop. We're so distracted by cold, probing voice of the suave psychiatrist- turned-serial-killer (played with chilling calculation by Anthony Hopkins) that it's easy to forget that the film is ultimately about Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a rookie FBI agent with a dark past.Clarice spent her adolescence trying to escape death – the shooting of her father, the slaughter of spring lambs on her neighbour's ranch – and sought to banish these memories by joining the FBI. Dr. Lecter(Anthony Hopkins) truly is an unforgettable character and his conversations with inspector Clarice(Jodie Foster) were the best thing in this movie for sure. There is a reason Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, both(!!!) won an Oscar for this film, not to mention The Silence of the Lambs has 5 Oscars to its name altogether, surely the best movie of 1991.Doesn't matter what kind of movies you are into, you will thoroughly enjoy The Silence of the Lambs, it just has too many outstanding qualities, that it should be impossible to dislike this and even if there are any flaws, you will not notice them, since they get overshadowed by the super interesting and suspense storyline.. Jodie Foster's portrayal of the young and inexperienced FBI agent instructed to investigate the actions of a serial killer is as flawless as acting can be, inspiring many later performances from actresses in similar roles, and providing the audience with a first person narrative to stabilise some of the more horror-centred segments of the film. Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins both deserved to win the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress, they were brilliant in their roles from the beginning of the movie right to the very end.I recommend this movie for anyone (except for younger people, it is definitely not exactly an appropriate movie to show the kids - too much gore).Love this movie!. Over 20 years after I first saw this film I have now decided to put 'pen to paper' so to speak and praise what I think is one of the most gripping murder movies made, with a host of actors from Jodie Foster, Scott Glenn,Anthony Heald, Ted Levine - who was a relative newcomer then - and of course Anthony Hopkins firmly at the top of their game. This is the best of his Lecter performances, as the other movies, Hannibal and Red Dragon lack storyline and he needed a strong character like Jodie Foster who is incredible. Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a young rookie FBI agent, is enlisted to help in the hunt for a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). As Buffalo Bill kidnaps the daughter of an American senator the clock starts to tick down……The Silence of the Lambs is directed by Jonathan Demme and stars Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, and Ted Levine. Based on the novel by Thomas Harris, it stars Jodie Foster as an eager beaver young FBI trainee who is sent by her superior (Scott Glenn) to interview an imprisoned murderer, the intelligent, cultured psychopath Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), in the hopes that he can lend his insight into the activities of "Buffalo Bill" (Ted Levine), a serial killer currently on the loose. Silence of the Lambs is a horror/thriller film most notable for its character of Hannibal Lector a cannibalistic psychopath played by Anthony Hopkins. At the same time I was giving my nervous system a workout, I was sitting there in awe of how well written the film was, how excellently defined and sketched all the characters were, how intellectually challenging the piece was, and how unbelievably good Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins performances were- thank God they both won Oscars. "The Silence of the Lambs" is a movie in which a young FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) tries to get some information from Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) who is a psychopath and used to be a respected psychiatrist, for a psychopathic serial killer who skins his victims. To get these information Clarice Starling has to gain the respect and the trust of Dr.Hannibal Lecter.When I saw this movie I thought that Anthony Hopkins is really not OK in his minds for real and that's because of his perfect interpretation. Jonathan Demme's work in the direction of this film did not go unnoticed and he also won the Oscar for Best Director."The Silence of the Lambs" is a movie that you have to see it, it's a really good Thriller and Crime movie with many good scenes and an exceptional screenplay.. I think its so hard for a such stars like Anthony Hopkins and Jodie to produce Crime,Thriller movie at this time..Silence of the Lambs is a heart-racing thriller that has arguably one of the most interesting characters in cinema history, Hannibal Lector, a famous psychologist who also has Antisocial Personality Disorder. Hannibal Lector is played by Anthony Hopkins and at the beginning of the movie, he is approached by a young, rising FBI agent, named Clarice Starling, played by Jodie Foster. Each award was well deserved, with Best Director Jonathan Demme both marvellously pulling off the most gripping scenes and never losing sight of the human element of the picture, Best Actor Anthony Hopkins and Best Actress Jodie Foster both delivering unforgettable performances as the dangerously intelligent cannibal serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter and the less-than-perfect but strong willed rookie FBI Agent Clarice Starling, and Ted Tally's Best Adapted Screenplay both delivering snappy, quotable dialogue ("Oh, and Senator, one more thing: LOVE your suit!") and perfectly tapping into the mind of a serial killer.This is the horror film that they all want to be, but almost all of them won't. Probably the most iconic thing about this movie is the characters and every character has something interesting about them whether it be an unhinged serial killer that has nothing else to lose or a young FBI agent trying to find her way in the world and the latter is what makes Clarice Starling such an excellent protagonist she gives the audience something to relate to in this film and Jodie Foster is absolutely amazing in this film she perfectly captures her characters wit, innocence and fear and is never anything less than convincing. Great, tense thriller.An FBI agent-in-training, Clarice Starling (played by Jodie Foster) is given an assignment to interview infamous serial killer, Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). Anthony Hopkins performance as the deranged genius Hannibal Lecter earned him a well deserved Academy Award and the same was true of Jodie Foster's performance as Clarice Starling.

tt0465142

American Dreamz

On the morning after his re-election, US President Joseph Staton (Dennis Quaid) decides to read the newspaper for the first time in four years. This starts him down a slippery slope. He begins reading obsessively, reexamining his "black-and-white" view of the world in a more "gray-seeming" way, and holing up in his bedroom in his pajamas. Frightened by the President's apparent nervous breakdown, his Chief of Staff (Willem Dafoe) pushes him back into the spotlight, booking him as a guest judge on the television ratings juggernaut (and the President's wife's personal favourite), the weekly talent show American Dreamz. America cannot seem to get enough of American Dreamz, hosted by self-aggrandizing, self-loathing Martin Tweed (Hugh Grant), ever on the lookout for the next insta-celebrity. His latest crop of hopefuls includes Sally Kendoo (Mandy Moore), a conniving steel magnolia with a devoted, dopey veteran boyfriend William Williams (Chris Klein), and Omer Obeidi (Sam Golzari). Because Omer's mother died in the Middle East in an American attack, he joined a group of jihadists. He was an actor in an instruction film for terrorists, but he was too clumsy, and his interest in show tunes was frowned upon. Therefore, he was sent to the U.S. to await further instructions, but the leaders expected they could not use him. He moved to Southern California to live with his extended family there, including his effeminate cousin Iqbal (Tony Yalda) and Shazzy (Noureen DeWulf). Iqbal hoped to be selected to participate in American Dreamz, but in a misunderstanding, Omer was selected instead. Iqbal becomes angered by this at first but later agrees to help Omer win and makes himself his manager. Omer's terrorist organization now sees an opportunity: Omer is instructed to make it to the finale, and kill the President in a suicide attack. He succeeds in getting to the finale. Security is bypassed by assembling the bomb after the security check, in the toilet, from small parts smuggled in (the smaller pieces of explosive are disguised as chewing gum). Omer agrees, but changes his mind and disposes of the bomb in the trash can. Sally is the other finalist. Earlier in the film, she had dumped William because she believed that her life would've gone nowhere if she still had him for a boyfriend and that he'd only drag her down. This drove William to join the army, only to be wounded in Iraq and sent back to the U.S. For the purpose of the show and at the insistence of her agent, Chet Krogl (Seth Meyers), Sally has to pretend that she still loves William. On the eve of the American Dreamz finale, William proposes to Sally, which she rejects until Chet decides to boost Sally's popularity and chances of winning the show by asking William to do the proposal on air. However, William witnesses Sally having sex with Martin, and is furious. When he throws out the engagement ring, he finds the bomb Omer tossed in the trash can. He then comes out on stage and threatens to detonate it. While the other people evacuate, William starts singing and Martin, who refuses to let go of the camera, films it. As William reaches the end of the song, he detonates the bomb by walking into the camera, killing both himself and Martin. The film then cuts to shots of people dialing up their cell phones to vote in for the winner. It is eventually revealed that William Williams was voted the surprise winner of American Dreamz. The epilogue reveals what each of the characters went on to do after the end of last season. Omer went on to become a successful star of his own Broadway revue, where he is shown performing a scene from the musical Grease. The President makes his wife his new Chief of Staff. And Sally Kendoo becomes the new host of American Dreamz.

comedy, satire

train

wikipedia

tt0375735

Enduring Love

On a beautiful cloudless day, a couple are celebrating their love with a picnic. Joe (Daniel Craig) has planned a picture-perfect afternoon in the English countryside with his partner, Claire (Samantha Morton); but, as Joe and Claire prepare to open a bottle of champagne, their idyll comes to an abrupt end. A hot air balloon drifts into the field, obviously in trouble. The pilot catches his leg in the anchor rope, while the only passenger, a boy, is too scared to jump down. Joe and three other men rush to secure the basket. Just as they grab on, wind rushes into the field, and at once the rescuers are airborne. Joe manages to drop to the ground, as do the others, except for one (Lee Sheward) who is lifted skywards. As all watch this strangely beautiful sight, they see the man fall to his death. Recalling the day's events at dinner with his friends Robin (Bill Nighy) and Rachel (Susan Lynch), and Claire, Joe reveals the impact the incident has had on his battered psyche. The balloon eventually landed safely, the boy unscathed. Joe later goes to retrieve the body of the fallen man with fellow rescuer Jed Parry (Rhys Ifans). Jed feels an instant connection with Joe—one that, as the weeks go by, becomes ever more intense. Days after the incident, Joe, feeling guilt, spends a lot of time trying to map out ways that could have saved the man who fell to his death. One day, while drawing diagrams of how the day could have ended differently, he receives an odd phone call from Jed, telling him to come outside so that they can talk about what happened on the field. Joe looks out the window and sees Jed standing across the road from his house staring up at Joe's window. Joe is reluctant but Jed promises that he will leave Joe alone if he just comes outside and talks to him about what happened that day. After Jed makes some comments that make Joe uneasy, he decides to leave, telling Jed to leave him alone. Not too long after this, Joe visits a local bookshop and out of nowhere Jed makes an appearance, appearing to have followed Joe to the bookshop. Joe is confused and angered by this and tells Jed that he doesn't want to see him at all. Jed is hurt by this and continues to tell Joe to 'be brave' and admit what passed between them at the field. Then Jed leaves Joe and says, "don't let me down, not like you let him [the man who fell from the balloon] down". The next time we see Joe is when he is lecturing at the college where he works. At lunch, he sits down with a colleague and then spots Jed sitting at the table next to him. He shouts at Jed, causing a scene when Jed tells him to "be brave" again. Joe tells Jed that all he wants is for Jed to leave him alone, which after hearing this, Jed leaves the restaurant. Joe then visits the wife of the man who had died and she tells him that she believes that he was having an affair after the police returned a picnic basket for two that was found in his car to her address, along with a woman's scarf that does not belong to her. After hearing this, he decides to figure out who was with the man on the day he died. On Joe's birthday, Claire makes him a special birthday dinner. At dinner, it is clear to see the strain on their relationship as there is a lot of silence and neither seems willing to make much conversations. After Claire sees that Joe is lost in thought and not paying her any attention, she loses her temper and clears the table. It is obvious that she is fed up with Joe's behaviour and lack of communication. The next day, Joe goes swimming and when having finished he looks up to see Jed, standing by the window of the pool. Joe asks Jed to meet him in the café. They talk and Joe demands to know why Jed won't leave him alone. Jed, once again, makes Joe uneasy and he leaves. Later, Joe and Claire are joined by Robin and Rachel, Claire's brother and his new girlfriend. Joe then tells Claire that he had planned to propose to her on the day of the accident. She asks Joe if he's changed his mind and he remains silent. This drives another wedge between them and the evening is ruined. The next day at Joe's lecture, Jed turns up in the class and sings to Joe. They then go outside and Jed talks about how Joe is sending him signals, using a curtain reference. Joe is confused, tells Jed to leave and then later that night researches the significance between stalkers and "curtain signals". He finally concludes that Jed standing beneath his window every night watches him draw the curtains, thinking that the way they are drawn is a secret message (such as "come and see me", "I love you", or "talk to me") after explaining this to Claire, he looks out of the window and sees Jed sitting in the park across from his house watching him. Joe asks Claire to come to the window and look at Jed but she, frustrated, goes back to sleep. The next morning, Claire comes down the stairs and tells Joe that it's over between them. Joe, angry, pays a visit to Jed and they argue. Joe leaves and goes to a bar where he drinks a lot of alcohol and then goes to Robin and Rachel's house where he stays the night. When he wakes up, his friend tells him that Claire just called and that Claire had told him to come over as Jed was in their house. Joe races to his house and enters the living room to find Jed and Claire sitting next to each other on the sofa. Jed looks as if he has been beaten up and falsely blames Joe. Claire appears to believe Jed's story. Joe loses his temper and then out of the blue, Jed stabs Claire with a kitchen knife and she falls to the floor, bleeding profusely. Joe then pretends to accept Jed into his life and they kiss. As they kiss, Joe grabs hold of the knife from Jed and stabs him. Jed falls to the floor, while Joe rushes to Claire's aid and phones an ambulance. In the closing scenes, Joe is back on the field where it all started, with the wife and daughter of the man who died. They are joined by a couple who explain that the woman's husband had not cheated on her but was giving the couple a lift in his car. The picnic basket and scarf were theirs, and they were too embarrassed to intercede, as they were having an affair. The wife is happy to discover the truth and sad that she had believed her husband was cheating. Joe then tells the man's daughter her father was very brave. After this, Joe is joined by Claire, who survived the stabbing; they are still separated. As they sit on the grass and talk, Joe produces a bottle of champagne and tries to find words to apologize for what happened to them. Claire says, "Don't say anything". It is left to the audience to determine what happens next. During the ending credits, Jed, who also survived, is shown in a mental institution and appears to be obsessively writing a letter. He looks up at the camera and smiles while the end credits roll.

tragedy, violence, haunting, flashback

train

wikipedia

I have not read the book, but for my money the film did this pretty well, producing plenty of good dialogue that meant the film was more about the character of Joe than it was about Jed. This is not say it is totally perfect because it isn't; the fatal attraction thing easily takes the focus meaning that some parts of the audience may feel that this is the whole ball game and that all the 'talking' is what gets in the way. The man is a loner called Jed (Rhys Ifans), a homosexual who believes that the accident was meant to bring him and Joe together and he begins stalking him wherever he goes with ultimately dangerous results.ENDURING LOVE adapted from a novel by Ian McEwan is a long and complex thriller, but one that never fails to grip the audience with NOTTING HILL director Roger Michell skillfully blending the mixture of themes including Joe's obsessive theories about love (which are ultimately turned upside down), the impact of the stalking and how it affects the relationship between Claire and Joe and the latter's guilt about the accident. STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs One day,novelist and science lecturer Joe (Daniel Craig) takes his girlfriend Claire (Samantha Morton) out for a picnic in the beautiful English countryside.He has an ulterior motive-he means to propose to her.But then,suddenly and completely without warning,their lives are changed irrevocably forever when a red hot air balloon falls from the sky and a desperate struggle ensues to save the people on board.A man is killed and Joe is plagued with feelings of guilt and failure for sometime after.After a while,he does his best to put the incident behind him and move on with his life.But there's one person for whom doing that obviously hasn't been so easy for-fellow rescuer Jed (Rhys Ifans) who begins obsessively following Joe everywhere,leading him down a nightmare path of fear and madness.All of the cast do exceptionally well.Craig crafts a perfect portrayal of a retiring English gent desperately ill-at-ease with the troubling situation in front of him.This is the making of a promising new English talent we are seeing here,following on from his success in the lead role in Layer Cake.Ifans,usually a comedic actor (sometimes even in films where the tone is pretty serious),here successfully starts to broaden his range with an impressively unhinged portrayal of a man unable to let go and desperately trying to make sense of the demons burning inside him.Supporting players Morton and Bill Nighy are also very good back up to these two actors who are shining their socks off.The film has an impressive use of the camera,with inventively flashy visuals here-and-there and still shots that skillfully add to the tension of the story.This is complimented with a clever use of soundtrack that further revs up the story some notches.Sometimes the story doesn't come together that well,and the plotting goes a bit wavey.Also,some of the dialogue and delivery can't help but feel a little uninspiring.But for the most part,Brit director Roger Michell has crafted a film that hangs together very well and proves to be very intriguing,as well as further high-lighting some fine British talent that deserves to go much further.***. For example, Joe (the main character) is a university lecturer: I gather from what I've read about the film, that he is a science lecturer, but this is far from apparent from the short lecture sequences we see, in which he is seen talking about love, which he suggests is a matter of biology. Daniel Craig does his best with the part of Joe; Rhys Ifans is reasonably good as Jed (my experience (as a lawyer) of stalkers is that they not generally as obviously barmy as Jed, but that is the fault of the script, not the actor); there's a good performance in a minor role by Bill Nighy. The stalker subplot could have been done with less focus (that extra scene during the rolling credits wasn't necessary and the film may have been stronger without it) as it was working better as a movie about Joe and his fragile relationship with Claire. The story became the study of the insane adoration of one man for another, as well as philosophical questions with regards to the nature of love and how we can understand this huge but largely overlooked phenomenon.The acting by Daniel Craig was again impeccable, he really portrayed his part well of the University lecturer who becomes obsessed with being obsessed by, and is surely headed for the big time if he wants it. Samantha Morton was brilliant as Craig's artist girlfriend, but less convincing was Rhys Ifans who I can never really take seriously which was a problem with the character he played here.The film techniques were impressive, the music was a little dramatic but good, and the editing was very well done. Having watched the film a couple of times, I was left with the urge to go away and discover McEwan's original novel (as was the case when I saw the film adaptation of his other key-work, The Cement Garden), as the film, although highly interesting and emotionally engaging, certainly left me asking a lot of questions.The opening scene really sets the mood and pace (and of course, the plot) for the rest of the film... As the story progresses, the couple try to put the event to the back of their minds and carry on as normal with their comfortable, bourgeois lives of luncheons, dinner-parties & work-related accolades, however, when another one of the witnesses to the event contacts Joe out of the blue, we see the beginnings of a bizarre and dangerous relationship that will push all three protagonists beyond the regular boundaries of reason.Some have likened the film to something like Fatal Attraction, with the idea of obsession and guilt both featuring as central to both... For example, it is important to note that Joe is a professor who studies the nature of love, and the human qualities one would require to endure love, when, in reality, it is the unhinged and unwanted fellow witness Jed that really understands the true sense of blind obsession, so central to such feelings.The style of the film manages to be both low-key and visually distinctive, with Michell employing a style similar to his previous film, The Mother, with hand-held cameras that offer a reality - but also, manage to convey the wavering uncertainty and voyeuristic intrusion so central to the plot - coupled with staccato editing, optical filters, rich composition and an extraordinary use of locations (all captured in glorious 2:35.1 widescreen). The performances are of an extremely high calibre as well, with Daniel Craig bringing a smug-pomposity, but also a vulnerability to his role of the logical professor pushed to an illogical limit, whilst Samantha Morton offers support as the bewildered Claire, who has to question Joe's mental stability as he begins obsessing about the accident and his newly acquired "friend". However, much more impressive, if only for the fact that he delivers a performance completely against every other role I've ever seen him attempt, is Rhys Ifans, who embodies the lonely and perhaps somewhat disturbed Jed with a quiet, contemplative spirit that goes against the kind of melodramatic, raving lunatics found in similar, Hollywood endeavours.The interplay between the three characters is wonderfully handled by Michell, who paces the film deliberately, so that the relationships only becomes truly apparent over a gradual period of time. (Dir: Roger Michell) 'Fatal Attraction' gets a sex change …and then some.Fate and love seemed to be intertwined and can lead to lethal consequences, if not life changing and that simply is what happens when one idyllic day a British couple in love go picnicking in a bucolic field where tragedy inexplicably occurs.The couple, Joe and Claire (Craig and Morton), are basking in their happiness when out of nowhere a red, hot air balloon enters the nearby horizon threatening to crash or worse yet continue its flight with its precious cargo: a young boy apparently unchaperoned with four other men frantically in pursuit of its wake. Reluctantly obliging the stranger who has shared a truly traumatic event sets the course of the film into a helter skelter portrayal of love gone wrong amidst an uncommon bond.Joe, an academic, is suddenly plagued by the odd Jed on a regular basis showing up unannounced with a request to speak to him resulting in Jed's immediate crush on him sending him into a state of anger, confusion and wrestling with the other dilemma he has harbored: wishing he was able to do more to save the man who perished in the accident. What follows is a tale of mixed emotions, homoerotic overtones, the fear of intimacy, the knowledge of failing to stop an unstoppable nightmare and ultimately the amount of psychological damage one can endure in the name of love.Director Michell - who helmed the diverse 'NOTTING HILL' and 'CHANGING LANES' – practically melds the two, an English romance with an action thriller in his adaptation of the novel by Ian McEwan by Joe Penhall – mixes the taut tension expertly, particularly in the calm before the storm and then into the eye of the hurricane in the opening sequence which sets the aftermath in motion. Craig – best known as Paul Newman's f**k-up gangster spawn in 'ROAD TO PERDITION' – echoes Richard Harris with his craggy, middle-class good looks and slight brawn as Joe, allowing the shades of grey to immerse himself as the film progresses largely from his point of view in utter disbelief at that madness unspooling and Morton counter balances with just enough attitude and frankly seems to be playing the male role in the couple (i.e. the strong, fairly silent-to-the-point tolerance of her mate).It is Ifans, best known as Hugh Grant's grotty flat mate from the aforementioned 'HILL', who surprises in making his sad, mild-mannered loner into a uniquely frightening force to be reckoned with not seen since Glenn Close's downward spiral of carnal obsession in 'FATAL ATTRACTION' which feels like a carbon copy of but holds itself on not being only a suspense thriller but a uniformly smart, adult drama. If "Enduring Love" finally proves less than the sum of its parts, well at least there was some math involved.No doubt Ian McEwan's novel provides the film with what depth it has; the ideas aren't original (Daniel Craig's professor is the kind of talking-head that should exasperate anyone) but their intersections are provocative. I almost never recommend movies only for the acting, and "Enduring love" is not going to be an exception to my rule.The main character is a professor called Joe (Daniel Craig). It's directed by Roger Michell and stars Daniel Craig {Joe}, Rhys Ifans {Jed} and Samantha Morton {Claire}. The opening scene, of a balloon accident, and the shocking denouement bookend a film keeps the dramatic stakes high despite occasionally appearing overwrought.What could so easily have been a worthy kitchen-sink drama becomes, with fine performances and clever direction, a taut thriller that had me hunched during its frequent tense moments like a dog in a shoe box.The main consequence of the accident is that Joe (Daniel Craig) is pursued by Jed (Rhys Ifans), who believes that fate has brought them together.The subtle, minimalist-leaning style increases the impact of every plot development and keeps you interested in Craig's protagonist despite his unsympathetic traits (not least his cold-hearted insistence that love exists only as an evolutionary device to facilitate breeding). While The Lawyer finds the lack of detail, background and explanation frustrating, it seemed to me a perfect study of miscommunication between adults, especially the well-educated, and a comment on the pretensions creative types have for apparent perceptiveness in others; Samantha Morton's character is the most prone to misread her partner's behaviour, and an up and coming artist, no less.Surrounding Craig's scientifically-minded character are similarly well-read arty north Londoners all either completely oblivious to Joe's distress or the cause of it, preferring a rather British 'take no notice' view of Jed's stalking, which I found entirely believable. One of his "theories" is about life and the world around us, it has no inherent meaning, but we attach meaning to it as fits our needs.Joe has a girlfriend Claire (Samantha Morton), it seems that she wants to get married and start a family and, we find out much later in the story, with picnic basket and Champagne that fateful afternoon in the field, he had planned to propose to her, but the trauma postponed that.Then comes Jed (Rhys Ifans), one of the men that tried to prevent the balloon tragedy. Joe (Daniel Craig) a university lecturer who teaches the values of love, (which is closely examined in the film) and character Jad (Rhys Ifans) who appears mysteriously where the balloon accident took place, and starts to bother Joe. Both characters are played brilliantly by the actors and send an overwhelming feeling towards the film. The films camera works are also used brilliantly, and the visual style from director Roger Michell, and Joe Penhall screenplay helps adapt Ian Mcewan's novel. Samantha Morton and Rhys Ifans are absolutely divine in their main roles - Daniel Craig is pretty good too - and out of the smaller parts Helen McCrory's brilliantly rounded character gives her the scope to steal a couple of little scenes.The film does become slow in the middle but the characters and the shocking denouement - which comes out of nowhere - are enough to make this a challenging and fulfilling experience.. After a beautiful opening it starts to turn sour but there was I believed a true romantic movie coming.It turned out that I was wrong, I enjoyed the portrayal of a sick stalker which many people liked as it shows the hidden side of many English people, it then seemed to enter the closet homosexuality world - again a very British phenomenon - this also made the movie lose a lot of its romantic appeal for heteros as you can imagine.This is a movie for a more twisted audience and is difficult to score- I give it a 6.5 and my girlfriend gave it a 0 - we tend to do things together so we are giving it a net score of 3Those interested in the degradation of mental well-being in the UK will definitely enjoy this movie as it makes good for analysis as there are complex problems at hand including Death, Homosexuality, homophobia, closet dwelling, religious passion, perverted enlightenment, if your girlfriend has a queasy stomach - don't bring her!. There are many familiar faces in the supporting cast, all underutilised, while Samantha Morton stars as Craig's utterly selfish and unpleasant girlfriend who seems unaware of her partner's predicament until her world comes crashing down.For all its flaws, ENDURING LOVE does have a couple of stand-out moments: the climax of the story is shocking and made even more so by the subtle way it's acted out; a definite highlight. Though it doesn't go as deep as the novel does, it certainly delivers as a smart, different type of thriller.Daniel Craig is one of the highlights of this film, playing the lead character, Joe, with intensity and believability. As well as having to deal with this post-dramatic event, he also had to face the fact that a strange, obsessive guy named Jed (Rhys Ifans), who he had met on that tragic day, kept on following him, and inexplicably developed a strong attraction to him.Not only the movie depicted a story about a psycho gay stalker, "Enduring love" is more interesting than other normal psychological thriller movies. Daniel Craig (as Joe) and Samantha Morton (as Claire) are excellent as is Rhys Ifans in the very difficult part of Jed.It would be easy to overact as the stalking, obsessed God freak but Rhys doesn't. "Enduring Love" is a creepy philosophical exploration of what is love in many of its manifestations along the spectrum from a biological imperative to a madness that lacks all reason and how love relates to individual responsibility to a fellow human being.While there is passing reference to parental love, child's love, Christian love, and probably some others that went by me, it's primarily about male feelings and how they appear on a spectrum from romantic love in an equal relationship, to several versions of much older men in love with various less-equal women, from a non-virtually non-verbal au pair, to a student, to a much younger woman who provides a second chance to a grandfather.The stunning cinematography makes the outlandish realistic and the editing keeps us involved in what is essentially a very cerebral story.I adore the actor Daniel Craig, but he plays one of those academics whose course topic just happens to be issues he's dealing with in his personal life, so I guess he's teaching philosophy but I think the students should demand a refund. Thanks to the fine screenplay by Joe Penhall and the sensitive, minimalist approach to directing of Roger Michell ENDURING LOVE bleeds into our visual fields as a more or less successful transformation.Joe (Daniel Craig), a professor of 'biology/philosophy' mix, and Claire (Samantha Morton), a sculptor, are in a long-standing relationship that seems well grounded. If you know nothing of the plot beforehand (and that's the way I prefer to watch films, if possible), it's extremely difficult to predict where this one will go.The focus of Enduring Love is Joe (Daniel Craig), a young professor who is courting a young sculptor, Claire (Samantha Morton). Joe Penhall's adaptation of the novel works well in the film.Daniel Craig gives a good performance as Joe, the man who awakens a love on another man and can't cope with what is doing to his life. Enduring Love was directed by Robert Michell, Joe Penhall wrote the screenplay,adapting Ian McEwan's novel.Daniel Craig,Rhys Ifans & Samantha Morton star in this rather strange drama. Stylistic gripes aside, Enduring Love is a very good film with excellent performances by Daniel Craig and Rhys Ifans as hunted and hunter, or to be more precise stalked and stalker. I preferred Enduring Love, however, because i think it is more unique and has the right balance to a thriller film, and thought the actors suited the characters well, especially, Daniel Craig.

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Taste the Blood of Dracula

NOTE: Sequel to "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave" (1968).A peddler named Weller (Roy Kinnear) is riding in a coach with two other passengers and attempts to sell some goods, but is unceremoniously thrown from the moving vehicle. Recovering from his tumble down an embankment, he witnesses a vampire succumbing to impalement on a cross (as recapped from the previous film). When the vampire turns to dust, Weller examines the remains and finds the ring, cape and clasp engraved with the name "Dracula."William Hargood [Geoffrey Keen], Sam Paxton [Peter Saccis], and Jonathan Secker [John Carson] are leaving church with their families, and the teenage children talk with each other. Later at home, Hargood berates his daughter for acting like a harlot in talking to a young man, and grumbles to his wife for having the staff prepare a sumptuous meal when she should know that it is the Sunday he and his friends do charity work. Later he meets the other two men and they go to the local soup kitchen. . .and pass through to the back room holding a secret brothel where they engage in sordid behaviors.While there they meet Lord Courtley [Ralph Bates], said to be possessed of the devil. Courtley offers them an experience to end all experiences--a chance to take place in a ritual to sell their souls to the devil. He doesn't tell them that he plots to also bring back Count Dracula from the dead. He takes them to Weller's store, where the greedy merchant sells them the hoard he collected from the remains of Dracula, including a vial of the powdered blood from the ashes. They agree to try out the new thrill with the needed accessories, and they meet him at an old church, but they cop out when Courtley orders them to drink the blood of Dracula, which he has reanimated by mixing in his own. Courtley drinks and suffers sudden seizures. When he begs for help from the others, they kick and beat him, and he dies. The three men leave, scared, while in the church dust covers Courtley. When the caked dust cracks, he has become Dracula [Christopher Lee].The vampire wants revenge for the death of his servant, and he intends to get it through the children of the three men, starting with Hargood. His daughter Alice [Linda Hayden] is seeing Paul Paxton [Anthony Corlan], but Hargood wants to end this relationship. One night, after being forbidden by her father to go out with Paul, Alice sneaks out to attend a party with him. She confesses readily when she is caught later, but Hargood has been blotting out the horror of watching Courtley die by drinking heavily and he raises a cane to beat her for disobedience. Alice escapes to the garden and meets Dracula, who influences her with hypnosis into bludgeoning her father. "The first," Dracula intones.Alice then lures Lucy Paxton [Isla Blair] to Dracula, who promptly drinks her blood and sets her to work for him against her father. Worried about the death of Hargood and the disappearances of both Alice and Lucy, Paxton and Secker go to the old church to see if Courtley's body is still there. It isn't, but they find Lucy lying in a coffin. Secker attempts to stake her, but Paxton is in denial that she is a minion of the undead and shoots him. Secker stumbles home, but Paxton passes out and regains consciousness as the sun goes down. Lucy pins Paxton in a pew and stakes him with Alice standing by and as Dracula watches. "The second," Dracula says. Lucy comes to Jeremy Secker [Martin Jarvis] and drinks his blood. Later he finds Secker in his office, passed out from his gunshot wound. When Secker comes to, he asks Jeremy to take a letter to Paul, but he realizes, too late, that Jeremy has turned into a vampire, and Jeremy stabs his father. "The third," says Dracula.Lucy is awed by her master's authoritarian air and power, and tries to distract him from leaving her, but he is through with her and drains her, leaving her dead in the waterway. He intends to do the same to Alice, but the rising sun forces him to retreat to his coffin.Secker had written a note to Paul before he died, telling him what he must do to save Alice. Armed with candles and crucifixes, Paul heads to the abandoned church and finds Lucy's body on the way. After pulling her onto the bank, he continues to the de-sanctified church and sets up an altar. When confronted by Alice and Dracula, Paul tells Alice to choose between good and evil. Alice chooses evil and wrests the crucifix from Paul's hand. Dracula attacks him, knocking him senseless. When Alice begs to go with the lord of the undead, he spurns her, saying he has no more need of her. Dracula attempts to escape, but the crucifix Paul placed on the door keeps him from leaving. Dracula breaks a stained-glass window, and the room is suddenly filled with church music, prayers and candles. As the reunited lovers watch, Dracula tumbles to the altar and turns to dust.

gothic, murder, cult, violence, good versus evil, revenge

train

imdb

The compellingly clever plot is well thought out to begin with (great intro) and there are some unpredictable moments, but then it does seem to follow the usual pattern of the earlier Hammer Dracula's and ends rather unconvincingly after it looked like there was going to be an exciting finale. Most of the performances were good (some deadpan) from the likes of Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis and John Carson as the three gentlemen and Ralph Bates as Lord Courtley is incredibly over-the-top, but seemed well suited for it. However, their limited imaginations mean that they soon become bored, and so they decide to take their lead from disgraced aristocrat and practising Satanist Lord Courtley (a marvellously slimy Ralph Bates), who suggests that they attempt a ritual to bring the infamous Count Dracula back to life.When the three men panic during the ceremony, and beat Courtley to death, they flee the scene, not realising that Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) has indeed returned from the dead, and now seeks retribution for the killing of his loyal acolyte.Although Hammer's Dracula movies rarely strayed far from their well-worn formula—Dracula lives; Dracula kills; Dracula dies—their lush Gothic atmosphere, fine ensemble casts, and sumptuous cinematography usually meant that, even when the script was somewhat lacking, there was still plenty to enjoy. Such is the case with Taste The Blood Of Dracula, which features a so-so story and a surprisingly unremarkable turn from Lee (who is forced to deliver some particularly dodgy dialogue), but manages to keep fans entertained with some gloriously camp performances from the rest of the cast, some fine direction from Peter Sasdy, and loads of Hammer's trademark Gothic trappings.Plus, this entry in the series also stars the gorgeous Linda Hayden—one of my favourite actresses from the late 60s/70s—whose presence makes it a must-see as far as I am concerned. What will happen to Alice?"Taste the Blood of Dracula" is another great vampire movie from Hammer. You get what you generally can expect from Hammer: good character acting, lush cinematography, dutiful direction(ably done by Peter Sasdy), Christopher Lee(alas no Peter Cushing), beautiful young girls showing lots of cleavage, wonderful period costumes, and the film's shining grace is the score by James Hermann which is simply poetry put to music. I say fortunately, as I think that `Taste The Blood Of Dracula' is Lee's second-best outing in the role (just behind the classic 1958 `Dracula').Peter Sasdy is a highly imaginative, but sadly unappreciated director and he makes the most of a strong script. It has to be said that this entry in the series suffers from that affliction, but in fairness to it; Taste the Blood of Dracula definitely sports one of the better plots in the series, and is probably the second best film - after the original of course. You know you're watching a Hammer film when you see three straight-faced (even slightly worried!) men in an antiques shop negotiating the price of a vile of Count Dracula's blood! They reunite Lee as Dracula with Cushing as nemesis Van Helsing for the first time in the series since its début and thus give the feel of the cycle having come full circle.Based on the aforementioned, this would make my personal favourite, "Taste the Blood of Dracula", the fourth of the seven and thus the middle film of the cycle. Although Dracula isn't mentioned in the title, in "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires", released by Hammer after their last "official" Dracula movie "The Satanic Rites of Dracula", the character is included although this time not played by Christopher Lee. Therefore, it could be argued there are eight films in the cycle, nine if one still wishes to include "Brides of Dracula", and therein lies the problem. Always been a big fan of Hammer Horror and this is one of the best of the Dracula series.A travelling salesman(Roy Kinnear) comes across the Count(Christopher Lee as always) impaled on a giant gold crucifix(as the previous film ended) - he collects the cloak,ring and the dried blood and returns to England. There we meet three late Victorian gentlemen - Hargood(Geoffrey Keen),Carson(Jonathen Secker) and Paxton(Peter Sallis) - by day they are respectable Church-goers but at night go to the East End for "Charity" work - of course this means they go whoring in brothels but have found their experiences becoming jaded - they seek new excitements. What they haven'r realised is that Dracula has returned and blames them for Courtley's death - he seeks them out to destroy them...Direrected by Hammer regular Peter Sadsy the film mines a deep vein of Victorian hypocrisy - Hargood rules his family with an iron fist preaching Christian values and one the films most effective threads is how Dracula uses the the children of the 3 to achieve his ends - corrupting them so the Fathers can see the direct consequence of their actions. Lee is excellent as always(but not given enough screen time) and there is fine support from Linda Haydon(who was in the notorious Baby Love and so effective in Blood on Satan's Claw) as Hargood's daughter Alice who Dracula uses to trap and then destroy the 3 Fathers.There is almost a Greek tragic element to it as the thing they hold most dear is the thing that kills them - it can also be read as the bourgious dabbling in forces beyond their control and unleashing a power that will destroy them. Hammer did nine Dracula or vampire films from 1958 to 1974:Horror of Dracula (1958); The Brides of Dracula (1960); Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966); Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968); Taste the Blood of Dracula (1969); Scars of Dracula (1970); Dracula AD 1972 (1972); The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973); and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974).Of these nine entries "Taste the Blood of Dracula" is, believe it or not, one of the best, if not the best.One of the most intriguing aspects of the story is "the circle" of three Affluent British thrill-seekers. This, of course, leads to the resurrection of the ol' Count."Taste the Blood of Dracula" is completely lush in Gothic atmosphere, plus the set-up of the story is engrossing and refreshingly innovative.The only problem I had is that it's kinda hard to buy Dracula's vengeful attitude toward the murder of his supposed servant (Courtley). There is absolutely no sub-par acting, and great performances are given by familiar faces like Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis, and Hammer regular Michael Ripper who will have appeared in 4 Dracula films by the series' end. Being a horror fan, I have enjoyed all of the Hammer series, Chris Lee rules as the 'vampire count' Favorite one, the First one "Horror of Dracula" 1958 all of the Hammer films are beautifully produced and have atmosphere, and I like most of their 'stock' players, Micheal Ripper, George Woodbridge, Clifford Evans, Yvonne Romaine, and of course Peter Cushing, who is always a delight to watch,the studio, now, of course, defunct introduced American movie goers to the new genre of 'blood, guts and sex back in l958 with "The Curse of Frankenstein" shocking for its time, but a great flick, nonetheless. Christopher Lee's first appearance as the Count, Horror of Dracula, set the stage for his 'international career' He and Peter Cushing made some 27 films together, some for Hammer and later for Amicus Studios, a very talented and well matched acting team, regards,JMagiclady. Dracula also possesses a couple of young women, turning them into vampires.Although not as good as the other Dracula movies, this one isn't too bad and is quite atmospheric throughout.Joining Lee in the cast are several familiar faces: Geoffrey Keen who played Sir Frederick Gray in some of the Bond movies, Peter Sallis (Last Of the Summer Wine, Wallace and Gromit), funny-man Roy Kinnear, Ralph Bates (The Horror of Frankenstein), Michael Ripper (The Curse of the Werewolf, X the Unknown), Martin Jarvis, Isla Blair and Linda Hayden.Taste the Blood of Dracula is worth checking out, especially if you are a Hammer fan. Chris Lee's screen time is again brief, and he's not given much to do except be the orchestrator for revenge as he makes the children of the businessmen kill their parents for him.The film, as stated earlier, is beautiful to behold and still fun to watch despite the Dracula flaws described above. Taste The Eeriness Of Christopher Lee. Although certainly not the best sequel to the Hammer Studios' ingenious Dracula series starring Christopher Lee, Peter Sadsdy's "Taste The Blood Of Dracula" of 1970 is still a good entry to this wonderful cycle. The original Hammer Dracula of 1958 (aka "Horror Of Dracula") is, of course, unmatched, and some of the sequels, such as "Prince of Darkness" (1966) and "Scars Of Dracula" (1970) are, in my opinion, also a lot better than this movie, but "Taste The Blood Of Dracula" certainly has its very own allure and some great,creepy elements that Hammer fans should love to see, such as devil worshiping, black masses and possession.A man kicked out of a stagecoach wakes up in the middle of the forest, hearing some terrible, eerie screams, he starts running in fear, just to witness Count Dracula die another death, this time impaled on a cross. Normally, it would be far-fetched for Dracula to even bother with Bates, but one has to understand that the vampire was supposedly inhabiting his body – that is to say, here we have virtually the same situation as in FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN (1967).Bates is a compelling presence (incidentally, his role was intended to be bigger but Hammer thought best to stick with Dracula…and Lee, begrudgingly, accepted!) though he eventually overstays his welcome – particularly with his weird inflection of the satanic verses spoken during the hysterical titular ceremony, where his scheme to impress a trio of hypocritical ageing thrill-seekers rebounds on himself. Incidentally, while the kids seem to be inseparable, their parents act like strangers to one another so as to cover their clandestine immoral association; John Elder has inserted a pointed critique of Victorian society into his script, but it comes off as half-hearted amid the traditionally naive Hammer formula.The version I watched was the recently restored one released to DVD by Warners, which includes previously snipped footage of gore but also has an extended incongruous brothel scene – complete with effeminate host, a bit of nudity and a completely gratuitous snake dance straight out of a Ken Russell film!! The film is, however, blessed with an above-average cast which also includes Geoffrey Keen (as Hayden's father and the stuffiest of the elderly English 'gents'), Hammer regular John Carson (as one of his two companions, who loses a daughter to Dracula), Roy Kinnear (as the businessman who finds a way of profiteering even from the remnants of the vampire Count); Michael Ripper has a more interesting role than usual as the police inspector, but he's still underused. It's still fun in the typical Hammer way ,but definately feels somewhat tired, while it's patently obvious that Hammer were running out of things for it's most popular monster to do.The film is very promising for the first third, with interesting elements such as the strict family men who secretly indulge in brothels and the like, and director Peter Sasdy gives us one stunning scene inwhich the three hypocrits partake in a ceremony involving the drinking of Dracula's blood, it all going horribly wrong. Dracula'a death is unmemorable, and it all seems like a mechanical going through of the motions.Of course the film still manages to have that lush look that Hammer almost never failed to achieve while being on tiny budgets, and James Bernard contributes another fine score. Not all of the story works, but there are some cool death scenes, some chilling violence, gore that doesn't get too gratuitous and once the film does pick up there is a good deal of suspense and a real sense of horror and dread, something that Hammer excels in better than most horror films(before, during and now).Taste the Blood of Dracula boasts some fine direction from Peter Sasdy, and as long as one doesn't expect any development the characters at least serve a point to the story and engage. Christopher Lee does not have very much screen time and has to work with lines that are too few and pretty bad, meaning that he doesn't have a lot to do, but the suave and incredibly intimidating presence that he brings to Dracula really captivates so he is still memorable.All in all, an enjoyable entry in the Hammer Dracula series, without being one of the series' best or worst. Peter Sasdy took a turn directing this fifth "Dracula" film in the Hammer series that sees Christopher Lee once again playing Count Dracula, who is revived by an evil disciple(played by Ralph Bates) who had lured three bored(and hypocritical) "proper" English Gentlemen, who bring disaster on themselves and their families as Dracula targets them for destruction by killing his servant, though a climatic confrontation in a church may bring him his final destruction... When the satanic ceremony they perform at Dracula's castle goes horribly wrong, letting loose Dracula (Christopher Lee) and his world renowned blood lust.I applaud Hammer for making the series more adult (more skin and blood) but at this point the stories were getting tired and in dire need of a blood transfusion. In TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, a trio of bored, society types (Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis, and John Carson), who lead secret, lascivious lives, are intrigued by a man (Ralph Bates) who promises them an experience they will never forget. Out of Hammer Film it stars Christopher Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis, Linda Hayden, Gwen Watford and Ralph Bates. The Fourth Entry in the Hammer Dracula Series has the Requisite "Touches", Featuring Dense Color, Beautiful Costumes, Atmospheric Sets, Plenty of Beautiful Young Women in Low-Cut Gowns, Striking Musical Score, and of course Blood Red Blood.Christopher Lee Returns as the Count, but only because Hammer Bowed to American Pressure and Paid the Actor His Fee.Originally the Film was Sculpted to Feature Peter Yates as a Satanic Disciple, Tasting the Blood of Dracula (actually drinking a goblet full), and becoming a Vampire from the Lineage. Linda Hayden shows good Range as the Daughter of an Abusing Father and the rest of the Cast all Contribute.The Weak and Disjointed Ending joins the Forced Narrative that proceeded in keeping the Movie from being Better, but Overall, the many Excellent Set Pieces make this a more Mature Hammer Entry, or perhaps more Accurately stated, an Evolutionary Piece in the Saga.Unfortunately most Aficionados Agree that this was really the Last Upward Mobile Movie in the Series.. Some Nice Characters...Except for One. Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Direct sequel to Dracula HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE finds three elderly, rich Englishmen (Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis, John Carson) hiring a Satan worshiper (Ralph Bates) to treat them to some dangerous "fun" and he asks them to buy the cape and blood of Dracula (Christopher Lee). Then Dracula being the total baddie that he is doesn't want to get his hands dirty, he gets the men's kids to do his revenge for him, I couldn't think of a more evil way to handle things and that makes not only for a darker sequel but one of the stronger in my opinion.Three English gentlemen - Hargood, Paxton and Secker - have formed a circle ostensibly devoted to charitable work but in reality they indulge themselves in brothels. While the three return to their respective homes and get on with their lives, Courtley's body, left in the abandoned church, transforms into Dracula, who vows that those who have destroyed his servant will be destroyed.There are flaws with the film, like why the daughter Alice is never made into a vampire. Not the most dignified way for the greatest vampire in the world to go.The film was directed by Peter Sasdy, a minor Hammer director who also handled "Countess Dracula" and "Hands of the Ripper." (In addition to Brit-horror cult classic "The Stone Tape," which I keep meaning to check out.) Sasdy is not as good at building tension as Terence Fisher nor as flashy as Freddie Francis. A lot of the on-screen action is beautifully shot,and set in really cool pieces of Goth-antics.The story centers around 3 aging men, hypocrites for sure, that while denying the pleasure of the flesh for others still seeks it for themselves.Bored with what they are getting they agree on a ceremonial which they the next day probably wished they would have turned down...Without knowing it they resurrect Dracula (Christopher Lee of course) from the dead, and he starts pulling the strings to off them one by one, using their own children.What I would like to stress is the feminist angle of this Hammer-feature, viewed today. In the opening scene of "Taste the Blood of Dracula," we see several high-society families leaving church after a Sunday service; when pretty young Alice (Linda Hayden) is seen speaking with boyfriend Paul (Anthony Corlan), her father (Geoffrey Keen) calls her a 'harlot' and demands she go to her room once they arrive home. When Courtley (who's actually Dracula's servant) dies in the ritual, the count avenges him by seducing and abusing the townsmen daughters… * * * end spoilers * * * Settings and scenery are terrific, as usual in Hammer films, and I thought the story was well presented and a neat new addition to the cycle. Plus, Christopher Lee's Count is a supporting monster in every one of Hammer's Dracula movies. Lee himself is not in the film all that much, an apparent concession to his unwillingness to reprise the role once more, but absolutely demanded by Hammer fans.Anyway, the whole business with the dried blood of Dracula used to reanimate the Count was a novel enough idea; there's only so many ways one can go back to the well and keep things interesting.

tt0387131

The Constant Gardener

Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), a shy, low-level British diplomat and horticultural hobbyist posted in Kenya, is one to avoid making a fuss until he learns that his wife Tessa (Rachel Weisz) was found dead in the veld. Tessa has been murdered at a crossroads along with her Kenyan driver. Her doctor colleague Arnold Bluhm (Hubert Koundé) is initially suspected of her murder but is later found to have himself been murdered on the same day as Tessa. Various rumours abound that the two were having an affair; however, it is later revealed that Bluhm was gay. In flashbacks, we see how in London, Justin met his future wife Tessa, an outspoken humanitarian and Amnesty activist. He falls in love with her and she persuades him to take her back with him to Kenya. Despite their loving marriage, Tessa keeps from Justin the reason why she approached him in the first place - to investigate a suspicious drug trial in Kenya and expose it. When Tessa starts getting too close to uncovering the malpractices of an influential and powerful pharmaceutical company, she and her colleague are brutally murdered. As the mystery surrounding his wife's death unfolds, Justin becomes determined to get to the bottom of her murder. He soon runs up against a drug corporation that is using Kenya's population for fraudulent testing of a tuberculosis drug ("dypraxa"). The drug has known harmful side effects, but the corporation completely disregards the well-being of its underprivileged African test subjects. Sir Bernard Pellegrin (Bill Nighy) is the head of the Africa Desk at the Foreign Office and he is the boss both of Justin and of the British High Commissioner, Sandy Woodrow (Danny Huston). In his investigations, Justin discovers that Tessa hid from him a report about the deaths caused by dypraxa, and he obtains an incriminating letter that Tessa took from Sandy. Justin confronts Sandy, who tells him that what Tessa wanted was to stop the dypraxa tests and redesign the drug. However, this would have cost millions of dollars and significantly delayed the drug, during which time other competing drugs would have surfaced. Pellegrin considered Tessa's report too damaging, and proclamied she had to be stopped. The company threatens Justin: he must stop his investigations or join his wife. In one instance, agents are sent to beat him up. Still determined, Justin takes a UN aid plane to the village where the doctor lives who provided Tessa with the clinical data behind her report. The doctor gives Justin a copy of the report, but the village is raided by armed tribesmen on horseback, and they are forced to flee from the carnage to the plane. Justin has the plane drop him off at the place where Tessa died. There he thinks about Tessa; he tells her memory that he knows all her secrets, that he understands her now, and that he is coming home. Shortly afterwards, he is killed in an organized hit. At the funeral of Tessa and Justin, Arthur Hammond (Tessa's close cousin and Justin's friend) reads the incriminating letter written by Bernard Pellegrin to Sandy Woodrow. In the letter, Pellegrin ordered the surveillance of Tessa, expressly to block her reports detailing the deaths caused by dypraxa. The company could not be held responsible for the dypraxa deaths if they never officially received the reports. The scandal having been revealed, Pellegrin leaves the ceremony followed by journalists.

suspenseful, mystery, murder, realism, dramatic, violence, atmospheric, flashback, romantic

train

wikipedia

The jittery, hand-held camera sequences added to the dramatic tension and underscored the urgency of coming to terms with poverty and disease.The romantic portion of the film was anchored by the two characters played by Ralph Fiennes (Justin) and Rachel Weisz (Tessa). Ralph Fiennes stars as a British diplomat whose complacency is challenged when he is forced into a soul searching quest for the reasons behind the tragic death of his activist wife (Rachel Weisz) that uncovers a sinister pharmaceutical company in cahoots with British and Kenyan governments testing a new TB drug on expendable HIV+ Africans.Fiennes gives his most humanistic and endearing performance ever, perhaps even topping his Oscar nominated turns in "Schindler's List" and "The English Patient." Rachel Weisz is an illuminating revelation, turning in the performance of her career. Director Fernando Meirelles takes the amazing style he honed with "City of God" and adds a heart with "The Constant Gardener," a big heart that bleeds a beautiful cinematic poeticism onto the screen.This film truly rewards its audience as it works on so many levels. We the audience join Fiennes on his journey, and we rediscover the love story between he and his wife that anchors the film in a poetic realism usually reserved for movies with much less on their minds.To top it off, it's all delivered in the maddeningly genius Meirelles style that took critics and audiences by storm in his debut "City of God". Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes both deserve Oscar nominations for their superb performances and Fernando Meirelles deserves one as well for his superb direction that puts you smack in the middle of the story that is unfolding right in front of you.Hands down, the best film of the year so far.. Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes give career best performances in this film and that's a huge compliment considering the fact that they are good in almost everything they do, even in bad movies. The director compliments both of them with a view of Africa that is rarely seen in film and a sense of reality that is only found in real life.Rachel Weisz, Ralph Fiennes and Fernando Meirelles all should be honored at award season for their amazing efforts in this film because as of right now, this is with out a doubt the film to beat come Oscar time.. Ralph Fiennes gives the performance of his career as a grieving man looking for answers and is slowing discovering the corruption all around him and Rachel Weisz steals the film whole heartily with a really deserving Oscar worthy performance as a human rights activist who will stop at nothing to get at the truth. Since the film starts off very early with the death of Tessa and then continues with Justin's journey of discovery to find out the cause of her death which only seems to bring even more heartache and anger.....the non-linear style allowed for some light hearted moments from Justin and Tessa's marriage to break up the tension.The performances by both Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes are excellent. Slow tension building thriller that is charge even more with the great performances of Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes, who both bring an essence of realism to their roles and a sense of chemistry that is really not found in movies like this anymore. Fienne's role as that of a somewhat distant man is the perfect complement to this.Visually, this is one of the finest films I've seen in years; the editing is brilliant and the cinematography is beautiful; the DP gives us subtle stylistic cues and approaches which highlight the many different worlds we encounter, from the abject poverty of Africa to the interior of a private London club. Fiennes is a love interest to the luscious Weisz, someone who offers an opportunity to cut the red tape and speed the truth about the mischief to which the drug company(s) are up to in Africa.It's a brilliant movie showcasing how third world countries are (or can be) exploited. A love story told from a unique perspective, the plot extends through corruption, murder and how international corporations influence government and value peoples' lives by the currency of their relative media value.I loved the film and the story despite the deep shame it made me feel about my ignorance of what the government that claims to represent me might be doing around the world and the genuine plight of the African peoples and how, probably, some of my good fortune in life is at their expense.This is a thought provoking film - there was almost absolute silence in the theatre when the film finished - I hope lots of people go to see the film and then stop to ask themselves how much of the story is true, how much is credible and what they want to do about it.Credit goes to Le Carre, he has a position where he can raise the profile of hugely important issues in the public eye, ask difficult questions and if this is the standard he sets, long may he continue.. "City of God" director, Fernando Meirelles, does NOT disappoint with his film translation of the John Le Carré novel "The Constant Gardener." His treatment of the violence is on par with "COG." Subtly shown, emotionally felt, yet not glorified. Her husband, Justin, starts investigating what his wife was working on, and soon finds his life is in danger.So, the movie is basically a well acted murder mystery with a believable plot and resolution.FINAL VERDICT: Well written. Directed with panache, intrigue and passion in both scope and focus by Brazilian Fernando Meirelles (City of God), has created a tale of international dimensions.Based on the work of John le Carré, Gardener shows us the sinister side of pharmaceutical multinationals, where human life in Third World countries serves to supply perverse drug trials, in pursuit of even bigger record profits. Also, Quayle, now quite repentant for having doubted his wife to the extent he did, now comes to realize that the most suitable place for him would have been beside the woman who loved him so much.Thusly, Gardener combines several diverse elements like suspense, political intrigue, romance, action, research and international outreach with masterful skill and powerful intensity....9*……ENJOY / DISFRUTELA! Every 5th movie made in the last five years or so has been produced in this junk style of quasi-artistic film-making characterized by erratic photography and Cunard editing masquerading as tension and suspense in a screenplay that runs the risk of being discovered as devoid of plot if presented in sequence or photographed in an intelligible manner.Why!? The film concerns about an obstinate and mild-mannered widow named Justin Quayle(Ralph Fiennes),the constant gardener,,he must discover the wife 's death named Tess(Rachel Weisz).She appeared in the lagoon Turkana(location of human being's origin) at a remote zone of Northern Kenya.Tessa'companion,an African medic named Blum,he has fled and is the prime suspect.Quayle helped by his friend Sandy Woodrow(Danny Huston), embarks in a dangerous journey which will take various countries risking his own life and confronting against nasties and powerful pharmacy company ruled by magnate named Pellegrin( Bill Nighy)in charge of delivering vaccine AID,HIV positive into African continent .Meanwhile he memorizes records with Tessa,their lovely relationship by means of continuous flashbacks.He investigates a powerful corporation called CEO, a conspiracy by strange British High Commission and the wrongfully practices and corrupts business of the billionaire pharmaceutical enterprises in third world.The picture based on John Le Carre novel displays emotion,thriller,suspense and thought-provoking drama. Although sometimes is slow moving,however is developed with sensibility and intelligence but are narrated ethics,moral issues with great sense of ductility ,besides a sour politic critical about the unjust practices of pharmaceutical industry .The tale is supposedly to take place in Kenya ,instead of in South Africa where most part of the production is placed.Exceptional performances for all casting with special mention for two main actors: Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz.She's actually pregnant in a nudism scenes.She won Oscar Academy Award for best acting by an actress in a supporting role.Fernando Mereilles won Alma Award by outstanding director of a motion picture.Evocative,sensible music for nominated Alberto Iglesias(Pedro Almodovar's usual musician) and appropriately cinematography by Cesar Charlone(Merielles' habitual cameraman).Direction by Fernando Mereilles(Oscar winner by City of God,an unflinching portrayal at the underbelly of Rio Janeiro)) is awesome and stylish .The flick will like to denounce-drama enthusiastic and Fiennes and Weisz fans.Rating: Above average.. When I saw that before seeing the movie, I thought "that's kind of cheesy, isn't it...?" Also the preview of the movie led me to think it was more or less of a love story between Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz... It was about love between people… Caring about others… And managed to keep it all going under any circumstance and threat… I have to admit that I do not know so much about Africa… All I know is mostly through a few news articles or TV clips or even movies… And most of them are very gloomy… Like children suffering from AIDS left to die and sometimes even blamed to be responsible of infecting others… Or housewives (or any female in that matter) being constant subjects of domestic violence… Young children forced to go to fight in civil war and losing their limbs… Most of time, I'd read it and get enraged for a few minutes then went on with my daily life… Because it's happening from far away… I wasn't really involved… Like those who pulled out from Rwanda… Leaving so many of them dead… Because there wasn't enough for the other countries to benefit from by helping them out… So… This movie was about those who cared about people in Africa (kenya to be exact) and tried to do their best to help who's in need… Their love, compassion for people they were not directly involved yet they went out of their way… And even risked their lives… Yes, it's fictional but you can only imagine what's happening in the movie is based on reality… Even at the very end of the credit, they dedicated to the movie to the people died for giving a damn… Also the way the movie shows Africa is heartbreaking… It shows people who are in desperate situation yet strong to survive… And positive… Really hope one day we all realize that we cannot go on ignoring them… Especially the children… … In terms of movie making… it's just beautiful… Ralph Fiennes is absolutely one of the best actors of our time… Then Rachel Weisz is a dynamite here… You can see how their characters changes throughout the movie… Ralph Fiennes plays Justin, a diplomat who is very tender, loving, honest and loves gardening… And he meets Tessa (Rachel Weisz) who is strong willed and humanitarian… Then they fall in love… Their love scene was one of the most beautiful love scene I've seen in years… (wait, I just saw another great one in "Grand Hotel (1932)"…) And the way Fernando Meirelles filmed it with so much light was just gorgeous… Then they move to Kenya together and Tessa gets heavily involved with social workers there… Yet she decided not to involve Justin that makes Justin feel uncomfortable and losing his trust in her… Yet he still loves her by all the ways he knows… Like how he cares about his plants… With all the tenderness and care… Then Tessa gets murdered mysteriously while she was on a trip with one of her closest friend who happens to be male… With so many secrets left, Justin wants to find out what Tessa was doing… Which leads him to get to know her better and truly touched by her… And understand her and what her world was made of… … It sounds cheesy but I think this movie showed true love… Love. When Tessa is brutally raped and murdered, Justin decides to investigate her death, disclosing a powerful secret involving corruption with the members of the British High Commission and corporations of pharmaceutical business."The Constant Gardener" is a complex, intelligent and strong political thriller. Ralph Fiennes fits perfectly in the role of the calm Justin Quayle; the evolution of the versatile Rachel Weisz in her career is amazing and she has a stunning performance in the role of a passionate activist; and the Brazilian Fernando Meirelles, in his first work after "Cidade de Deus", uses the same style, with a work of camera that looks like a documentary. The same nausea ran over me throughout the second hour, although a lot of those ill feelings were based simply on the unbelievable characters - like the "all-powerful government agent" stereotype, the "hapless and blind paramour stereotype," and the "goons who beat up the antagonist as a warning" stereotype.In light of his filmography, Mr. Fiennes deserves a pass for choosing so droll a script, and Rachel Weisz probably has a lot left in her career, but this was not the vehicle to get her over the top.1 star for the Emily Rose trailer that played before this disaster rolled.. My wife left the theater to puke but liked the plot enough to come back in.The relationship between Fiennes and Weisz kept the movie held together. I liked the movie too specially because it involves the story about the a person who wants to fight for justice but not for herself but for them who are in trouble and are suffering .This is the best political movie I have ever watched .And the fact that it is a political love story is even more wonderful .I specially love the role Rachel plays specially in the scene where she meet her husband for the first time and the part where Tessa's husband tries to complete the thing that his beloved wife had started and died for. I don't think so .Other things very good about the movie is that it speaks the truth it tries to uncover the stories that are knowingly being hidden from the public's view .Truly a part of me did get moved after watching this movie ,are this things really happening in places like Africa .As I myself am from an underdeveloped country this movie forced me to think that what will happen to my country if we aren't going to something right away .And lastly the best for this movie to be so good is because of the brilliant performance by the lead actor and actress. Galloping copied from "Magnificent 7" instead of even the original.From there, the movie enters a mode that is half Hollywood drek (the missing letter read at the funeral) and half manufactured intelligent doom, love manifested in death.I wish I could be as excited about this as I was with "City" and as I leaned into the first part of this.We needed more of Weisz (what a surprise!) of Meirelles and texture, and less of Le Carre and Fiennes.The two parts don't mix.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.. Mr. Mereilles has directed a film that, while has its heart in the right place, as others have commented in this forum, can be seen as preachy, at best.The other aspect of the film makes a thriller out of it when Justin Quayle, the meek British working for the government and based in Africa sees his young wife and her assistant brutally killed and that is when he takes the matter into his hands.The film will satisfy most viewers because the action never stops and Mr. Mireilles has done wonders to get us involved in all he is showing on the screen.Ralph Fiennes makes Justin Quayle come alive. The rest of the cast does good work under the director's guidance."The Constant Gardener" is a film that makes one think about what happens to the poor people suffering from disease and are in effect guinea pigs in the process.. "The Constant Gardener" is a well-crafted story with many fine performances, starting with Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz, and including the many character actors who make this film feel viscerally real and true. The Constant Gardner is an extremely surprising film in which Ralph Fiennes takes the life of Justin Quayle and blends it into the globe-trotting secrets of his spouse, played by Rachel Weisz. We need more intelligent films talking about the reality of the world we live in and stories about what is happening in Africa right now and the possibility that pharmaceutical companies are doing things like this.. But thankfully, the substance at times tries its best to catch up with its director.Ralph Fiennes and particularly Rachel Weisz are very good in the film as Justin and Tessa, a diplomat and his wife, who in Africa witness some minor atrocities going on with the health-care system (more accurately, the lack thereof). I would say it was good movie but not a great one.It seemed to me that the film was trying to do and be too many things, so the emotional impact it had on me was far less than what I think it should have been, given the basic story and quality of the performances. I never read the book, so I can't compare the film to it.I think my major problems were these: 1.The way the story is told never enabled me to really feel the level of love that was supposed to exist between ""Justin" (Ralph Fiennes) and "Tessa" (Rachel Weisz), and it was this love that was supposed to enable "Justin" to change and choose the course of action that is the center of the story- the protagonist's "quest".2.While the scenes of the conditions the Kenyans and Sudanese (I believe that a later scene was shot in Sudan) live under made me feel sympathy (and to some degree, guilt), there wasn't one main character who was a native of this environment- they were nameless faces who were supposed to symbolize the results of the exploitation and corruption that victimize Africa and her people. Almost anything.Both Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz are good in this movie.

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Killer Elite

In 1980, mercenaries Danny Bryce (Jason Statham), Hunter (Robert De Niro), Davies (Dominic Purcell), and Meier (Aden Young) are in Mexico to assassinate a man. Danny unwittingly kills him in front of his young child, then is injured during the getaway. Affected by this outcome, Danny retires and returns to his native Australia. The following year, Danny is summoned to Oman where Hunter is being held captive. He meets with an agent (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) who arranges missions for assassins and learns that Hunter accepted a $6 million job but failed to accomplish it. If Danny doesn't complete Hunter's mission, Hunter will be executed. Danny is introduced to Sheikh Amr, a deposed king of a small region of Oman who wants Danny to kill three former SAS troopers—Steven Harris (Lachy Hulme), Steven Cregg (Grant Bowler), and Simon McCann (Daniel Roberts)—for killing his three eldest sons during the Dhofar Rebellion. Danny must videotape their confessions and make their deaths look like accidents, and he must do it before the terminally ill Sheikh dies. This will allow the Sheikh's fourth son, Bakhait (Firass Dirani), to regain control of the desert region his father had ruled. If Danny fails, Hunter will be killed. Danny reunites with Davies and Meier. They agree to help him in exchange for a share of the money. As Danny and Meier sneak into the house of their first target, Steven Harris, in Oman, Davies, in England, questions local bar patrons about former SAS members. This is reported to the Feathermen, a secret society of former operatives protecting their own. Their head enforcer, Spike Logan (Clive Owen), is sent to investigate. After Harris has confessed on videotape, Danny and Meier take him to the bathroom. They plan to kill him by hitting him over the head with a hammer made from a bathroom tile, then leave the body to look like Harris slipped and hit his head. In the process, Harris' girlfriend arrives, knocking on the door. While Harris and Meier are distracted waiting for her to leave, Harris attempts to break free, causing Meier to kill him hastily in a struggle. Back in London, Davies discovers the second target, Steven Cregg, preparing for a long nighttime march in wintry weather at the Brecon Beacons mountain range. Davies creates a diversion; posing as a civilian having car problems outside the base's fence, allowing Danny to infiltrate the base. Inside, he drugs Cregg's coffee, causing him to go into shock and die of hypothermia during the march. Danny, in uniform, follows Cregg on the march, and makes him confess on videotape before he dies. Their last target, Simon McCann, currently works as a mercenary, after being discharged from the SAS following a car bombing that made him mentally unstable. Their plan is to rig a truck to respond to remote control, and crash it into McCann's car while he is driving, making his death look like a traffic accident. With the help of a new and inexperienced team member, Jake (Michael Dorman), Meier successfully kills McCann; however, Logan and his men were watching over McCann. A gun fight in the docks ensues, and Meier is accidentally killed by the inexperienced Jake. Danny and Davies decide that the case is over, and they part ways. Soon after, Davies is tracked down by Logan's men, and is hit by a truck and killed while trying to escape them. Danny returns to Oman and gives the Sheikh the last taped confession, which he has faked. Hunter is released and returns to his family, while Danny heads back to Australia and reunites with Anne (Yvonne Strahovski), a childhood acquaintance. Soon, he is informed by the Agent that there is one last man who participated in the Sheikh's sons' murders and that this man, Ranulph Fiennes, is about to release a book about his experiences as a member of the SAS. Danny tells Anne to go to France with Hunter to protect her while he carries out the last job. The Sheikh’s son confirms that Harris was an innocent man. Logan, meanwhile, traces Danny through the Agent and sends a team to protect the author, but Jake distracts them, allowing Danny to infiltrate the building and shoot the author. He chooses to only wound the author, however, but takes pictures that appear to show him dead. Logan chases and captures Danny, taking him to an abandoned warehouse, but he is interrupted when an agent from the British government arrives and reveals that the British government is behind the events because of the Sheikh's valuable oil reserves. A three-way battle ensues, with Danny escaping and Logan shooting the government agent. In Paris, Anne goes to take the subway. The Agent and a henchman are waiting for her because the Agent plans to kidnap her for ransom. But Hunter follows her, beats the henchman and shoots the Agent in the leg. The Agent then tries to explain that it is just for business. Hunter seems threatening at first, but then spares his life. Danny and Hunter head to Oman to give the Sheikh the pictures. However, Logan arrives first, confronts the Sheikh, telling him that the pictures are fake and then stabs him to death. The Sheikh's son does not care and gives over the money, which was intended for Danny and Hunter, to Logan. Hunter spots Logan leaving, and they chase after him, along with the Sheikh's men. After stopping the Sheikh's men, Danny and Hunter confront Logan on a desert road. Danny says that Logan can keep the money (though Hunter takes some for his expenses and his family). They give Logan the remainder, telling him that he'll need it to start a new life away from the government after killing the government agent and acting against the wishes of the Feathermen and the British government. Danny says that it's over for him and that Logan must make up his own mind. They leave him there, saying they'll send a cab for him from the airport. Danny meets with Anne in France to start a new life.

murder, violence, revenge, flashback, action, romantic

train

wikipedia

And a story that's somewhat better than you usually find in this particular kind of film.Don't know that Jason Statham's a great actor, exactly, but he's definitely a presence and he's got others to do the acting around him, and he performs in a several action scenes that come right up to the edge without getting silly. It suggests that they are having those moments, but doesn't linger on them or play them up at all; they are just facts, like everything else that happens in the movie (fights, deaths, kidnappings, etc.).The story is complicated, involving at least 5 separately motivated factions, but at no time was it confusing (so there was no need for an "aha!" moment).The fight scenes were all exceedingly well choreographed and fit the story so well that there was never a time when 2 people were facing off just so we could see them fight; I really appreciated that.All in all, a very satisfying film: lots of action, lots of very good acting, and lots of attention to detail (it really looked like it was the early 1980s).I was going to give this a 7/10, but as I was writing and thinking about it, I upped it to 8/10.. STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Set in 1980, Killer Elite is based on a true story, revolving around SAS agent Danny (Jason Statham) who owes everything to his friend and mentor Hunter (Robert De Niro.) So when he is taken hostage in Oman, Danny is forced to co-operate with the kidnappers demands: that the three soldiers responsible for the death of his son are hunted down around the globe and killed. But then fact is often stranger than fiction, and the exploits of Britain's elite special forces could no doubt throw up even stranger tales.This is a slick, stylish enough film, that carries off it's various action sequences and tense moments with the requisite style and aplomb, even if it doesn't generate the amount of suspense it could have and the whole thing does feel a tad disjointed and sporadic. Instead I got a realistic experience, a complex story, a great cast and good acting all around.The plot revolves around Statham's character, a hired killer who decides to get out of the business. KILLER ELITE continues this career legacy suicideThere's something ridiculous watching a a 68 year old DeNiro getting in to a shoot out with bad guys but ridiculous doesn't even begin to describe KILLER ELITE a thriller based on a " true story" by former SAS soldier , explorer and adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes . After a brilliantly exciting opening in a thrilling terrorist action executed by Danny (Jason Statham) his mentor named Hunter (Robert De Niro , he is the only American born actor in this film) is taken captive by a disgraced Arab sheik, then the killer-for-hire is forced into action . The main cast is pretty good such as Jason Statham , Clive Owen , Yvonne Strahovski and Robert De Niro . Based on a true story, Killer Elite sees a hired assassin called back into duty when his mentor is held hostage by a powerful sheik who wants revenge on the SAS men who killed his sons. However the targets are a paranoid bunch and once a few questions are asked and one of the men dies, the secretive group behind the deaths put former soldier Spike onto the case, pitting the two trained killers against each other.This film feels like a missed opportunity and more must have been hoped for it – not least by the relatively big name stars that were involved. So, for example, this sort of generic thriller really suits simple characters, simple plots and thumping action scenes but instead Killer Elite hands us with two groups, neither of whom are particularly "likeable", so the genre approach tells the viewer to root for the good guy – but the plot gives us no clue as to who this is. Akinnuoye-Agbaje only has a small role but, as a fan of Oz who knows how good he can be, it is always good to see him in things.There is a good story in Killer Elite but unfortunately all but the bullet points is lost in a telling that is trying to make more of a standard thriller and doesn't seem able or willing to do anything with the murky aspects of plot or characters. There is the secret society called the feather-men (because their touch is sooo soooft), some oil sheik who hires Danny by kidnapping his mentor and a whole slew of characters and sub-characters that inhabit the Killer Elite world that all manage to be a little inconsistent with the rules of the movie.Jason Statham, DiNiro and Clive Owen star, one gets the feeling they aren't in the movie but are sort of doing their thing floating above it. I want to read the book now because one thing about these types of movies is plot and all its twists which we get very little of and what we do get is lots of action scenes because lets face it David is not the dramatic actor he is an action man so what starts off strong goes off and on the rails repeatedly. "Killer Elite", not to be confused for the Sam Peckinpah film of the same name, is basically Jason Statham being Jason Statham kicking ass, but this time he's facing off against Clive Owen and a bunch of other, more sophisticated bad guys. Killer Elite takes the perspective of a novelist who wrote about the era and the alleged events in this film and takes the position of the former.The film begins in 1980 with experienced, well traveled mercenaries Danny (Jason Statham) and Hunter (Robert De Niro) carrying out a job. A group who like to see their members remain low key – and alive.The group is lead by a committee but the leg work and ground ops are managed by Spike (Clive Owen), a skilled ex-soldier loyal to a fault to the SAS, and willing to do whatever it takes to prevent the loss of any of his colleagues.Spike takes it real personal that other men want to see his men come to harm.The film has interesting patches and a couple of worthwhile chase sequences but nothing that separates it from the pack. They also manage a three or four minute fight scene in a hospital ward that obeys the cinematic convention that demands faceless good and bad guys can be dispatched in one or two blows, but if you make the poster you can take and deliver 672 punches without bruising, bleeding or indeed breathing particularly heavily.Danny, Spike and co criss-cross the globe in pursuit of each other, with each side simultaneously watching and being watched while stuffy old guys discuss a lot of hush-hush, need to know, touch the side of the nose with the index finger sort of stuff.Killer Elite is a little too flashy and commercial for classic De Niro, and not flashy enough for classic Statham. I sometimes think Jason Statham shows some promise, but then other times he seems determined too be just another star off mediocre action movies. I thought "Killer Elite" might off been ace because off Robert De Niro and Clive Owens presence, but never judge a book by its cover.This is the Jason Statham off the "Transporter" movies that's in this one. Queue lots off random people connected to the situation being offed and eventually De Niro being saved.There are barely any wise-cracks in the movie so I suppose it's supposed to being taken seriously, and is even based on a true story (although I doubt some off the "James Bond" stunts Statham pulls off are based on what really happened to influence this). If film makers think action fans don't care, they need to think again and stop giving us a jumbled, incoherent mess of a fight scene.The shoot outs are decent, but De Niro barely has his moments, since the story line keeps him as the one needing rescue. The action is really good especially when it involves Jason Statham (Danny- retired member of Britain's Elite Special Air Service) and Clive Owen (Spike- who belongs to a secret military society). Killer Elite is a mediocre action film, but I have to admit that it kept me moderately entertained at least, mainly because of the performances from Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro.On some way, I appreciated the methodic rhythm from Killer Elite, as well as the gradual introduction of characters, more intrigue and more hidden intentions. So I find this film, it has two of my favourite actors in it (Robert De Niro and Jason Statham), it starts off well with some good shoot-out action and them two together.Then I just have no idea what happened, the film was all over the place. This is the task Danny needs to accomplish in exchange for Hunters Freedom.Based on the book The Feather Men written by Ranulph Fiennes KILLER ELITE is a politically twisted thriller that is no more than hard fisted punches, gunpowder and pure uncontrolled testosterone. It would not be wrong if I am to say that this movie is indeed one for the fans; The Fans of Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro!For those De Niro fans do not get carried away since De Niro is more a cameo rather a star this time round. It seems that since of late the legend called De Niro is being calling the wrong shots since his last mega must watch production HEAT back from the 90s.Correct me if I am out of line here, however I believe that since then there has not been a movie for the legend that truly did just to the man!Statham, Owen and Dominic Purcell (Prison Break) delivers just what they are good at doing best. It's only his second attempt behind the camera and he managed to work with some great Hollywood heavy weights and I am certain the next time it will just keep getting better.Title: KILLER ELITE Directed by: Gary McKendry Starring: Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Dominic Purcell,, Aden Young and Robert De Niro Rated: R for strong violence, language and some sexuality/ nudity Rating:5.5/10 116 minutes. Add more GREAT actors in none other then the man himself, New Yorker Robert De Niro, who shines just as bright in what scenes he has, he may not have as much screen time as Jason & Clive, but he steals its, and wow :) Dominic Purcell (Prison Break, Equilibrium and Blade 3) is a good looking dude, but in this film he looks very much the part of a grungie 80's man lol. Spike (Clive Owen) leads the rogue group of ex-SAS assassins.It's a very convoluted story and it seems like a badly written Bond movie. "Killer Elite" is no different.In this action flick, the story revolves around Jason being pulled out of secret agent retirement because his mentor Robert de Niro got kidnapped by a Osama Bin Laden look-alike who wants to avenge the murder of his sons by some British guys. This is everything you would expect in a Jason Statham action movie, plus the star power of Clive Owen and Robert de Niro in there to boot. Also, a great cast featuring two among the coolest action stars(Statham and Owen), and Robert De Niro. Let me just say that in my opinion Jason Statham is my favorite actor, I don't know why some people are completely hating on this movie and the acting.I agree with one point the came up in some reviews, you never really get to know the characters, they had the flash backs which were awesome, and I feel like they should have added a couple moreMany movies I recently watched I have been disappointed, but Killer Elite was awesome!STATHAM NEEDS TO BE IN MORE MOVIES AND THEY NEED TO COME OUT FASTER ...one a week should be enough :P. Loosely based on a book by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Killer Elite is essentially a Jason Statham vehicle that his fans will enjoy.In 1980, Danny Bryce (Statham) is an assassin who quits after killing a target in front of his young son in Mexico. Owen is the best performer in a movie filled with average performances.Overall, Killer Elite is a loud, typical action thriller that is not going to set the world alight, but it is still entertaining for Statham fans.. If you like Jason Statham action movies then this film will not disappoint you. For what it is, it works well, pure action, nice settings, based on true events I don't know (not confirmed, since it is classified), but still a good action movie.Killer elite might be putting it over the top, it is a film about assassins or killers for hire and how they help each other or try to if something goes wrong, even though they properly shouldn't. The always hard hitting Jason Statham is the main person in this and he gets accompanied by other big names such as Robert De Niro, Clive Owen and Dominic Purcell. A killer for hire is sent on a mission to rescue his old mentor.Starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Nero.Screenplay by Matt Sherring. The opening had Statham's Danny and De Niro's Hunter chilling in what would be a bar, only to serve as the big bang introduction to the first set action piece, where Danny decides to call his life of killing quits after seeing how the innocent get tangled into their job, and getting injured during this hesitation.Fast forward to a year into his retirement, he gets forced back into the game given a Sheik in Oman had imprisoned Hunter, and for the latter's freedom, Danny has to fish out ex members of Britain's elite Special Air Service involved with killing the Sheik's three sons, and therefore paving the way for his fourth to assume his place as the rightful heir without being gunned down. There are two parts to the story, and each were intriguing in its own way, with the first focused on the mission Danny and team had on hand, and the later half on the repercussions when the long arm of Spike and his team managed to close in and run fences around Danny and his team.Statham versus Owen in at least two fisticuffs were the highlights of the film, and despite a little flaw in shooting the action up close, they were the most intense battles of the lot in the film, which had car chases to close quartered combat. Yvonne Strahovski plays the lone female token in the film as Danny's main squeeze, though her story arc is quite negligible only to offer Danny a reason to quit his risky life of kill or be killed, and for some token romantic scenes to toss up the series of testosterone filled dialogue or action.Easily one of the best thrillers set in the Middle East in recent years, with its 80s setting involving oil, power and mercenary brokers, there's this uncanny repetition of history, should this be real as claimed, in what's happening in the Middle East now. Also this is best performance I've seen from Jason Statham.Though some aspects may be stereotypical of action thrillers, being based on true events makes this movie rather interesting.This is definitely one of the best of its genre.. They made the movie look like a new 'The Transporter' sequel and although Jason Statham is here, 'Killer Elite' has next to nothing to do with 'The Transporter' when it comes to tone, story, characters, setting, etc.This time the story is a lot more compelling. Nevertheless, Killer Elite is one of the best story-based action movies in long time.. Even with talented actors like Robert De Niro, Jason Statham and Clive Owen, Killer Elite fails to be gripping or thrilling due to the stale subject matter and flat direction. When you get Jason Statham and Clive Owen on the same screen, and throw in an aging badass like Robert DeNiro, you just know that it's going to be one heck of a ride.This film is such a heck of a ride, it almost makes you want to get off at the end, turn right around to get back in line and do it again. Killer Elite is, after a fashion, based on a true story about a retired operative, Danny (Jason Statham) who goes back into the business when his mentor Hunter (Robert DeNiro) is being held hostage. And truth be told, then I didn't know it was Dominic Purcell in that role before I checked it on IMDb."Killer Elite" has a lot of action, which is to be expected, as it is a Statham movie after all. 'KILLER ELITE': Three Stars (Out of Five)Jason Statham action vehicle featuring Robert De Niro and Clive Owen in supporting turns! Statham delivers his usual 'cool' action tough guy performance, Owen is perfectly adequate and it is kind of fun to see De Niro in a movie like this. I do not want to provide an exact plot synopsis but essentially Danny Bryce (Jason Statham) must kill some ex-SAS men to save his assassin mentor (Robert De Niro) from some Omani oil sheiks. I know Jason Statham doesn't have the best track record when it comes to the quality of the movies he stars in but when add Dominic Purcell, Clive Owen, and the great Robert De Niro, to me it's worth the shot.Killer Elite, did not live up to the expectation such a cast would inspire. If some of you thought that this is just another Jason Statham action movie, you're right. In addition to Statham, the movie also features Clive Owen, Robert De Niro & Dominic Purcell (Prison Break) in interesting leads.

tt0266489

Duplex

Alex Rose (Ben Stiller) and Nancy Kendricks (Drew Barrymore) are a young, professional, married New York couple in search of their dream home. When they finally find the perfect Brooklyn brownstone, they are giddy with anticipation. The duplex is a dream come true, complete with multiple fireplaces, except for one thing: Mrs. Connelly (Eileen Essell), the old lady who lives on the rent-controlled top floor. Assuming she is elderly and ill, they take the apartment. However, they soon realize that Mrs. Connelly is in fact an energetic senior who enjoys watching her television at top volume day and night and rehearsing in a brass band. As a writer, Alex is attempting to finish his novel against a looming deadline. However, he is interrupted daily by Mrs. Connelly's numerous demands and requests, and what begins as a nuisance quickly escalates into an all-out war. Alex and Nancy try to get Mrs. Connelly to move out, but she refuses. Next, they try to file a noise complaint against her, but discover that she has already gone to the police first and filed a harassing complaint against them. Mrs. Connelly soon turns all of Alex and Nancy's friends against them by play-acting as the "poor, innocent, old lady" and makes it appear that the young couple are out to harm her. When Nancy loses her job and Alex misses his deadline (all because of the old lady's antics) the pair are trapped at home together with Mrs. Connelly with no place to go. Their rage turns to homicidal fantasy as they plot ways to get rid of their manipulative, no-good neighbor. After peace overtures and a break-in lead to nothing, Alex and Nancy decide to hire a hitman, named Chick (James Remar), to kill her. However, his asking price for doing the hit is $25,000. Unable to initially come up with the money, Alex approaches his friend and fellow writer, Coop, to ask for a loan, but is rudely rebuffed. Desperate and needing the money in two days, they sell almost every possession they own to pay Chick who will do the hit on Christmas Eve. Chick does break into Mrs. Connelly's apartment as planned, but fails to kill her when she defends herself with her speargun by shooting him in the shoulder, forcing him to flee, and the couple in fact have to rescue the old woman when the struggle results in a fire in her apartment. Accepting defeat, Alex and Nancy decide to evict themselves, but find out that the old woman has died right when they leave. Alex and Nancy, now with no jobs, friends, or money left, move away where they contemplate their strange encounters. But here the audience learns in a climatic plot twist that the realtor of the duplex, Kenneth (Harvey Fierstein) (revealed to be Mrs. Connelly's son) and the ill-tempered NYPD Officer Dan (Robert Wisdom) (Kenneth's gay lover) who had frequently harassed and distrusted the couple and always sided with Mrs. Connelly in her arguments with Alex and Nancy, and Mrs. Connelly herself (who is not in fact dead) have been doing this to others. This wicked and unethical trio have been running a mean-spirited, real-estate scam for several years: Kenneth sells the ground floor apartment only to good-natured young couples, then Mrs. Connelly, aided by the corrupt Officer Dan, harasses and destroys the young couple's lives, eventually forcing them to move out, and then faking Mrs. Connelly's own death so that the couple will never return and leaving Mrs. Connelly, Kenneth and Dan to collect and live off of the sales commission from the next occupants that buy the ground floor apartment. Alex and Nancy were Mrs. Connelly and her son's latest victims among so many. At the conclusion, it is revealed in a voice-over by Alex that he and Nancy relocated to the Bronx. Like all of the other couples that the trio scammed, they never saw Mrs. Connelly or returned to Brooklyn again, nor did they ever find out about the scam they were the victims of. While Mrs. Connelly, Kenneth and Officer Dan continue their scam by targeting the next friendly young couple that moves into the ground-floor apartment right after Alex and Nancy move out, Alex used his unpleasant experience of living there as inspiration for writing his next book, titled "Duplex", which became a best-selling novel, saving Alex and Nancy from their life of poverty, and giving the film a semi-happy ending.

bleak, cult, comedy

train

wikipedia

In Danny De Vito's "Duplex," Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore play a young couple who buy a "dream apartment" in Brooklyn whose amenities include everything two upwardly mobile yuppies could possibly want: ample space, solid wood floors, three glorious fireplaces, and, above all, a quiet environment where Alex, a budding novelist, can spend his days writing in uninterrupted peace and quiet. The writer Alex Rose (Ben Stiller) and his beloved wife Nancy Kendricks (Drew Barrymore), who works in an advertisement agency, want to buy a house and cannot afford an apartment in Manhattan, but they find a wonderful old duplex in Brooklyn for living. Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore show a great chemistry, but Eileen Essel "steals the show" in the role of a sweet & nasty old lady. i think that this is an entertaining and very funny comedy from Danny DeVito, Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore are well cast, but the real star of the film is Eileen Essel as the old lady.Stiller and Barrymore are a married couple who buy a duplex in Brooklyn, they then find out that there is an old tenant who lives upstairs, she then starts to cause havoc on their personal lives by playing the TV all night and getting Stiller to do her chores all day, instead of letting him write his new book. Then it gets too much for them and they decide it is time to kill her.There are some very funny slapstick comedy moments in this film, especially the scene where Stiller and Barrymore are giving the old lady C.P.R,There is also a nice twist at the end of the film.Danny De Vito decides to narrate the beginning and end of the story, Overall a nice little comedy with some very good comic performances by the main cast, some very funny jokes and a good script, 8/10. Trust me, after you watch this movie, you'll be feeling the same way, too.And I suppose that's part of the success of "Duplex" -- like other DeVito movies, it takes a seemingly appalling plot (see "Throw Momma From the Train") and, by advancing and developing its characters, and drawing us into their conflicts, has us relate to them. Stiller and Barrymore worked well together and had a good chemistry, and it was a nice surprise to watch a comedy without too many attempts at silly slapstick.There are very few laugh out loud moments, but I was smiling on a number of occasions. Instead of finding her in breach of contract of a loud noise level ordinance, he go through the great lengths of getting her out, to include booby-trapping her house and hiring a hit-man (but I guess that's funnier.) This movie has some "cute" moments with the old lady, but in the end it leaves you empty.. Any way the movie did have something going on all the time so it is not boring (yet, you still don't feel good), Ben and Drew makes a great couple. Depending on the point of view the ending may bring some consolidation to the otherwise crappy content, but for me the only consolation was the relief I got when the movie actually ended.It's not like I couldn't enjoy a dark comedy (Very Bad Things for example is a quite good one), but since Duplex offers practically no plot to follow nor characters to identify yourself with, and the jokes are mostly artificial, predictable, unfunny and even disgusting at times, and since the only real substance is the misfortune of the main characters, there is really no way I could recommend this to anyone.. Heard it sucked, like a whole lot, was surprised it was actually somewhat funny at the beginning, became more and more ludacris, stupid, pointless and uninventive, failed miserably to redo the great "War Of The Roses", yet another one of those stupid stupid American Hollywood movies that had no business being made the first time because they seem they were made up as the film crew went along. The very ending is kind of nice though, but sadly it just shows the lost potential of the story and situationBen Stiller is getting kind of old in his role of the guy who takes crap from everybody, Drew Barrymore I never liked, and as for the old lady-she just can't act.Crap's what it is, not recommended unless you like movies like "Scary Movie 3". Seriously - while there are some mildly funny moments in `Duplex', its overall effect is genuinely unpleasant.Ben Stiller wanders through his usual man-about-to-explode routine, while Drew Barrymore is entirely wasted in a colourless role that could have been played by anyone with half her talent. Poor old Danny DeVito.Duplex is a perfect little comedy with great performances by Stiller and Barrymore, but even greater performance from Eileen Essel as the cute little old Irish Catholic who lives upstairs.Unfortunately this movie is already disappearing from theaters, it really deserves to have a long run and to be praised because it is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny - something which is rare these days.One could blame the timing of the release what with a surprisingly good fall line up of movies, but I think it was simply the fact that the promotion for the movie basically consisted of Danny Devito appearing on daytime talk shows - Regis and Kelly's regular audience does not match the demographic who will enjoy this film. To my mind they should have had Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore on late night talk shows and waited a few weeks until they could get the both of them presenting SNL.In short, this is a great movie, badly promoted and sadly will not get the return or the praise it deserves. I love Drew Barrymore to death, but even she can't make this black comedy any better; uncharacteristically weak, neither she nor Ben Stiller nor any of the other cast members inexplicably involved with this clumsy farce (Harvey Fierstein, Eileen Eissel, James Remar, etc) make it a worthwhile addition to Danny DeVito's directorial CV - which is thematically similar to his "Throw Momma From The Train," except that was actually funny. But as well as making you wonder why they don't try to kill her sooner than they do, "Duplex" also goes too far in every direction from slapstick to plotting - the movie becomes less funny and more unbelievable as it progresses, with plot points telegraphed so far in advance they may as well have been written on the poster, and a final scene that's particularly hard not to foresee.I'd be lying if I said there weren't a few laughs to be had (and I agree with the guy who pointed out Drew's appearance in a see-through shirt at one point), but all in all "Duplex" comes across as a bad TV movie that somehow got upgraded to a cinema feature; every time the Irish woman's TV started showing "Hawaii Five-O," I begged to be watching that instead. The story is good, though the movie is like "throw momma from the train" (with danny devito as an actor), but then in the present instead of 1987. DUPLEX (2003) **1/2 Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Eileen Essel, Harvey Fierstein, Justin Theroux, Amber Valletta, Maya Rudolph, Wallace Shawn, James Remar, Robert Wisdom, Cheryl Klein.So-so high concept comedy about a young Manhattan based couple (Stiller and Barrymore) who decide to buy a wonderful Brooklyn brownstone except for one hitch: the elderly tenant (Essel, a fine comic turn, in this her big screen debut!) who proves to be a Granny From Hell making their lives miserable with the final attempt to be taking her out (literally). Most laughs come from accident, argument, or anxious ambience(along with the aforementioned slapstick; and great performances by the three main stars) (side note: Ben Stiller has a streak of playing roles that keep him in constant disaster(ie museum/focker franchises/heartbreak etc)- this is his best performance)Give it a shot, you may be among the great group of people who love this film! Unbeknownst to them, their neighbor is pretty determined to keep her residence, so they'll have to work hard to achieve their goal.I like the whole idea of this movie and thanks to some good acting, a lot of very funny situations come to life. I liked Drew Barrymore and Ben Stiller in the film, they gave good humorous performances and they worked well together, had pretty good on screen chemistry. I'm actually quite shocked that this movie is as underrated as it is!This movie has a simple but interesting plot which is: A couple named Alex and Nancy move into a duplex in Brooklyn New York with and old lady who lives on the second floor above them. This old lady seems kind and innocent at first impressions, but pretty soon her constant demands and accidents ruin Alex and Nancy's attempts at having the perfect home.This is a very well done Black comedy movie with some slap stick humour from time to time (don't let the slap stick comedy put you off from watching this, it's done effectively in my opinion but this is probably the reason why this movie is so overlooked including the simplistic plot). You really begin to hate the old lady very quickly too, which is fantastic for a movie like this and you really care about Alex and Nancy's intentions to get her out of the duplex no matter what the costs are or how they are going to do it, this is partly where this movie succeeds.There is also a fantastic plot twist at the end which is actually very impressive for such an underrated movie. A Good Movie That Would Have Been Even Better Without The Unnecessary Plot Twist At The End. Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore are both likable actors who are usually fun to watch - and that's no less the case in "Duplex." As Alex and Nancy, they play characters who have just bought a new home. That was a very funny scene, and from that point on the movie becomes increasingly frenetic in its pace, and even though they're plotting the killing of a little old lady, Alex and Nancy become very sympathetic characters. The twist did catch me by surprise (so I suppose it was effective in that regard) but to me it didn't work as an effective way of ending the story, with the end result being that a movie that was at times very funny left me with a bit of a negative feeling. I mean a year prior he directed the Robin Williams mess Death to Smootchy, but at least Duplex manages to surpass that wreck.The plot: Alex (Stiller) and Nancy (Barrymore) are a couple looking for a house in New York. I expected DeVito to have a bit more sense of real comedy rather than getting the cheapest laughs from the cheapest jokes.After the thirty minute mark and as we slowly approach the hour mark we begin to realize Duplex keeps spitting the same tiresome and boring jokes we've seen so many times before. I was hoping for more destruction of their personal lives and property.Duplex is a one-note comedy, and while it opens rather promising introducing likable characters, the overall chemistry between Stiller and Barrymore isn't strong enough to believe and doesn't fit the requirements to sustain a ninety minute run time. It isn't the worst I've seen, but it truly is far from any level of good humor.Starring: Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, and Eileen Essell. These can be used to sum up the story of Duplex, directed by comedian/actor Danny DeVito and featuring the first time pairing of comedians Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore as the husband and wife suburban couple who through an animated opening credit sequence, go through property after property looking for the perfect place to set up their home, which should also double up as a home office for Stiller's Alex Rose, an up and coming writer due to complete his next novel without having to write at Starbucks.Thanks to their housing agent, they settle for the titular duplex, which seemed like a great idea for their housing plans and one that's within their budget, a good deal even though it comes with a caveat that they cannot throw out the existing tenant, an old lady called Mrs Connelly (Eileen Essell) who stays upstairs and well, pays the rent. Both Stiller and Barrymore provide good comic timing especially in their individual scenes (well, someone has to bring home the bacon) when their characters get stuck with "entertaining" the bothersome old lady whose benign requests usually turn out to the contrary.But the scene stealer would of course be Eileen Essell as Mrs Connelly with her playing both the fragile old Irish lady who is more than meets the eye, a force to be reckoned with beneath the aged exterior, capable of tugging at your conscience and making you feel guilty should you not accede to her gentle pleas, which almost always come laced with sarcasm, or the nitty gritty that makes you feel bad. Convincingly playing her role without which this film would probably have not been able to make us laugh with or at Stiller and Barrymore's characters as they get stuck in their predicament which comes with a predictable twist at the end. The actual jokes mostly consist of pedestrian situational comedy (Ben Stiller clumsily breaking into an apartment and always staying at the verge of being caught, that sort of thing), but it's all pretty well-acted so it still makes me laugh. Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore make such a good looking couple in "Duplex".Danny Devito also directs the film and adds so much humor and energy into the film that will have you laughing on your sides.My friend gave me 2 choices between watching this movie and "The Hot Chick".He told me that "The Hot Chick" was really funny but he also told me that "Duplex" was also really funny.So I told him "Duplex" and I have to say that I was quite surprised at how funny and entertaining this movie was.The performances by Stiller and Barrymore were simply wonderful and I'm glad that Mr. Devito chose these 2 brilliant actors and put them in such delightful roles.There's also Eilleen Essell's performance, who plays the elderly person who ruins Stiller's and Barrymore's lives when they movie into a big house and have to share it with her.Although she did actually do some things to the couple that actually got me mad, I really thought that she was just a sweet person who obviously needed a lot of help around her house.I also need to mention that I think that this film is very underrated.How can something like this get a 5.7? first of all this my first comment ever in IMDb , so please do not judge my comment tightly, i just came here to say come on people this movie is not so boring or silly as many comments here said before , its a very light and funny comedy , it does not end up without blowing your breath from laughs and the situations are hilarious, i loved Adam and Drew, they got perfect chemistry in between... After get married ALEX ROSE (Ben Stiller) and NANCY KENDRICKS (Drew Barrymore) like any couple decide to buy a house for living together. Like in other recent movies he does the main role very well, but there're also very nice performances by Drew Barrymore and the old lady, Eileen Essell, MRS. CONNELLY in the movie.DUPLEX is a nice comedy with an entertaining plot and some good laughs, most of them because of Stiller's character (but MRS. Danny DeVito produced a great entertaining film with Ben Stiller, (Alex Rose) and Drew Barrymore, (Nancy Kendricks) who play the role of an unmarried couple who want to find a nice quite apartment where Alex can write his books. Not That Bad. Duplex (2003, Dir. Danny DeVito) Alex Rose and Nancy Kendricks are a young couple who believe they have found their perfect home to start a family in. An upwardly mobile couple (Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore) finds the perfect place to live, a duplex in Brooklyn. Then I saw it...(shudders).What it's supposed to do is have the audience turn on Drew Barrymore and Ben Stiller's characters once they decide to whack the annoying old lady living upstairs. Duplex (2003) Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Eileen Essel, Harvey Fierstein, Justin Theroux, James Remar, Robert Wisdom, Swoosie Kurtz, Wallace Shawn, D: Danny DeVito. this movie tries to get you to feel extreme pity for the main characters (Ben and Drew) like it does in Meet the Parents, but it just plain fails.the twist ending is weak and so lame.i blame it on Danny DeVito.. This movie was over expectations.Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore give great and very funny acting skills in this movie. It's more like "Throw Momma From the Train" in an apartment.The movie has several HILARIOUS episodes dealing with Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore as they try to deal with and plot to kill their upstairs tenant. [One of those times where you laugh so hard and loud you miss the next 30-60 seconds of dialogue] The performances were great, especially the old lady and Ben Stiller. Drew Barrymore seemed to be miscast at first (or at least not a good match for Ben Stiller), but when things started picking up, she played evil pretty well (thank you, years of recklessness).The end of the movie was a let down of sorts, as the ending was sort of abrupt. This movie was like "Madhouse" and "Home Alone" with an old lady playing Macauly Culkin.Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore play the young couple Alex Rose and Nancy Kendricks. Alright, I know you're thinking, man Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, and directed by Danny DeVito! The woman who plays the old Irish lady Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore are trying to get rid of is actually really funny. Alex Rose (Ben Stiller) and Nancy Kendricks (Drew Barrymore) play the cute couple who have just bought their first home together - a duplex.

tt2140479

The Accountant

The film begins with a man walking through a bar with multiple dead bodies on the ground, having been shot in the head. He slowly makes his way upstairs, hearing someone begging for his life. He passes more bodies, making his way to the door of the room where the begging man is. An abrupt sound is heard and the begging stops.The next scene takes place about 30 years ago (via title card) at a place called the Harbor Neuroscience Institute in New Hampshire. It's a big, beautiful home in a forested area. Two young boys are sitting in a living room. One is sitting calmly in a chair, and the other unboxes a puzzle and rapidly starts putting it together. The boy with the puzzle is shaking and murmuring to himself. A young girl is also in the room with a caregiver who is trying to put her shoes on. The young girl screams and smacks her own head and is unable to communicate. The boy quickly assembles the puzzle but starts screaming inconsolably when one piece is missing, repeating over and over that he has to finish the puzzle. The young girl has stopped screaming and reaches over to pick up the piece that had fallen under the table and hands it to the young boy, and they look directly at each other. The boy completes the puzzle, revealing that he has assembled it upside down, without seeing the image of Muhammed Ali to guide him.In the adjacent room, a psychologist is speaking to the parents of the two boys. There is a sign on the refrigerator with simple drawings of six stick figure faces, happy, angry, sad, etc. They discuss the puzzle boy's sensitivity to bright light and loud noises. He is also stubborn and fixates on things, like wearing only one t-shirt, which the psychologist explains is due to a tactile sensitivity. He is also likely to channel his anxiety into repetitive behaviors like shaking, tapping his fingers and talking to himself. He tells them that the boy will likely always have problem with things like maintaining eye contact or making friends. The mother explains that the father is in the military, which means they move frequently, so the boy hasn't been able to make friends anyway, leaving his younger brother as the only friend he has. The father seems uninterested in the conversation. The psychologist suggests that they leave the boy at his institute, where they can teach him coping mechanisms and provide a calm, comforting environment that won't exacerbate his sensitivities. The father says no, telling the psychologist that if the boy is sensitive to light and sound, he needs to be exposed to more light and sound, as the world is not going to accommodate his special needs.In the present day, Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is an accountant in his own, small practice. He has a few small tics, like tapping his fingers on the desk or blowing on them quickly. He has a very flat affect when speaking, and he doesn't seem very warm or friendly. He is meeting with a farmer and his wife. The farmer is embarrassed that they have fallen on tough times, and his wife gently suggests that they pay their taxes via credit card to buy some more time. She sees Christian seemingly staring at her necklace and asks if he likes it as she made it herself. He responds in a monotone, direct way and says he doesn't like it, but asks if she sells any jewelry she makes. She tells him that she just sells a few at church fairs or to friends but not in any meaningful way. He asks if she has an office she uses to produce her wares, and she keeps insisting that it's just a hobby she does when she's watching TV. He is gently steering them toward declaring it as a home business, telling them the IRS allows the deduction of a certain amount of household expenses when used for business purposes. He subtly suggests to the husband that they declare a large portion of the house as her "home office." After more questioning, she says she simply drives her truck to the local craft store to purchase beads, and he corrects her, saying she is driving the company vehicle to purchase business supplies.The farmer and his wife leave in a much happier mood, grateful to Christian for his expertise. The farmer invites Christian to his home for fishing, to which Christian responds flatly that he doesn't fish, but he does shoot. The farmer tells him he has plenty of space for shooting if he'd like to visit them sometime. Christian does visit the farm and sets up cantaloupes with simple faces drawn on, matching the stick figure faces seen in the Harbor Institute. He sets up with a high powered sniper rifle. The farmer watches through binoculars from the house and claims that the 1,000 foot distance would be impossible for Christian to hit, but Christian shoots them all accurately in quick succession.Meanwhile, Ray King (JR Simmons), the director of financial crimes at the Treasury Department calls a young analyst, Marybeth Medina, into his office. He credits her with a big investigation, though she demurs and says it was a team effort. He asks why she hasn't applied for an agent position, and she deflects, saying she enjoys her job. Ray shows her what he has on his computer screen, which is Marybeth's juvenile criminal record. It shows serious charges including assault, drugs and attempted murder. She is shocked as she believed the records to be sealed. He tells her that it's a felony offense to lie on an application to work for the federal government, as she had hidden her past. She asks what he wants.Ray hands her a stack of photographs, which show terrorists, drug cartel leaders, mafia bosses, and other criminal leaders meeting with the same man, who is only seen from behind or partial profile. Ray explains that he is an accountant who works for the world's biggest criminals, as they cannot call H&R Block when they have a financial problem. He is surprised that the accountant has survived this long, given how dangerous his clientele is. He knows of multiple aliases used by the accountant, including Lou Carroll and Carl Gauss. Ray tells Marybeth that he is retiring soon, and her job is to find out who the accountant is, or he will reveal her criminal past.In Zurich, a man gets into his car in a parking garage. A second man (the Assassin) quickly enters the vehicle and calmly pulls out his gun, placing a silencer on it. The first man is dismissive, saying he has kidnapping insurance so the Assassin should just get on with his business quickly. The Assassin is surprised at his arrogance. He explains that he was hired to send a message to the man, who is a stockbroker and has been shorting the stocks of the Assassin's boss' company. The Assassin orders the stockbroker to stop shorting stocks. The man is continually arrogant and dismissive, so the Assassin strikes him deftly and repeatedly. The man tries reaching for the gun at one point, but the Assassin skillfully deflects him. The man finally submits and asks which company he should stop shorting, as he does it to many companies. The Assassin simply tells him to stop shorting all stocks or he'll return to kill him. He exits the car and leaves.Christian drives to his home, which is very bare. He has no art or photos or any decorations in the house. He owns exactly one plate, one fork, one knife, one spoon, and prepares himself dinner. He is highly ritualized in the way he prepares his food. He continuously shows small tics, like blowing on his fingers before picking up his fork. Later in the evening, he goes into his bedroom and turns on a strobe light and loud, heavy metal music. He picks up a small, wooden rod and uses it to roll on his leg muscles. He is trying to remain calm, subjecting himself to the stressful stimuli until his alarm beeps and it's time to take his Zoloft.Interspersed throughout the film are flashbacks to Christian's childhood. One day his mother leaves their family, as the stress of taking care of the boys, particularly with special needs, is unbearable as the father is never around. Young Christian is screaming and throwing things and punching through walls, while his younger brother watches resentfully. The father is arguing with the mother that she can't abandon her family and tells her to wait a moment. He runs in the house to hold Christian tightly until he calms down. The mother gets into her waiting cab, and the younger brother gives her the middle finger from the window.In present day, Christian is seen talking on the phone with a woman (the Voice) whose caller ID is a smiley face, similar to the ones from the stick figure face diagram referenced earlier. She has a very flat affect as well and is prone to stating emotions or describing her behavior, such as stating "deep sigh" rather than actually sighing. They are discussing new jobs for Christian. She suggests he take a legitimate job for a company called Living Robotics rather than a criminal assignment that is more dangerous, as she cares for his safety. They also discuss some of his assets, including a Renoir painting and a Pollock painting, that she is trying to sell for him.Christian drives to a storage facility where he keeps a trailer. Inside are his valuable paintings as well as cash, passports, gold bullion, first edition comic books and a storage space for lots of serious weapons. He also has a copy of the stick figure face diagram. He checks on everything periodically and goes on his way.Marybeth's investigation continues, and she is able to figure out that the Accountant's known aliases are actually a famous mathematician (Carl Gauss) and Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice in Wonderland who was also a mathematician and suspected of having Asperger's. She relies on friends in the FBI who use the profile pictures to assemble a suggestion of what his face might look like. They are also able to connect it to an unknown man who attacked a bar/club that was the base of operations for the Gambino crime family. The man killed the two guards standing outside and then entered the home, killing the seven people inside using their own weapons, including the mafia boss' son, Little Nicky, who was killed with one swift kick to the head. The house was bugged, as the family was being investigated, so there is an audio recording of the attack, including a man begging for his life (linking it to the opening scene). Nothing else can be heard other than the man begging and then the kick.Marybeth manipulates the audio file and is eventually able to isolate a second, very quiet voice that seems to be muttering something repeatedly. She sends this file to experts who tell her that it is a nursery rhyme being repeated over and over again. She explains that the recording was made during a highly-stressful event, which makes the expert ask if the person was traumatized as young child. The flat affect and repetitive nature of the recording, despite a high-stress environment, would indicate that the person has some sort of neurological disorder, such as autism.Another flashback to Christian's childhood shows that the family is living in Indonesia. An older man is teaching the boys to fight and is quite brutal in beating them. The father watches from the side while casually reading a newspaper. The instructor finally says that they are just boys and that's enough training. The father remarks that if they were done, the instructor would be laying on the ground bleeding. Young Christian replies in Indonesian that the instructor should continue. The younger brother is deeply loyal to Christian, though he seems exhausted from the fight as well.Christian visits Living Robotics where he meets with the CFO and the CEO's sister, who is a high-ranking executive of the company. The CFO is clearly put off that an outside financial consultant has been brought in to figure out a major financial discrepancy in the books. He says that a young accountant who didn't know what she was doing stuck her nose into things that weren't her business. He says he's been working with the CEO, Lamar, for 15 years and would never hurt the company. He also claims that the company's records would be far too complex for Christian to decipher as they manufacture over 100 different products and have three different businesses. Christian brushes off his concerns and asks for the documents to be prepared for him.Christian also meets with Lamar, the CEO, who tells him that he (Christian) came highly recommended by someone whose daughter needed the company's advanced prosthetics. Lamar gives him a tour, showing him how their prosthetics have helped the lives of many amputees. Lamar promises to fully cooperate with Christian's investigation and to give him whatever he needs to complete the job.The next day Christian returns to Living Robotics to find a young woman asleep in the conference room with boxes of files and folders neatly prepared for him. He wakes her and she introduces herself as Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick), the in-house accountant who found the discrepancies. She tries to offer her assistance to walk him through the files and suggests they have lunch together. Christian, in his somewhat odd demeanor, turns down her offer. He sets about his work, which is highly ritualized. He goes through all the old files and begins writing on the whiteboards and then on the windows of the conference room.He takes a break for lunch and happens to sit near Dana who is also eating her lunch outside. She notices his dented, steel thermos, and she tries to make small talk with him about why he went into financial consulting. She tries joking with Christian, who is polite but doesn't get jokes. She tells him that she wanted to study art, but her father discouraged this and told her to follow in his footsteps as an accountant, the kind with a nerdy pocket protector, which Christian is also wearing. She tells him the only art her father likes is dogs playing poker, which Christian says he also likes.Christian works through the night and is able to deduce that $61 million is missing from the company. He starts to explain it to Dana who catches on quickly. The CEO's sister interrupts them and dismisses Dana. She wants to know if Christian has guessed who's responsible for the missing money, to which Christian responds that he doesn't guess. He needs to keep reviewing the documents to figure it out. She expects a full report from him shortly.That night, the CFO of Living Robotics wakes up when he hears a noise downstairs. He heads down and finds the Assassin waiting in his kitchen, with two henchmen. They sit together and the Assassin calmly tells the CFO he should give himself a double dose of insulin, so his death will appear like an accident. Otherwise, they will kill him violently and there might be a struggle, waking his wife, and they would have to kill her too and stage it as a robbery. The CFO tearfully agrees.The next day, Christian arrives at the office of Living Robotics to see all the files being packed up and his work being erased. He is distraught at being unable to finish his investigation. Lamar, the CEO, is upset, believing that his friend, the CFO, killed himself as he had been giving himself injections for many years and wouldn't have made such a simple mistake. Lamar tells Christian that the CFO killed himself out of guilt for scamming the money, and Lamar says his friend was more important than the money.That night Christian engages in his usual ritual with the strobe light and loud music, but he is deeply frustrated that he wasn't able to finish his assignment. He hits himself painfully with his wooden rod and is unable to cope with the stimuli. He grabs his medication and forcefully throws it across the room before calming down and picking it up.Another flashback shows Christian in prison, talking with an older man with glasses (Jeffrey Tambor). The man is very kind to Christian and is trying to coach him in having normal interactions with people, learning to read their emotions from the tone of their voice and their facial expressions. They share a bunk, and late at night, he tells Christian about his clients, who are the criminals mentioned in the beginning of the film.Christian visits the farmer and his wife again, to practice more shooting. As he sets up, he has a flashback to another childhood memory when his family was living in France. His father drives him and his brother to an abandoned alley where four teens are hanging around. The teens have been bullying Christian, and his father tells him that he must fight back as people will walk all over him otherwise. Christian gets out of the car and runs up to the bigger teens, beating them up. The younger brother waits in the car, until his father tells him to follow, and he leaps out of the car to help Christian.The Assassin's two henchmen have followed Christian to the farm and are holding the farmer and his wife inside hostage. They have the wife call out to Christian, but he doesn't seem to hear them. Then suddenly, one of the henchmen is shot through the head by a sniper rifle. The other henchman grabs the couple and heads to the car, but Christian shoots out the tires. He then heads to the couple's truck, and Christian shoots the engine to disable it. He runs up to the truck and grabs the henchman. Christian strangles him and asks who hired him. The henchman won't say, but hands over Dana's ID, saying that his instructions were to kill the two of them. Christian kills him and casually waves bye to the farmer and his wife.Christian rushes out in his truck and calls the Voice. She tells him to get to his storage unit, hitch up the trailer and get out of town immediately, in her flat affect. She works on setting up a new identity, changing the registration on his car, and killing off the Christian Wolff identity. She advises him not to worry about Dana, as he only has time to save himself.Marybeth's investigation leads her to a friend at the IRS. He helps her comb through tax returns of accountants with the names of Carl Gauss and Lewis Caroll. Using some filters, they narrow down the list but the most likely suspects are already dead. She then produces a list of 100 of the most famous mathematicians, believing that the Accountant would be using the list as his aliases. They slowly search through the system for the different names.Christian goes to Dana's apartment, afraid for her safety. He sees that she is being followed by somebody through the window but can't enter the building. He gets in through a service entrance and climbs the stairs rapidly to get to her floor. Two delivery men have followed her down her hallway, though she doesn't suspect anything. Two more guards are waiting in the hallway. Christian quickly kills the two guards in the hallway. The two delivery men burst into Dana's apartment, attacking her but she fights back. She locks herself in the bathroom and tries to escape. Christian enters, killing one of the men and then fighting the other man who has just broken into the bathroom. Dana is shocked to see Christian who has ruthlessly dispatched the men.Christian takes Dana with him to his storage unit. He instructs her to wait outside but she enters anyway, finding his cash and valuable paintings and a storage space his weapons. He is annoyed that she came inside to his private space where he is packing up clothes, cash, passports and comic books. She questions how he owns an original Renoir and an original Pollock, which he explains he received as payment.Marybeth's exhaustive search has not yielded anything so far. On a hunch, they pull up the two accountants who fit her profile (Caucasian male, age 25-45) for the last name on the list, Christian Wolff. One declared an income of over $500,000, which tipped the IRS off for an audit, which revealed that he was clean. The other declared an income of $75,000. This accountant's firm is called ZZZ Accounting, which seems suspicious as it's a bad choice for a name when they are listed alphabetically in a phone book. They look up a picture of the street view for the firm, which is in a dingy strip mall with a nail salon, laundromat and Chinese food restaurant. On a hunch, Marybeth has her friend look up the tax returns on the three neighboring businesses. ZZZ Accounting is listed as the accountant for all three businesses, who have each declared over $400,000 in income. When they try to figure out where the money has gone, they realize that huge charitable contributions have been made to Harbor Neuroscience.Marybeth takes this information to Ray who is speaking at a press conference about a recent high-profile investigation that was completed successfully. When questioned about how they received such intel, Ray simply cites good old-fashioned investigative work. Marybeth shows him her research and they agree to check out ZZZ Accounting and Christian Wolff.Christian takes Dana to a fancy hotel. They talk more about the strange accounts of Living Robotics. Christian uncovered that $61 million was embezzled but then hidden under different accounts, so it wasn't technically missing. They go up to their room, and Christian paces around the hotel room, muttering something over and over to himself, so Dana asks him to sit with her. They talk, and Christian tells her that he has high-functioning autism, so he has difficulty connecting with people even though he wants to. Dana tells him a story of how she wanted to buy an expensive gown for her high school prom so that she could wow her classmates and feel like she deserved to be special and to belong, forming a connection with Christian. Her original plan backfired when she tried to learn to count cards and go to a casino with all her savings, but on her way out with her remaining $20, she played a slot machine and won enough money to buy the dress, which she only wore one time. She asks Christian why he brought them to a fancy hotel to hide out, which he deflects by saying the water pressure is good. He then cites the nice towels, as he wanted her to enjoy it. She starts to lean in and get closer to Christian, when he suddenly sits up and references an old electronics chain.He remembers it because the business owner ran an ingenious scam by stealing money out of the business but then investing it back in it, inflating its value so that its stocks would sell for more money. He realizes this is what Living Robotics must be doing.Christian sets out to see Lamar's sister, believing her to be behind the plot. As he pulls up to her home, he sees a suspicious man exiting her building. He follows from across the street, and we see that it's the Assassin. The Assassin seems to know someone is following him though he never turns and looks. He then quickly pulls out his gun and fires two shots at Christian, who ducks behind a car. When he peers out, the Assassin is gone. Christian enters the building and finds that Lamar's sister is dead.Marybeth and Ray are able to track down Christian's home, which he has abandoned. They find high-tech surveillance cameras outside as well as a huge machine gun mounted in his garage. Ray sees the dented thermos in the cupboard and smiles knowingly. After searching the house thoroughly, Marybeth and Ray sit in the living room and Marybeth asks why he's so fixated on the Accountant.Ray tells Marybeth that Francis Silverberg used to be the accountant for the Gambino crime family, in addition to other criminal leaders. As Francis was getting older, the Gambinos were afraid that he would might eventually rat them out, so with his life in danger, Francis went into protective custody in prison. In prison, he met Christian and took him under his wing. He taught Christian about his business and his clients, and told him that his mistake was staying in one place for too long.Christian was later moved to a different facility to help the government financially track terrorists. At some point, Ray was placed on the investigation into the Gambino family and met with Francis in prison, but Ray didn't take him seriously. For some reason, Francis is released from prison where he is no longer protected. The Gambinos catch him and torture him and kill him. When a guard at Christian's new facility lets him know, Christian grabs the guard's coffee thermos and smashes him over the head and escapes. Since Ray didn't take his interview with Francis seriously, he felt partially responsible for his death.Marybeth asks why Christian was in prison in the first place. Ray tells her that Christian's mother died, and he and his father, who were both in full military dress, went to the funeral where they saw her new husband and their two young boys. The new husband tried to have them escorted out, and Christian responded violently. Christian's father tried to break it up and was shot and killed by accident.Ray asks Marybeth about her background and the charges on her record. She explains that the man she assaulted was a drug dealer she was trying to get her sister away from. She pistol-whipped him and locked him in the trunk of a car, but it was worth it as her sister grew up to have a normal life with a career and family.Ray tells her that later on, he sat in a surveillance truck for months outside the Gambino headquarters with nothing to show for it when one day, a man walks up and kills the two mafia guards standing outside. Ray runs inside rather than waiting for backup, to find multiple dead bodies inside (connecting to the opening scene, and the audio recording). He hears Little Nicky upstairs begging for his life. Based on what he hears and what he sees, he believes that the killer was out for revenge for something deeply personal. Ray follows quietly and is about to enter the room, when Christian comes up behind with him a gun. Christian questions him, and Ray tells him that he's just a lowly Treasury agent. Christian asks if he's good at his job, which Ray tells him he's not. He says he's lousy at his job, but he has children and begs him not to kill him. Christian asks if he's a good father. Ray tells him that he know he's bad at his job, but he's a great father and he always did right by his kids. Christian walks away.Ray tells this story to Marybeth and then tells her that he planned to retire right away and give up the job, but on the way out the door, he gets a phone call. He picks it up and it's the Voice, tipping him off to a human trafficking ring. He gets the credit for the case. He later gets another tip about drugs coming into the country, and he is again credited for the case, raising his profile and success at the agency. Marybeth realizes that all of Ray's successes came from the Voice. Ray then reminds her that he's retiring soon, so someone else needs to take the Voice's calls. At first, Marybeth refuses. Then the phone in Christian's house rings. She answers it, and the Voice tells her to tell Ray to get his feet off the coffee table.Later, the Assassin is setting up a team of henchmen at the home of Lamar, the CEO of Living Robotics, as he was behind the whole plot and killed his CFO and his sister to cover his tracks. The Assassin questions Lamar about Christian, but Lamar is dismissive and says he's just a freak. He also asks Lamar what the point of all of this was. Lamar claims that his ability to help people far outweighs any crimes he's committed. Christian is able to get on the premises and kill the henchmen one by one, leaving only one man and the Assassin, who has been monitoring the situation on surveillance cameras. As the Assassin watches, he realizes that Christian is muttering nursery rhymes to himself, which the Assassin recognizes. The last remaining henchman has a gun on Christian, but the Assassin bursts in and tells him to stand down. The henchman ignores him and is about to pull the trigger when the Assassin kills his own henchman.Christian stands up from behind his hiding place and greets the Assassin, "Hello Braxton," revealing that the Assassin is Christian's younger brother. The two men are surprised to see each other as they haven't seen each other in 10 years. As they talk, it becomes increasingly antagonistic. Braxton blames Christian for their father's death because Christian wanted to go to their mother's funeral, even though she abandoned their family. Christian lets Braxton take his anger out on him without fighting back. Lamar watches all this on the surveillance cameras incredulously.Braxton challenges Christian to fight back, asking him why he (Christian) didn't turn to him for support, and he's always been there for him his whole life. Christian does fight back and they finally end up on the floor, both tired. Lamar enters the room and asks what the hell is going on. Christian abruptly shoots Lamar, and then offhandedly apologizes to Braxton, saying he had to finish what he started.Christian gets up to leave and Braxton asks if they can meet again soon. Christian tells him that he'll find in about a week.Christian leaves a note for Dana in her hotel room, telling her that she deserves "wow". He packs up his trailer and drives away.At another press conference at the Treasury Department, reporters ask about the scandal surrounding Living Robotics and the recent death of its CEO and how the Treasury Department was able to solve the case. The director calls up the agent in charge, Marybeth who follows Ray's cue and simply cites good old-fashioned investigative work.Dana is back in her apartment and repairing the damage caused by the fight when she gets a mysterious package delivered to her. She opens it up to find a painting, seemingly expecting the Pollock she saw in Christian's trailer. Instead, it's the painting of dogs playing poker. She laughs, but when she notices the canvas seems to be loose, she pulls at it and realizes the Pollock is underneath the dogs.The final scene takes place at Harbor Neuroscience. Two parents are talking to the same psychologist from the beginning, telling him about their son. Their son wanders through the house. The psychologist tells the parents that the outside world will treat him like he's different or dumb, and then he will be burdened by the low expectations. Most of the other people in the house are children, but the boy wanders into the room of an adult woman who is screaming and shaking and smacking herself in the head. The boy's parents come in and apologize for their son wandering in. The woman calms down briefly as she looks at the boy and seems to smile at him. The psychologist tells them that the woman's name is Justine, one of their few full-time residents. She's unable to communicate verbally, but she can do so using her computer. He suggests that the boy hang out with Justine while he finishes giving the parents their tour. They agree and leave their son with Justine who seems to have calmed down.The parents ask the psychologist about Justine, and he explains that she's his daughter and the reason he started his institute. They also ask how they are funded, and he tells them that they have some very generous benefactors. The father asks if that is how Justine has such an expensive computer. He explains that he's an engineer and that her computer is powerful enough to hack the Pentagon, which the psychologist didn't realize.Back in the room, Justine goes to her computer while the boy looks around the room. He sees a framed puzzle of Muhammed Ali on the wall. Justine sits down at her computer to show the boy how she communicates. She types something and the Voice greets the boy. She smiles and a photo on the wall shows that she is the same young girl at the beginning of the film who connects with young Christian over the puzzle.

violence, neo noir, plot twist

train

imdb

It has flashes of John Wick action, but it most certainly isn't an all out action movie, however, it also isn't primarily a drama focusing on his autistic/accounting side of things; I felt they did a really good job of combining both elements into a movie that swings back and forth between the two.I thought the acting was great all around; I found the plot solid and enjoyable. Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is not Christian in the traditional sense, but he is a wolf of a hunter, about as accurate as anyone behind a telescopic gun barrel could be.Yet he's a brilliant accountant at the same time, thank you, autism: He has a savant's grasp of facts and numbers (think Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man) but a serious deficiency in the affective and communicative categories. Wolff's legitimate, current job for a robotics company is complicated enough for him to need several glass walls to write on (think Affleck's buddy Mark Damon in Good Will Hunting), taking in hours what would consume days for a host of professional accountants. It's pleasant not to be bothered by heavy sex when the complications are of the cerebral, themselves the core of pleasure in this brainy, but not too, action drama.Unfortunately our autistic hero, trained by a merciless military father to defend himself because dad knew son would always be treated as different, slips into thriller stereotype, e.g. Christian puts down too many hired guns at one time, albeit in the service of a noble retaliation for a prison friend. Although the action is within the parameters of the genre, it here feels overdone given the cerebral contexts that otherwise provide plenty of thrills.One of the joys of this film is to see Affleck show some acting chops; he may never be like Dustin Hoffman, but he's memorably stoic here, a long way from J.Lo and Gigli.. The Accountant is a good movie.The direction of this seems rather simple, but as the story progresses, things become a bit too complicated, and maybe not for the better. This movie constantly jumps from the past to the present without warning, but the transitions are fluid.The execution of the story at times feels tedious due to its consistent jump cutting, multi-layered plot, and abundance of characters.Each character gets their moment, and everyone plays a part, but it's the coincidence that brings them all together.I think this movie is trying to be more than what it is, and it succeeds. well a great story, and this is it, although somewhat predictable it's more a comforting predictable, a good guy wins story with enough great twists in it to keep the interest.The cast here lifts the game, who knew Affleck had this in him, and supported by the ever sweet Kendrick (all be it with a kick-ass moment), and throw in favorites like Simmons (Terminator Genisys) and Addai-Robinson (Shooter), all playing their respective parts well.The scene with Affleck's and Kendrick's characters having lunch showed great subtly in writing, directing and acting. Sharing the screen with Affleck, Jon Bernthal's wild streak comes out to play in another menacing badass role and J.K. Simmons is dependably magnetic as a lead agent with a secret past, however Anna Kendrick's kooky numbers cruncher seems to have walked in from a completely different movie (Pitch Perfect 3 perhaps?). directed by Gavin O'connor and starring: Ben Affleck at the leading role.Story line :the story is about a mental calculator who works as forensic accountant tracking insider financial deception for numerous criminal enterprises brought to him by an unknown women voice on his phone.Review :to me this was by far one of the best films that were released last year, it is not an Oscar film but it is a good one with great acting performance from Ben Affleck, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, J.K. Simmons and Anna kendrick.Affleck's performance here's one of his best next to his amazing role in Gone Girl 2014 (which i highly recommend you to watch), he really brought to the character everything and show to us how people with autism live.the action scenes are the soul of the film, i enjoyed them very much especially ben's head shots they were very funny and enjoyable and his fighting skills were really amazing( i just which they had put a little more action to this film, but i guess due to the flashback scenes and the difficult story it would have become too difficult to focus.As for the brother role it was OK in the flash back but when it came to present time it was a little bit bad and the reason of it is choosing an actor who is totally different in race and physic and i just kept looking at him wondering what the hell they were thinking when they chose him to play the role (even his body figure was totally different from the child's body!) for me that was the only bad thing in this film.Final rate :8 out of 10. I don't usually say this about Ben Affleck movies but the acting was pretty great all the way through. Words to use to describe this movie are hard to find.Ben Affleck, J.K. Simmons, Anna Kendrick, and John Lithgow. Real genuine friends are hard to find and when you do find one you do everything to protect them.The chemistry between Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick is as clear as day and that was another thing that makes this movie so good for me.This is a must watch movie, I highly recommend it.10/10. In "The Accountant", Ben Affleck, who is forever linked with his erstwhile partner Matt Damon, gets to play both of Damon's most famous roles: he is a mathematical genius (an autistic savant) like Will Hunting and a weapons expert, like Jason Bourne.The movie is not as memorable as the ones that feature those characters, however. Do you know what I found the most unbelievable thing in Ben Affleck's latest action film, THE ACCOUNTANT?The accounting!Ben Affleck as an Autistic accountant who helps "un-cook the books" of some nefarious fellows - no problem.That same Autistic accountant who also is deadly trained in martial arts and weapons - no problem (though it does stretch credibility almost to the breaking point).But when THE ACCOUNTANT went into a giant corporation and uncovered a major siphoning off of funds with the skills and accounting acumen that an Accounting neophyte like I could have uncovered, I threw the flag. These bigwigs would have been busted almost immediately, and not "suddenly uncovered" 15 years later!Put that aside and THE ACCOUNTANT is an above-average action film with an interesting plot (and subplots) that suffers from a lack of focus that can be distracting at times, but - ultimately - succeeds despite these failures.Let's start with the performances and the actors in the 4 main lead roles. Bernthal really has one trait that works for him - simmering rage - and he puts it to good use here.But the performance that drew me the strongest into the film and, at the same time, pulled me away from it is Anna Kendrick as Jr. Accountant Dana Cummings, the person who uncovers the misdeeds of the corporation. I don't blame Kendrick for this, she is a charismatic and engaging actress who is "must watch", I blame Director Gavin O'Connor for losing focus on who the main character of this film is.Is it about THE ACCOUNTANT (Affleck)?Is it about the agent chasing him (Simmons) and the secrets that he is hiding that connects him to THE ACCOUNTANT?Is it about the assassin charged with killing THE ACCOUNTANT (Bernthal) and the connections these two share?Or...is it about the JUNIOR ACCOUNTANT (Kendrick) and the idea of the innocent being pulled into a world of non-innocence?Any one of these films would have been interesting, or maybe a film that was 25% about each of these...but, with Affleck in the lead, O'Connor focuses 70% of the film on THE ACCOUNTANT, so when we start spending, and investing, in the other characters, it is jarring when you are pulled from one to the other and back to Affleck's titular character.All that said, I found I was invested in the finale action sequence and wanted each character to succeed, even though they are on opposite sides, which is a sign, for me, of something working well, I just wish things were more focused.7 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis). Doesn't sound like a bad idea at all!!Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) suffers from high-functioning autism but a gifted mathematician who takes up high profile jobs across the world from terrorists, failed states, mafia, cartels etc. Look also for good performances from Affleck's assigned assistant Anna Kendrick, Cynthia Addai Robinson as Simmons's assistant at Treasury and contact hit man Jon Bernthal who has a most unusual relationship dynamic with Affleck.Enough action to satisfy.. If I was Ben Affleck and handed this script for the movie, I'd take it as it sounds like a good plot, however I'd refuse the part to play an Autistic person whose got super-human powers, an ace sniper shot, excellent heavy machine gun skills and a maths whiz because that's just gone over-board. Never in my wildest dreams...Did I think I would love watching a movie in which an accountant is the hero and Ben Affleck plays that accountant with such strength and subtle power. "The Accountant" cannot be commended for much clarity in plot weave and story clarity, yet, thanks to some very committed work by Affleck and some good stylistic choices by O'Connor, it ends up being a very interesting, if fatally flawed filmmaking effort.As I said, what stands out here is Affleck's performance as the title character. For someone like me who in the past really didn't count him among the ranks of good actors, it is great to see that he has become such a talent on screen, he is able to make out the most of his natural charismatic presence, yet never go off character for the whole film. He plays this jumpy, off beat role incredibly delicately and his creative choices pay off repeatedly throughout the film, giving the character a real rhythm on the screen and making it very easy for the audience to empathize with this unlikely figure.Unfortunately, not even with talents like Lithgow or Simmons on board, i is possible to sing the praise of the rest of the cast. The exceptions stand only for the flashback scenes where we are able to get lots of good backstory on Affleck's character.The plot is just insanely convoluted, but even worse the way it is presented to you makes it more so. Nothing much in "The Accountant" makes a point: I never grasped what meaning there was to any of this, Simmons' monologue is emblematic of this: he goes on talking for ten minutes and once it ends there is absolutely no character mutation, no impact on story, no cleaning of the plot mess. So let's get started shall we?LIKES: • Convoluted crime story • Comedic relief in the dialogue • Good action…at times • Affleck's portrayalWe all know the crime/drama genre and love when there are deep, convoluted relationships lurking the shadows. Jk Simmons plays the man in charge of hunting affleck and he gives a great performance, you care about his character even with his lack of screen time. Jon bernthal fresh off of playing the punisher is good in this film as afflecks opposite, I thought he added allot to his character that a lesser actor couldn't have done. Three people went full retard in this movie.Ben Affleck's character, the otherwise good actress who played the secretary from "The Americans" and the movie studio who approved it all.This movie was just a mishmash of Hollyweird action movie cliche's. Don't want to say too much because i don't want to spoiler at hall the story and the development but i really say you can enjoy this movie that it's a good mix between drama thriller and action. The main character--the one I would like to see return in a sequel--is Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), a nondescript, socially-backward accountant who is not what he seems.That is one of the themes of this film, that things are often not what they seem or incongruous.I think the film is best understood as a superhero story, complete with origins story. Our hero has no supernatural powers, he just relies on his impressive abilities, like Batman or Jack Reacher or Leon in "The Professional".Though Ben Affleck's performance dominates the film, the entire cast is strong, including Anna Kendrick (as the woman who tries to pierce his veil of anonymity), J.K. Simmons, Jeffrey Tambor, John Lithgow and Jean Smart.. There are actually two story lines, possible even an emergent third storyline that are intertwined all in a mysterious cloak of investigative convolutions that begin to be unraveled in a delicious unclocking among the fascination of Ben Affleck's autistic performance.This is an entertaining and illuminating experience of both action and revealing psychological unveiling of the mental human differences.. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie due to the outstanding plot and the acting of Ben Affleck who performed in an excellent manner. Great little twists towards the end , you will love this one if you like clever movies with some decent action.. The Accountant certainly does not add up to the sum of its parts, being part Rain Man, part The Equalizer.Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is a high functioning autistic, brilliant with numbers raised by a military father who had no time with nonsense such as specialist psychologists. All should be well and good, but while he is having to deal with an account that goes bad - a little in the vein of John Wick, I suppose, someone who doesn't give two f***s thinks they can mess with/kill this 'Christian Wolff' (not his real name) - he also has to deal with conventional screen writing.Okay, that last part is me trying to be too clever in this review, but this is a movie where clearly the hook (or the logline) is amazing: what if someone like a Jason Bourne or a Wick or somebody, a man who comes on the scene, shoots people in the head, and has not an exactly friendly/James Bondian personality, and was fully on the "spectrum"; from childhood this character got traumatized by his militaristic father (and where was the brother? It's a film that is juggling a lot of balls and may be too long because of it; while JK Simmons is a national treasure among character actors, his role in this film, though with some gravitas and (occasionally) some surprising emotion, is there mostly as a 2nd-turning point exposition dump, with information that would've been helpful to another character (also given a kind of 'you must do this or else' mission that makes little sense, in the circumstances I mean, it never comes back to it).In other words, this sub-plot, which seems to be necessary for some reason, is there mostly to provide us with a man-hunt element for Christian Wolff that isn't necessary. Here he wipes his emotional radar clean and the audience can put themselves on to him, up to a point, and then when there is the hesitation, those little cracks, it resonates.It's like the movie has the ingredients for a strong director, with O'Connor getting how to make a hit-man (or hit men with Bernthal) move quickly with action that is intense and intelligible, yet also pace it so we can spend time with the characters, and the cast is pretty much on point (also Addai-Robinson, *TV's* Amanda Waller, is good as well, for what she can do), and the script is hit or miss. The Accountant is an action thriller directed by Gavin O Conner and stars Ben Affleck as the titular character, with supporting performances by JK Simmons, Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal and Jeffrey Tambor. With a cast like this is it really wrong to feel a tad interested in this film?The movie is about a freelance accountant that just so happens to work for some of the most dangerous criminal organisations around, add the fact that he is on the autism spectrum and you've got yourself an enticing character who is pretty much what the entire film is revolved around.The character of Christian Wolff has a lot going on in his life, and coming into a movie like this you would expect to get a glimpse into all of the aspects of himself. The accountant stars names such as Ben Affleck, JK Simmons, Anna Kendrick and Jon Bernthal. Somebody with Asperger's may not seem like a good major character in a movie (much less the protagonist), but it certainly works well in "The Accountant" (R, 2:08) – and does so on multiple levels.Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is a genius at math, and very skilled at forensic accounting, or "uncooking the books", which he does for unsavory characters and criminal organizations all over the world. This is a Short Review and contains No Spoilers.The last time I went to a movie theater this year was to watch 'Jason Bourne' and needless to say I was disappointed..After that, I decided not to watch any movie in a theater for a while and I acted upon it until I watched "The Accountant" today.The direction is pretty good, the acting is amazing, the graphics, sounds, plot everything is awesome and the most important of all Ben Affleck is Brilliant in his performance and fits completely in his Character.It's definitely worth the time and money you spend in a theater.... It is just like your usual crime/drama movie, but its autism and accountant setting makes everything a lot more interesting. What is maybe different here is the combination with a the action thriller and, of course, Ben Affleck's superb performance.There is more good acting in this smart and well paced film.

tt3294200

The Falling

Set in 1969 in a rural British girls school, []The Falling [/i] explores what lies behind a mysterious fainting and twitching outbreak that rapidly spreads amongst the pupils. At the centre of the epidemic are intense and clever Lydia Lamont (Maisie Williams) and admired and rebellious Abbie Mortimer (Florence Pugh), both sixteen years old. They carve their initials into a majestic English oak tree, which leans over a magical pond, and vow never to lose touch. But Lydia already feels that Abbie is drifting away from her and soon her fears are confirmed.A gang of committed friends including prefect Susan (Anna Burnett), who longs to be Abbie, and skeptical Titch (Rose Caton) who remains unaffected by the fainting, surround Lydia. But none of them can take Abbie's place. Only her older brother, loner, occult-follower and ley-line believer Kenneth (Joe Cole), is able to provide some solace. When the sympathetic young art teacher Miss Charron (Morfydd Clark) tries to reach out to Lydia, she herself becomes caught up in the fainting epidemic.Within the volatile, strange atmosphere of the school and her troubled home-life, Lydia feels driven to discover what is really behind everything that seems wrong. As the fainting escalates Lydia confronts the authority figures around her: her mother, self absorbed home hairdresser Eileen (Maxine Peake), the unbending and indomitable deputy head Miss Mantel (Greta Scacchi), and the enigmatic and powerful headmistress Miss Alvaro (Mónica Dolan). Eventually Lydia's actions force old secrets to rise to the surface and she finds herself faced with a truth that she never expected.___A children's song is heard in a deserted luxurious forest. A girl remembers somebody making love in a car.Cut to a school, where Abigail "Abbie" Mortimer (Florence Pugh) feels bad. Miss Mantel (Greta Scacchi) checks the length of her skirt and the red marks in her body. At the science classroom, an attractive male teacher (Guy Morris) says that an egg is a cell and explains why sometimes there is blood on it.They are painting in the wet forest a rainy day. Lydia Lamont (Maisie Williams) caresses Abbie's hair. They carve their initials into a majestic English oak tree.The teachers smoke, even in the classroom! Abbie is reciting a poem. Weird loose scenes linked by the music and chorus of girls play. One of the girls throws up. Lydia's mother, called Eileen (Maxine Peake) is dying a customer (Louise Tomlinson)'s hair and Lydia throws the dye to the floor.Abbie is pregnant. She thinks that it can't be, because the boy withdrew early. Abbie laughs it off. Back home, Kenneth (Joe Cole) - who is Lydia's brother- interrupts Lydia and Abbie discussing how to have an abortion with a needle. Kenneth takes Lydia and Abbie dancing, but he is only interested in Abbie, who makes love to him, while Lydia, still a virgin, reads in a cupboard in another room. Abbie says to upset Lydia that sex with Kenneth doesn't mean anything, and mentions "free love".Abbie and Lydia are sent to detention the following day because they are late for class. Mantel speaks to Abbie, and she throws up at her feet. Abbie is not hungry, so Janet eats her dessert and realises that Abbie is pregnant because Abbie thinks it tastes metallic, as did Janet's mum when she was pregnant. Abbie faints in the middle of the dining room. Lydia insists to Abbie that she must sell the baby and not kill it. Abbie faints again and bleeds through the nose.Miss Mantel tells Lydia to call an ambulance. Lydia thinks that she is losing her baby.Lydia is distraught that Abbie is dead. Eileen doesn't seem bothered and turns the TV volume up so as not to hear Lydia's rhythmic thumping on furniture.The headmistress rehearses her speech. A poetry prize is created in Abbie's name. Lydia stares at nothing.Lydia, Susan, Titch (Rose Caton), Gwen (Lauren McCrostie), Connie (Katie Ann Knight) and Janet (Evie Hooton) keep on playing within the alternative orchestra that Abbie had started up.Lydia comes to Miss Mantel's classroom late and "dances" until she faints.Eileen has her salon at home because she doesn't want to leave home. Titch's watch has stopped. At that moment, in the middle of the classroom of art, Lydia faints and falls. Another girl faints. The art teacher looks startled. The next fainter is Gwen.Teachers think it's just neurosis and showing off. Lydia takes Susan home and Kenneth smiles at her.The art teacher is the next one who falls, and then, Lydia again.Kenneth believes in magic, but Lydia doesn't. She kneels down in the middle of the school corridor, but nobody pays attention to her. This seems to cause a tic in her eye.Instances and instances of fainting, even in groups of two. The art teacher hugs Lydia and Lydia tries to caress her face. When the art teacher rejects her, Lydia faints and the teacher doesn't go to her. The teacher also rejects Mr. Hopkins (Mathew Baynton)'s advances.The headmistress, Miss Alvaro (Monica Dolan), offers Lydia time off school for a while. When Lydia refuses, she wants to see her mother, but she won't go. Lydia faints and this time, it looks like she has hurt herself. Eileen keeps on smoking and doesn't do anything. Kenneth thinks that Lydia is like that because of something that she has done.A lady comes to speak about accidents at the home. Lydia is excluded from this so she kicks the door while her eye twitches; Many girls get up and faint, even the art teacher. There are images they see in their heads. The art teacher has a fit as well. Lydia stares at all the girls "dancing" and fainting. Miss Fanshawe (Elizabeth Marsh), Alvaro and the rest stare puzzled.Girls are panicking at hospital. Only Titch is immune.Mantel realises that the art teacher is pregnant, and she admits that she had a child. She remembers her bloodied hands during an abortion.Lydia and Gwen speak to a psychologist.Lydia thinks that there has to be a real illness, but doctors think that it's 'hysterical contagion'. Lydia is expelled when she returns home.Finally, Eileen admits that she was raped, and that was when she got pregnant with Lydia. Lydia leaves saying that she is glad to know. She goes to the forest: she feels that the full moon is speaking to her. As she feels that Abbie is calling her, she screams Abbie's name. She climbs the oak with their names scratched. She laughs hysterically.Smoking, Eileen enters the forest, having nightmares about her rape. Lydia is about to jump.Lydia jumps into the river shouting "Abbiiiiie". Her mother wades in and hugs her body. Lydia dreams with Abbie. Lydia wakes up.Eileen and Lydia hug in the middle of the river.

insanity

train

imdb

Set in a 1969 girls school, when the promiscuous student Abbie, played by Florence Pugh, accidentally gets pregnant, she begins to suffer from fits of fainting seemingly at random. Her best friend Lydia, played by Williams, deals with the consequences after the epidemic spreads across the school with girls fainting out of control. The film appears to be a story about the friendship between Lydia and Abbie, but it fractures off into different directions, some more engaging than others. Her relationship with her agoraphobic mother, played by Maxine Peake, is a key aspect of the film and one of the few things that eventually pay off in a satisfying way, if a disturbing one. Carol Morley's second feature achieves something rather spectacular, given that it's one of those indolent period pieces featuring two drastically different girlhood friends in Britain, circa 1969, both attending a strict repressive girl's school.It's notable in that, while containing no one action that sets the screen ablaze, it manages to keep you mesmerized for virtually its entire run-time. The themes of the story and the shooting style bear favorable, heavy influence from both Peter Weir's gorgeous Aussie fever-dream "Picnic at Hanging Rock" and Lindsey Anderson's prep-school-in-revolt landmark "If....".It also helps to have two young actresses of the astonishing caliber of Maisie Williams and Florence Pugh to play the lead roles. Add to that a career-making turn by Maxine Peake as Lydia's agoraphobic, terminally-depressed mother and you have a film that enraptures more by what it doesn't tell you, than what it does.. In 1969, Lydia (Maisie Williams) and Abbie (Florence Pugh) are two best friends at an English girls' school, but their peace is shattered when Lydia is taken over by a mysterious illness. As the illness spreads throughout the school, it begins to take its toll and tear the tight-knit group apart, and the cause of it seems to lie deeper in the minds of the girls than anyone could ever have expected.Williams and Pugh are enchanting as Lydia and Abbie, and the supporting cast, including Greta Scacchi and Monica Dolan, give the film a perfectly executed sense of perception. Peake, too, gives an astounding performance, stealing the scene with every word she utters.Carol Morley's direction creates a lingering uneasiness about the film, which contrasts eerily with the stunning landscape of the English countryside. The story is layered with intertwining details that increase the enigmatic charm of it without crossing the fine line into pretentious melodrama.Despite, at times, being directionally unclear, the film's dream- like quality brings all of the elements of the production together to form a visually stimulating mystery drama. THE FALLING is a film detailing an outbreak of fainting at an all-girl school in 1969. I previously saw director Carol Morley's docu-drama DREAMS OF A LIFE and that was a similar film in that it had an interesting premise but sub-standard execution. I think I'm going to give up on 'British film' altogether because I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of decent British movies I've seen in the last ten years. Set in the 1960s at an all girl school we meet Lydia (Masie Williams) who has a best friend in Abbie. It tells the story about a student named Lydia whom has been raised by her mother named Eileen who in every sense of the word lives inside and whom whilst studying at a girls school in England where skirts should be no more than two inches from the ground when kneeling, starts experiencing unintentional and intangible mental states which gradually turns into physical symptoms.Distinctly and precisely directed by English filmmaker Carol Morley, this quietly paced fictional tale which is narrated from multiple viewpoints though mostly from the main character's point of view, draws a diversely re-educating portrayal of what happens to an adolescent daughter who sometimes blinks with her right eye and some of her fellow students after her friend named Abigail finds herself in a situation. I mean I didn't castrate women, Freud did." thirty-four years after women's rights activists made a day for a state of peace, thirty-two years after Englanders sang: "… Don't help them to bury the … Don't give in …" and eight years after an English-Jewish revolutionary feminist and member of the English Women's Liberation Movement named Linda Bellos received the OBE for services to diversity, depicts an authentic study of character and contains a great and timely instrumental score by composer Tracey Thorn.This perspicacious mystery which is set in England in the late 1960s a decade before the first Aldermaston march and during the decade when an English typist named Myra Hindley (1942-2002) was sentenced to life imprisonment and taken to the HM Holloway Prison in Islington, London, England and where a peaceful existence becomes a rationally spiritual transition into conscience, is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, rhythmic continuity, masterful screenplay, fragmented flashback scenes, interesting cinematic reference, scene where Lydia is questioned by a psychiatrist and the eminent acting performances by English actress Maise Williams, Australian actress Greta Scacchi and English actress Maxine Peake. STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning In the late 60s, at an all girls school with a strict stance on discipline, straight laced Lydia (Maisie Williams) and her promiscuous mate Abbie (Florence Pugh) are going through the trials and tribulations of school life. When Abbie falls pregnant, and then tragedy strikes, a mysterious fainting spell strikes the girls at the school and then to others, leading to a mysterious ritual in the forest.This unusual offering appeared out of nowhere in a few theatres last April, an out the way offering with a mysterious allure about it. A lot of opinion seems to be divided, but for me, Carol Morley's blend of horror and drama is a promise that doesn't pay off, with an impressive, quiet sense of atmosphere about it, but an incomprehensible story that's impossible to get in to.Something about it's eerie nature keeps you with it to the end, but with such a flimsily established story and characters you end up unable to really feel for, the end result is not as great as hoped. The plot centers on the friendship between troubled, stressed Lydia (Maisie Williams of Game of Thrones) and golden girl Abbie (Florence Pugh). 4) The relationship between Lydia and her agoraphobic mom simmers near the boiling point for much of the film, erupts once, and then is halfheartedly explained away.Watch this movie (at your own peril) and see if you can figure out why everyone's fainting, or even if they in fact really are. Maisie Williams is a good actress but the film is slow moving and almost nothing really happens other than closed minded people not wanting to talk about the realities of life.That being said, there is an actually problem and it's not with the film itself but rather with those that have watched it and how clueless the conclusions seem to be. If anything, I'm much more confused.The film focuses on schoolgirl Lydia's (Maisie Williams) almost obsessive, lesbianist relationship with Abbie (Florence Pugh), a fellow student, who falls ill after having slept with Lydia's brother. Meanwhile, Lydia's agoraphobic mother (Maxine Peake) remains disturbingly unresponsive to her daughter's behaviour until the film's final moments.Throughout, the film raises several questions, like 'what's causing this epidemic?', 'why is Lydia so deranged?' and 'why is Lydia's mother afraid to leave the house?' But the biggest question on my mind whilst watching the film was 'what's the point in this tripe?' As you can probably tell, this is one of those pretentious, moralistic and metaphorical films that is supposed to maintain some kind of underlying meaning or social commentary. It's controversial for the sake of being controversial; pure garbage.As some other reviewers here have already noted, the acting and cinematography are mostly of a high standard; Maxine Peake is no less than outstanding in her role, making her the film's only truly convincing character. Maisie Williams is extraordinary in the lead role as a band of school girls fall foul of an epidemic that causes them to faint. With no sign of any other health issues, the school teachers and parents are lead to believe this could all be a hoax at the hands of the attention seeking Lydia (Williams) who's close clique friends fall victim first.There are undertones of something much more sinister than a coming of age tale in 60's England and after several observations it's still not clear as the reason why the children have these episodes. The ambiguity behind the happenings is only part of the story as there's complex teachers, a home relationship between Lydia and her mother (Maxine Peake) on the brink of collapse and the death of close friend Abbie (Florence Pugh) all culminating in a spiral of madness for a young girl struggling to balance popularity and victimisation.The relationship between Williams and Pugh, is mesmerising to watch and to learn that it has an end only adds to the heartache growing inside William's character. At its heart, this is Lydia's story but is as much about the effects of those around her as the mystery behind the girls behaviour spreads.Whether Morley's undertones of witchcraft are purposeful or accidental, 'The Falling' is a bewitching tale that is a slow build up to very little. Set in a small all-girl school in 1969, this film is centred on pupil Lydia Lamont who is virtually inseparable from her best friend Abbie Mortimer. While this is going on Lydia starts to explore her own sexuality and ultimately learns why her mother hasn't left the house for sixteen years.After hearing some very positive reviews I was a little surprised to see the film's low score and poor reviews here… having seen the film I was less surprised. Clearly they had struggled in the edit to make the story work from the scenes they had shot, and used ever GCSE film making cliché from 'flash frames' to cut away to shagging that I would expect 1st year students to use in 1972. Yet critics are saying it is brilliant "A new Auteur." I think critic's lack of understanding of how a film is actually constructed, made and shot, leads them to see things that a real film maker would just say, "oh they have cut to that shot because they've lost focus on that shot, or the eye line is off, or they haven't got enough coverage, or this shot is dead."The premise was so good, the concept sound, but the execution was truly dreadful the director/writer clearly did not know what to do with the source material and drew no conclusions and no interesting plot lines and the bit about incest was just terrible. Purely based on the title, and the knowledge that the setting is an austere girls' school in 1967, you'd be forgiven for assuming Carol Morley's The Falling would probably centre simply around the classic teenage angst of someone 'falling' for someone else – a sweet tale of a girl being smitten with another girl perhaps, given the film's pride of place in the opening weekend of the BFI Flare Festival – and the love being inevitably unrequited. As much as the film's introduction of this little-publicised phenomenon makes you want to delve into the nearest history book and learn more, it deliberately avoids the temptation to be reassuringly documentative or even conform to a specific genre (are we meant to laugh of feel scared?), instead drawing us into a heady, complex and utterly bewildering fog of its characters' fear, rage, innocence and desire, told in a disarmingly abstract and unique way which – complete with stunning canvas-like cinematography by Agnes Goddard and a gorgeously jittery, surreal score by Tracey Thorn – transcends the film into another realm of artistry.It is a challenging coming-of-age role for Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams, who finally has the opportunity to embrace something far more substantial than tomboy-with-sword. Having watched the trailer this looked like a very interesting movie.I was also a big fan of the directors previous work, Dreams of a Life.What starts out as a coming of age movie turns into a complete farce with some of the most cringe worthy scenes i've seen in recent years. Grieving over Abbie's death,Lydia starts to explore the power from her mysterious fainting,as the fainting spell spreads across the entire school.View on the film:Backed by a shimmering acoustic indie score from Tracey Thorn,writer/director Carol Morley & cinematographer Agnès Godard give the film (produced by Luc "son of Nic" Roeg) a lush supernatural green which is rubbed up against the rising damp of the late '60s.Splicing subliminal images into the title, Morley touches on the supernatural with a real delicacy,as light greens and deep river blues surrounding the girls gives the fainting spell a magical, rustic quality,which also subtly connects to the loss of childhood for Lydia.As a fainting epidemic covers the school,Morley keeps Lydia's home life firmly grounded,with each room being covered in dour wallpaper and thick clouds of cigarette smoke,which Lydia tries to escape from by curling up in claustrophobic corners of the rooms.Staying away from overtly stepping into Horror territory,Morley brilliantly uses the supernatural element in the screenplay to give the movie a deeply unsettling atmosphere,thanks to the mass fainting heightening the grief that Lydia is gripped by,which slowly covers the school in a psychologically horrific mass hysteria.For the central relationship between Lydia & Abbie,Morley entwines the girls in a fragile,obsessive bond,as Abbie's exploration of her sexuality presses down on Lydia's fear of loneliness.Cast adrift by the loss of Abbie, (played by a superb Florence Pugh) Morley makes the tough rules of Lydia's (played by a powerfully raw Maisie Williams) school open up the raw nerves of Lydia's grief,thanks to the closed emotions sending Lydia's fear and terror across the school like a magik myth,whose spell is cast in a hauntingly ambiguous final note by Morley,as the school falls into the falling.. The plot of this film revolves incidents of pupils fainting at an all girls school in the 1960s. Some may say this is because I am male and didn't go to a boys/girls only school but I feel that is a cheap excuse, I have enjoyed many films where I have never had the same experiences as the main character. Here, it's at its most intense, with some of the the most visceral subliminal imagery I've seen since Friedkin's Captain Howdy made an appearance to Father Merrin.My interpretation of the film, however wrong I may be, is that it's about sexual awakening, repression and oppression, after all, Abbie's explanation of an orgasm is pretty much the same as the symptoms the girls are having when they 'fall'.The intense look of ecstasy they have on their faces as they fall, is somewhat disturbing, and as the 'fallings' become a more regular occurrence at the school, Morley injects some quite surprising humour into the proceedings.What is wonderful though about the film is that the reasoning is never clearly explained in the narrative. Revelations and actions in the final fifteen minutes of the film are truly heartbreaking, and this is also thanks to a wonderful turn from Maxine Peake as Lydia's agoraphobic, mentally unstable mother, nearly stealing the film from Williams.With elements and references from several movies, most noticeably Picnic At Hanging Rock, The Innocents, and The Wicker Man, The Falling is a wonderful gem that needs to be seemed out as soon as you can.It's a sublime psychedelic experience about coming to terms with major changes in life, with a devilishly black streak running through it.One of the years best movies.. The director, in a Q&A after the film, explained that the incest scene was the girl trying to connect with her brothers previous sexual partner (her best friend). this film I have to say really let me down because when I first saw the cover I have to say I thought it was about witches but its really about too girls who are best friends one called abbie and the other called lydia and abbie falls pregnant and dies from the sickness and the lydia is left to live her live missable and and it gets so bad she sleeps with her own brother to know what sex feels like, and all the girls and her start fainting round the school and even the art teacher faints and takes fits in the middle of assembly and they have to sack her and lydia always thought her dad ran away because he didn't love her mum anymore but the real reason was because her dad was a rapist and raped her mum and thats why her mum couldn't talk to her during the whole film until she catches lydia having sex with her brother and what lydia says is "I forgot he was my brother" i do not recommend this movie to anyone it was soooo boring. Lydia responds to her expulsion by beginning an incestuous relationship with her brother Kenneth, but the reason why she reacts in this way remains as mysterious as everything else in this film.Marlow's first mistake is to kill Abbie off so early on, as Florence Pugh makes her about the only interesting character in the film. All three have a general air of mystery about them, and "The Falling" shares with Weir's film the theme of intense, possibly sexual, friendships between pupils at a girls' school. With the director's previous film (Dreams of a Life) I had liked what it did well, but didn't feel it wholly worked. However the truth is that it constantly left me on the outside looking in, with mysteries around the characters that were never really satisfied, and a final reveal that comes out of nowhere and does little to nothing to fill the void retrospectively.The plot centers a group of school girls growing up, who fall into a rash of fainting when one of their number suffers a tragedy.

tt0468492

Gwoemul

In 2002, an American military pathologist orders his Korean assistant to dump 200 bottles of formaldehyde down a drain leading into the Han River. Over the next four years, there are sightings of a strange amphibious creature in the waterway, and the fish in the river die off. A suicidal man, just before jumping into the river, sees something dark moving in the water. In 2006, a slow-witted young man named Park Gang-du (Song Kang-ho) runs a small snack-bar in a park near the River with his father, Hee-bong (Byun Hee-bong). Other family members are Gang-du's daughter, Hyun-seo (Go Ah-sung); his sister Nam-joo (Bae Doona), a national medalist archer; and his brother, Nam-il (Park Hae-il), an alcoholic college graduate and former political activist. While Gang-du is delivering food to some customers, a huge creature emerges from the Han River and begins attacking people. Gang-du sees his daughter in the crowd and tries to grab her and run. As he realizes he grabbed on the wrong girl, he sees the creature snatching Hyun-seo and diving back into the river. After a mass funeral for the victims, government representatives and the American military arrive and quarantine people who had contact with the creature, including Gang-du and his family. It is announced that the creature is not only a direct danger, but also the host of a deadly, unknown virus. Gang-du is in a hospital when he receives a phone call from Hyun-seo. She is on the phone long enough to explain that she is trapped somewhere in the sewers with the creature, but her phone stops working shortly after. Gang-du tries to explain this to others, but his claims go ignored by all except his family. The four of them escape the hospital. Hee-bong buys a truck, weapons, and a map of the sewers to look for Hyun-seo. They find a snack bar, have a meal and rest. Upon waking up, they encounter the creature. Soon, they discover their gun only serves to anger it, and Hee-bong gets himself killed buying time for his children to escape. Gang-du is captured by the Army. Nam-il and Nam-joo escape but are separated from each other. Two homeless boys, Se-jin and Se-joo, are searching for food when they are attacked and swallowed by the creature. It returns to its sleeping area in the sewer, a large hole, and regurgitates them. Only Se-Joo is alive. Hyun-seo helps Se-Joo hide in a spot the creature cannot reach. Nam-il meets an old friend to trace the location of Hyun-seo's call. He learns that the government has placed a bounty on his family. The friend tries to capture Nam-il, but he manages to escape after obtaining Hyun-seo's general location. He texts the location to Nam-joo and Gang-du. He meets a homeless man (Yoon Je-moon) who knows about the quarantine but decided to stay in the city. After learning of Nam-il's intentions, the man decides to help him. Gang-du overhears the scientists discussing the fact that there is no virus; it is all made up to distract people from the creature's origin. The scientists decide to lobotomize Gang-du to silence him. Gang-du escapes by taking one of the nurses hostage and continues searching for his daughter. Back in the sewers, while the creature is sleeping, Hyun-seo makes a rope from old clothes and uses it to get out of the hole. She realizes too late that the creature only feigns sleep to lure her out of her hiding spot. Hyun-seo and Se-joo are swallowed by the creature. The government announces the plan to release a chemical called Agent Yellow into the river and the surrounding area, hoping it will kill the creature. Gang-du finds the creature's sleeping spot but sees no one there. As Gang-du climbs down to the hole, the monster passes over him. He sees Hyun-seo's arm hanging out of its mouth and gives chase, meeting Nam-joo on the way. The creature makes its way to the location where Agent Yellow is released and a large crowd has formed in protest. As the creature attacks the crowd, Agent Yellow is released, which appears to stun the creature. Gang-du pulls Hyun-seo out of its mouth and sees her still clutching Se-joo. The boy is still alive, but Hyun-seo is already dead. As the creature wakes up, Gang-du starts to attack it but is knocked to the ground. Nam-il and the homeless man come to Gang-du's aid. While Nam-il throws Molotov cocktails at the creature, the homeless man pours gasoline onto it. Nam-il accidentally drops his last bottle. Nam-joo picks up the flaming cloth from the bottle with one of her arrows and fires it at the creature, setting it on fire. Before the creature can escape into the water, Gang-du impales it with a metal pole, finally killing it. As Nam-il and Nam-joo hold Hyun-seo, mourning her death, Gang-du picks up Se-joo and takes him to safety. In the final scene, Gang-du has adopted Se-joo. The two live in his food stand, and he still watches over the river. They have a meal together, ignoring a news broadcast about the aftermath of the incident.

comedy, realism, cult, horror, violence, satire

train

wikipedia

You might begin to think as I tend to that the rest of your cinema going days will be spent avoiding such appalling Hollywood "Crap-busters" such as Godzilla or (enter current relevant movie here ;-) This film proves that adults can still be taken back...taken back to staring at the silver screen in wonder. The central scene is the one that sees the monster first appear from the river and The Host never really tops that sequence; but regardless of that this is the best monster movie I've seen in years and not even the downer ending could wipe a smile off my face when it finished. This is a movie which will go straight into "best monster movies" lists; it is ground-breaking in the way humorous and horror content has been intertwined by a master film director. I usually hate horror movies, but I enjoyed this action/horror/drama end to end and I left the cinema with a strong feeling of contentness.The horror was actually quite interesting, as were each of the main actors and the relationships between them were surprising and amusing, with some really witty sub themes thrown in along the way and some good suspense as well.The movie had great undertones and conversation topics to keep you talking to your friends for hours.Overall: It was a really enjoyable experience, witty and well constructed.. let alone Japanese...however it wasn't difficult to grasp the story or get caught up with the characters and the situation.This film is comical in parts and borders on science fiction, drama and even horror, but it is really fantastic to watch and displays a lot of emotion and realistic reactions. The special effects are excellent, the characters are believable and it is one movie well worth watching even if it is in a different language. The movie can be taken as a straightforward monster flick, a dark comedy, a sentimental drama, or a rich socio-political allegory.For the sake of this review, let's approach it as more than an action/comedy/horror flick, and let's assume it's a deeper allegory. I think that's what makes this seemingly-ordinary monster flick into a powerful film.Right in the first scene, the director sets the tone with a caricature of Western (U.S.) muddling. The story is about a monster that terrorizes the banks of the Han River and grabs a young girl, prompting her bumbling family to lead a rescue effort, with no help from the Korean authorities. Gang-Do and his family evade the authorities and use all the money they have to desperately continue their quest.The reason I picked up this movie in the first place is because the box said that it was "on par with Jaws." I found this hard to believe but the monster in The Host is the one of the most cinematically pleasing CG creations in recent years and is probably the most original looking monster since Alien. The movie keeps the viewer wanting to see more of the monster while, at the same time, keeping them satisfied with the number of appearances.The Park family does a pretty good job of keeping the audience entertained while the monster is off screen. If you want to watch something that is not meant to be in your language, you've just got to go with what you get.I started off saying that this is one of the best monster movies in years, and it is. It has some flaws but the originality of the monster and the simplicity of the plot makes this movie very easy to follow and worth watching at the very least. The whole "monster terrorizing an Asian town" seems like it has been done a million times (because it has), but this movie has some new things to offer. With awful execution, lame 'effects' and, above all else, a bloody stupid idea, the result was laughable.It struck me as amusing, then, that The Host, a hugely successful South Korean monster flick, uses a similar premise to my shot-on-video crap-fest (but admittedly features an impressively rendered CGI beast rather than a badly made clay model with marbles for eyes). The monster has her trapped in a sewer and it is only a matter of time before its appetite will return...What might have been an exciting race against time (to rescue the poor kid in peril) is turned into a yawn-a-minute snooze-athon by the introduction of several more members of the missing girl's family, an unnecessary subplot about a possible virus (which is passed on by the lolloping mutant), and the subsequent planned use of chemicals to deal with the problem.Rather than allowing our heroes to just get on and hunt down the beast, director Joon-ho Bong spends far too long showing us Park Gang-Du suffer at the hands of heartless scientists, his attempts at escape, and the rising tension in the city as the military prepare to use the ominous sounding 'Agent Yellow' to wipe out the supposed disease. All momentum is lost, and the film stalls, never to recover.The special effects are very well executed, but even though the ten-ton tadpole is nicely animated, it does suffer from being a rather poorly designed, and not particularly memorable, movie monster: a tentacle here, a flipper there, and some snappy jaws, but lacking the 'wow factor' necessary for inclusion in the movie monster hall of fame.Don't believe the hype: The Host really doesn't deserve the praise that has been heaped upon it. After all the critics said THE HOST is the "best monster movie of all time", "seriously scary" and all that jazz, I thought it would be a great movie to rent. Others have already written details on why it was so bad, but count me as another one who felt duped into giving up my cash and 2 hours of my life to watch this un-suspenseful, non-campy piece of crap.The box contains a "review" that compares it to Jaws, but there is no comparison except that sometimes water is involved and the monster may be part fish. The first film I saw on the big screen was a monster movie (the original GODZILLA at a matinée for kids) and decided to watch THE HOST on cable TV because of my fondness for the genre. The performance's were comical, killing any suspense, and the creature was both not scary or intriguing in any shape or form, unless you think a giant shrimp is something to wet your pants over.In all the movie was boring, a labor to sit through and I personally wouldn't suggest any one dignify 5 minutes let alone a couple of hours wasting their time when there are a "host" of other movies that can be entertained.I didn't reveal any plot points, because I'm sure there's plenty of you out there who would rather walk through that door anyhow... MONSTER - He was great; I loved the special-effects which created this monster which looked like an updated version of "The Creature From the Black Lagoon." The scenes with this beast roaming the land and capturing people ranged from good to jaw-dropping.SOCIAL COMMENTARY: Much of the story takes place in the quarantine area as the doctors (under orders from the government) state that SARS-like disease is out there. The main family featured in the film has to watch from a distance while the young girl in their family, presumed dead, was hauled off by the creature.MORAL: A typical "don't pollute the water" message because this is what can happen - a horrible mutated monster. I don't know if the Korean sense of humor is that pitiful, or the film was purposely trying to be ultra-corny with a take on the old "Godzilla" movies. That might have been a mistake as the Korean guttural voice sounds got annoying after a half hour.OVERALL - This had a promise but turned out to be a big letdown and even boring in too many spots, which is inexcusable for a modern-day monster film. The special effects are great, the film is crisply shot and the part about the father trying to find his daughter who was captured by this monster is very good. My 5 years old would say that the Ninja Turtles are real monsters by comparing it with this big fish who can run on the streets and has a rat tail.The Host, however, tries without success to offer a little bit of everything a little bit of sci-fi horror, a little bit of drama, a little bit of action, and a little bit of comedy. The rest of it, story, acting, plot, pace all went to the bottom of the river like the monster.And to think this movie earned more than "Transformers" in Korea! Not only does the movie have a bit of character development but it also presses on several political issues involving America's stay in Korea, government cover-ups, pollution, changing generations in Korea, and some other obscure and obtuse ideas.One thing that I can truly respect this film for is that it feels very down to earth and casual. The film also makes too much of the grim fate of the 13 year old girl, which is just pure cynical movie-making and jars with the supposedly amusing folly of adjoining scenes.What amazes me so much is that I hate this film despite liking so many different kinds of horror, be it cheesy, serious or satirical, Western or Eastern. It has everything: suspense, energy, love, humor, pathos, political intrigue, and lots of unique imagination compared to your typical monster movie.An American scientist in a lab in Korea orders a Korean clerk to dispose of large quantities of formaldehyde in the Han River at Seoul (this at least was based on a true incident). I watched "Gwoemul" aka "The Host" expecting a campy monster movie in the style of Godzilla or Cloverfield and while I was watching it I learned it was actually a social critique of post-modern South-Korean society and most particular the destructive nature of American political and cultural influence. Now storyline: Which one to complain about – The family feud, the old man with the shop (who can't act), the drunken uncle (who can't act), the loser son (who can't act) with daughter (best actress in the film), a scary monster, a pandemic, Americans trying to muscle in on the poor Koreans who don't want them there...they're all bad. Know going in that the best monster scene is right up front in this movie. An important parallel story line is lost and doesn't develop at all.Really by the end, sad to say, this is more like, than unlike, too many bad CG monster movies that clog up Sci Fi Channel. So best thing is to forget the hype and then enjoy the first 20 minutes or so of this, overlong let down of a movie by the end.Monster looks like a cross between "Blinky" the three eyed fish on The Simpsons and "The Relic." Though this film is better than The Relic, it's not as good as Blinky.Expect less and you might enjoy this film more. Synopsis: This movie is about a monster that gets created because some American dude made some other Korean dude dump some sort of toxic chemical into the Han River. In the end the product is one that will make you think and re consider this movie on many different levels making you want to watch it over and over again.Things to Watch Out For: The main idea of the movie isn't really about killing the monster or finding Hyun Soo. It's about questioning society and human nature. A huge box office hit in Korea, The Host is a good old-fashioned monster movie, and a lot more. The director introduced the screening by saying that the film isn't really a monster movie at all, but an emotional Korean family drama, and he's right, mostly.The family in question is a strange one. And Kang-du is just generally lazy and a bit dim-witted.There is quite a bit of humour in the way the family members interact, as well as a fair bit of social and political satire at the expense of both the Korean and U.S. governments (the Americans are blamed for dumping toxic waste that created the monster in the first place). Strong monster movie that finds an unique way to mix Horror, Comedy, Drama and Social Commentary.. Now the family are working together to find their family member, while the city is controlled by the U.S. Military/Korean Government.Directed by Bong Joon-ho (Barking Dogs Never Bite, Memories of Murder) made an highly entertaining Monster movie that is quite original. I am no big fan of monster movies, and while I like horror films I suffered too often watching them recently because of the inflation of films in the genre, so it is very hard to satisfy me here. Korea's top-grossing film of all time The Host (the original Korean title is "Creature") is a monster movie with a difference. Seen by ten million people during the first three weeks of its Korean release, the film directed by Bong Joon-ho (Memories of Murder), combines genre-typical special effects with family drama, comedy, and political satire. Like most monster movies there are plot holes everywhere, which you're not supposed to think about; and the villain -- the US military and their Korean buddies -- is way too broad and obvious (not to mention that the actors are awful). But this wasn't just a great new flick, it was also supposed to be the "best monster movie since Godzilla". If by any chance you go to your local video store this weekend looking for whatever's hot in the new movie releases on DVD, skip the Hollywood stuff and go straight for "The Host," South Korean director Bong Joon-ho's sci-fi monster action epic that received little attention here in the United States, but is one of the highest-grossing movies in South Korea. I remember listening to a radio station on the morning of Tuesday July 24, 2007, and the DJ announced the new releases on DVD; I was startled to learn that "The Host" was not on that list.That's America for you."The Host" is not like most sci-fi movies produced in Japan or the United States, in that it places an unusual amount of attention on the characters, rather than action and special effects, and with plenty of comedy, family drama and political satire, it's easy to forget that first and foremost, "The Host" is a monster movie, and a damn good one too."The Host" is a movie I've waited for over a year to see and when I finally saw it, I was not the slightest bit disappointed. As a fan of monster movies and Godzilla in particular, "The Host" doesn't disappoint in this department, but its charm is the thriving and living cast of Korean actors (many of whom are unknown to American audiences), not the nasty amphibian running amok and eating people. The Host is a joy to look at it like all of the other Korean films I've seen, yet the special effects are, despite how entertaining they are, a bit noticeably unreal. I just saw "The Host" at the Chicago International Film Festival along with a full house, and was blown away by the best giant monster movie I've ever seen. It wasn't a horror or good "creature feature." It was a movie that should have been on mst3k(Mystery Science Theater 3000, for those of you who don't know), then maybe it would have been more enjoyable to watch. The Host (2006) I not seen this movie for a really long time, i thought it was time for Re-watch,When I first saw this movie, I thought it was great , It's had really nice mix of Action, Drama and some very funny moment that will make you laugh out loud The creature effect was really good in this movie, Very well made and some , also liked about this movie is that you can see number of times daylight and in DarkThere are some very bloody moments in this movie, they not to gory at all and the acting in this movie was outstanding from the whole cast.Subtitled are really good in this movie, they parts don't even need the Subs as parts of the movie are English. A prologue sequence indirectly explains the origins of the massive grey blob that looks like a squid monster, which is the result of a mutation of a water organism caused by toxic chemicals released into the river by an American military base.Bong's film is the contemporary answer to Ishiro Honda's Godzilla (1954), and George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968). THE GOOD: The Host is a fun monster movie that's elevated slightly above the Hollywood hum-drum because it spends time developing likable characters and clear relationships. It is action and comedy South Korea movie.A monster lives in Han river. We were discussing good sea monster movies on the boards one day, and all I could really think of was "The Host." Sure, the original "Godzilla" is a masterpiece (Japanese version, please) and "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" still holds up for those of us who like swimming alone, and "Deep Rising" is a hoot, but there's not a lot out there with a super cool monster AND story. It's not a traditional sea monster movie, and I'm sure a lot of people won't know what the hell to think, but it's well worth a look.. Featuring great drama, effective splashes of dark comedy,intense creature sequences and unexpected outcomes for the characters, this fresh allegory is one of the most politically charged South Korean films of the decade through one of the cleverest disguises mimicking what Hollywood cinema loves to do. Sometimes you look at the monster and can see that it's not really there, other times it really does interact well with the environment.What really elevates 'The Host' over so many similar films are the little touches.

tt1366365

The Cold Light of Day

Will Shaw (Henry Cavill) owns a consultancy business in San Francisco. During the summer break, he reluctantly visits his family in Spain for a holiday. He is met there by his father, Martin Shaw (Bruce Willis), who is himself an advisor for the government. That evening, a phone call to Will concerning his company's insolvency puts him in a bad mood and he decides to go fishing the next day. His preoccupation with the phone results in a sailing accident; Will leaps to save his brother's (Rafi Gavron) girlfriend Dara (Emma Hamilton) from being hit by the yacht's boom but she hits her head on a winch. While everyone is fussing over Dara, Will's phone rings again. In frustration, Martin grabs it and throws it into the ocean. Will decides to swim to town to fetch medical supplies and take some time to cool down. When he comes back, he can no longer find his family in the yacht. Will goes to the police and they lead him to Zahir (Roschdy Zem), who knows the whereabouts of Will's family, and invites him along to be shown the way. Will senses something is amiss, and attempts to escape with the police car. Martin appears, beats the officers, and helps Will escape. Martin reveals he is a CIA agent, and explains that the people who kidnapped their family are after a briefcase he had taken while carrying out a CIA assignment. Martin calls his CIA team leader, Jean Carrack (Sigourney Weaver) who agrees to meet him in Madrid. At the meeting, Will stays in the car while Martin talks to Carrack, who says she no longer has the briefcase for she handed it over to their superiors. He doesn't believe her and senses something is wrong. As Martin returns to the car, he is shot and killed by a sniper (Joseph Mawle). Will is shocked but when he gets out to check him, Martin's phone starts ringing and the sniper, Gorman, starts shooting at him. Will grabs the phone, leaves the car, and is chased through Madrid by Gorman. Will escapes, leaving his father's gun in a trash bin. During his escape, Will takes a call from the kidnappers, who want to speak to "Tom" and demand the briefcase in exchange for his family. He is given a deadline of 21 hours and a meeting point. Will arranges a meeting with his father's friend, Diego. He arrives at Diego's office and meets receptionist Lucia Caldera (Verónica Echegui), who was the girl he spoke to on the phone and it transpires that Diego is her uncle. But Diego was killed by Carrack and Gorman. Will and Lucia escape across the rooftops, but Will is shot. Instead of taking Will to a hospital, Lucia takes him to a nightclub, to a friend who has medical experience. Lucia also tells Will that "Tom" is Martin's alias in Spain, and that she is actually Will's half sister, being Martin's daughter by another woman. Lucia comes up with a plan to lure Carrack out by starting a tab on her credit card. Gorman appears and is subdued by bouncers at the nightclub and tortured for information. He gives nothing away and Will decides to let him think he has escaped and to follow him. This works and they follow him to Carrack, who has the briefcase and in negotiation with someone in an underground car park. But Carrack senses that something's wrong and starts attacking the negotiators and Will. After an extensive car chase through Madrid, the roles are reversed and Carrack chases them, angry at their interference. The cars collide and Lucia is seriously injured. Just as Carrack is about to shoot Will, she is shot by a sniper, and Zahir retrieves the briefcase. It was revealed that Zahir and his team are CIA agents and Carrack, with Gorman, is a traitor. Zahir commends Will and tells him that his father would have been proud of him. Lucia recovers in hospital, surrounded by her half family. Will is offered a job in the CIA; whether he accepts is left unresolved.

violence, murder

train

wikipedia

To be honest Bruce Willis is by far the best actor and carries the film for the first 20min giving some hope it will become a good action film, unfortunately it did not.I have never walked out on a film but after a number of laugh out loud moments ( at the film ), I was seriously contemplating it. I have to disagree with the bourne analogy.I just don't see it ,after watching the movie I felt it went in a bit of a different direction and I actually thought the movie was entertaining,and cavill seemed unaware for the most part what was going on.Was it a blockbuster,or huge like the bourne's ? No.But it had merit and I am I admit,a little into cavill,and think he is on the rise.the thing is though,is that they are doing a lot of movies along this same line.Still,all in all,though its not great,i wouldn't go so far to say that its not worth a watch.There may be a few mistakes and oddities in the show,but still it kept my attention to the end.the storyline seems to lack here and there,but I guess I still think it turns out to be a fairly good watch.. I wasn't expecting ground breaking, I wasn't expecting Willis/Weaver to have the roles of their careers, I was however expecting a middle of the road Bourne style action/mystery/spy thriller that had me entertained and interested... Even the one scene Willis and Weaver shared together seemed laboured, like neither really wanted to be there at all.There is nothing memorable about any part of this film whatsoever other than the blatant and at times literally 'in your face' product placement. The whole movie looked like it was written in 5 minutes with the sole purpose of cashing in on Bourne, selling a few Audi's and cans of Cola, and providing Mr Willis and Ms Weaver one more paycheck before inevitable retirement (seems Weaver will do anything for a peanut these days).2/10. Two sides looking for a briefcase that contains a "something" that is not even mentioned in the end is a pathetic attempt as a plot resource.Even worse is the fact that Bruce Willis is non-existent in the movie, he is basically just for the sake of putting his face in the front cover of the movie.Sigourney tries so hard with SO little, she surely doesn't need to accept this kinds of roles, specially with movies such as this one.There are so many plot holes and incoherences that I completely lost all my interest 50% into the movie, for example, in the first 40 minutes of action, our main character was surrounded by cops as soon as he displays a gun, he couldn't move without being surrounded by cops, he even manage to have a warrant order for arrest from the local police, but, incredibly enough, the last 40 minutes of the movie we see car crashes, tourist and local people being killed for no reason, shooting in the streets, so on and so forth with ZERO cops, totally ridiculous!The movies is a pathetic attempt at an action movie, flat and excessive in violence for no other reason than the lack of a good script.It doesn't even deserve a 2 in my scale, since any B-movie will surpass this one very easily.My advice, do not waste your time on this one, it's flat, boring, very unoriginal, being done a million times before and much better.. if you want to see real action with a good script, please, rent or take out of your personal collection the first Die Hard, you will be much more entertained, even if you saw it a hundred times.Total waste of good actors.1 out of 10, horrible.. the Bourne and Die Hard movies) and wanted to mix them for the basis of something at least as good, but did not succeed: the result is a porridge of this and that and the logic of events and motives is doubtful and inscrutable (e.g. suitcase-related events, a small business becoming a wild hero within half a day, long car chases without any police visible). The City of Madrid provides joy of recognition to them who have visited it.The characters are not well deliberated either and it is astonishing why such great actors Sigourney Weaver and Bruce Willis agreed to star in such a movie... The remaining cast, including the main performer Henry Cavill, is nothing special, not catchy at all.The Cold Light of Day can kill your time, but you can easily avoid it. Oh how the mighty have become desperate.From the terrible acting to the obvious clichés, this movie needs to be buried deep underground and never dug up.Do yourselves a favour and save yourselves 90 minutes of your lives, maybe even take up a hobby, like watching paint dry.. It reads like a concept reel for emerging leading man Henry Cavill who will proceed to star as Superman in next year's Man of Steel but it makes so many concessions to the sensibilities of a spy movie that it's never going to be a real jumping point for Cavill. The result is a watery, meandering spy movie that manages even at its best moments to be completely ordinary.Will Shaw (Henry Cavill) is barely a day into his vacation in Spain when financial problems at home in San Francisco threaten to shorten the trip. Discovering that he can recover his kidnapped family by giving up a certain briefcase, Will must beat the clock to unravel the underlying mystery but not before he encounters corrupted CIA agent (Sigourney Weaver) and his lost sister (Verónica Echegui).On one hand, it's easy to be enthusiastic about engrossing yourself in the story but on the other, The Cold Light of Day gives very few reasons why you should. In a year filled with other spy movies like Total Recall, The Bourne Legacy and the upcoming Bond film, The Cold Light of Day looks like a distant relative.. Every time i watch a Bruce Willis film i expect to see him in the lead role but he was not the star today - i guess Henry Cavill is steadily been built up to become an A-lister (don't forget he is playing Superman in the 'Man if Steel') The script is OK but does need work in certain areas (watch and find out) Sigourney Weaver played an unconvincing baddie and 'unknown'Verónica Echegui character could have been more involving. The lead character in this film is not Bruce Willis but his "son" played by Will Shaw (Henry Cavill)(2013 Superman), as an actor he did a great job in the epic flick: Immortals. I haven't seen Henry Cavill act before (actually I have, though I've never noticed him) and he did good as well.This has to be said, and I'm sure everyone who saw the movie will agree with me: Sigourney Weaver was soooo unrealistic in this movie. I would highly recommend to not get discouraged by this, because the time invested will be well rewarded.One may claim that my thumbs up comments may be somewhat biased for me being an European, still cannot quite grasp how it took me over 4 years to discover this action movie flavored with spy theme, believable story and acting; just the way I like it.I wanted to see this film because of Henry Cavill from Man from the U.N.C.L.E and for sure because of Bruce Willis. Henry Cavill especially really nailed it.If you are seeking for a great hour and half of gun blasting spy entertainment, then I would highly recommend to watch The Cold Light of Day. You will not be disappointed.. If not for the romantic side, this movie has basically everything you need in a thriller: action, secrets, good location and a fast pace that will not give you time to breath or think. Henry Cavill and Veronica Echugui along with Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver delivered, and I enjoyed this movie from beginning to end! Her acting in this movie is terrible, yes, but it's not all her fault that the character was written and directed by morons.If you like Bruce Willis don't see this movie because he doesn't have much of a role. There are a few actors I've trained or worked with that improve my enjoyment of a film merely by their presence and Joseph is one of those.However, not even Mr Mawle can save The Cold Light of Day. It's a mess.Weaver hams it up (as Jean Carrack) even more than she did in Paul (whatever happened to the actress who seized our attention in Alien, enthralled in The Ice Storm and amused in Galaxy Quest?) and, despite being a high-ranking 'agency' gunslinger cannot shoot to hit a static man across a small room! People who like Bruce WIllis and Sigourney Weaver with like them a little bit less after this film; people who don't like them will be screaming for that 80 something minutes of their life back.. Enjoyed the first few minutes where we felt there was a certain tension despite there being no palpable reason for it.The characters seemed weak and although the general idea seemed like it would work we found the plot and action became less and less realistic as the film progressed.Just about watchable, but the plot was confused to say the least. It still however feels far from a bad movie and chances are you'll simply have a good time with it while watching it, though it's doubtful you'll ever watch the movie again after it and it won't be one that will stick on your mind for very long time.Make no mistake about it; this is not Bruce Willis his "Taken", though on paper it might still sound that way. So please, don't go into this movie expecting to see a typical, good old fashioned, Bruce Willis genre flick, in which he gets to do a whole lot of fighting and shooting. The movie just doesn't always have the best storytelling in it and at times things just aren't really flowing well and pleasantly enough.The movie certainly makes you wonder what the likes of Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver are doing on this but in all truth, their presence helps to bring the movie up another notch. One of the pointless movie with actors like Bruce Willis and Weaver made to look like jokers.Don't waste 90 min of your time watching this movie. Henry Cavill partners Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver to spurt a pair of pellets each and to exemplify how unprofessional and uneconomical acts such as The Cold Light of Day can be. The Spanish location is refreshing and pretty as is Henry Cavill -pretty that is, but he's not a great actor and struggles through this leading role wearing some really bad clothes (I have to add.) Bruce Willis is given top billing but is barely in the movie and just seems to smirk his way through his scenes, I'm not even sure he's acting? This leads to an out and out chase around Spain, where Will hooks up with Lucia (Veronica Echegui), a young girl eager to settle her own score with Will's charge, and may be more closer to him than he imagined.Unlike other ageing action supremos Arnie and Sly, the third Planet Hollywood pay roller Bruce Willis is wisely taking more sideline, supporting roles in films like this, even if some of them are more lower grade and out the way. Picking up the pieces of countless action flicks out there and putting altogether, "The Cold Light of Day" has the new Superman (oh yes he is one!) Henry Cavill as an American businessman traveling in Spain when his family mysteriously disappears. While finding out what happened to them, he discovers that his dad (Bruce Willis) was a CIA agent and that one of his routine missions might have something to do with the case and now the young man has to find a way to rescue his family before time runs out. Willis is fine here but his character is taken out before it hits the first half hour; Sigourney Weaver has some good moments playing the antagonist, a little bit laughable though just like many of the thrilling sequences, sometimes truly hard to take them seriously. These are the ones where our hero, always wrongly accused on something and on the run from gun-totting agents from some black-ops government agency or another, has to leg it from one location to another, narrowly getting away each time (and picking up a helpful girl along the way who will serve as the 'love interest.' The Cold Light of Day is one of these sorts of films. The only real surprises are how this film managed to attract action heavyweights such as Sigourney Weaver and Bruce Willis. 'THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five) The next Superman (in Zak Snyder's upcoming 'MAN OF STEEL' film), Henry Cavill, attempts to headline his own action film (which also co-stars action vet Bruce Willis) and fails. Not even Willis and Sigourney Weaver (as the movie's main villain) can save this mediocre action film but it does have a few good moments (on a clearly B action movie level).Cavill plays Will Shaw, a Wall Street Trader reluctantly vacationing with his family in Spain. After he's framed for the murder of a police officer Will finds himself on the run from everyone and only finds help from a young woman (Veronica Echegui) claiming to know his father, who's also on the run from authorities.I never saw the awful looking John Singleton action film 'ABDUCION' with Taylor Lautner (and Sigourney Weaver as well) but, having seen the trailer, this reminds me of a slightly better version of that and Henry Cavill is only a slightly better actor than Lautner. The only thing i was interested in was to see Sigourney Weaver in the role of a cold and ruthless agent (it's passed some time since I saw a movie with her). I had assumed it would be a brilliant action thriller, what with Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver making appearances. One of the films in the list of screenings during the inaugural Screen Singapore event last year, The Cold Light of Day boasts of big names in Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver which would hopefully bring in the crowds, but in truth one of them disappears after 20 minutes, while the other had no more than 20 minutes tops in screen time in the entire film. At first glance it seems like The Cold Light of Day does have all the necessary elements to be a worthy representative of its genre (spy/action flick) - there is a very attractive, flexible lead actor, captivating storyline, exotic setting (Spain) and fascinating action scenes, not to consider Bruce Willis. Bruce Willis is a bit of a wild card just to add in a big name and along with Sigourney Weaver provide the big star quality, that never actually happens and both are two of the worst points in this entire movie. The fight scenes are well done to be fair and although implausible at times, still quite good to look at even if in a dull part of the movie.Like what I said about the fights, the action is actually not too shabby and one of the major points when trying to find positivity about this film are the car chases which are kind of cool. Pretty Bad. This is one of the worst movies I have seen so far.The story is predictable in almost every scene, and although set in present day with 'realistic' plot you will find too many unbelievable scenes like falling of from a scooter and then sliding with your bare skin over the street without even the slightest scratch.The acting from most actors - given the poor plot - was OK to me, except for Sigourney Weaver who apparently didn't take the movie seriously in the first place and therefore didn't even bother to perform authentic.Since the producers did not believe in a commercial success at the box office either they ensured some cash back through aggressive product placement (cars, phones, soft drinks, ...).Do not waste your time and money on it.. It took longer than necessary to indicate who the bad guys were and then you do get angry at these bad people, which is all good for a action film...but you never get the release of this buildup it just has this blunt ending with no answers and accompanied by irritating characters.The failure of 'The Cold Light of Day' goes down only to the story and script, the acting was no showstopper, but no acting or special effects or even a love seen or whatever could have saved a horrible plot and story line...it was just not a well thought out film. For a movie that had both Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver on the cast list, then it faired surprisingly weak for an action thriller. And it didn't help the movie one bit that it was weighed down by a fairly generic and rather boring storyline.The story in "The Cold Light of Day" is about Will (played by Henry Cavill) who is reunited with his family in Spain, though he is absentminded because of work issues back in USA. And the characters in the movie weren't all that interesting, and not even Bruce Willis nor Sigourney Weaver were able to pull off their usual great performances. Sigourney Weaver did a terrible acting job this entire movie but I believe that was the point since she was the bad guy.This movie is an Action/Thriller. *sigh* The movie is brilliant, great acting throughout the film, epic and thrilling action sequences, and a good story. The directing was a bit off and this showed on every character including veterans actors like Sigourney Weaver and Bruce Willis.

tt1188729

Pandorum

The film begins in space with title cards appearing, referencing the technological evolution of space travel. Along with the population on Earth growing to the point of it exceeding the carry capacity and humanity has fought over the last natural resources. In the year 2174, a ship called Elysium is launched. In space, we see the massive ship flying towards the stars. On the bridge of the ship, officers receive a message from Earth. The message is "You're all that's left of us. Good luck, God Bless, and God speed".Bower (Ben Foster) wakes up from his hyper-sleep pod and panics from claustrophobia due to being in a closed space. He manages to free himself from the pod and rips out the tubes going into his body. He sees that he has a series of numbers tattooed on his arm. After peeling away his dead skin, he sees that he is alone. Not knowing what's going on, he finds a locker with his name on it and puts on some clothes. He finds a picture of a woman. He notices a couple of other pods nearby. A pod for Cooper is empty. Another pod still has Payton (Dennis Quad) inside. Bower tries to wake Payton up by slamming something against the sealed pod, but he hardly makes a scratch on it. He tries to open the door of the room but it's locked. A power surge shakes the ship, causing Payton to finally wake up. Both men are suffering from memory loss due the General Anesthesia they received in hyper-sleep and can't remember what the mission is nor the destination. Payton is a Lieutenant and Bower is a Corporal. They realize that something's wrong since they're all alone. The numbers tattooed on their arms indicate which group they belong to. Another power surge shakes the ship and Bower realizes that he's an engineer. Something's wrong with the reactor and he needs to fix it. Payton gets a nearby command center working by using the auxiliary power. He tries to call for help but no one answers. They hear a noise coming from a nearby vent.Payton decides that they need to find the crew members and get to the bridge to see what's happening. He sends Bower to find a way out in the vents while he stays behind at the command center to guide him around the ship. The vents are filled with tubes and are hard to crawl through. Bower tries to find his way to another room but the vents look endless and run in every direction. After feeling like he's going in circles, he panics and becomes claustrophobic again. Payton via radio calms Bower down by joking that he got the door open. Bower falls down a shaft and lands face-first on a grate. The fall causes him to lose contact with Payton. Bower lights a glow stick and sees Cooper's decomposing corpse right next to him. He falls through the grate and ends up in a storage compartment. Bower gets up but still can't communicate with Payton. The ship's corridors are long and dark.While searching around, Bower comes across a woman, (named Nadia in the credits, Antje Traue), trying to open a door. He tries to talk to her, but she quickly runs away. While chasing after her, he sees that she has seemingly stopped in a corridor. He tries to tell her that he's part of the crew and he needs to know what's going on. She remains silent. He shines his light on the figure and sees that it's not a woman but a man; a man who has been hung by his neck and is his stomach is cut opened. The woman pops up and attacks Bower, mugging him at knife point. She holds him down, taking his supplies, and orders him to remove his shoes as she only has toeless socks on her feet. She threaten to gut him if he resists. But suddenly they both hear screeching nearby.Nadia runs away and Bower is left confused. He sees a blue light at the end of the corridor and the screeching gets louder. The blue lights are blow torches attached to spears carried by pale, scar covered, and armor wearing humanoid creatures (called The Hunters in the credits). The half-eaten man is pulled up and devoured. Bower runs back to the room he came through and hides in the storage compartment. While the creature looks for him, Payton's voice comes through the radio. The creature tears open the compartment and snatches Cooper's body. After the creature leaves, Bower is scared, telling Payton that something not human is on-board the ship.Their memories start to return and remembers the mission. Payton says that there is no rescue nor turning back and turns out that the Elysium is not hauling cargo but that they are the cargo. The destination was Earth-like planet called Tanis which was one way ticket to colonize. The crew has been split into groups/shifts to work with 60,000 passengers on board. At the end of a groups turn (a couple of years), they are supposed to wake up the next group and debrief them. Bower also gets a childhood flashback remembering Tanis being discovered, watching it on television with his family being inspired by the idea of sending people up there. Bower then remembers his wife and that families of the crew were allowed to travel on the ship. Bower stops being scared and becomes desperate to find her before the creatures do. He also remembers that Payton has a wife as well. Payton tries to be the voice of reason and convince him to continue making his way to the reactor. If Bower can fix it, the power will come back on for the ship and they can implement security measures.Bower looks around and finds a security room. He finds a non-lethal anti-riot gun which Payton says is deadly up-close and straps it to his arm. He goes into the corridors again and sees a hanged man. He thinks that he's going crazy since it looks like the same hanged man from before. However, upon closer inspection he finds that the man is different (he's still alive and in one piece). Bower cuts him down and is introduced to Shepard (Norman Reedus). Shepard is part of another group and has been by himself for a long time. Bower says that his commanding officer want's to know what's happening. Shepard says that there's no commanding officer and covers himself in oil to cover his scent from the creatures. He tries to leave but sees blue lights coming towards them. The creatures chase Bower and Shepard through the ship. The creatures are fast and have sharp weapons. They eventually string Shepard back up and Bower tries to shoot the creatures in order to save him, but his shot is blocked by a glass door. The creatures cut Shepard's stomach open, feeding on him, and they notice Bower which results in a chase. He runs into a man (named Mahn in the credits, Cung Le), who helps him escape from them but loses communication with Payton. Bower thanks him but can't understand Manh's language but still manages to communicate that he's part of the crew. He sees Manh's tattoo and sees that he's part of the agriculture crew. He tells him that he's going to start up the reactor and tells Manh to stay put. Meanwhile, Payton starts to get a bloody nose and gets increasingly scared that he can't talk to Bower.Bower finds a housing container that acts as a living quarters. He sees that there are several other containers as well and food. Bower is attacked by Nadia again, making fall from a great distance. However, instead of gutting him like she said she would, she shows sympathy by asking if he is okay, then Manh pops up to defend Bower again. As Nadia and Manh fight, Bower fires off a shot into the air. He acts as the voice of reason, telling her that he understands that its felt like "every man for himself" and she wants to survive, but solidarity is the far more effective survival strategy. Bower tells Nadia that they need to start the reactor or else they'll lose everything, but she says that no one has ever came back from going that far down. Bower asks who she is but Nadia acts aloof, saying "nobody". She is a very cynical woman and doesn't trust him, putting a knife to his neck when he touches her. But eventually agrees to show him the way to the reactor after founding out he is apart of the flight crew(whom she thought was all dead) as he could fly the ship and land it.They come across a hallway with water dipping from the ceiling and find themselves surrounded by creatures. A power surge shakes the ship, allowing Nadia to activate a door open. The creatures close in on them and Mahn holds up his spear unwilling to go down without a fight. They barely make it inside and seal the door where reveals some more about herself. Nadia has been awake for months and there use to be five of them that protected this room. To them it seemed worth protecting as it's an Embryonic chamber holding livestock and wildlife re-population that holds the world they are going to live in, stating that the ship is a Noah's Ark. She is a former biologist from Germany who spend seven years working for the Brandenburg Institute genetic sampling team collecting and readying earth's biosphere for the trip to Tanis. Her motive for enlisting on the mission was because she was a workaholic and it didn't felt right handing off the genetic samples so she volunteered to go along with it. She pours her heart out and broods about her amnesiac state, saying that she can remember the vault and its systems but she can't remember where she grew up or her brother's name. As a quirk she practices entomophagy, where she eats grasshoppers stating that it is good for protein and offers Bower some. He accepts and they eat together which disgusts Mahn.After a while, Nadia leads the team through a part of the ship that holds civilian pods, telling them to keep quit and not slow her down. Bower notices that the majority of the pods are empty. Nadia tells him that it's the creatures hunting ground and tells them to hurry. Bower wonders if his wife is there, but Nadia tells him that the families of the crew are held in another area of the ship. Mahn gets distracted by something and holds his spear up. Bower quietly tells him to move but he don't, knowing something is following them. Nadia coldly says that they should leave him behind as he is slowing them down. Bower objects at first but he has no choice but to keep moving.Bower suddenly disappears. Nadia walks over to where he was and falls down a grate. Bower lights up a glow stick and they both see that they've fallen into a massive pit of bones and gore. The creatures appear above the grate and move through the area. Bower climbs out of the pit first but keeps Nadia at bay. While he looks around, he's attacked by a creature. Bower is thrashed around while suffering from Pandorum and Manh comes to defend him again. He stabs the creature in the head, but it's still alive. Nadia manages to stab it in the leg but is thrashed around as well. Bower manages to stab it in the chest, and the trio repeatedly stab it until it's dead. The other creatures were watching and their leader gives them a case to run. It roars to its mates and some jump on the defeated creature and begin to devour it while others give chase to the trio. They come into another area and witness a man wake up from his pod. Bower attempts to help him but is too late as the man is stabbed in the head and eaten by the creatures. However, they mention to escape.Meanwhile, Payton continues to hear more and more noise coming from the vent. He grabs a pipe and climbs up. As he enters the vent, through the mass of hoses and wires, he sees a human arm reach out for him. Gallo (Cam Gigandet) is naked and covered in blood/slime and Payton pulls him through and locks the vent. Gallo says that he came from the bridge before passing out.The group appear to be lost and Bower complains that he thought Nadia knew where they were going. Nadia then irritably tells him that she was just trying to save their lives. They then take refuge in a room covered in algae and seal the door shut. Back to Bower and his team. They find that they are not alone. A hermit (named Leland in the credits, Eddie Rouse) has been living in the room for years now. Leland is situated on a balcony above the team so that they can't reach him. He makes them some food which made with the algae and welcomes them to his home.Back to Payton; Gallo is passed out. Payton inspects his arm and sees that he's part of the previous group. Gallo wakes up and asks Payton what he's doing. Payton asks where they are and Gallo states that all the stars look alike, that they are lost in space. Some of the blood on Gallo is from someone else, which makes Payton suspicious. Gallo says that he was with two other crew members, but they suffered from Pandorum (i.e. space madness) and he was forced to kill them. Payton loads a needle gun with a shot to calm Gallo down, but he refuses to take it and becomes hostile. He accuses Payton of having Pandorum and insists that he is the one who needs the shot instead.Meanwhile, Nadia tries to clean her cut wounds that she received from their battle with pieces of her dirty clothing. Bower shows concern and asks if it is safe to clean herself with that. But Nadia sarcastically responds with sass saying that its nothing compared to facing those things. This leads to them having a conservation about what they are where Bower jokes about them being Aliens to lighten the mood. She tells him her theory that the creatures are actually passengers. In all the hyper-sleep pods, everyone was supplied with an accelerator to speed up adaptation and jump evolution to adjust to the conditions on Tanis. Instead, it could have made some people adapted to the ship. However, Bower questions why they nor Leland (who has been awaken for years) hasn't adapted at all. Nadia believes that the creatures may have been on the ship far longer than any of them.Gallo tells Payton how Pandorum causes extreme paranoia and how it has an emotional trigger. What caused it with his crew is that Earth had mysteriously vanished and the thousands of people on the ship are all that's left of humanity - Leland tells the team what happened afterward based on accounts of other passengers and drawings depicted on the walls in his lair. Leland states that he "would grow into manhood" and Gallo is depicted with something abnormal with his mind as electric sparks appear around his head and blood is drawn around his noses. This strongly hints that he developed Pandorum. This strongly hints that had awaken other passengers to play "nasty little games" as he puts it. He would be their master or slayer to them, both "God and the Devil" as that is what some would say. He would send those who had behaved to exile themselves in the cargo hold to play nasty little game. This game involved them performing similar activities to that of the Hunters, where they hung each other on ropes, cutting their stomachs open, and cannibalizing each other. The drawings depicting the events show these passengers grabbing their heads as blood pours from their noses and electric sparks appear around them. Which suggests that Gallo drove them mad and Pandorum was the cause of the cannibalistic behavior on the ship. Eventually he went back into hyper-sleep. As he slept, a whole new world of evil grew as Leland puts it. Then the group is gassed by him while Gallo watches Payton go mad from the truth, waiting...Bower wakes up to find himself, Nadia, and Manh hung upside down in the room. Leland is a survivalist who plans on eating them for food, which he has been doing for years with both human and the creatures. Nadia mouths off and Leland stabs her in the chest. He's about to fillet her when a power surge shakes the ship. He states that with Earth gone and the ship not working, there is nothing else left to live for than to go by his survival instincts and he wouldn't have survived this long if he had a heart. It's just survival of the fittest now, or maybe the brightest, as he puts it. Bower tells him that it was the last power surge. If they don't start the reactor within the hour, everything in the ship will shut down for good. Bower says that he understands why Leland is doing what he is doing and that no one was going to judge him, with Leland showing remorse for what he has done for all these years. Leland cuts them down and makes them walk through the ship at gunpoint with Bower's weapon.Meanwhile, things get heated with Gallo and Payton. Gallo thinks that they should evacuate the ship while they still can, but Payton is confident that Bower will fix the reactor. Gallo insists that Payton is starting to exhibit signs of Pandorum. Payton says that Gallo is crazy and continues to order him to "stand down".The team comes across a hunter child feeding on algae covering the ship which Mahn tries to kill but Nadia stops him confusing it for human and it alerts other hunters. They escape to a part of the ship that holds the pods for families of the crew where all of them appear to be empty and Bower believes that they are all dead. Nadia appears to have warmed up to Bower after he saved his life and cares about him founding his wife, asking him if he thinks that she is here somewhere. But he remembers that the woman in the photo is no longer his wife and isn't on the ship. She left him and he had nothing left on Earth, so he signed up to be the engineer on the mission to found a place in history. This means that she vanished along with Earth. Out of empathy Nadia, tries to give emotional support to help him remain optimistic by saying she saved his life by leaving him. But he is so consumed by grief he becomes pessimistic, believing that there is nothing left to go back, which almost makes him give up on the mission. But Nadia continues to be optimistic and gets him motivated again by saying they were meant to go on and they were meant to survive, and now it's more important than ever. Bower than sees the pod for Paytons wife and remembers her name. He also remembers something else about Payton....The team makes it to the reactor but find that below it is the sleeping ground for the creatures. Bower tries to walk across a catwalk to the reactor but it gives way. Manh holds onto the catwalk while Nadia runs across to help Bower. Seeing that Manh can't hold the weight of both of them, Bower allows himself to fall down to where the creatures are. Bower covers himself with skin/slime so that the creatures won't pick up his scent. He then crawls amongst them to get to the ladder leading up to the reactor. Once he gets there, Leland accidentally drops a light down to where the creatures are, waking them all up. Leland runs away while Manh drops the catwalk, crushing a couple of creatures. He makes noises and leads the creatures away from Bower & Nadia. Bower climbs up to the reactor and turns on the power, which fries some creatures in the process.Gallo takes control of the needle gun and forces Payton to open his pod. Gallo has Payton start the ejection sequence and gets inside. However, Payton tricks Gallo and instead just locks him inside the pod.Elsewhere, Manh manages to elude the hunters but then runs into the leader. Mahn is again unwilling to go down without a fight. The leader notices this and tosses him a spear to fight back with but the fight is mostly one sided. The leader pins Manh against a wall and starts to eat his stomach. Manh grabs a knife and repeatedly stabs the leader in the head until it dies. Apparently the creature was teaching its young how to fight, as Manh then turns around to find it's child staring at him. He contemplates killing the child, but lowers his knife. The child in turn slices Manh's throat open. Manh falls to the ground and the child begins to feed.Bower turns on the reactor, providing power to the ship (which opens the door to the bridge). Payton is happy that Bower succeeded, but then finds that Gallo has escaped from his pod. Gallo attacks Payton and they fight for control over the needle gun. During the fight, their arms merge together. It's shown that Payton is the only person there and has been fighting himself. After Payton stabs himself in the leg with the needle, Leland winds up in the command center. Payton promptly fires the needle gun into Leland's eye, rendering him unconscious.Bower and Nadia make it back to the bridge while being chased by cannibals. They lock the door and find Payton already there. Bower knew Payton's wife and knew the real Payton. It's revealed that "Payton" is actually Gallo! He was interacting with a younger version of himself (how he looked when he first started working on the ship) playing mind games with himself like he did with the passengers. Bower remembers what the real Payton looks like and knows that Gallo is the "God & Devil" from the story. When he went back to hyper-sleep, he got into Payton's pod instead of his own. Gallo says that doesn't remember what life was like before the flight and the ship is all he has left. Bower asks Gallo where exactly they are. After opening the window shields, all they can see is darkness and Bower panics from claustrophobia feeling that there is no escape. This, the revelation of the fate of Earth, and his ex-wife is too much for Bower and the effects of Pandorum start to catch up to him.It's revealed that Gallo has became so paranoid that has has turned into an antihumanist. Because human civilization had ruin Earth's resources with overpopulation, he has come to believe that moralistic altruism is petty and life eating life like in the wildness is perfect. He tells Bower that with the ship they can create a new world with the ship (alluding to Nadia's theory) but in a wild primitive state. Meaning that he purposefully created the creatures that now roam the ship. He now attempts to exploit Bower's descent into madness like he did with the paranoid passengers and convert him to savagery.It turns out that Gallo was lying earlier about them being lost in space. The flight log shows they have been on the ship for 923 years and realize that Elysium has been on Tanis the entire time, crash-landed in an ocean underwater. The creatures are not the passengers, nor did the passengers mutated but instead they are their descendants who evolved into a new species after generations of ecological selection, continuing the game Gallo had started with their ancestors as tradition. Gallo then attacks Bower but Nadia tries to stop him but due to her injury she is overpowered. Bower hallucinates about creatures trying to break into the bridge. Then Nadia sees fish swimming past the ship. Gallo begins to press Bower's face against the chair until he finally succumbs to Pandorum and Nadia tries to defend him. But due to her stab wound Gallo throws her off and advances on her with her own knife. Bower, still hallucinating, shoots a compartment (thinking a creature is coming through), causing a piece to crack the window. Nadia calls out to Bower snapping out of his delirium and he grabs her just in time before the windows break from the water pressure, flooding the ship with water. They run off leaving Gallo drowns along with Leland and the cannibals.Bower and Nadia run back to Bower's pod. They both get in and seal the door shut, but a lot of water gets in as well. Bower lets Nadia have his air mask while he almost drowns. The pod pops out of the surface of the ocean. Bower and Nadia survive and look around the alien planet. Bower comforts her telling her that it's safe to awake up now and she smiles. The ship, experiencing a hull breach, enacts the evacuation plan and ejects all the remaining pods. Soon the rest of the pods pop out of the ocean and the remaining people start to wake up. Bower smiles and puts his head on Nadia's in relief that they have completed their mission.The film ends with text, stating that the population on Tanis year ONE is 1,213 humans. Bower had found a place in history.

gothic, murder, cult, violence, horror, atmospheric, flashback, insanity, action, suspenseful

train

imdb

The acting was good without going over the top.I loved the way this movie started; guy wakes up from hyper-sleep…his memory is not fully functional, he knows things are not right and has to save the day.I thought the story was great in that they did not over-explain everything like they have in so many sci-fi movies. The mid plot line was very good never found myself asking "what the hell are you doing", and the ending was very good without being so trivially expected.Of course Dennis Quaid is a great actor but I really liked watching Ben Foster. Taking a lot of ideas from Alien, a 1979 classic sci-fi movie, and borrowing the creatures from The Descent, another near classic movie from a few years ago, Pandorum was still impressive. Of course I'm reviewing Pandorum, so I won't mention the former film anymore.THe cast for the most part was rather good for a movie of this type. It doesn't match the classic status of that movie, but Pandorum is worth seeing for its psychological feel and how some people might act after being in space for so long. By the way, the movie does have a twist, which I will not spoil for anyone who wants to see it.Note: THis is a film that may make most of its money on DVD, and will likely acquire somewhat of a cult status.. I thought this movie did an excellent job of tapping into a number of deep-rooted fears that seem to be universal - claustrophobia, loneliness, loss of memory, large semi-dark areas with things that go bump, not to mention suddenly waking up and not knowing what the heck is going on all around you. And lots of nice twists too - don't see that enough in movies in general any more!I can't comment too much on the "technical" aspects of the film, sorry, I'm just more of "was it a good, believable story" person. But it's a true mindbender, and it's packed with action that moves so quickly neither the actors nor the audience can really catch a breath, which is a good move if your plot is shaky to begin with.As with the best deep-space movies, the context is mental illness, what the Professor on Gilligan's Island called, oddly enough, "island madness." Only in space. There are many twists in this film and it's hard to find words without spoiling…so just go see it…you won't be disappointed.In my opinion, this is the best sci-fi/horror film to hit the major screens since Alien. This film is one of the most terrifying action/horror/sci-fi movies I have seen in a very long time, but that's not the best part! The twists and turns keep coming.The script, director and ensemble of actors elevate what could have been another ALIEN tribute into something highly original and compelling.The overarching mystery kept me glued to the screen and despite everything I guessed, the ending fooled me, which is always a nice bonus for a film.Stunning visuals and incredible SFX! Dark, full of terror, suspense, really excellent movie, excellent acting of Ben Foster and Antje Traue...Hopefully there's coming second part of the movie Pandorum isn't suppose to be an action space flick, it's not a generic star wars clone And it is defiantly not a AvP off. Original story line (not another reboot), A bit like aliens/event horizon/and a zombie movie so perfect for me I LOVED IT!!!!! It's a survival horror movie which has its thrilling moments, really very good story and creepy creatures. Pandorum is an original story with a great twist that actually make s sense, excellent acting with believable characters, all in an imaginative environment. Movie is better.In few words: Pandorum has splendid sets and design, gooooood acting (Ben Foster especially gives power to this movie), and most important - strong directing and quite good script with few kinda' freshy concepts.The script has only one major flaw - too much talking. But we have to remember that I watched it on DivX, so It could be worse in better quality.This whole bunch of things is nicely photographed and edited so the final package WILL make you happy.Summing up - be prepared for some deja-vu from time to time (for example "The Descent" [2005], "Event Horizon" [1997], "Creep" [2004]), but it's a good mix for sure and if you are looking for dark Science Fiction in the tone (tone, not level) of Alien, I definitely recommend you this title.. Although Michl Britsch music score proved distracting to the point of annoyance and the special effects are a little weaker than one would expect for a film released in 2010, everything else about Pandorum makes this a must see movie. Very intelligible story mixed with good performance of Ben Foster, Dennis Quaid and Antje Traue is worth seeing this movie (even couple of times).P.S. I hope Alvart and his fellows won't start filming sequel.... I think its downfall was not the movie itself but the promotions, because I definitely remember it being called a horror movie with a vampire theme, which is far from what it is, and ended up creating the wrong expectations for the audience.Great acting by all involved, including the mutant child. But who cares when you're sucked in from minute one and kept interested (not to mention terrified) throughout the whole deal ?If you love sci-fi, psychological horror and movies that are just plain INTENSE, do yourself a favor and check out Pandorum. Directed by Christian Alvart and written by Travis Milloy, and I totally had forgotten about this movie, I just remember seeing its trailer back in 2009, but I wasn't interested at that time, however I got curious again since Antje Traue is in it.The story is interesting; a spaceship that's on its way to the new Earth is lost with thousands of passengers, and a lot of crap happens around this gigantic spaceship. It obviously has some of the old, cliché of the "jump scares," but the story gets more thriller and intense as the movies goes on, and I absolutely LOVE the third act; some of the twists are predictable, but they're presented very well. The performances are fine honestly - I only thought Cam Gigandet was over acting, but I think it is necessary for the story.Overall, I enjoyed the movie, more than I expected in fact, and I recommend it for anyone who enjoys a thriller scifi, I give it 7.5/10.. The movie does such a good job of taking the viewer on the journey with the protagonists, that the denouement is refreshing.Not great film-making, but good sci-fi.. The acting is good, suspense is maintained right to the end , the effects are brilliant and the action sequences very good.The camera work in the action scenes is the same as the first couple of alien films, lots of moving shots and cool angles done really well. I've not been too impressed with that many science-fiction thriller/horror films set in outer space since, well, probably Alien and Aliens, but Pandorum turned out to be something of a different ball game altogether. It looks gorgeously dark, and pretty much entertaining from start to finish, keeping you guessing until the mid-way mark, while letting the gloomy, pessimistic atmosphere envelope you.I suppose of late the premise of our Earth dying, and deep space vessels built to bring selected people on that colonizing trip to far flung planets, have been the It thing in many contemporary science fiction films, since it plays on the fact that we're continuously ravaging the planet and payback time is just around the corner. To avoid extinction, by then in the future we'd come up with such a Noah's Ark to transport ourselves somewhere else to get that fighting chance of survival, and the film pretty much starts off with Ben Foster's Corporal Bower waking up in a pod, and emerging into a darkened space hull where it seems like he's the only survivor.If you'd want to nitpick, there are adequate avenues to do so, and in fact sometimes right from the start. Like I mentioned, these trivialities should be checked at the door, because the payload's very much worth over these little inconsequential asking of Whys, some of which do get addressed as the film moved along.Corporal Bower soon gets joined by Lieutenant Payton (Dennis Quaid) and together they try to make sense of their predicament, with the higher ranking officer guiding his only man to do the grunt work of hitting the ground, while he well, pretty much does environmental monitoring over at the console chamber. And of course this allows Ben Foster, who has been extremely impressive in his supporting role in 3:10 To Yuma, to take the opportunity to shine again as the ground-soldier-flight-engineer to implement his plan of reviving the ship's nuclear reactor before the main systems shut down for good.And this of course allows for adequate set action sequences to take place as uneasy alliances get forged with respective, primal human survivors that Bower comes across, and pit them against some really pasty white and dexterous creatures that feed on both humans and cannibalizing their own fallen comrades, courtesy of Stan Winston Studios. While they may seem to move in confined spaces with stealth, cunning and speed reminiscence of those in the Alien franchise, somehow the cinematography and angles chosen seem to make it all a tad difficult at times to make out who's doing what, and who's attacking who, though when it does get its act together, it's edge-of-your-seat material, especially when it successfully exploits its "boo" moments to scare.There are some impressive sets and effects that do make you sit up and take notice, and for a relatively modest budgeted film, the filmmakers have pulled off quite the miracle in creating this environment full of questions asked. The story by Travis Milloy plays out like one huge mystery for the audience to solve, though of course its twist is nothing not already seen before, but still rather effectively put on screen by director Christian Alvart.Pandorum has been playing for some time already and screening is now relegated to a few halls and limited screening times. Whilst exploring the forsaken ship, he comes across fellow survivors and an evil presence that slaughters them one by one.The premise of 'Pandorum' is reminiscent of 'Event Horizon', 'Alien', 'The Descent', 'Sunshine' and numerous other sci-fi/horror affairs…and it has absolutely no new ideas. It's very strange for me to love so much a strictly genre piece, but there you have it.Pandorum follows the rules of SF/horror deep-space stories and doesn't stray into new territory, but it still manages to not seem a rip-off of anything, even when you see clearly which movies it was inspired by in specific scenes.Pandorum is claustrophobic to the point of suffocation. I am generally a big fan of the sci-fi/horror genre, so I thought it might be worth seeing as the trailer seemed promising.To my absolute surprise this film is a real gem of a movie. I felt he anchored the movie in a way that benefited the general atmosphere and the other actors a great deal.Anyway well worth watching, entertaining, interesting and very well executed.. Good atmosphere and quick action,without boring parts.This movie proofs that you can make interesting film with low budget.Design is great,especially the ship, which looks fantastic.Modern SF hybrid which came out from nowhere in the year of Avatar,Star Trek,District 9,and Moon.I will remember 2009,as very good year for SF movies.Excellent choice of actors.Ben Foster,Denis Quaid,and Antje Traue.I would like to see Pandorum 2,although i know that it not very likely to happen.. It is ridiculed for having an ending fitting to the story, which is not a bad quality at all.As with most movies, it has its flaws, however Pandorum is generally a good movie for any one who likes science fiction or horror. Dennis Quaid was also very solid, and so were the other cast members who I have never heard of before, but were fine actors.If you're into the Sci-Fi survival horror genre, then don't miss this film. The ugly human like monster, the awkward love story, and of course the "Hollywood big movie suit": professional acting, mainstream special efficacy, thoughtful in details, etc.. A rating of 3 is only suitable because I kind of liked some of the idea of the movie, but why can't we have some sci-fi that doesn't completely come off as predictable alien horror? While trying to get to the reactor you find out that the ship has been overtaken by carnivorous monsters who got a taste for human flesh.That's the premises of Pandorum, which seems to proudly be a genre sci-fi horror flick. The monster design is pretty good and the atmosphere is quite haunting, while the only surviving crew members, those awake at least, are almost insane from solitude and terror caused by the monsters.Acting is all around good, Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster do a solid work with their characters, while the couple of other rare characters are left in the background. Sure we've all seen the creature on the space ship flicks and I'm sure that lots of you will see the ending coming miles away but with strong acting and a great look and feel to the movie you'd be missing something if you didn't add this to your collection.. Most of what happened I completely didn't see coming, ye that's right, I had to actually watch the movie to know what going to happen instead of being able to see every twist coming from a mile away like every modern movie I've seen in the last 5 years. Pandorum at times reminded me a bit of Dead Space (probably because of the plasma cannon) and that's not a bad thing.This movie is drenched in atmosphere that will make you feel claustrophobic and alone. This movie had it all- great cast and actors, suspense, horror, gore, and the story line was unbelievably good. Dennis Quaid did pretty good in this film I thought, about a pair of astronauts who make up from a long winter's nap in their ship and they canth't remember anything,, who they are,, how they got there, their mission,, not anything whatsoever, what a scary premise,, I don't see any need to compare to Alien at all. Definitely recommended for anyone who liked alien or played Dead space as there is a lot from it in the movie . The acting was good, plot was great and the meaning is for you to figure out.I do not believe this movie was like Alien and if you watch and pay attention you will realize what I mean. Pandorum has a lot of great elements going for it as a sci-fi movie: a captivating start, great atmospherics, a clear plot goal, nice visual designs and a well-known celebrity in a key role. Overall, the movie was really action-packed and exciting, however, there were some things I would recommend to viewers:Be sure you're watching on a television with GOOD sound quality - some scenes are filmed in rather unforgiving acoustics.Be prepared to pay attention throughout the whole movie - (without spoiling) - I had a lot of trouble figuring out what had happened with their communications with Earth and what EXACTLY the creatures were since I failed to pay attention at the beginning.Be prepared to have remaining questions about what will happen and how this all happened - they definitely should do a sequel <3...however, if you read into the budget stuff, as Holylwood must, it's a definite no for now :(Loved this movie, definitely see it if you haven't!. Dark sci fi thriller with overtones of horror and psychology might not be original, but entertains.As you may have picked up from the blurb, Pandorum is set in space like Event Horizon, and is a similar sci fi horror style to that Sam Neill flick, but features a number of people waking up aboard a space ship with no recollection of their mission, their objectives, the date or their location.Suffice to say Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster spend the rest of the movie trying to figure this out and how to save themselves.Pandorum is not a truly great movie - the dialogue is very muffled at times, caused by substandard audio capture in the first place, and the majority of the location is almost pure darkness - certainly a good test for blu ray but not your patience.But what it lacks in certain areas, it makes up for in being basically entertaining. If you like space movies, thrillers, survivalism, and seeing humans pushed to the limits, I guarantee you will love Pandorum. Don't listen to critics and haters, because this movie, as a Sci-Fi/horror film, is better than a lot of others out there. The plot is so different but great and mind boggling that I kept thinking about it for days after I watched it, and that's how you know it's a really good movie. Very dark and atmospheric sci-fi thriller with superb actors all around, excellent imagery, really good psychological exploration and quite a good story and storytelling as well.I just hope for a sequel.I also like to say that the 10-line-minimum rule for posting reviews is very bad. i read about this film here-in IMDb and downloaded and watched it...its very gripping and suspenseful movie with best cast-graphic work- sets...in every scene it holds you-and make you think whats next? I feel like everything has been done as far as sci-fi space thrillers but this combined elements of a variety of different movies. But the film also carries with it some genuinely good actors like Ben Foster, this instance playing a more heroic character instead of his usual villain, and Dennis Quaid as Peyton who is caught in the conflict of trying to help guide Foster's Bower and another man who has come out of one the tubes that has kept the astronauts in hyper- sleep.It's a deep-on-in-space story that, by its last reel, gets pretty silly and crazy, especially once the pandorum of the title sets in.

tt0117951

Trainspotting

Set in Edinburgh, the film begins with Mark Renton's (Ewan McGregor) narration as he and his friend, Spud (Ewen Bremner) sprint down Princes Street, pursued by security guards. Renton states that unlike people who 'choose life' (traditional families, materialistic possessions and financial stability), he decided live life as a heroin addict. The rest of Renton's close circle of football enthusiast friends are introduced: con-artist Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), clean-cut athlete Tommy (Kevin McKidd) and sociopath, Frank Begbie (Robert Carlyle). Sick Boy, Spud and Renton are all heroin addicts who spend their days shooting up in their drug dealer, Swanney's (Peter Mullan) flat. Swanney is often referred to as "The Mother Superior" by the guys.One day, Renton decides to give up heroin. Realizing he needs one last high to get him through the night, he buys opium rectal suppositories from dealer, Mikey Forrester (Irvine Welsh). After this final hit (and a nasty spell of diarrhea), Renton locks him into a cheap hotel room to endure the withdrawal. He later goes to a nightclub with the gang, noticing that his sex drive has returned with a vengeance. He eventually leaves with a young woman named Diane (Kelly Macdonald). After having sex together, Diane refuses to sleep in the same room as Renton and forces him to sleep in the hallway on a sofa. In the morning, Renton realizes that Diane is in fact a 15 year old schoolgirl and the flatmates sitting around the breakfast table are in fact, her parents. Horrified, Renton tries to shake off the incident but remains friends with Diane, who threatens to tell the police that Renton had sex with her despite being underage.Tommy is dumped by his girlfriend Lizzy (Pauline Lynch) after a string of events unintentionally initially started by Renton. Renton had previously borrowed a sex tape of Tommy & Lizzy, without their consent, hiding it in the box of a football tape. Lizzy angrily believes that Tommy had returned the tape to the video store. Sick Boy, Spud and Renton decide to use heroin again and a broken-hearted Tommy asks to try it to see why they like it so much, despite Renton's reluctance.One day during a heroin-induced stupor, the gang are violently interrupted by Allison (a fellow heroin addict) who has discovered that her infant child, Dawn has died from neglect. All are shell-shocked, especially Sick Boy who is implied to be the baby's father.Renton and Spud are later caught stealing from a book shop and are pursued by security guards, as seen in the beginning of the film. Due to prior convictions, Spud is sent to prison whereas Renton is put on a Drug Intervention Programme and given methadone. Despite support from friends and family, Renton becomes increasingly bored and depressed and escapes to Swanney's flat where he takes a particularly strong hit and nearly dies. Renton's parents lock him in his room so he can beat his addiction cold turkey. As Renton lies in bed going through severe withdrawal symptoms, he hallucinates that Diane is singing to him, friends are giving him advice and Allison's dead baby is crawling on the ceiling. The hallucination sequence is intercut with weird, imagined scenes from a TV game show, with Dale Winton asking Renton's parents questions about HIV. Renton is finally awoken from his nightmares and is told by his parents that he needs to get tested. Despite years of sharing syringes with other drug addicts, Renton's test comes back negative.Clean of heroin, Renton decides to visit Tommy who, by now, is lost in his heroin addiction and has contracted HIV. He's living in a filthy flat. On Diane's advice, Renton moves to London and gets a job as a property letting agent. He begins enjoying his new life of sobriety but it's short-lived after Begbie's involved in an armed robbery. He turns up at Renton's flat, asking for a place to hide out. Sick Boy, who now sees himself as a well-connected pimp and drug pusher, also shows up on Renton's doorstep. Renton's 'friends' make his life miserable, stealing from him and trashing his flat. Seeking to rid himself of them, Renton gives them a flat he's responsible for which they use as a base to commit theft, however, Renton doesn't rent it to them and they live there as squatters. The three soon learn of Tommy's death due to toxoplasmosis and travel back to Edinburgh for his funeral.Back home, they meet Spud who's been released from prison. Sick Boy suggests a dangerous but profitable heroin transaction. Sick Boy needs Renton's help to supply half of the initial £4,000 supply. After the purchase, Renton checks the purity by injection. The four then sell the drugs to the dealer for £16,000. They all go to a pub to celebrate, all them friendlier and happier than they usually are, and discuss their plans to spend the money. Renton suggests to Spud that they steal the money and run as Begbie & Sick Boy get drinks in. Spud is too scared of Begbie to consider it. Renton believes that neither Begbie nor Sick Boy deserve the money. As Begbie heads back to the table with another round of pints he bumps into another patron and spills much of the beer he bought. When the man apologizes, Begbie turns violent and smashes the man's face with one of the glasses. As he moves in to cut the man with a knife, he slashes Spud's hand. The incident is enough for Renton to decide to later steal the money since he feels he can't relate to either Begbie or Sick Boy any longer.Early in the morning, Renton wakes up before anyone else and takes the money from Begbie, leaving quietly. Spud sees him leave but says nothing; Renton gives him an affirmative nod. After Begbie discovers the money has gone, he trashes the hotel room in a violent rage that alerts the police, presumably leading to his arrest.Renton travels to London and vows to live the traditional, stable life he talked about in the beginning of the film. In voiceover, he talks about how Sick Boy would have stolen the money from everyone if he'd thought to do it first. He does feel some remorse for leaving Spud behind and leaves him £2,000 in the locker where he'd been hiding his passport. In the final scene, Spud retrieves the money Renton left for him.

dark, comedy, adult comedy, bleak, violence, cult, psychedelic, tragedy, revenge

train

imdb

'Trainspotting' is as hilarious as it is deeply disturbing, but most importantly (and unlike many other films concerned with addiction) it's one hell of an entertaining flick and doesn't drag for a second.We all know drugs are bad. 'Trainspotting' is the first movie I remember watching that actually conveyed that seductive quality of drugs and managed to honestly portray the reckless, hedonistic lifestyle a part of my generation - the so called "Generation X" - fell victim to. And with the rapid pace of its plot, that's quite a bit of ground to cover.Though a great deal of the picture's brilliance is derived from director Danny Boyle's consistent rejection of typical cinematic techniques, the most satisfying and _best_ aspect of _Trainspotting_ is that Boyle creates a film that is neither pro-drug or anti-drug. And Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, and Robert Carlyle bring a remarkable compassion and depth to their portrayals of characters that could have easily lapsed into cliche.Despite its sheer brilliance, _Trainspotting_ is not a film that's easy to watch. Though the viewer will be mortified by some of the things that happen onscreen-- the well-documented dive into Scotland's most vile public toilet, for example-- these scenes all make _perfect sense_ within the context of a masterfully told story.In order to notice all of the subtlety that also exists in _Trainspotting_, repeat viewings are necessary, primarily to reduce some of the most powerful shocks ever-so-slightly, though their effects are never lost entirely. This film became almost a cultural phenomenon as soon as it was released in Britain in February 1996.Adapted from the first (and best) book by Irvine Welsh, the film shows the lives of a group of Edinburgh heroin addicts.The film is a black comedy, at times hilarious, tragic, surreal, brutal and uplifting. Meanwhile his friends are as messed up as he is, whether it be Spud's pathetic addiction, Begbie's violent rages or the fact that he is sleeping with a girl who still goes to school.When it came out this film was very hyped, the poster became a must-have on every student's bedroom wall and the media went nuts over it's supposed glamorisation of drug use. True, it does show this downside in a stylish and funny way but there is no question that the film is promoting drug use in any sense.Too often I see films that are style over substance; Trainspotting gets it just perfect, stylish but not at the expense of dialogue, character or film. While not all their characters are well developed, they do all give good accounts of themselves, whether it is comic or showing the effects of heroin on their lives.Overall this is a great film that is refreshing to see now without all the `cult student cool' hype or media feeding frenzy over it's supposed pro-drug approach. This film is nothing more- or less- than one of the most effective and perfect artistic works ever committed to celluloid.The film follows the lives of a group of drug attics in Scotland in the late 1980's but is constructed less as a conventional narrative and more as a series of vignettes connected by characters and set to the film's dazzling soundtrack (the fact that I mention the scenes being 'set' to the soundtrack is proof of its importance in this particular film). It's about a group of heroin addicts (led by Ewan McGregor's Renton) in Scotland who can't seem to live past their addiction...everything centers around drugs."Trainspotting" was condemned for promoting drug use, but I agree with fellow reviewer Bob the Moo who claims this was a misinterpretation on the media's behalf - yeah, it may show drugs as being "funny" at times (like Renton's wacky hallucination) but it certainly doesn't glamorize them. And that is the tone of the film throughout, as characters continually talk nonsence and sail through the lives they have chosen, making very little progress, but instead drifting downwards until an opportunity presents itself to change their ways, where upon Renton, Ewan McGregor, must make a choice between his own life or his friends. And B) A joke not featured in the film, but two of the characters go to a disused train station to buy drugs and say they are going "trainspotting".Ewan McGregor stars as Mark Renton, a performance that put him on the map, a man who spends; or wastes, most of his time taking drugs with his friends in one of their apartments. He battles the strain and the influences of his mates; including Sick Boy (Johnny Lee Miller) a man who stops at nothing to take all, Spud (Ewen Bremner) a fast-paced anxious performance and Francis Begbie (Robert Carylye) a frighteningly intense character who is possibly my favourite of all-time; and Renton's sex life.Vibrant colour is used to exaggerate the actions to intensify the imagery on screen. Danny Boyle did a excellent job of directing a movie based on Irvine Welsh's bestselling novel about desperate and hopeless Scottish heroin addicts. As an ex-drug abuser myself, I find solace in watching fictional characters struggle with an affliction that was once part of my own life, and there's a sort of therapy involved there that seems to make one feel as if someone, even a fictional someone, at least understands the pain an addict goes through. Sure, the message is often bleak and depressing, but at least it's not contributing to the lie that mainstream movies try to sell, where everything is cute, life is wonderful, the bad guys always get punished, and any conflict is wrapped up with a nice little bow in the end.With that being said, I went into "Trainspotting" fully prepared to feast on the dark nature of the film and find myself immersed in a cast of characters that I could relate to. But as it stands, we never get a glimpse of what life was like -before- these characters were all on drugs, and to me that leaves a bit of a void.And for however "dark" one may think the film is, I personally didn't find it all that bleak. "Requiem for a Dream" (my personal favorite movie about drug addiction of all time) makes this look somewhat childish in comparison. I may only be young but not many films can effect me like 'Trainspotting'.It is able to pull you into the lives of the characters and makes you empathetic to their feelings while still in-keeping with Boyles contemporary look and style of film making.Its give you a different look about being Scottish which many of my friends have pointed out.Ewan Mc Gregor shows his best acting skills he shows that he has an amazing way of keeping you watching.He has proved himself a skilled actor and has contributed greatly to the British film industry.We are thankful.Its a film i can watch over and over again and still smile at the end.NOt one to miss.A must see!!. Trainspotting is the story of a humor, violence, goofiness, abuse, friendship and sadness in heroin-addicted Scotland.It's a really vulgar film, with lots of disgusting scatological humor, pointless violence, and the pain of a life on heroin.But it's very well done, with a snappy, realistic script, lots of genuinely funny moments, some truly moving and sad scenes about this horrible existence, and, in the end, many important things to say.I ended up liking this movie, even with the harshness of some of the scenes. We follow them as they deal with their lives, surprisingly normal personal life like girlfriend and the things they will go through to keep their sordid habit afloat.Danny Boyle, never portrays the heroin addiction of these characters as horrific, like life it is much more complicated than that. In the meanest, wittiest way, Trainspotting said "bollocks" to Britpop - in fact, it said "bollocks" to every fad and fashion going - and so it became immortal.Welsh's novel is, like many of his works, essentially a series of short stories bound together by a group of amiable, self-centred protagonists who share a common interest in the procurement of a life-affirming experience - in this case heroin. By using over-the-top visuals (the sequence with the dead infant in the crib is one that I won't be able to shake for sometime) and a rapid MTV music video style editing, Boyle makes the film visually fascinating while showing the truth behind the life of the average drug addict.If I have a problem with the film it's that it really doesn't go far enough. At around the 65 minute mark, you really come into a full opinion of who he is and how much control he does (or doesn't) have over himself, his life and his addiction.One of the main reasons Trainspotting excels at being such a disturbing film is that it doesn't back down at the thought of having to push the envelope and employ some abstract ideas in order to truly get a message across. I've seen a lot of films that are either pro or most of the time anti-drugs, this film is neither.The film makers just want to tell a simple story of a junkie, Renton, played very well by Ewan McGregor, who struggled to get out from Glasgow's drug scene and in the process fighting the gravitational pull of his friends and the drug itself. Looking at this movie more than ten year later do your realize that it was very bad them but you didn't dare to say so because everybody was raving about it.I didn't like it and I don't like now, it is a complete lie and full of nonsense, specially the way the main character goes into heroin and cleans himself... But why would I want to do a thing like that?" Even if you haven't seen Trainspotting, you'll be aware of the opening lines of Danny Boyle's 1996 masterpiece, and those opening lines are a pure reflection of whats going to happen and why you should avoid doing whats been done in the whole movie, if you want the option to "Choose Life. And even if people say this lack of identity originality is the point of the movie—which it's not—then I'll say back, Brent Easton Ellis' novel Less Than Zero did that exact thing ten years before this movie came out and seven years before Welsh's book came out, and it did it infinitely better and more realistically than either one.If you liked Trainspotting, I pity you.2/10. Based on Irvine Welsh's cult novel (Welsh appears as a dealer, by the way), it's one of the most compelling, entertaining and shocking looks at the effect drugs can have on people, and it's to director Danny Boyle's eternal credit that he doesn't depict just one side of the story: we get to see what these people enjoy about getting high, so that we can, if not forgive them, at least understand them.The film takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland, home to five youngsters who hang out and cause trouble together. The team's "moral" leader, not to mention the movie's narrator, is Mark Renton (Ewan Mcgregor, in a career-defining role), who knows he's slowly ruining his life and tries to kick the habit several times. His mates, in sanity order, are Tommy (Kevin McKidd), who's sane enough to stay away from heroin (he shoots DIY sex tapes instead), Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller), a James Bond-obsessed pervert (ironic, since the actor's grandfather, Bernard Lee, played M in the Connery and Moore era), Spud (Ewen Bremner), so lost in an everlasting high he can't speak properly, and Begbie (Robert Carlyle), whose personal drug consists of beating up people, especially when they're not Scottish.What gives the film a bit more edge compared to most dramas about drug addicts is its unrelented, anarchic energy, evident from the beginning, when Renton and Spud are running away from the police, with Iggy Pop's "Lust For Life" blaring on the soundtrack and the narration imposing itself with the famous "Choose life" monologue, arguably the best sample of junky philosophy in the entire movie. Boyle never stops for one second, but continues to jump between funny and tragic, real and imaginary, cheeky and serious, using Scorsese-worthy camera angles and movements and state-of-the-art dream sequences to grant us a rare view of the addict's mind and soul.The double aspect is present in the performances as well: Miller and Bremner play it for laughs most of the time, therefore lightening the tone whenever Carlyle's madness or other external events threaten to make the picture too bleak. The main character of Renton,is a good example for the people who are addicted to it or people who are thinking to start it.But this film certainly doesn't deserve high points from IMDb and I didn't understand why the commentors are so interested in this film.The thing that interests me is that home life of Englih people is so disgusting.As a result of these factors,I can't find remarkable scenes or a theme to comment.... It's an absurd and weird journey, that has become a cult-classic ever since it released.'Trainspotting' based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh, is about a group of heroin addicts in a late 1980s economically depressed area of Edinburgh and their passage through life.Danny Boyle shows Drugs throughout in this 91-minute long feature. Now that "Slumdog Millionaire" is such a sensation, I'm afraid we have more Boyle to look forward to, even though every movie the man has made has been crap ("Sunshine" anyone?)"Trainspotting" is an unpleasant film about unpleasant people doing drugs, being criminals, trying to avoid the responsibilities that come with growing up and being an adult. But the movie in a great sense is about the attempts of one main character to go straight and "choose life", but his 4 dastardly friends end up making that very, very difficult.It starts in Edinburgh, moves to London, then back to Edinburgh. I guess I left those days behind...Now, on the other hand, if you want a glimpse of the low-rent, depressing, hopelessness and anger-inducing life of everyday heroin addicts in Scotland who rail against the establishment, then this is the movie for you.Other reviewers have given good synopses and their own critiques of the film so I won't need to repeat them. With its lucidly grotesque subject matter, jarring imagery, darkly convulsive comedy, relentless pacing, and wholly pungent, disillusioned outlook on 90's Scottish society and consumer-culture, Trainspotting manages to shock and disturb as much as it entertains, providing insight on the woeful realities of the impoverished drug lifestyle and consequential addictions that ostensibly functions as an alternative to the banalities of consumerism that ultimately fails in every possible way.The startlingly well-grounded performances are brought to life with thanks to a gritty script and sharp (albeit thickly-accented) dialogue. I can honestly say that I wasn't thrilled at the two dick shots in the movie and a few scenes were pretty disgusting, but I think they were presented for the purpose of showing how disgusting and desperate the main characters lifestyle was.In comparison to other movies about drugs, I believe that Trainspotting has a much better message or at least presents the story in way that shows the consequences of drug use. This movie on the other hand shows good and bad side of drugs and it is also very optimistic because it shows that even if you are addicted, this isn't the end of the world, you still can come back to a normal life if you really try. In what can be described as one of the best movies to come out of Britain, Danny Boyle directed a film which will stand on its own for quite a long time. My opinion-."Trainspotting" is a movie by Danny Boyle, adapted by Irvine Welsh's best-seller in 1993, describing the adventures of a group of young Scottish heroin addicts and it was this movie that launched the career of The actor Ewan McGregor, who takes the lead. "Trainspotting" – The knockabout 1996 heroin-addict ensemble piece which put Danny Boyle and Ewan McGregor on the map, immortalised Irvine Welsh's bestselling novel and proved a shot in the arm for 1990's British Cinema and it's greatest creation.It is the 1996 British black comedy-drama film which starred Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle, and Kelly Macdonald. In this movie we look at life with drug addict Mark Renton eyes and how he sees everything. Trainspotting, directed by Danny Boyle, uses different cinematic techniques, music, and comedic timing every five minutes, if it were any other film the movie would have been completely incoherent, but the varying use of techniques does not hinder the movie's pacing but instead establishes the tone of the chaotic life of a heroin addict. I'll start off by saying that this is my favourite film of all time, so if you're looking for anything other than reasons to watch it, you should probably move on.Though the subject matter of 'Trainspotting' is dark, gritty, and somewhat disgusting, the movie itself is uniquely charming. But why would anyone want to do a thing like that?"I have no idea what Trainspotting actually means, but this 1996 Danny Boyle film is truly an entertaining cinematic experience. The energetic 80's soundtrack, the great performances from McGregor, Miller, Carlyle, Bremner, and McKidd, the clever screenplay adaptation by John Hodge from Welsh's novel, and the visual style that Boyle uses is what have turned Trainspotting into such a classic and memorable film. Danny Boyle's Trainspotting is a film about the seeming everyday life of the average heroin addict in Edinburgh, Scotland. Really great performances all round, particularly from; Ewan McGregor as Renton, Ewen Bremner as Spud, Jonny Lee Miller as Sick Boy, Kevin McKidd as Tommy and Robert Carlyle as the psycho, Begbie.There are scenes in this film that are quite hard to watch but I believe it is all included to show just how real the effects of drug addiction are. While watching this movie you will learn a lot about the life of drug addicts. Depicts the life of a drug addict and his struggle plus his good times with heroine.

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Risen

Set in the year of Jesus' crucifixion, the Roman Tribune Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) is walking through the Judean Desert. He appears disheveled and overwhelmed. He comes across the home of a innkeeper and is allowed to stay for a while. Clavius begins to recount the recent events he just witnessed.We see Clavius fighting alongside his fellow soldiers against another army. Following this great battle, Clavius is summoned by Pontius Pilate (Peter Firth). Pilate discusses his justification for having to crucify Yeshua/Jesus Christ (Cliff Curtis).They attend the crucifixion, where Yeshua is on the cross with a crown of thorns, along with the other two thieves on their own crosses. Others are in attendance, including other soldiers and several Nazarenes that cry as they see Yeshua suffering. Clavius orders a soldier to end their suffering. The soldier breaks the feet of the thieves and then pierces Yeshua in his side. A powerful tremor occurs that shakes the whole earth. After the commotion settles, Clavius looks upon the face of Yeshua, a bloody tear going down his eye.Yeshua's body is placed inside a stone tomb. The two men guarding the tomb then begin to drink wine. Soon after, it is reported that the boulder that sealed the tomb had been moved, and Yeshua's body is gone. Pilate orders Clavius to begin an investigation into his disappearance, as well as to find the Disciples. Clavius is paired up with Lucius (Tom Felton) to aide him in his search for answers.Clavius begins seeing and interviewing several people that were close to Yeshua or knew of him, including a blind woman and one of his followers. Clavius is told to seek out Mary Magdalene (Maria Botto). Being a woman of the streets, several soldiers are familiar with her and thus know where to seek her out. Clavius locates her and chases after her when she sees him and runs. She fails to give him any answers.Clavius also sees the Apostle Bartholomew (Stephen Hagan), who gleefully expresses his loyalty to Yeshua. Clavius then seeks out the guards that were supposed to watch the tomb. He speaks to one that admits to having been drinking, but the guard claims to have seen a blinding light and a figure emerging from the tomb. Clavius dismisses it as a drunken vision.Clavius and Lucius observe the corpses of the most recently deceased, including the thieves that were crucified. Clavius brings an unrecognizable corpse back to Pilate and claims that this is Yeshua.Eventually, Clavius comes by a house where he encounters Bartholomew and Magdalene with the Disciples, and, to his astonishment, Yeshua himself, very much alive. He has the wounds on his wrists and abdomen to prove it is really him. After a moment, Yeshua suddenly disappears like a ghost. The men remember that he told them to seek him out in Galilee. As they are heading out together, Lucius appears and threatens them with his blade, but Clavius pins him against the wall and disarms him, saying nobody will die on this day and for Lucius to return to Rome.Clavius joins the Disciples as they travel to Galilee. They take a boat and throw a net into the water to fish, as Yeshua had instructed. They gather an enormous bunch of fish and feast upon them once they re-encounter Yeshua at Galilee. There, they witness a disfigured man near a home, and the people in that home run out and cruelly beat him. Yeshua approaches the man with a cooked fish and lays his hands on him to heal the man. The man's burns and scars disappear, leaving him with his natural appearance.At night, Clavius sits and speaks to Yeshua, expressing his newfound belief.Yeshua departs once again, promising his followers to create a home for them. He ascends to Heaven in a powerful blast of light. Clavius parts ways with the Disciples.Back in Rome, Pilate gives up his pursuit and decides that he will never see the Disciples again.We go back to the home of the innkeeper, who is amazed by the story. He asks Clavius if he really believes. Clavius says he does, and that something in him has changed. He leaves the home and continues walking through the desert.

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tt0110638

Nell

When stroke victim Violet Kellty dies in her isolated cabin in the North Carolina mountains, Dr. Jerome "Jerry" Lovell, the town doctor, finds a terrified young woman hiding in the house rafters. She speaks angrily and rapidly, but seems to have a language of her own. Looking at Violet's Bible, Jerry finds a note asking whoever finds it to look after Violet's daughter Nell. Sheriff Todd Peterson shows Jerry a news clipping that Nell was conceived through rape. Jerry seeks the help of Dr. Paula Olsen, a researcher working with autistic children. Paula and her colleague Dr. Alexander "Al" Paley are interested in studying a "wild child" (feral child), and Al continues calling Nell this even after studying films showing that Nell does not fit the "wild child" profile. Paula and Al get a court order to institutionalize Nell for further study. Jerry hires lawyer Don Fontana and prevents it. The judge gives Jerry and Paula three months to interact with Nell and discover her needs. Paula shows up on a houseboat with electronic equipment to monitor Nell's behavior while Jerry chooses to stay in Nell's cabin and quietly observe. Paula discovers that Nell's seemingly indecipherable language is English, based partly on her mother's aphasic speech after a stroke, and partly on the secret language she shared with her decades-deceased identical twin sister. Jerry and Paula begin a grudging friendship. Nell sleeps during the day or works inside her home and is active outdoors only after sunset. She explains to Jerry that her mother told her about the rape and warned her that men were evildoers. As Nell comes to trust Jerry, she sees him as a friend, the "gah'inja" her mother promised would come. Jerry later realizes that "gah'inja" is Nell's phrase for "guardian angel." Using popcorn as an incentive, Jerry is able to lead Nell outside and into the sun. Nell leads Jerry and Paula to the decayed remains of her identical twin sister, May, who died in a fall while the two were playing in the woods. Mike Ibarra, a reporter, learns of Nell's existence and visits her cabin. Nell is curious of the visitor at first, but when he snaps a photo, the flash frightens Nell. Jerry arrives and throws the reporter out. Paula believes that Nell would be safer in a hospital, while Jerry feels that Nell should be left alone and allowed to live as she pleases. The two decide that Nell should be shown a little of the world, and they make the decision to bring Nell into town. While in town, Nell befriends Mary, Todd's depressed wife, but also encounters some raunchy boys in a pool hall until Jerry gets her out. With increased intrusion by the press, Jerry and Paula take Nell to a hospital for her protection. There, Nell becomes extremely despondent and unresponsive. Jerry removes her from the hospital and hides her in a hotel. Paula joins him, and the two admit that they love each other. At the court hearing the next day, Al, who wants to study Nell in a controlled environment, delivers his opinion that Nell has Asperger syndrome and belongs in an institution. Nell then comes forward and, with Jerry interpreting, speaks for herself. Five years later, Jerry and Paula bring their daughter, Ruthie, to visit Nell in her house. It is Nell's birthday, and friends surround her.

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wikipedia

The most outstanding feature of the film is Jodie Foster's performance in the title role- a remarkable one even by the standards of this talented actress. Throughout the film Foster speaks only in Nell's unearthly-sounding private language, but is able to use this, together with gestures and facial expressions, to convey a full range of emotions. This means that Jerry and Paula play key roles in the film; fortunately, Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson both play their parts very well, although in a more understated manner than Foster. Some have taken exception to the brief scenes of nudity, but the purpose of these is not eroticism, but rather to demonstrate Nell's innocence.Another criticism which I have seen made of this film, both on this board and elsewhere, is that it is pushing a trite or simplistic 'message', normally along the lines of 'nature is better than civilization' or 'ignorance is bliss'. At the very end of the movie, the emotion of the moment that Jodie's character feels towards the scene with the little girl reminding her of her lost sister is enough to make Jodie herself cry and wipe away a tear. I mean Nell is basically as happy as can be and who are we (the people in the film) to tell her that her way of life is not good? I can recommend this film to everyone and I hereby want to thank all people involved and especially Jodie Foster for her great performance. Having never seen this film before, I "stumbled" on to it this morning about 10 minutes after it started on A&E and was so mesmerized that I watched the whole movie, and really liked it! It is well acted (Jodie Foster is INCREDIBLE), as is Natasha Richardson and Liam Neeson, and it's just an all around GOOD movie. Simply about a woman raised in the wild, unable to speak proper english due to her mothers stroke and she is trying to be brought into "civilisation".Neeson and Foster are the stars of this film!! Jodie Foster's performance as Nell made an almost incredible character totally believable. Jodie Foster gave such character, life and believability to Nell that I don't think anyone else could have gave any better; she is truly spectacular and deserved that Oscar nomination, maybe even the win. The characters are well done and really likable for the performances and screenplay behind them so you actually care for them, which is what more movies need to try and do; make you care for the characters.Like I said, Nell is dramatic to the point where it's painful, in a good way, sort of, to watch this woman's innocent, undisturbed life play out and unfold, and you wish for anything that you can just make everyone see her point of view and you really hope everything pulls through for this brilliant character in the end. The cinematography is excellent also and I found myself completely caught up in how awe-inspiring everything in the movie is at times, whether it's the cinematography, characters or story, which the story is absolutely gripping and fascinating, if you have not caught that by now.Nell seems to be a really overlooked film because most people do not see it for it's full potential of delight and cleverness. Young woman named Nell, raised in total isolation in the backwoods of North Carolina by her mother (who had suffered strokes before her death and inadvertently taught her daughter an idiosyncratic form of English) is discovered by a well-meaning doctor who hopes to understand her; unfortunately, other doctors with eyes on their careers get involved and, figuring Nell to be a mentally backward wild child, bring science into the equation. Intrinsically, the film is about how civilization corrupts our innate innocence, yet the movie is really a bit condescending to the medical profession to suggest today's scientists (and journalists) are only interested in basic assimilation and not the human spirit. Jodie Foster tries desperately to gimp her way to an Academy Award, and surprisingly, it didn't work (unlike Dustin Hoffman's one-note performance in Rain Man or Al Pacino's self-parody in Scent of a Woman). Jodie Foster is a great actress, and she succeeds in making Nell into a fascinating woman. Jodie Foster stars in this popular film about a woman discovered in the woods of Carolina having not know civilization as commonly known.Of course, the ones who found her, Neeson and Richardson, want to take care of her and show her the new world, while their colleagues and other government people as exposed as "bad guys" and want to exlpoit her. You want to make a movie about hillbillies in NC, then just go into the woods and film an average family in those hills, you don't need to drag Jodie Foster in with 25 makeup artists to hide blemishes. It's about people, their life experiences, and how they deal with and are shaped by those experiences.It's interesting…I've read a number of reviews of 'Nell', and the mixed reactions it's gotten for the last 20 years tell me that sometimes even highly intelligent people can see a movie and yet not really see it. Watching Jodi Foster in the very last scene of the movie…maybe I'm the only one who feels this way, but wow. And I am actually quite happy that I did buy it from Amazon, because this movie is more than good."Nell" is a really beautiful story that will have you swept away and have you immersed into the story in no time. "Nell" tells a story of being human, accepting people for what and whom they are, it is a story of existence, but most importantly it is a story of the heart.I think this was actually the first or second movie I watched with Liam Neeson (playing Jerome Lovell) in it, and to this day, I still think this is his best and most memorable performance. Jodie Foster (playing Nell) is nothing short of extraordinary in this movie. And the way Jodie Foster portrays Nell when exposed to the world and the life we take for granted is really good acting and amazing performing. And you might want to keep some tissues at hand, because the story is really touching, and really helped so greatly along by Jodie Foster.I know that I will be watching this movie again at some point, even though the story doesn't hold surprising twists and such, it is one that can bear being watched more than once.. The 1994 film, "Nell", is an acting triumph for Jodie Foster. Jodie Foster was truly robbed of an Oscar on this one: she excels like no other performance I've seen in years. The only prize that the usually excellent Jodie Foster deserved for her performance in the God-awful "Nell" was a Booby Prize, not an Oscar nomination. Normally I love Jodie Foster, but this film is a total misfire that is little more than a gender reversal on Forrest Gump. Foster plays an uneducated backwoods woman, who is "discovered" following the death of her guardian and becomes the cause celebre for dueling medicos Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson, who debate about whether she should be institutionalized or allowed to remain in isolation. It is a potentially interesting story, but it goes south once one realizes that the film is infinitely more interested in utilizing Nell as some sort of wise-beyond-her-years E.T., who will ultimately bring everyone around her together, rather than examining the world from her perspective. Jodie Foster does a great job acting in this movie. Where on the box does it say based on a true story?I didn't see it.If anyone can find that,Please E-mail me and let me know and who is to say that it can never happen.Jodie Foster made me believe, in that movie, that Nell was real and I was ready to go to that bar and fight those boys myself and anyone else that had bad intentions towards Nell.A must see movie for anyone that is human and has feelings.Please, do not read between the lines in this movie and make up something that is not true.Read the back of the vhs,laserdisc,or dvd before watching this movie and please, remember to get a box of tissues.This movie should be rated more than a 10 because Jodie Foster gave 200% in this movie.. Town doctor Jerry Lovell (Liam Neeson) and Sheriff Todd Peterson (Nick Searcy) find a young woman (Jodie Foster) living in the house speaking her own language. However her language hides the fact that she had a twin once.The movie navigates some interesting matters like Nell's sexuality but handles it without much depth. Firstly, if you are a fan of either Jodie Foster or Liam Neeson, you must not miss this movie. In "Nell", Jodie Foster gives, arguably, the best performance of her life. Clearly, she invested deeply in the role and her genuine strength and inner beauty shine so brightly into the character that Nell's beauty and loneliness become completely convincing.The story is more idealistic than realistic (as allegories are wont to be) which is worth remembering throughout - not least when it comes to the courtroom scene. I appreciated the sentiment of that scene whilst privately wishing it had been a closed hearing (full for a custody hearing?) Despite some ragged plot problems (that USGS wouldn't know about the Kellty homestead, that Nell is in really good health, that the lads who deliver her groceries never appear to discuss the 'strange hermit woman' with anyone, and so on) the story staggers to the finish line with an overly idyllic ending.Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson support well locking horns convincingly over which was to become Nell's champion until they realised that Nell wasn't a trophy for an academic white paper. Nell becomes the adopted child, the glue that binds Neeson and Richardson's characters' emotional attachment.The film has some poetic cinematography and good location. Nell (Jodie Foster) is a young woman raised by her mother in a setting completely cut off from civilization. The movie does a great job of developing the relationship between Nell and Lovell (and then also Olson) in a sensitive way, as both begin to care for Nell and want to be protective of her and her rights to choose. I believe that Jodie Foster did a terrific job in "Nell." The movie was very believable, and she acted her part better that any other of her movies because playing Nell is difficult. Her partners as Liam Neeson and his wife, got a good place in the movie, trying to understand the language of Nell. The character of Nell, based on a real person, is a woman who was raised in the woods and has developed a language all her own. For Liam Neeson's character, his motives are on behalf of human compassion and a desire to learn Nell's ways.This movie is held together by the interests of Dr. Lovell to keep Nell in her own environment, and Paula who also wants to interpret Nell's behavior but from a more scientific perspective. It also made me look around at what we call as this world and who is truly crazy.Nell is the main character who is just so sympathetic and lovable, she has never seen the outside world of buildings, cars, people(besides her mother who unfortunately passes away), and technology of any kind. Closing i would really like to congratulate all the cast of the film and especially Jodie Foster for her excellent performance in a very demanding role. Although Jodie Foster is as always a joy to look at the film disappoints in more ways than one. Liam Neeson plays the conflicted caring scientist well- The language, movements and clarity of conviction Foster brought to the movie is nonpareil... "Nell" - more then movie, Jodie - more then actress !!!. "Nell" - more than a movie, Jodie Foster - more than an actress !!! We want that side of us to remain private and untouched by the outside world.Oscar winner Liam Neeson (Schindler's List) Jerome Lovell, is left to care for Nell. It´s a deeply moving story about how, even after living in isolation for all one´s life, one still is a human being.The performance of Jodie Foster is unbelievable - no-one could have done it better.. Like the free spirit in the true dreamer, spiritual beauty Nell (Jodie Foster) walks onto the rocks, surrounded by a beautiful clear blue lake. "Nell" doesn't exactly do this, but considering how badly the film's second half is mishandled, that would have been at least a little better.A woman has died,, and when called to the scene to declare her dead, a local doctor named Jerry Lovell (Liam Neeson) makes a startling discovery: there's another woman living there, but she doesn't seem to be normal. Liam Neeson does what he can in an underwritten role, but Natasha Richardson is especially good as the lively scientist.I really can't recommend the film at all. Excellent movie it's worth watching big thumbs up to Jodie and the cast i really enjoyed it bought the DVD 3 days later and watched it again Ti's movie makes me feel good gives me a warm feeling inside and i bet everyone that views it Will feel the same way if you like it or hate it i think the movie rocks the greatest acting from Jodie Foster i have ever seen and Liam Neeson Jodie Foster is grand as Nell just so sad it only gets so Little points and ratings while it deserves allot better as i said great acting no best acting i have ever seen i personally love the scene were Jerry takes Nell out of the hospital and just runs like the wind just awesome. Not really a movie about Jodie Foster (Nell), but about Liam Neeson.This movie shows us that society is just what we make of it. Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson play a couple of doctors who discover a wild child named Nell, a woman who's grown up completely isolated from human contact, and who as a result has developed her own language, mode of communication, etc.I can understand what drew Jodie Foster to the role of Nell, because on paper it's a serious actress's wet dream. I expect more from the movie and the only good performance was from Jodie Foster, but the language they choose for her to perform is really annoying and difficult to watch until the end, but I did just to write this review. Jodie Foster 'was' Nell and then some, she was brilliant. Jodie Foster's Oscar-nominated performance is the real attraction in this film that wants so desperately to be excellent, but never quite reaches its goal. Jodie Foster and the tension build up by the story actually makes it worthwhile to view this movie. I thought it was a great movie and Jodie Foster had to learn alot to portray (Nell). This takes time and attention away from the fascinating core story and the superb performance by Jodie Foster.The story begins with the discovery that a reclusive old woman has died and has left a grown daughter alone in their remote cabin. Her interactions with Neeson's and Richardson's characters are often complex and traumatic enough to keep the film moving in the absence of the other, extraneous, elements.Had the movie concentrated more intently on this interaction and devoted more time to it, which is really the whole point of the film, or had it done a better and more original job of expanding it's vision during it's adaptation to film (those parts involving the sheriff's wife showed unexploited potential), 'Nell' could have been a great film. So overall, despite its flaws, 'Nell' is a good film with many fascinating elements and an excellent performance by Jodie Foster. For, make no mistake, the quality of Jodie Foster's performance is such that Nell becomes absolutely real, and the audience is intrigued at discovering the explanation for her strange development, and dreadfully, dreadfully worried about what will happen to her.Others have written much better informed and more thoughtful reviews about this film - I will just say that I thought it was an excellent film, and so did my family.. Mixed drama with Jodie Foster as a "wild woman", living for many years with her disabled mother deep in the woods, who is discovered by Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson. Its a testament to Michael Apted's smooth direction and smart screenplay by Mark Handley and William Nicholson that these occasional illogicities don't completely capsize the film.But more importantly its Jodie Foster's vibrant, spirited performance that carries the entire movie. I like the way they've sketched a whole life story for Nell. Jodie Foster is a wonderful actor as is Liam Nesson but this film stunk. Foster plays a woman that goes by the name of Nell that was left alone in a shack in the woods with her twin sister. On some scene in this movie, Nell has braided hair, she can also work with the woods outside the house, she wears a cloth just like a normal women. How can anyone live like this, they both look around the small house and Jerry comes across Nell. Nell has progressed remarkably; she will never forget Paula; and her Guardian Angel-Jerry.This movie is excellent, one of Jodie Foster's best. But the reality that Jodie Foster exudes in her performance really made me wish I had discovered this film when it first came out. This woman, Nell Kellty (Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Jodie Foster), does act normal in some ways, e.g. swimming, collecting wood, but she still needs to learn to be calm and speak proper English, she backwards or something. He looked like he really wanted to pack up his stuff and moved into Nell's cabin.I like Jodie Foster for taking on these difficult acting roles, and not just out to make sequels to Silence of the Lambs.

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Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

The story opens with an immense explosion somewhere in space. Huge shock waves radiate out from the blast site. On board the USS Excelsior, Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) makes an official entry in his log, noting that his mission of "cataloging gaseous anomalies in Beta Quadrant" is over and they are returning to Earth. The ship is suddenly struck by one of the shock waves from the explosion. Sulu orders his crew to restore control to the ship, which is done quickly. Looking over their scanning equipment, the crew determines that the shock wave originated at the location of the Klingon moon Praxis. Sulu remarks that Praxis is the primary source of energy for the Klingon Empire, and orders a message be sent stating he and his crew will assist if necessary. They receive an emergency transmission from Praxis showing a Klingon worker consumed in flames. A second message comes from Brigadier General Kerla (Paul Rossilli) that acknowledges the explosion (he calls it "an incident") and that they do not require assistance from the Federation. He also commands them to stay out of the Neutral Zone. When one of the crew asks if they should report the incident, Sulu replies "Are you kidding??"On Earth two months later, Captain James Kirk (William Shatner), Dr Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) and Engineer Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) attend a top-level meeting of Starfleet. They are told that the Klingon Empire "has roughly 50 years of life" remaining. Charge of the meeting is turned over to the Federation's special envoy, Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy). He tells the committee that the explosion of Praxis two months earlier has caused an environmental catastrophe on the Klingon homeworld of Q'ono'S (Kronos). Pollution of the planet's ozone layer has left Klingon civilization with only 50 Earth years of oxygen. The Klingon Empire, due to its enormous military budget, is unable to reverse the devastation and has turned to the Federation for assistance. However, as Spock notes, assistance cannot begin until a treaty has been negotiated with the Federation of Planets to cease all hostilities between the two. Spock, being the Federation's envoy, had been speaking directly with Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner) of the Klingon Empire to open treaty proposals.The committee is stunned by the news and debates whether Starfleet will be dissolved. Science and exploration will continue, however, military efforts will see a significant reduction. Admiral Cartwright protests, saying that the opportunity exists to "bring them to their knees." Spock counters, saying that a peaceful solution is more prudent. In the midst of the debate, it is announced that Kirk will be sent in the Enterprise to the outskirts of Klingon space to escort Chancellor Gorkon's cruiser to Earth for negotiations. Kirk is wholly reluctant, despite Spock's endorsement of him, saying an experienced ambassador should be sent, however, the council leadership ignores him and closes the meeting.After everyone has left the meeting, Kirk confronts Spock, demanding to know why Spock chose him to escort the Chancellor. Kirk has a high distrust of Klingons, who were responsible for the murder of his son, David Marcus. Spock believes that Kirk, though an unlikely candidate for the mission, should still go, saying "Only Nixon could go to China." Kirk also mentions that the Enterprise's crew was due to stand down (retire) in a few months.Kirk gathers his crew and the Enterprise leaves Earth. New to the Enterprise is Lt. Valeris (Kim Cattrall), a Vulcan female officer, who is the first of her race to graduate at the top of her class, having been mentored and sponsored by Spock himself. As the ship races towards the rendezvous point with Gorkon, she and Spock share a ceremonial drink in his quarters and discuss the turning point of Federation relations with the Klingon Empire and their implications. Spock tells her that logic does apply to the events at hand but there must also be some acceptance of faith that the new era will bring peace.The Enterprise and Gorkon's cruiser, Kronos One, arrive at the meeting point. Kirk hails the Chancellor and invites him and his officers to dinner on the Enterprise that night. Lt. Valeris mentions to Kirk the availability of an on-board supply of Romulan ale, which she suggests "might make the evening pass more smoothly." Kirk replies, "Officer thinking, Lieutenant." The Klingons are beamed aboard; the Chancellor has brought his daughter, Azetbur (Rosanna DeSoto), his chief of staff, General Chang (Christopher Plummer) and Kerla. Though both sides are initially pleasant toward each other, and a few toasts to the peace accords and Gorkon himself are made over Romulan Ale, the underlying hostility of both sides still permeates the conversation. The Klingons themselves seem particularly fond of Shakespeare; their philosophical arguments about the peace accords are laced with Shakespearean thought. At one point Chang announces that his people need "breathing room", whereupon Kirk mentions that the same thought was expressed by Adolf Hitler in 1939. Azetbur speaks of the Federation being a "homo-sapiens-only" club, despite Spock's presence. Gorkon concludes that there is still much work to do. The Klingons leave and the Enterprise crew (literally) breathes a sigh of relief. Chekov (Walter Koenig) mentions that their visitors had "terrible table manners" and Kirk says their own behavior, as humans, was fairly unacceptable as well.Resting in his quarters (and making a log note that Romulan ale is now banned from all diplomatic functions aboard the ship), Kirk receives a call from Spock to report to the bridge. Hung over, Kirk meets with Spock, who tells him a huge, unexplained neutron radiation surge has been detected on a scanner. As Spock and Kirk try to find it's origin, Kronos One is suddenly hit by a torpedo blast which appears to come from the Enterprise. The Klingon cruiser is hit again and begins to tumble helplessly, losing thruster power and their artificial gravity. On board Kronos One, two figures, wearing Starfleet space suits and magnetic gravity boots, beam aboard and begin to fire upon the Klingon crew with phasers. Several are killed, one is wounded, losing an arm. The assassins move through the ship, finding the Chancellor's chambers. The two Klingons with him are immediately killed, and Gorkon is shot through the chest. The assassins walk back to the transporter pads and beam out, trailing some Klingon blood with them.Chang hails Kirk and immediately accuses him of the attack on the ship. Kronos One moves into an attack positions and activates its torpedo cannon, preparing to fire on the Enterprise. Kirk, knowing that the attack would be deadly and spark an interstellar war, surrenders immediately. He offers to come aboard Kronos One and McCoy volunteers to go as well for medical assistance. As Kirk leaves the bridge, Spock surreptitiously touches his shoulder, placing a small object on his uniform. Kirk and McCoy beam to Kronos One and are escorted by Kerla to the Chancellor, who lies bleeding and dying on the deck. Chang tells them about the assassination and accuses them of lying when Kirk claims innocence. McCoy demands to treat Gorkon and does, however, his unfamiliarity with Klingon internal anatomy prevents him from doing more than reviving Gorkon for a few moments. Gorkon gestures for Kirk to approach him and, putting his hand on the back of Kirk's neck says "Don't let it end this way." He dies. Chang immediately places Kirk and McCoy under arrest for the murder under the Federation's articles of interstellar law.On board the Enterprise, Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) reports the arrest. Spock assumes command of the ship and orders a general standing down, knowing they cannot attack Kronos One to rescue Kirk and McCoy. Uhura also receives a message from Starfleet to return to Earth immediately, however Spock, wishing to investigate the attack on Kronos One and Gorkon further, discreetly orders Uhura to report that the ship is experiencing multiple malfunctions and cannot return until they are repaired.On Earth, the Federation president meets with several other council members about the incident. Among them is the Klingon ambassador, who defends his government's arrest of Kirk. The Klingon ambassador also cites, as Chang did, Federation interstellar law. Vulcan and Romulan ambassadors Sarek (Mark Lenard) and Nanclus (Darryl Henriques) agree, as does the president, who does not want to provoke the already delicate relations with the Klingon Empire. A daring rescue plan, proposed by Colonel West (Rene Auberjonois), is dismissed by the president as well. In Gorkon's place, Azetbur is appointed chancellor and talks directly to the president, saying Kirk and McCoy will stand trial on Q'ono'S. She also affirms her reluctance to attend the peace accords, but agrees, saying that the location must be kept secret and that any attempt to rescue Kirk and McCoy will be an act of war.The trial begins; the prosecuting attorney is Chang himself, while Kirk and McCoy are defended by Colonel Worf (Michael Dorn, a cameo by the character from Star Trek: The Next Generation). Chang delivers the charges, that Kronos One was fired upon, the assassins came from the Enterprise and that Kirk ordered the attack. Though Worf successfully dismisses the final charge, Chang is still able to lay the conduct of the two assassins on Kirk, saying, as captain, he is responsible for the conduct of the crew under his command, one that Kirk does not deny. When McCoy is questioned about his attempt to revive Gorkon, Chang attacks him verbally, challenging his medical expertise based on McCoy's age. He also cites the fact that McCoy, along with all the other dinner guests, consumed Romulan Ale that may have affected his ability to aid the Chancellor. The most damning evidence that influences the trial is Kirk's own words, possibly stolen from his personal log, where he stated "I've never trusted Klingons, and I never will. I can't forgive them for the death of my boy." The jury and court are swayed and Kirk and McCoy are found guilty. Though the Klingons want the death penalty for Kirk, the judge, in the interest of continuing peaceful negotiations with the Federation, sentences the two to the Klingon penal colony, Rura Penthe ("The Devil's Graveyard") a remote and frozen asteroid deep in Klingon space, where they will mine dilithium for the rest of their lives along with thousands of other Klingon prisoners.On the Enterprise, the bridge crew, at Spock's request, watches video of the torpedo hits to Kronos One. They determine that, though the memory banks of Enterprise show two torpedoes had been fired and that all the torpedoes they were carrying before the attack have been visually accounted for, the shots must have come from another ship. The only ship capable of remaining undetected would be one with a cloaking device, a Bird-of-Prey, which cannot fire while cloaked. Spock ascertains, through the logical statement "once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" that the Bird-of-Prey that fired on Kronos One can fire while cloaked. After further deduction, the crew knows what they must search for: the two pairs of magnetic gravity boats worn by the assassins. The crew begins to search every corner of the ship; as they do, they are continually contacted by Starfleet and ordered to return to Earth. Spock tells Scotty to report that the Enterprise is experiencing a warp drive malfunction. When Scotty begins to protest, Spock slyly but firmly tells them they need more time to search the ship. Scotty heartily says it could take "weeks" to repair. Later, Chekov finds dried Klingon blood on the transporter pads and Spock says they will also search uniforms. A pair of gravity boots are found in the locker of Crewman Dax, however his feet are largely different from human feet so the boots cannot be his.Kirk and McCoy arrive on Rura Penthe. They are told that nothing can survive on the surface due to extremely cold temperatures, and a prisoner is cruelly thrown outside to prove the warden's point, freezing in mere minutes. A magnetic field above the asteroid prevents any unauthorized beaming to a ship. In the depths of the mine, Kirk is threatened by a large alien who demands his coat. Another prisoner, Martia (Iman), gets the thug to back off. Later, Kirk finds himself in a fight with another huge alien who is easily winning the battle. Kirk kicks the beast in the knees and it falls down defeated. When he remarks he was lucky, Martia tells him that he kicked the creature's in the genitals. Later, after they go to bed, McCoy relates their plight to the "no-win scenario" of the Kobayashi Maru test. Kirk theorizes that the incidents that led them to their imprisonment may have something to do with others who fear the peace accords with the Klingons. Suddenly, Martia appears and offers Kirk the chance to escape. The next morning they go to a meeting place arranged by Martia but do not see her. However, she is there, in the disguise of a large, hairy & ape-like alien. She later changes to the form of a young human girl, allowing her to slip out of her shackles. She takes Kirk and McCoy through a hidden tunnel that leads to the frozen surface of the planet and gives them warm winter clothing. They begin a lengthy march that will put them beyond the magnetic field covering the prison.Back on the Enterprise, the signal from the device that Spock secretly placed on Kirk, a viridium patch, appears on a scanner and they set a course for Rura Penthe. In order to evade Klingon security outposts, Uhura, unable to use a universal translating device, must speak in Klingon. She is able to fool a sleepy guard at an outpost and the Enterprise continues to Rura Penthe.Martia provides a flare for building a fire. Kirk says he recognizes her as a "chameloid", a shape-shifting species that were supposed to be mythical. Kirk also hits her, knowing she plays to turn them over to the warden, who will execute them both for attempted escape and give Martia a full pardon. Martia changes into a likeness of Kirk himself and the two fight. The warden and several guards appear. After a few moments of confusion about the identity of the real Kirk the warden vaporizes Martia with a blaster and is about to tell Kirk who's behind the plot to kill him when he and McCoy are suddenly beamed to the Enterprise. The ship streaks away from Klingon space.Spock brings them both up to date on his theory. As they make their way to the bridge, they find two crewmembers' bodies lying in a passageway, both killed by stun phaser shots at close range. Scotty runs up, having found the missing uniforms with dried Klingon blood, which belong to the two dead men. Kirk and Spock have a quiet discussion and set a trap for the crew members' killer. A shipwide announcement is broadcast, saying statements will be taken from the dead men in sickbay. Their killer goes there and finds Spock and Kirk posing as the corpses. The killer is Valeris and Spock is visibly furious.On the bridge, Kirk and Spock interrogate Valeris and discover she is part of a conspiracy to sabotage the peace accords and had stood outside Kirk's quarters, recording the log entry used as evidence at his trial. She refuses to reveal the names of her cohorts; Spock performs a very intensive mind-meld and finds out that Admiral Cartwright, Romulan Ambassador Nanclus and General Chang are also part of the conspiracy. She does not know, however, where the peace conference will take place. The Enterprise hails Excelsior and Sulu tells them that the conference will be held on the planet Khitomer. Valeris also reveals that there is only one Bird-of-Prey that can fire while cloaked, a prototype. Detecting it will be difficult, however Kirk orders a course set for Khitomer, after warning Sulu about the evasive ship. Sulu says reaching them in time will be difficult but he agrees to help.The peace conference gets underway at Camp Khitomer. Several of the conspirators are present, one of the Klingons in the audience leaves the meeting hall and takes up a position above the speaker's podium and assembles a Klingon sniper rifle. Enterprise arrives at Khitomer and is quickly hailed by Chang in the prototype Bird-of-Prey. He taunts Kirk with Shakespearean dialog, saying that Kirk prefers war to peace and opens fire on the Enterprise. Enterprise takes heavy damage and its shields quickly collapse. Excelsior arrives shortly after the battle begins and provides distraction for Chang. In the meeting hall on Khitomer, Azetbur gives an impassioned speech about her father's efforts to secure peace. In space, the Bird-of-Prey fires several more severely damaging blasts at the two Federation ships. Spock suddenly has an idea; he mentions that the Bird-of-Prey expels gas as it's exhaust. Uhura suggests they use the equipment they have on board for studying gaseous anomalies and Spock and McCoy equip a photon torpedo with the components. The torpedo is fired and homes in on Chang's ship and scores a direct hit, crippling its cloaking device. Both Enterprise and Excelsior destroy the prototype with photon blasts.On the planet, the Federation president takes the podium while the Klingon sniper aims his rifle at him. Kirk, having beamed down with Spock, Valeris and Scotty, rushes the stage and pulls the president out of the way just as the sniper shoots. As the sniper, seeking another target, points his rifle at Valeris, Scotty bursts into the room and shoots him. He falls through a glass window and onto the hall floor. The sniper is actually Colonel West, wearing a Klingon mask. Kirk explains that they have evidence of the plot and that those involved were frightened of the potential changes that would result.Later, the Enterprise and Excelsior head out into space from Khitomer. Kirk makes a last entry in his log, stating that this will be the last voyage of the Enterprise. They communicate one last time with Sulu aboard his ship before he takes a different course. They receive a transmission from Starfleet ordering them to return to Earth. Spock suggests their reply be "Go to hell." Chekov asks for a course heading and Kirk says "Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning." The Enterprise goes to warp and disappears. Before the closing credits role, the signatures of the principle cast members appear on the screen one at a time.

cult, mystery, murder

train

imdb

tt0062765

Bullitt

Ambitious politician Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) is about to present a surprise star witness in a Senate subcommittee hearing on organized crime. The witness, Johnny Ross, a defector from the Organization in Chicago, is put under San Francisco Police Department protective custody for the weekend, 40 hours until his Monday morning appearance. To improve his own image, Chalmers requests SFPD Lieutenant Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen), who is well-liked by the local media. Bullitt and his team, Sergeant Delgetti (Don Gordon) and Inspector Carl Stanton (Carl Reindel), put Ross (Felice Orlandi) under around-the-clock protection in a cheap hotel selected by Chalmers. Late Saturday night, while Bullitt is with his girlfriend Cathy (Jacqueline Bisset), a designer, Stanton is on solo duty when the desk clerk unexpectedly calls to announce that Chalmers wants to come up. While Stanton checks by phone with Bullitt, Ross unchains the hotel room door. A pair of hitmen (Paul Genge and Bill Hickman) burst in and shoot Stanton and Ross, seriously wounding both. At the hospital, Chalmers holds Bullitt responsible. Later, a second assassination attempt is thwarted by Bullitt, but Ross soon dies of his original injuries. Helped by a sympathetic doctor (Georg Stanford Brown) who had been snubbed by Chalmers, Bullitt delays news of the death by sending the body to the morgue as a John Doe. Bullitt and Delgetti investigate. The cab driver (Robert Duvall) who drove Ross to the hotel remembers stopping to let Ross make a long-distance call from a pay phone. A confidential informant reveals that Ross was caught stealing $2 million from the Chicago Mob and fled to San Francisco after escaping an attempted hit in Chicago. Meanwhile, Chalmers serves Bullitt's captain (Simon Oakland) with a writ of habeas corpus to force him to make Bullitt give up Ross, but the lieutenant does not cooperate. While driving his 1968 Ford Mustang GT, Bullitt spots the Ross hitmen tailing him in a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T. He maneuvers to get behind them, they attempt to flee, and a high-speed muscle car chase ensues through the hilly streets of San Francisco's Russian Hill and out onto the highway, ending when the Mustang forces the Charger off the road and into a gas station, causing a fiery explosion that incinerates the hitmen. Bullitt and Delgetti face their superiors. They reveal that Ross is dead and that their only lead is phone records showing that Ross's call was to a Dorothy Simmons in a hotel in nearby San Mateo. It is Sunday; the detectives are given until Monday to follow up the lead. With his car out of commission, Bullitt gets a ride from Cathy in her Porsche 356. The detectives find Dorothy Simmons strangled to death. Cathy sees police rushing in and follows, fearing for Bullitt. Afterwards, horrified by the crime scene, she confronts him about his violent world, wondering whether she even really knows him. Back in San Francisco, Bullitt and Delgetti search Simmons's luggage, discovering men's and women's clothing, empty ticket and passport folders, a travel brochure for Rome, and thousands of dollars in travelers' checks made out to Albert and Dorothy Renick. Bullitt requests passport information for the Renicks and a fingerprint check for the dead Ross. Chalmers again confronts Bullitt, demanding a signed admission that Ross died while in his custody. Bullitt refuses. A facsimile of Albert Renick's passport application arrives, showing the man they thought was Ross was actually Renick, a used car salesman from Chicago with no criminal record. Bullitt realizes that Simmons was Mrs. Renick; the real Ross had used Chalmers to fake his own death by setting up Renick to die, then murdered her to complete the cover-up. Delgetti discovers reservations for the Renicks on an evening flight to Rome. Bullitt and he head to the airport to look for the real Ross (Pat Renella), who must be traveling as Renick. They stake out the Rome flight gate, only to find that Ross has switched to an earlier flight to London that is already taxiing toward takeoff. Chalmers shows up to lay claim to the real Ross, though he is now wanted for murder, and is again rebuffed by Bullitt. Bullitt has the plane stopped, but Ross escapes. A foot chase across the busy runways ends in a tense pursuit inside the crowded passenger terminal. When Ross bolts and shoots a security guard, Bullitt shoots and kills Ross. Left behind, empty-handed, is Chalmers, who is driven off in a Lincoln Continental with a "Support Your Local Police" bumper sticker. Early the next morning, Bullitt drives home. As he walks up to his apartment, he spots Cathy's car. He looks in and sees her sleeping in his bedroom, but he does not wake her. He takes off his gun and balances it on a banister. As he begins to wash up at the bathroom sink, he looks up into his own reflection and contemplates himself for a long moment.

neo noir, realism, murder, cult, violence, suspenseful

train

wikipedia

Calling your hero Bullitt might seem an unsubtle way to emphasise his macho qualities, but in fact Steve MacQueen plays him as a quiet man, not some wise-talking maverick: he does what he has to do, but takes no pleasure in his actions; and survives the roughness of his work not by becoming a monster, but simply by becoming a little less human. It's a believable portrait, and the film as a whole has a procedural feel: there are action scenes, but these are kept in their place in the overall design.Today, the film is most famous for its celebrated car chase, which makes excellent use, as indeed does the movie as a whole, of the bay area locations, but is not actually shot that excitingly: the conclusion at the airport is more original, though it roots the film in the time when it was permissible to take a loaded gun onto a plane. You may not like him very much, but you have to respect his dedication to duty and you'll quickly share his absolute contempt for Chalmers."Bullitt" is best remembered for its spectacular car chase in which McQueen reportedly did most of his own driving. In today's over-blown and effects laden (for better of for worse) era, people often forget that all those films began with movies like this one.The story has Lieutenant Frank Bullitt receiving an assignment to protect a star witness in a high profile case that could bring down a powerful crime organization. The resulting mystery is both Grade-A Hollywood entertainment (rare these days) and a believable character portrait of a man engulfed by his work in a cruel world.Of course one cannot talk about his movie without mentioning the legendary car chase, which is one of the best out there, but is not the main part of the movie as many make it out to be. Unlike today's crap action movies there is no 37 car pile up, no cars flipping over simply because the bad guys are driving them.Also the finale of the film, a foot chase at an airport, has our hero firing two shots from his pistol and that is the only time he uses it in the movie. It's a pretty solid police thriller which features a famous car-chase scene that supposedly set the standard (or maybe it did at the time of release.)What's interesting to note, according to a documentary on the DVD, is that McQueen did his own driving! Speaking of streets, San Francisco always makes for an interesting local.Robert Vaughn, Don Gordon, Jacqueline Bissett, Simon Oakland and Robert Duvall complete the big-name cast, but this is McQueen's movie all the way.....and, for a film almost 40 years old, it's not very dated.. The film is of course most renowned for the spectacular (even by today's standards) car chase in which star Steve McQueen famously did his own stunt driving (I wonder what the insurance policy was like?!) Although McQueen didn't really have to stretch beyond his already established screen persona, he is perfect in the role. The location photography in beautiful San Francisco, the to-the-letter accurate procedural dialogue, the political infighting with the smarmy D.A. Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) and the brutally violent action scenes all complement the fine performances to create an entirely engrossing authentic crime drama. Steve McQueen stars as Frank Bullitt, a tough San Francisco police lieutenant assigned to protect a mob witness. He holds Bullitt responsible for the death of his star witness, and it is up to the super cop to bring the killer down, while showing Vaughn that he is nothing but a gussied-up sissy-boy.McQueen's performance in this all-time classic is the archetype for not only anyone who aspires to become an actor, but also for the proper way to live like a real man. If she were a "real-life" girlfriend, she would probably cry and nag McQueen all day, preventing him from engaging in really cool activities like speeding through the streets of San Francisco, chasing after lowlife scum.) And as a bonus, Robert Duvall appears briefly in the greatest portrayal of a cab driver of all time. Lalo Schifrin's song is the perfect jazz tune to accompany this and you just know that this movie is something special.The title character (Steve McQueen) is a Lieutenant with the San Francisco police and he and his partner (Don Gordon) are assigned the task to protect a mob informant. I could say more about the plot, but would rather not--as there are a lot of mystery elements about the film and I'd hate to ruin the surprises and twists.The most famous part of this film is, of course, the great car chase scene--featuring a Ford Mustang playing 'cat and mouse' with a Dodge Charger up and down the hills of the city. Then Bullitt must find the hitmen, as well as deal with an identity twist concerning the witness.However, the music score, tight direction, the car chase, McQueen's performance, and especially Robert Vaughn's performance as a ruthless politician make "Bullitt" worth watching. In fact the performances are excellent all the way through the cast (with the exception of Jacqueline Bisset, who's there only for eye candy and brings nothing special to her role).Of course, the car chase is the most famous aspect of the film. *****SPOILERS****** Even though the movie "Bullitt" is known for it's legendary car chase scene, this in 1968 when everything was done for real not in a studio with computer enhanced imagery, the movie is also a very fine crime/drama straight out of todays headlines and has a very good and brainy plot too. Terrific police/action/drama with an ending at the airport, thats as good as the great car chase seen earlier in the film, that left everyone gasping. This is emphasized in the last scene when Bullitt is washing his hands is kind of a metaphor for him kind of cleaning up and trying to stop spiraling into violence; anyway, I've rambled too much.The plot goes something like this; Bulllitt is assigned to protect mob wittiness Johnny Ross for 40 hours by big shot politician Walter Chalmers, Ross is killed by two mob hit men and bullitt goes on a vendetta to hunt them down.The greatest scene in the movie is unquestionably the chase through the Streets of San Fransisco and the other place, I didn't breath once during it. Nice detective story makes great use of San Francisco streets and features one of star Steve McQueen's best screen performances. Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen who based his character on San Francisco Homicide Inspector Dave Toschi, made famous for his work on the Zodiac killings) is an antihero police detective , he is an instinctive cop with his own methods operating in San Francisco . Exciting action scenes , especially in now-classic car pursuit , it lasts 10 minutes and 53 seconds, one of the screen's all-time best , being still a corker , including academy Award winning editing by Frank Keller. Traditionally, car chases are filmed by second units but Peter Yates insisted on doing it himself , this was partly because he knew that Steve McQueen would be performing a lot of the stunts himself . Bullit (1968) enjoyed a freedom of movement around the city that would be hard to come by today, including giving up an entire hospital wing for filming, closing down multiple streets for three weeks for a car chase scene and taking over San Francisco International Airport at night. Director Peter Yates was personally selected for this movie by Steve McQueen because Yates had filmed a realistic car chase a year earlier through the streets of London in Robbery (1967). The first lone-wolf cop story plays by the rules of the genre it spawned, featuring a charismatic, outsider type who carries a badge and an attitude directed just as much against the egos and hubris of his superiors as against the criminal element.Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) is a detective lieutenant on the San Francisco police force who gets handed a "babysitting job" looking after a would-be Mob informant by ambitious politico Chalmers (Robert Vaughn). The hoods Bullitt chase look like insurance salesmen, but of course they were really stunt men, and with McQueen doing a good deal of his own stunt driving as well, there's a validity to the sequence that makes up for some slackness in the composition."Bullitt" is a better film for the things that occur around the car chase, not so much with the central mystery of Johnny Ross as with the scenes of Bullitt in his element, like making coffee, talking with his superiors, eating a sandwich. McQueen's acting was showcased better in films like "The Sand Pebbles," "The Cincinnati Kid," and even his final film "The Hunter," but his star power was never more in evidence than it was here, especially in the scenes he shares with Vaughn, who plays the role of a preppy hardass to perfection and gives both McQueen and the viewer a foil more evil than the real crooks in this picture.Seeing Bullitt handle Chalmers' baiting is a real lesson in how less is more. Throughout there's Bullitt as only McQueen could play him, saying the right line the right way, jumping in an ambulance to fix a problem, telling his gorgeous girlfriend (Jacqueline Bisset) "It's not for you, baby" in a way that comes off utterly cool rather than gratingly sexist.I couldn't figure out what was going on with the crooks – "the Organization" as they are dubbed since calling them the Mafia was seen as demeaning to a particular ethnic group not yet known for creating films like "The Godfather" or "GoodFellas" – not until I watched "Bullitt" a second time, at which point I realized that wasn't so important. Arnold, Stallone, Van Damme, they all owe their careers to Steve McQueen.Forget that he was the original "Jackie Chan" (McQueen did the vast majority of his own stunts, including all the stunt driving in Bullit and the motorcycle riding in The Great Escape), McQueen is the original hard boiled cop.The classic car chase alone is worth the price of admission and if you live in SF, you'll see tons of SF landmarks back in the late 1960s (amazingly, most of the noticeable landmarks look the same today).One of the best action movies ever made. What I like the most in this hard-boiled film is the stylish opening credits with the gangsters; the mood of the restaurant with the jazz band and the look of Mc Queen/Bisset; the violent murder of the fake witness in the cheap hotel; the hospital scene with the killer chase in the basement; the well-known hectic car chase scene in the streets of San Francisco; the airport final scene with the killing of the real witness, re-used for the film "Heat" in 1996; the last close-up of the Steve Mc Queen's cool face before the end credits. It seems to come from different movie!There are some good things here--it's well-directed by Peter Yates who makes beautiful use of San Francisco locations; the now-famous car chase is still exciting and well-directed and edited; McQueen isn't as bad as he usually is (his face actually changes expression once or twice); Bissett is badly used--but at least she's there; Simon Oakland gives a good performance as a police chief and Vaughn is excellent. The film's initial sequence sets the tone, followed by an effectively filmed attack on the star witness; the chase in the streets of San Francisco is justly famous, with a purring V8 Mustang engine, and an abrupt and chancy ending.The final sequence in the airport is top notch even though the main criminal naively takes long distance shots in the dark, making his position known to Bullitt. I watched this movie for the first time.For one reason only that is good.It's because know I can compare old thrillers with new ones."Bullitt" is everything but old movie(only by year).That car chase is brilliant and the whole plot is great too.Director Peter Yates had luck when big star like Steve McQueen decided to join in project.McQueen with Robert Vaughn,Jacqueline Bisset and other stars shines in this movie.Vaughn is good as usual and it is interesting to mention small role from great actor.I'm talking about Robert Duvall as taxi driver.So Yates had good script,good actors and with his talent he made an excellent movie that will last forever.Today,modern generations don't want to spend their time on watching some "prehistoric" movies.Children today rather watch stupid action movies,like all Seagal's ones.One advice:take a look on past movies cause you may find some excellent works.Excellent like "Bullitt".Today,there are few thrillers like this.Smart,sharp and action packed;with excellent actors too.That's why I liked this movie that much."Bullitt" isn't boring,not for a minute.McQueen and Vaughn are great,script is great and all together we've got good thriller.Two thumbs up for "Bullitt".. Pike), and in quoting critic Leonard Maltin, "{A} Now-classic car chase, one of the screen's all-time best."Yes, "Bullitt" also makes for a hell of an action movie, with one of the most intense and exciting car chases in cinematic history. Again, by today's standards this wouldn't amount to much, but it's classic simply because of the pace, editing, Yates' direction, the fact that audiences had seen nothing like it in '68, and let's not kid ourselves here: it's a chase between McQueen's Ford Mustang and two henchmen driving a Dodge Charger (which is MY personal favorite muscle car).But "Bullitt" does have a plot, and it concerns McQueen as the intrepid, no-nonsense San Francisco cop of the film's title, who's given a routine assignment of safeguarding a witness who's been set to testify against a notorious criminal syndicate known only as "The Organization." When the witness, along with Bullitt's partner, are gunned down by unknown assailants, he goes to work to track down those responsible and this culminates not only in the aforementioned car chase sequence, but also a pretty bloody shoot-out and foot-chase in an airport.While all of this going on, Bullitt must also balance his commitment to his live-in girlfriend Cathy (Jacqueline Bisset) and must also tangle with a mysterious government agent named Chalmers (Robert Vaughn), whom Bullitt is very suspicious of. But McQueen did it as one of the first and best.As a movie, though, the success of "Bullitt" may baffle some viewers today, being that this movie is best remembered for a car chase and not much else, since there aren't many action scenes. "Bullitt" is one such great, classic police thriller that's stood the test of time, and should be remembered as one of Steve McQueen's greatest movies.10/10. Pressure from his captain, and a local political candidate looking to make a name for himself, Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn, who always played a great bad guy) The rest of the film is all McQueen. They said the goal of this film was reality...the reality is I got real bored with Bullitt.Car Chase: 9/10 (classic) McQueen Rating: 7/10 (cool as always)Overall Rating: 6/10. If your viewing this page then you'll probably know that this film is most famous for the legendary San Francisco car chase so I'll start there - yes all you've heard is true it's amazing and oozes class and cool (Steve McQueen did his own driving). All in all this film is worth seeing for the car chase alone what you think of the rest is very much to personal taste, in my opinion an interesting but flawed classic with the king of cool and one all time great scene. Not long after, San Francisco homicide detective Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) is handpicked by ambitious politician Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) to protect Ross, a star witness who is about to bring damaging testimony to a subcommittee against a criminal Chicago syndicate (but in California?). He had a one-word response for Chalmers when the latter says, "Frank, we must all compromise." In only the silver screen's first or second use of the word: Bullitt replies, "Bull****!"Steve McQueen's character is modeled after real-life San Francisco Homicide Inspector Dave Toschi. Bullitt was one of the first films in this tread.Lieutenant Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) is a hero cop in the San Francisco Police Department and he is assigned the case to protect a major informant for 40 hours by Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn). If the action is limited to a footchase early on, a long car chase in the middle (of course, this is a Steve McQueen movie), and another footchase at the end, they are perfectly placed, and come with increasing anxiety and originality. The problem was that for being nominated they had to bring the movie into the theaters and let at least some people watch it who would then go out and say: „What a great car chase!` and maybe: „I like Steve McQueen`.The result is boredom and the irony is that you may happen to fall asleep before the good scene. But that's not all that the movie has going for it.The legendary Steve McQueen plays Frank Bullitt, a no-nonsense San Francisco cop whom an ambitious politician tasks with guarding a star witness. In one of the most renowned crime films of the 60's, Steve McQueen (The Great Escape) stars as detective Frank Bullitt, a man assigned to protect Pete Ross, who is due in court in a few days. Pike's book "Mute Witness" becomes snazzy-looking crime drama propelled by chases, screeching tires, the hilly streets of San Francisco and, of course, Steve McQueen as a police detective so inherently cool he doesn't need to do much but walk toward and away from the camera (it isn't exactly acting, but he does cut a presence). I saw Bullitt when it came pout and I thought it was great- Steve McQueen, car chases, sleezy politicians, and the beautiful city of San Francisco. An all guts, no glory San Francisco cop (Steve McQueen) becomes determined to find the underworld kingpin that killed the witness in his protection.Could this film have the best car chase prior to the "French Connection"?

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Get Smart

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell), the top analyst of the top secret American intelligence agency CONTROL, hopes to become a field agent like his idol, Agent 23 (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), but despite scoring extremely well in the acceptance tests Max is denied the promotion because the Chief of CONTROL (Alan Arkin) thinks Max is too valuable in his present assignment. This changes when CONTROL headquarters is attacked by their arch-enemy, the terrorist organization KAOS, led by a man known only as Siegfried (Terence Stamp). As a result, almost all of CONTROL's agents are exposed and killed. Max becomes Agent 86 and is partnered with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), whose recent plastic surgery has protected her identity, while former field operatives like 23 are demoted to desk jobs.Max and 99 travel to Russia on a mission to determine how KAOS has been getting nuclear weapons. Along the way, Max slowly proves to 99 that despite his inexperience and clumsiness he is actually a good field agent. Max also begins to show, as does 99, that he has slight feelings for her, and she for him. However, 99 does not want to have a relationship with any agent, as she previously blew a mission due to her being in a relationship with a partner (as it turns out, Agent 23). The pair try to infiltrate KAOS's Moscow nuclear weapons factory, which is disguised as a bakery, and even though Siegfried has been expecting them, Max and 99 overpower the guards and plant explosives that will bury the nuclear weapons under rubble. Max even saves both 99's life and his own by helping one of Siegfried's henchmen, a man named Dalip (Dalip Singh), with his marital problems using information gleaned from his analyst work. The Chief sends 23 to oversee clean-up of the bakery, but 23 reports that he has found no evidence of nuclear weapons, causing CONTROL (and an upset 99) to believe that Max is a double agent.Siegfried reveals that KAOS has distributed nuclear weapons to unstable dictators, and will supply them with the activation codes unless the American Government pays him $200 billion, and decides to establish the credibility of his threat by destroying Los Angeles with a nuclear bomb during the President's visit. The Vice-President doesn't believe CONTROL's claims that KAOS is a serious threat so the Chief, 99 and 23 go there to try and personally convince the President, to no avail. Dalip sends Max (who is in custody in Washington D.C.) a tip-off about the bomb via a radio call-in show, so Max escapes custody, equips himself with vintage items from the CONTROL museum (such as the shoe phone) and travels to Los Angeles himself to meet with the Chief and tell him about the bomb. Agent 23 doesn't believe Max's claims or his innocence because he has a crush on agent 99, even though the Chief and 99 do. This, plus the fact that Max detects trace radiation on 23 (who had walked through the Moscow nuclear facility), causes Max to realize that 23 is the double agent. 23 takes 99 hostage and flees with the bomb's remote detonator, and Max and the Chief give chase. 23 ties 99's hands tightly together and locks her in his car. Max and the Chief save 99, with Smart kissing Agent 23, which was a trick to distract him and kicks him into the now flaming, track-led government GMC Yukon. When Max and 99 are stuck to the car, Max saves 99 by throwing her to the ground while he tries to cut himself free. 99 looks up and sees the car destroyed by the oncoming train, believing Max and 23 to be killed. 99, extremely upset about Max's death, says out loud that she wished they had more time together too, an answer to a question Max asked her earlier. Suddenly, Max appears, shocking her, saying he "missed it by that much." 99 kisses Max. The three realize that the bomb, hidden in Walt Disney Concert Hall where the President is attending a concert, will be triggered when the orchestra plays the final notes of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". Reaching the Hall just in time, Max tackles the conductor, stopping the orchestra and stopping the bomb. However, the orchestra is doubtful that there was a bomb and the guards ridicule Maxwell. Maxwell guesses correctly that the bomb was under the piano and shocks the guards. During Siegfried's escape, the terror mastermind insults Dalip once too often and Dalip throws him out of their car off a bridge and into a river.The heroes celebrate their success in CONTROL headquarters. The President is very impressed with the agency, especially Max's heroics. Max and 99 begin not-so-secretly dating and have bought a puppy, named Fang. Bruce and Lloyd get a little payback on a bullying field agent via the introduction of Hymie the Robot. The film ends with Max and 99 leaving CONTROL through the set of high-tech security doors; of course, Max can't leave the last door (which doesn't close) alone and repairs it with his pocket knife, causing the door to close on him and a mini harpoon to stick him in the cheek.

murder, stupid, bleak, violence, flashback, humor, entertaining

train

imdb

I know sometimes a preview looks pretty good and then the movie stinks (hello, Indiana Jones IV?) but this one does not disappoint.I remember enjoying the "Get Smart" TV series when I was a kid, and like some other reviewers here, I feared the remake might screw it up (even though watching a couple of 5th-season episodes recently reminded me just how bad the show itself became late in the game.) But this movie version strikes just the right balance of action and comedy, while also balancing fresh ideas with welcome nods to the TV series.After all, it wouldn't be "Get Smart" without "Would you believe...", "Sorry about that, Chief", or "Missed it by THAT much." It was also great to see such classics as the shoe phone, the Cone of Silence, Hymie the robot, and not one but two of the cars that Don Adams would have driven. Now this isn't Robert Ludlum material, and I doubt anyone is real surprised to see who turns out to be a bad guy, but it's a lot of fun along the way, with either a sight gag or surprisingly good action (and often both at the same time) coming down the pike every few minutes. Neither was this one of those "Naked Gun" characters who stumbles into success despite his incompetence; Smart has some hilariously bad moments, but is never made out to be simply a lucky fool.Carrell and Anne Hathaway have surprisingly good chemistry, and Alan Arkin is perfect taking over Edward Platt's role as "the Chief." Former wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson does a good job as Agent 23, and an even larger wrestler (7-foot 2-inch, 387-pound Dalip Singh from "The Longest Yard") is well-cast as a KAOS underling, although most of the other main bad guys are rather forgettable. Even TV-series KAOS agent Bernie Koppel shows up for a cameo, as does Patrick Warburton (who will be terrific in the inevitable sequel) and Bill Murray (almost unidentifiable hiding in a tree.) Bottom line: you won't come out of this movie feeling as if you were cheated out of your money. I saw a preview of "Get Smart" last week at Warner Brothers, and all my worries about what they would do with the great TV series vanished in the first few moments of the movie as Steve Carell enters Control through the famous doors, and so began one of the most hilarious comedies I have seen in a long time. The cast is absolutely stacked, Alan Arkin, the Rock, Dave Koechner all kick ass and help make 'Get Smart' an instant classic.If you were a fan of the original 'Get Smart' series, there's no question you'll love this movie. The rest of the cast is generally well-chosen (although I didn't get the point of Bill Murray's 1-minute cameo); there is a big plot twist that allows one cast member to play against type, and even Dalip Singh (aka The Great Khali in WWE) comes off well, playing a huge indestructible henchman in the tradition of Jaws of "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker".There are some good laughs in "Get Smart", but what pleasantly surprised me is how well-done the action is. From an exhilarating freefall sequence that was probably designed as a homage to the opening of "Moonraker" to Carell's and Hathaway's quick, efficient fight scenes (choreoghraphed by a veteran at this sort of thing, James Lew), and from the explosions at the "bakery" factory to the incredibly kinetic final chase sequence involving various means of transportation, the action in this movie probably surpasses the recent James Bond pictures, helped by the fact that a lot of it seems to have been done by the actors themselves, willing to take some risks. On the other hand, the production values were all first-rate and contemporary, including a CGI effect of an aerial fly-around and push-in to a 747 that was reminiscent of the key shot in the pilot of Star Trek.Steve Carrell makes a very reasonable Agent 86; where Don Adams played the character as a bumbling naif, Carrell makes him into a goodhearted wannabe who, despite having the kind of personality that renders him invisible in society, still has intelligence and an earnestness that can make him into hero material when he works at it. (He also quite reasonably feels more secure in briefs than boxer shorts; I don't know what Adam's take on this issue was).On the other hand, Anne Hathaway nails Agent 99 with a performance absolutely capturing Barbara Feldon's creation, right down to the tone of voice, the raised eyebrows, and at least three different dead-on intonations of "Oh, Max!" Nevertheless, Hathaway moves the character beyond the pre-feminist liberation era and invests 99 with a believable 21st century sexuality and sense of empowerment. It was so bad, in fact, that I found it difficult to recognize the characters I knew so well and I kept forgetting that I was watching Get Smart.I really believe that this had all of the ingredients to become a hilarious movie, but someone messed up horribly along the way. But that's just to remind us that this is the Get Smart movie.The series was laugh-out-loud funny about a goofy, stupid agent against stupid enemies. Anne Hathaway's gorgeous legs can only carry her so far in this movie and Steve Carrell's Don Adams impressions fall way short of any testament to a great bumbling secret agent of days gone past.Updated for today's post, post-cold war period, the story jumps around with no continuity and just doesn't fit the persona of the original story lines spoofing the CIA and the KGB. Take out all the convoluted middle scenes, keep the beginning and end, and you would have seen the whole movie in five minutes.Oh, and I would have never lived to say this, but would you believe I recently rented "The Nude Bomb" with Adams on DVD, tried to remember this, and I liked this little-known movie much better than this recent "Get Smart?" But the TV show is the real thing.. The result is a film that lacks an identity and feels a bit half-baked and in need of a few more re-writes.Steve Carell essentially turns his Michael Scott character from TV's The Office into a comedic secret agent for this movie, and though he really isn't breaking any new comedic ground, he's still the best thing about this movie. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Alan Arkin, Masi Oka and Terry Crews all have comparatively limited screen time but generally make the most of it.The film's biggest handicap is its hit-or-miss script, which quite often drags down its actors with jokes that are often eye-rollingly corny and/or unnecessarily lewd. Also Starring The Lovely Anne Hathaway(Nicolas Nickleby) as Agent 99, the partner and love interest of Agent 86,Alan Arkin(Catch-22 ) as The Chief,Dwayne Johnson(The Scorpion King) as Agent 23, Masi Oka(Heroes) as Bruce,Terry Crews(The Benchwarmers) as Agent 91 ,James Caan(Brazil) as The President of The United States also Starring Terrence Stamp(Superman II) as Siegfried A Nuclear Arms Dealer The Films Main Villain ,The Film was Dramatic,Thrilling and absolutely Funny An Amazing performance from Steve Carrell as the Dry Humor Maxwell Smart also the film was Funny at Spoofing The Typical Spy Genre and surprisingly Dramatic had an awesome summer Comedy vibe. Now it's up to Max to find out for sure what is being done and to stop them.And that's a very loose description of the premise to Get Smart, a movie updating and re-imagining of the classic comedy TV series from the 1960s...... Even when this is relying on some of the old chestnuts from the original series (with one notable exception), this just fails.And the reason for that failure is on two counts- it's ill-conceived as a movie, and the character of Maxwell Smart has been seriously compromised.Now, y'see, back when the show was on, it was genuinely funny and being the brainchild of comedy legends Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, you'd expect it to be. The TV series was a spoof of spy movies, it was a low budget and very small show, and yet it was loaded with big, but two-dimensional characters, and the biggest of them all was Maxwell Smart. First, this is trying to be an action movie with lots of comedic overtones, and it's also very big, especially in consideration of it's source, and the biggest thing that they do wrong in the midst of all of that is that they try to make you think it's real, and that was never the spirit of the original show by any means.The second thing that they get wrong is in the character of Maxwell Smart. Anne Hathaway plays Smart's partner, Agent 99, and first off, she just looks fantastic and also looks like she would have a real affinity with being in a legitimate action film, it's just too bad that she's in this one. And her character has been changed as well, in particularly to be a little more shrewish than anything else.Get Smart is as ill-conceived as a TV-to-movie adaptation/remake/re-imagining can get and even though it tries to have some echoes of the original series, those echoes fall flat due to a poor conception of the film and a dramatically ill-conceived new interpretation of it's lead character. It's not similar in story to either of those movies, but it does manage to blend action and comedy together in a comparable way.The casting is perfect, and really what makes Get Smart so likable. Such is the case with 'Get Smart', where Steve Carell's excellent comic timing, and his chemistry with Anne Hathaway make for a very entertaining film, despite the at times clichéd script. The only positives of this movie are the performances of Alan Arkin (who has THE funniest line in the movie), Dwayne Johnson (who had his funny line deleted in favor of an unfunny line from Terry Crews) and Anne Hathaway, who proves to be ten times funnier and more enjoyable than Steve Carell thinks he is. While I was seeing Get Smart,I could not stop thinking how much better it could have been with a better creative team.I think Get Smart is a mediocre movie but the worst aspect from this movie is that it represents wasted potential.I laughed on some occasions,but most of the gags fatally fail because they result totally unfunny and,on the worst of the cases,irritating.Steve Carell is an excellent comedian but he is lost on this movie.I think it was not his fault...I think the fault was of director Peter Segal,who could not recognize Carell's talent,not to mention the potential from this movie.But,thinking it well,it's a mistake to expect too much from the director of The Nutty Professor:The Klumps and Anger Management.Anne Hathaway,Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin are wasted in here.One of the few elements I enjoyed from this movie,was the brief moment in which Bill Murray appeared...one of the few occasions I laughed was on that moment.Get Smart is a weak movie which commits a fatal mistake:staying in the mediocrity because of its lack of ambition.My recommendation is:skip this movie.. Get Smart not only features some of the dumbest lines in the history of comedy, but, on top of that, has a totally incoherent "story." Not a single cast member gave a good performance, even though Steve Carrell is a comic genius and Hathaway is an underrated actress. In recent years most movies based on TV series have used high-tech special effects and extravagant action sequences, thinking that it would be better than the series and in the process they forget to focus on the story and characters.While 'Get Smart' has the cool special effects and action scenes, its essence remains similar to that of the series and the story is funny while the characters are fun (just like Mel Brooks would have wanted). The series recounted, in high style and with great good humor, the goofy misadventures of one Maxwell Smart, aka Agent 86, of the spy agency CONTROL who, in his own endearingly inept way, waged weekly battle against the comically evil organization known as KAOS. In short, for long stretches of time, Maxwell Smart has been reduced to playing straight man in his own movie.Anne Hathaway conveys a certain style and panache as Agent 99, but Alan Arkin as the Chief and Dwayne Johnson as Agent 23, though both very good, aren't accorded sufficient screen time to register much of an impact. I kept watching hoping and waiting for it to deliver some of the classic lines in the classic fashion of Don Adams who played the original Maxwell Smart.The story is weak, the humour is lame, in fact I didn't laugh at any point or even get close. It gets a turkey.40-Year-Old Virgin star Steve Carrel steps into the telephonic shoes of television's most beloved bumbling detective in this big-screen adaptation of the hit 1960s-era comedy series created by Mel Brooks. Last year I saw the teaser trailer for Get Smart, Steve Carell throws a phone at the guy from Borat and it's on a wire and stops before it can hit him, I nearly died laughing and new I had to see this film. One scene between Steve Carell and Dwayne Johnson near the end of the movie has the comic brilliance and timing of the classic pie in the face that you knew was coming but laughed at anyway. It's got some good stunts.**** Get Smart (6/19/08) Peter Segal ~ Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, Dwayne Johnson. Alan Arkin is tremendous as the chief, Dwayne Johnson is funny and lovable as the famous Agent 23 whom Max wants to live up to, Terence Stamp is given yet another generic bad guy to play and does so with flair and excellence. There's also a great supporting cast that includes Bill Murray, Terry Crews, David Koechner, Ken Davitian, and a hilarious bit part with James Caan as the president of the United States.Never devoid of laugh, charms, and competently directed by Peter Segal, "Get Smart" is one of the most delightfully funny movies of the past ten years. To be honest i never saw any episode of the late series Get smart, but if it's anything like the movie it must be full with laughs and spy action. These shows were great then, because the way they were and made us laugh and they did-not need changed at all.This movie was kinda funny, the cameos of some of the original cast that were still alive was nice but this movie was nothing like the original get smart the TV show that I remember Steve Carell is nothing like Don Adams and Anne Hathaway playing agent99 was boring and not very sexy and well rest of the cast was a who's who of todays so called stars. just like most movies these days a lot of money and effects on the screen, no substance!If you want to see a really great performance by Steve Carell, see "Dan in Real Life". I'm not knocking the actors playing the roles, but Agent 23, Siegfried, the Chief, Larabee, Bruce, Lloyd, Dalip, etc, were just simply annoying characters.The final appearance of Patrick Warburton's 'Hymie' was the only saving grace character and he was only on-screen for less than a minute.I couldn't wait for this film to end, especially after seeing what was a brilliant concept of "Get Smart" re-written so badly in the 'updated' version. This movie is hilarious, nonstop laughs, over-the-top humor, goofy, endearing, laughable, a good time movie, a wonderful cinematic experience, upbeat, silly but in a good way, farcical but not dumb, great comedic acting, excellent script, comic acting at its best, one of the few movies that makes you want to say "I wish the movie was not over", Steve Carell is great, Ann Hathaway is outstanding, Alan Arkin is at his funniest and the entire cast is like a well oiled laughter machine. Seldom has a movie had so many good things going for it and failed so miserably, yet such is the case with Get Smart, the latest in a long line of television chestnuts finding a home on the big screen thanks to the utter dearth of imagination in Hollywood these days.Its problem lies with not knowing what it wants to be – family comedy or action flick, with the end result being a weak-kneed attempt at both (although to be fair, the action comes off better than the laughs). His goofy but innocent antics are perfect for this film, and his on-screen chemistry with co-star Anne Hathaway is realistic and incredibly entertaining.Dwayne Johnson, Masi Oka, Alan Arkin, Nate Torrence and Ken Davitian are all just as funny and lively as the stars they support, creating a terrifically performing cast that makes you want to see them again and again.Get Smart was certainly worth the wait, and I recommend it to anybody who even remotely thinks they may enjoy it.. The title did it justice: the film lacked any of the original characters or the actors who played them except Adams as Maxwell Smart. The twist is so painfully obvious you could see it a mile away.Hathaway doesn't have the requisite chemistry with Carell for their relationship to ignite sparks and the supporting cast comprised of Alan Arkin as the CONTROL head, Terence Stamp as the KAOS head, and Dwayne Johnson as Agent 23 are wasted with hit-or-miss dialogs."Get Smart" doesn't end up as being a horrible movie as surely, there are some moments worthy of a matinée. But the film stars the perfect actor for the Maxwell Smart (Agent 86) role--Steve Carrell. The trademark characters (Maxwell Smart, 99, Siegfried, Larrabee, etc.) as portrayed in the film were nothing like their counterparts from the original series. I love the films of Mel Brooks, the man who's behind the original TV series for this movie.

tt0428870

Nae meorisokui jiwoogae

A heart broken girl probably would like get the bitter past erased, but what if it happened on a 27 years old woman. In A Moment to Remember, the young couple Sui Jin and Cheol-soo struggled in combat with the fatal Alzheimer which was ruining their marriage step by step. Cheol-soo could save Sin Jin from a bitter past, but who could be their savior in flight with losing the memories, love and life? Betrayed by the married man, Sui Jin left the tickets at the train station. When she came across a build laborer Cheol-soo at the gate of a shop, she had his cola, without knowing his name and the future that he was her real soul mate.The relationship between memory and love has been deeply explored and examined in this love story which makes it a bitter one. However, if you have already bored with Korean tear jerker, you will be surprised and moved by the depicting of touching moments in the couples daily life. The movie is brilliant in building a perfect marriage life between two young Korean couples that any Asian girl would have dreamed of. The story touches your heart by the little sweet and exciting details of how they fall in love and the happy marriage.On a summer night, at an outdoor stand of a vendor, when Sin Jin took off a cup of strong hot Korean wine, Chelo-soo sealed her mouth by kiss. Their relationship started. Although born in a low class family, Chelo-soo was a charming guy to well educated Sui Jin. He palyed a tricky poker game and won her sweet kiss.Having finished the examination of architect, he in her handmade suits walked out of the building, she, waiting for him for a whole day, smilied sweetly at him "Did I asked you not waiting for me?" Even waiting seemed wonderful to a woman in love. After they get married, one time she hadn't remebered the boiling water until she walked out of the bathroom after showering and ran to turn off it. But Cheol-soo didn't blame it on her. He smiled and unsnapped her bathrobe to check if she had finished bathing cleanly. Sui Jin was as shy as a little girl. He loves her tenderly. Soon he purchased a set of new furnitures to her in order to prevent her from hurting by cooking. Moreover the virtue of self sacrifice driven by the unconditional love is fully showed in the figures. When Sui Jin was informed of the disease, she kept it a sceret and only released her pressure and suffering in the cry at the toilet. One day he hugs her in arms having a nap. She finally asked him that, what about if she quited the job, had a baby and became a housewife. He was a little bit surprised, but he happily agreed. When he was forced to play the joker game again, she cried out and left the couch. The game had not changed, neither did he. But she was going to forget all of these. "Why did you tell her the turth!"Question at the doctor, Cheol-soo finally found out the cruel fact of his adorable wife.Their marriage was tested by the disease which is eating her memories. When he was leaving for work, she called her ex-boyfriend's name Seo Yeong-min and said, I love you. He replied, me too. Closed the door, he cried out. Who does she really love? When the memories were erased, would love also disappear? He was ashamed of his doubt when he read the confession letter left by Sui Jin on the table. In a short time of gaining back sane memory, she wrote the letter and left the family.In the end, he visited her in a hospital and brought her back to the Familymart shop where all her families and friends loving her showed up. She asked him, Is it the paradise? Chelo-soo drove her on the way heading to the sun.After watching this, probably even peaple who are torturing by being disappointed in love, would not erase the memories. Although the memories are past, they were our life and love. (By AmyLoa)

melodrama

train

imdb

Having watched so many Korean movies and dramas that end with someone having a terminal illness (Autumn in My Heart, I'm Sorry I Love You, remember those?) I thought I'd discovered all the tearjerker tricks... I don't know why some people think it's too fast-paced cos it is possible for people to fall in love and get married in that amount of time, and I thought the use of elliptical editing was just right, not so excessive that you feel like you're seeing a trailer... Enter "A Moment to Remember" (unofficial English title) which swept me away with it's amazing characters, decent story and tear jerking tragedy romance. I also loved the musical score in the movie which was very well done especially during the last scene when its about to end.Simply an amazing movie though not perfect is right up there in my top movie list in this genre. Korea have really made a name for themselves producing love stories just like A Moment To Remember. Son Ye Jin absolutely suited the role which was to be played and so did Jung Sung Woo. At the beginning, he was seen as an arrogant man with little feelings, and yet the way Son Ye Jin taught him the way to love and treasure life was so touching. Life, death, happiness, grief, come together in a magnificent production, with brilliant acting, especially by Woo-sung Jung, splendid cinematography, and a wonderful soundtrack. i don't usually shed tears when watching a love story but this movie can lighten and bring down on its knees even the most ruthless, cold hearted, insensitive soul. i watched this movie last night and i was tremendously impressed with the story mainly because it is one of those rare stories where something like this can happen. if you don't believe a word i'm saying or if you think this is B.S, watch the movie and when you get to the middle and the beginning of the second half and throughout the end, you will see my point.the story is well developed, not too slow and not too fast, the perfect pace for such a dramatic film, no plot holes at all and excellent acting, which shows the actors took heartedly to the story. I will admit that I am a hopeless romantic and I love to watch these types of movies. Beautiful Son Yae Jin (The Classic) and handsome Jung Woo Sung (Musa - The Warrior, Mutt Boy) share A Moment to Remember! The scene where she knows the truth about her disease and asks her Jung Woo Sung if he wants to have a baby, she was simply amazing. Subtle and simple especially in close up shots,the guy has got some serious talent.On the whole it is movie worth watching which is like an oasis in a desert of meaningless movies!!!. Plus, some water in case of dehydration.Now let's be serious, this movie is not just about love, how beautiful or sad it can be. You may notice some kind of existential nihilism in it, the very very sad possibility that the life we know is pointless to us, which can actually be true if we dare to change our point of view to a more uncomfortable one.The actors and actresses, the scenery, the music, the story, the direction, the ending are beyond perfect. The concept, story, and script are original, subtle and very thought provoking.The cast is superb, lead by a devastating performance by leads SOHN Je-jin and JUNG Woo-sung, who capture the extreme emotional ranges of their characters amazingly.Director John H Lee has certainly got a lot of talent. so sad that people likes cheap drama like full house and Rain(Bi) and Song Hye Gyo won many awards for that, while son ye jin and the actor in this movie ( i don't remember his name though) doesn't seem to be recognized by any award.. Amazing acting, (specially woo-sung Jung) Amazing cinematography, amazing script (most of the line are unforgettable), amazing casts in short Amazing STORY!, super heavy drama. A Moment to Remember is beautifully representative of this, and though some have previously criticized the feature as resembling The Notebook, not only is the film vastly different, it is also superior.Based upon the Japanese TV program Pure Soul, the feature opens immediately with Su-Jin (Son Ye-Jin), a young woman who experiences forgetfulness on a daily basis. Ms. Ye-Jin is absolutely phenomenal in this role, the desperation and tearfulness she articulates while trying to remember something, coupled with the blankness in her eyes when a memory has completely been erased, making for a truly heartbreaking experience. The costumes brilliantly suit the leads as well, both in their occupations, and their personal lives, but it is the attire they wear to their wedding that is easily the most glamorous, capturing the romantic atmosphere of this touching moment.Although Su-Jin's memory deteriorates over time, rather than the tragedy been an instant occurrence, we, the audience, helplessly and painlessly watch as the gorgeous couple begin to experience the unforgivable pain that comes between them, their love, and their memories, though Cheol-Su's determination to remain by Su-Jin's side is possibly the most painfully beautiful occurrence of all. It should already be colossally obvious that this feature is bound to cause some tears, the later stages of the feature especially requiring tissues.Originally loathed by some of her co-workers for instigating a relationship with a fellow individual in their department, Seo Young-Min (Baek Jong-Hak), a married man, prior to the commencement of the film's storyline, as Su-Jin's memory begins to fracture, and Seo ventures back into her life, desperate to rekindle their affair, Su-Jin begins exhibiting difficulty attempting to differentiate the past, from the present.Though Su-Jin later stipulates how Cheol-Su never vocally admitted his love for her, the tears he sheds, after admitting he couldn't cry no more after experiencing a painful upbringing, brilliantly visualizes the agony he suffers each time he looks at the woman he loves, only to have her look at him like a stranger. The performances by the other cast members assist in further drawing the viewer into the world of the characters, and though the doctor who discovers Su-Jin's condition, D Lee (Kwon Byung-Gil) is blunt and unforgiving in his description of her mental affliction, he captures the unsympathetic realism that so many doctors demonstrate in reality.The script, which accentuates the dramatic elements, alongside using occasional humor, is delightful, and the soundtrack, that is designed to help the audience comprehend the feelings taking place during the accompanying moments, is equally excellent. Occasionally cute, touching, sad, but always honest in its depictions, A Moment to Remember is not a film that can be watched - it has to be, for it is dramatic excellence at its finest.. Jung Woo Sung loves So Ye-Jin so much that he tries everything to help her when she got ill. ' when she went to the place that they first met and remembered some things.This movies shows that one should never give up and should do his/her best for the special one.. all the movie is trying to say how the girl and the guy love each other truly deeply by many ways, e.g. when the gal got sick and went to the hospital, she sent a letter like below:" please don't find me, i hope you can find another great gal and be happy" that's shows typical subliminal need for the guy, and in fact hope the guy could visit her. (write nothing and disappear if she really want the guy to forget her.) i suggest some good Korean movie, such as "Daisy" that i watched recently, great one.. The movie might seem a little long, and sometimes dragging, but the story, the dialogues, the intensity of the situations and Woo-sung Jung's (lead male's) acting keep you interested till the end.Though there have been many movies where one of the partners in a relationship is stricken with some sort of illness, this one comes as a fresh and mesmerizing romantic drama which is sure to get at least a few tears out of you.The Korean name of the Film, which literally translates into 'Eraser in my Head' is apt for the movie. THAT is why I've seen this movie so many times...because no matter how many times I see the same heartbreaking or endearing scene, it still makes me feel the same way. It's true that the movie can feel lengthy, but there are so many beautiful shots of the scenery plus THE SOUNDTRACK (exquisite) makes you wanna capture every scene. There are scenes in which something very subtle (like a gesture, a quote, a conversation), either teaches you something about life, or makes you realize the true power of a deep genuine love (yep, went there, cheesy af I know). The story began as usually and the actress was always the weak one and she had sick which can make her forget everything, but her husband (the actor is so cool in this film, very different when he acted in Musa) always accompanied her and taking good care of her. And (for a miracle) she's not death just lose her memory, they were together.Both, the actor and the actress acted good beside this movie plot actually really good, it just why they always make one of them is sick or even death.You really have to watch this movie if you are one of the fans for romantic film. one thing i can say about these Korean movies....they portray emotions and feelings so well as no one else can.The love and emotions in this movie are really touching. The movie is about a couple who fell in love, get married and the girl has a disease called Alzheimer's and how they tackle with this disease.i will recommend you to watch this movie and please be ready with handful of tissue paper or handkerchief, this movie will make you cry.. This is the story of Su-jin who soon after suffering a heartbreak from her previous relationship meets Cheol-su with whom eventually she falls in love.During the first half of the movie the focus lies on their life together and makes people like me ,that read in the summary about Alzheimer disease , believe that this movie has nothing more to offer than that.Later on,we learn that Su-jin has been diagnosed with Alzheimer disease and we witness the effort of the couple to cope with the situation,and the problems that occur.The movie is the best I have seen so far surrounding Alzheimer's problems,but that's not all it has to offer.Great acting,nice plot,and very emotional.Feel warned..and prepare to cry.. They both start's to lead a very happy life.Suddenly Su-jin starts forgetting things very often.Su-jin then meets a doctor and takes some series of tests.Meanwhile the EX-Boy friend of Su-jin who was working in the same office with her comes back.Cheol-su is becoming successful in his architect business and continues a very sweet relationship with her wife.Su-jin then meets the doctor for her test results and the doctor says that she is affected by a very rare disease called Alzheimer's disease.the doctor says that because of the disease she will first get a mental death followed by a physical one and advises to quit her job immediately and stay in home.The next forty minutes of the movie cannot be explained in words, Some excellent acting by both Su-jin and Cheol-su i.e the lead pair.The movies makes a heavy feel at your hearts if you are not shedding out your tears while watching.If you are in love with some one then you cannot resist your tears at some moments in the movies.A MOMENT TO REMEMBER is one moment i am going to remember ever with little tears.................. i watched this movie a long time ago, without any subtitles. As Su- Jin's memory begins to leaves her, the disease they face may turn out to be too much for even a love as strong as theirs… A Moment to Remember is the latest representative of Korea's stunningly popular tragic drama genre, and features two of the region's brightest stars. As Su- Jin's memory begins to leaves her, the disease they face may turn out to be too much for even a love as strong as theirs… A Moment to Remember is the latest representative of Korea's stunningly popular tragic drama genre, and features two of the region's brightest stars. A Master pieceMost Romantic Film Ever made, Cried like a baby.Plus Points:-* Screen Play * Lead Actors Performances * Background Music * Cinematography * Romantic ScenesMinus:-* Some Drawback scenes in Between..The main plot of the movie is a love story between a couple...the story starts with the flash back episode of Cheol-su and Su-jin describing how they fall in love besides the previous affair of su-jin and a bad childhood to cheol-su...and the story continues with some good performances and script...i can't reveal the rest of the story....Well, I think no one should miss this movie... I love the music, specially the Spanish music,, the actors and their the acting, of course the great story to tell. this movie is absolutely amazing, it teaches you to treasure life in the greatest way,on the other hand its a very sad movie, totally a tearjerker i recommend this movie to everyone even those who don't normally fall for sad love movies, this is one of those movies that touch you so hard you can never forget it!! truly a beautiful movie the actors are all great and Cheol-su looks incredibly hot!! However, in case of "Moment to Remember", it is not sure which does the director want to portray, the lead and her husband facing this fear, or a manga-like love story.The man acts like a hero, from the beginning to the end. Characters well developed- story moves at a perfect pace Not a big romance film fan but this changed that I thought the foreign language would be an impediment Far from it I was introduced to nuanced acting and perfectly paced character evolving along with the story and beautiful shots so pleased I found it and am telling everyone I know the good news but wow wow wow Go watch Today ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟. A moment to remember is truly an exceptional film.It does not involve comedy as such instead its a very sad film which will surely touch your heart.According to me it is one of the best romantic film ever.The movie clearly shows us what is the true meaning of love and that saying 'I love you' means much much more than words.this film literally made me cry and I bet u will also.I would like to narrate the whole story but I don't want to ruin the film for u.The only reason why I rated it 9 stars instead of 10 is because it is not a true story. "I will remember everything for you" are truly amazing.I am sure you won't regret watching this film.. I can't ever remember crying so much while watching and after a movie. I love this movie so much.I don't know how many times I cried in the climax. I like cheol-su character because he is kind and not abandons but help su-jin about her Alzheimer's decease.There are similar Korean movies or novels like this one (the main cast get Alzheimer or someone die of decease or die of traffic accident) but I like all of them.Pure love is best one.. Hence, you know she will be dying, since there still isn't any cure for this disease, and the movie was shot in 2004.The events which occur in the movie could be misleading in the sense that they could leave you with the feeling that it's just another very sad and emotional Korean dramatic movie, with beautiful moments and captures, and a heartbreaking ending. And that's the underlying problem of Alzheimer's disease.So yes, it's a sweet, beautiful and heartbreaking movie, but for the people who are actually in the same situation, it points out that you should keep faith in the person who is sick, that if they forget about you, it's not because they didn't care about you, but because they can't help it. I loved every moment of the movie to the core. The scenes in 2nd half where the Ye-jin Son suddenly gets back her memory and feels so sorry for forgetting her husband and writing a note to him explaining how much she loves him. 3. To the end, Woo-sung re-creates the situation by which they met trying to help Ye-jin Son recall her memory!Fabulous movie, I have no words! A Moment To Remember provides the mature viewer a perspective of how sad a relationship can become especially in trying times and how love can become stronger between couples in times of illness and suffering.It is a story a young 27-year-old young woman named Su-jin,who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease after marrying a carpenter who works for her father's company. So it looks like Su-jin may just be one of the unluckiest people in the world.This movie features two of the region's brightest young stars led by the popular and attractive Korean actress superstar,Son Ye-jin as the young woman and the equally popular Jeong Woo-sung as the carpenter, the film is built on the premise that it is possible for someone so young to become stricken with an "old person's disease". Overall,I consider A Moment To Remember,The Classic and My Sassy Girl as the best Korean movies out of the more than a hundred that I have ever seen so far.This is definitely the best.No doubt about it.. It treats love and Alzheimer in a way that makes you feel the joy and the pain of the characters. I would recommend anyone that has had a closed loved one suffering from Alzheimer to watch this movie.

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Circus of Fear

Clarification:- This is a plot summary for the English language version of Circus of Fear / Psycho-Circus only. The German language version may have a different ending.In London a gang of criminals carry out a daring, armed robbery of an armoured car - during which one of the security guards is shot dead. Scotland Yard assign Police Inspector Jim Elliott (Leo Genn) to the case but there initially seem to be few leads. However, just when the trail seems to have gone cold a curious potential lead comes to Elliott's attention from a rural area of southern England. Some of the stolen bank notes from the robbery seem to have turned up at businesses in the vicinity of the winter quarters of Barberini's travelling circus - which Elliott remembers were performing in London at the time of the robbery.Elliott initially goes undercover as a photographer to visit the circus and speak to owner Barberini (Anthony Newlands) but soon has to dispense with his cover when the body of one of the armoured car robbers turns up inside a sack at the circus. The robber has been murdered with a throwing knife with a diamond-shaped design on the handle. Elliott begins to find out that the circus is riddled with petty rivalries and some darker secrets. A short time after circus starlet Gina (Margaret Lee) is also killed.Elliott identifies a number of potential suspects - Gregor (Christopher Lee), the circus lion tamer, who wears a black mask to conceal his mutilated face. Mario (Maurice Kaufmann), the knife-thrower, who was insanely jealous of Gina's suitors. Carl (Heinz Drache), the circus ringmaster, who believes that his father was killed by Gregor's twin brother. Mr Big (Skip Martin), a dwarf circus clown, who it is discovered has been blackmailing Gregor. Eddie (Eddie Arent), the circus' bookkeeper, who has never been allowed to realise his life-long ambition of being a circus performer. Natasha (Suzy Kendall), Gregor's niece, the daughter of the man Carl thinks is responsible for his father's death.Elliott eventually establishes that Gregor found the missing money from the robbery and hid it beneath one of the lion cages in an old suitcase. Gregor tries to escape with the money but is murdered by a masked figure. Following Gregor's death it is discovered, when his mask is removed, that he has an un-mutilated face and is in fact Natasha's father. It is then also revealed that Carl's father died in an accidental fall. Elliott is convinced that although Gregor had the stolen money he was not responsible for the two murders and that the murderer is still at large. Acting on a hunch, he arranges for Barberini to finally give Eddie a chance to assist Mario in his knife-throwing act. When Mario switches weapons and uses the knives identical to those used in the murders, Eddie breaks down and admits that his envy of the circus performers drove him to commit the murders.

murder

train

imdb

As almost everybody has already noted, "Circus of Fear" is not a horror movie, despite the title, the advertising and the presence of Christopher Lee (in a secondary role). this movie proved to be a surprisingly effective spin on the then popular german genre of the "krimi": a series of films, often from edgar wallace source novels, which tend to defy the generic conventions of crime dramas by moving into horror, espionage, even sci-fi at times.beginning with an energetically directed heist sequence, the film soon shifts gear and location, focussing on the machinations of circus folk, in particular the various affairs and double-dealings of a handful of seemingly innocent and not so innocent clowns, midgets, knife-throwers and lion tamers. (note, for example, the way the loop of gregor's whip hovers around mr big's head to symbolise his attempts to psychologically ensnare his blackmailer.)performances are generally quite solid, including from the imported german cast (there presumably to keep west german krimi fans happy), and there are definitely a couple of standouts. christopher lee is the only crashing disappointment, as he doesn't appear until act two, he's in a mask for most of the film, and his russian accent wavers a little. "Circus Of Fear" is a pretty classic-style whodunnit full of red herrings and characters with skeletons in their cupboards.It starts with a very dramatic and almost silent armoured car heist which goes terribly wrong when a security guard is shot and killed. Christopher Lee makes a startling appearance as Gregor, the lion tamer, who wears a black hood at all times to hide the horrible scars he received when he was attacked by a lion. The film was written and produced by Harry Alan Towers, for whom Lee made the series of Fu Manchu pictures, and directed by John Moxey, for whom he had made the 1959 occult chiller "City Of The Dead". Truth be told, a few weeks prior to this I had watched the other Christopher Lee/John Moxey film - THE CITY OF THE DEAD (1960) - by way of VCI's exemplary DVD edition, and perhaps I compared it unfavorably to this minor horror classic. It's still nothing great, I guess (Lee certainly made many better films where his talents were more immediately in evidence; the hood and the fairly ridiculous accent hamper his performance here somewhat) but it's easily the best film from BU's "The Christopher Lee Collection" Set - and in fact it and the restored edition of THE BLOODY JUDGE (1970), not forgetting the plentiful and wonderful supplements, save this relatively expensive purchase from being a wasted opportunity (considering the low profile of all four titles in the Lee canon)! The plot is pretty convoluted (I can certainly believe Jess Franco here when he said that Harry Alan Towers is a very good writer, not evidenced by the two Fu Manchu films): while the identity of the killer could have easily been established if one had thought about it for a while (considering it follows the Agatha Christie maxim that the least suspicious-looking character is indeed the guilty party) but, frankly, the film provides red herrings and new twists at every turn that when the final revelation is made, it still comes as fairly surprising (it's perhaps harder to swallow that the buffoonish if clearly ambitious Eddie could be the delicious Margaret Lee's secret lover!). The music score is very atmospheric and the circus scenes consist mainly of stock footage but the lion-taming and knife-throwing acts inject a measure of excitement at appropriate moments.Casting is certainly above-average for this type of film; there are some pretty good performances here: Leo Genn's above all as the amiable yet dogged Police Inspector; Margaret Lee is more than a radiant beauty - despite her sluttish character, she was fairly sympathetic (especially after having been threatened by a lion) and I think that the film loses something with her sudden, tragic exit; I liked Skip Martin a lot, amusingly named "Mr. Big" - he is a pretty interesting character to begin with (sort of a cynical Chorus to the proceedings), and even more so for being involved in some shady business on the side, for which he gets his just desserts in the end!; Klaus Kinski is eminently watchable despite his limited role (at least he does manage an effective death scene); Cecil Parker added some nice but not overstated British humor; Heinz Drache made for a pretty engaging hero; Suzy Kendall, on the other hand, was more decorative than anything else - though, in all fairness, she could only do so much with her thinly-written role. As I've already mentioned, it's disappointing that Christopher Lee was not involved at all with this release; an interview would have been nice.The gloved killer of this film brings up comparisons with the giallos being made contemporaneously in Italy, though it's nowhere near as violent (in fact, this one is pretty tame in the scares/gore department). Also, Lee's death comes as a surprise: he is not the villain and if it was done because it was deemed 'obligatory', it was certainly a silly move!I only saw the film for the first time a couple of years back but, for the life of me, I have no idea what constitutes the 'new' 8-minute sequence which was supposedly unearthed for this release? Enjoyed this film which starts off with a very neat robbery on the London Bridge, in England and then the picture takes you to a Circus Community that has lots of wild animals and very creepy people. Circus of Fear is based on a novel by Edgar Wallace; the same writer who spawned the German "Krimi" style of film-making. That's possibly why this film is not easy to come by; as despite the fact that it stars Christopher Lee in an interesting role as a circus lion tamer, Circus of Fear, at times, isn't all that easy to get along with as the plot is really quite messy and the horror that goes along with the central mystery often gets in the way. There we are introduced to a whole host of shady and mysterious characters...The film is directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, who previously directed Christopher Lee in the excellent, fog-soaked, City of the Dead. The film also features a small role for the great Klaus Kinski, as well as sound performances from British performers Anthony Newlands, Leo Genn and Margeret Lee. The film presents a lot of suspects and it soon becomes easier to just watch it rather than try and guess who the killer is. I would say that the true perpetrator was a pretty good choice, as it took me by surprise--making the film a better than average film.By the way, although the film gives top billing to Christopher Lee, you barely see him in the film. This certainly must have made the plot confusing to audiences of the time.In its full 91 minute incarnation, it tells the story of a daring daytime robbery of millions of bank notes, and how the money eventually makes its way to a circus run by Barberini (Anthony Newlands). While a dedicated police inspector named Elliott (the great Leo Genn) works the case, performers in this particular big top begin to be knocked off. Heinz Drache as ringmaster Carl, Eddi Aren't as comedy relief character Eddie, lovely ladies Margaret Lee & Suzy Kendall, and Victor Maddern as robbery participant Mason round out a sterling group of actors.A good, solid film overall that I would easily recommend to others.Eight out of 10.. Christopher Lee is the hooded Gregor, masked in mystery also kept by his lovely niece Natasha (Suzy Kendall) who fancies Heinz Drache; the attractive circus ringmaster with a secret edge to him. Maurice Kaufmann is Mario, the controlling jealous boyfriend of the beautiful playgirl Gina, played by a beguiling Margaret Lee. Add to the mix Klaus Kinski, the oddly affected criminal trying to tie up ends; Mason, the imperfect money deliverer; hard boiled crime leader Jackson; Manley, the sweet local police lieutenant; Cecil Parker as the incredulous eye-popping Sir John; Skip Martin as the conniving midget Mr. Big; and the idiotically sweet Eddie (Eddi Arentt), the circus owner's right hand man and clown wanna-be. A robbery goes awry leading to murder,double crossings, mistaken identities, blackmail and revenge.You've got a great cast, an involving plot and...video distributors that butchered the film.There is at least one reel missing from this print that has some important exposition.Not to mention 15 minutes as well.This print only runs 74 minutes. The best parts are when we see the circus, performers and animals and yes the murders and heist.Christopher Lee is great as usual - same with Kinski - parts of it is a dull story and nothing to spice it up a bit on screen part of the film, while the other part of the story is fairly interesting.6/10. Circus of Fear, in the Original 91-Minute Version, is a Good Movie. To get a true sense of the film one has to have the uncut version.Despite the advertisements of the time, which played up the film as a horror movie (cashing in on the fact that horror icon Christopher Lee was the star of the film), this is not a horror film. The slight "horror" tinge to the film (with its hooded lion- tamer, murders by skillfully thrown knives, screaming circus starlets, vicious circus lions, etc.) add atmosphere, but the story remains a whodunit.It's also a caper film, insofar as it opens with a well-filmed money truck heist in broad daylight on the Tower Bridge in London. (It was filmed on location for that part.) But there ends up being some kind of sinister and unclear connection between the heist and goings-on at a circus, and it takes the whole film to make clear exactly what the connection is.Leo Genn is brilliant as the Scotland Yard detective. The movie also has good performances by a number of very good British and German actors of the 1960s (it was a German-English co-production).Christopher Lee is good in the part of the hooded lion-tamer with an ambiguous past. He shows his ability to act in non-horror parts here.The opening and closing theme music is good, with a 1960s British flavor, but the film itself has only incidental music, with many parts of the story unaccompanied. He has a number of suspects to choose from including the hooded lion tamer Gregor (CHRISTOPHER LEE) who for some mysterious reason is determined to conceal his face. While I'm heartened that Christopher Lee is currently enjoying something of a career renaissance (thanks to his imposing presence in the "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" films), the truth is this talented performer has lent himself to an astounding number of unworthy projects over the course of his fifty-eight years on screen. Perhaps, but not in the way you might think; I tend to believe Mr. Lee has lost too many bets to too many bad filmmakers."Circus of Fear" is typical of the projects Lee involved himself in during the early to mid '60's when not working on English horror films; drearily shot on bad film stock, sloppily dubbed (even when performed in English!), poorly financed and apparently edited with a chainsaw. As Lee has often done, he has accepted a role that is more an extended cameo than a lead part; he plays a disfigured lion tamer who hides his face beneath a heavy black hood (which clashes with the beige tweed jacket he wears throughout the film). After being hoodwinked, into thinking I would be watching Christopher Lee (who spends most of the time under a black hood) and Klaus Kinski in a circus-themed horror. However I got a more than capable b-crime-thriller turned who-dunnit murder mystery by Harry Alan Towers all centred around the daring daylight robbery of stolen loot, which afterwards is hidden away by the mysterious mastermind who works for a travelling circus carnival. A circus becomes the location for stolen loot and murder.This film stars Christopher Lee as a disfigured lion tamer and Klaus Kinski as a man looking for work in the circus, as well as the lesser-known Suzy Kendall (The Bird With the Crystal Plumage). Proving once again that talent need not stand in the way of making a bad movie, Christopher Lee strikes again. He does not seem to know that he's making a mystery/suspense movie, not a horror one.It all begins well enough. The rest of the movie centers on the cash, which the dead accomplice delivered to the mystery man who killed him, and how it makes its way to Lee, who plays a lion tamer (!). A clever robbery on Tower Bridge, which was unfortunately removed from American versions, begins this tale of the search for stolen money, hidden somewhere on the grounds of a circus, the largest in the world, filled with a suspicious group of lion tamers, midgets, et al. Christopher Lee is fun to watch, as always, as Greogor, a knife-thrower at the circus masquerading as his own twin to hide from an old murder he committed years earlier. 1st watched 6/23/2002 - 4 out of 10(Dir-John Moxey): Overly-emphasized as being a horror movie, but instead is a murder mystery with a horror film star getting top billing(Christopher Lee). Sure it has your typical twists and turns in the plot but it's pretty obvious that the man in the mask(Christopher Lee) will be revealed and be a part of what's going on and that the midget is involved somehow and the unlikely killer is just that(made out to be unlikely, but having a good motive). Christopher Lee playing the hooded Russian lion tamer Gregor comes upon this suitcase of some 250,000 pound sterling in the deserted farm, where he keeps his wild animals caged. The rest of the film "Circus of Fear" has the unseen and unknown killer try to murder anyone who has any idea of who he is. That includes the cheating partner of the jealous and hot headed circus knife-thrower Mario (Maurice Kaufmann) Gina, Margaret Lee, as well as the not to on the ball and creepy person who's supposed to smuggle the stolen cash out to the country for the armored car robbery gang Manfred Hart, Klaus Kinski. This makes knife-thrower Mario the number one suspect.Going undercover as a news photographer Scotland Yard inspector Elliott zeros in on lion tamer Gregor and his pretty assistant Natasha, Suzy Kendall. Cranky Sir John (Cecil Parker) sends police Inspector Elliot (Leo Genn) undercover as a professional photographer to investigate a string of murders at "Barberini's Circus." Among the suspects are Christopher Lee as a hooded lion tamer who never shows his face, Suzy Kendall as his assistant, Anthony Newlands as the cigar-chomping owner, Heinz Drache as the ringmaster, Maurice Kaufman as a bad-tempered knife-thrower with an unfaithful girlfriend (Margaret Lee), Skip Martin as a sneaky, blackmailing dwarf, Eddi Aren't as the prank-playing book keeper and many more. Klaus Kinski (one of the robbers from the opening sequence) also shows up acting weird and 'looking for work' (actually the loot that was stolen at the beginning). This latter happens to be one of my all time favorite suspense films and even though "Circus of Horror" isn't as unsettling or astonishing, it still definitely is a very good movie with an interesting plot and an original setting. Scotland Yard inspector Elliot investigates the case and encounters many potential culprits, such as a masked lion tamer (horror veteran Christopher Lee), a blackmailing dwarf and an emotionally frustrated knife-thrower (quite a danger in his profession). The cast is excellent with yet another strong performance of Christopher Lee and a curious role for Klaus Kinski as Manfred. Mason is stabbed in the back by the person, who must be a professional knife thrower, and the suitcase somehow winds up in the possession of lion-tamer Gregor(Christopher Lee), a stern-voiced and serious circus star whose head is covered by a balaclava to protect his facial scars. After one murder attempt on her life, the killer succeeds in silencing her the second time, right under the police's nose, with Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Elliot(Leo Genn)working with Manley(Lawrence James)of local police to find the stolen money and solve the mystery as to who is behind the series of killings. Other characters include Barberini(Anthony Newlands), owner of the circus, Eddie(Eddi Aren't), his assistant who desperately wants to have an act as a clown, and dwarf, Mr. Big(Skip Martin), another who works as a hand, blackmailing Gregor in keeping mum over an important fact unknown to the rest of the group.Very plot-driven crime thriller, with quite a gallery of interesting suspects and a terrific cast. The setting of a circus only adds an extra dimension to the mystery and seeing an early crime thriller featuring the likes of Lee and Kinski certainly provides CIRCUS OF FEAR with an extra allure. Christopher Lee is Gregor, a lion tamer with a secret ringmaster Heinz Drache is trying to unravel. Lee is great, hiding his face behind a black stocking for most of the film. CIRCUS OF FEAR is typically a disappointment to many fans expecting a horror movie as this is more of a thriller with a few horror elements (brutal deaths, sinister characters) thrown in. Victor Maddern appears as a short-lived murderer, Leo Genn is great as the chief Inspector on the case, while familiar Eurobabes Margaret Lee and Suzy Kendall are on hand to supply glamour and wear leotards. Underrated dwarf actor Skip Martin (memorable from HORROR HOSPITAL) is great as Mr. Big, a circus performer, although sadly he is relegated to the background for much of the film. A heavily-accented Christopher Lee gets top-billing but actually only appears for about ten minutes of screen time. Although most definitely a B-movie or supporting feature, CIRCUS OF FEAR is great fun to initiated fans who know what to expect and offers up the right amount of thrills and surprises.

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Frozen

The Walt Disney Pictures logo and the movie title appear to the Norwegian song "Vuelie".In a winter landscape, ice harvesters use saws and hooks to cut blocks of ice from a lake, chanting as they work about how ice is a powerful force that's both beautiful and dangerous ("Frozen Heart"). They load the ice blocks onto their sled and ride off. A young eight year old boy named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) works alongside them (not very expertly), accompanied by his reindeer Sven (sounds: also Jonathan Groff). They try to imitate the ice harvesters with a single cubical block of ice and a small child's sled, and follow them away as the Northern Lights fill the night sky.The camera follows the Northern Lights through the sky, before panning down on a stave castle, located on the shores of a Scandinavian fjord, ringed in by cliffs. That night, Princess Elsa of Arendelle (Eva Bella) is fast asleep when her five year old sister Princess Anna (Livvy Stubenrauch) tries to wake her up, wanting Elsa to play with her. Elsa playfully brushes Anna off, until Anna asks, "do you wanna build a snowman?" to which Elsa delightfully agrees.Fully awake, the two sisters run downstairs to the ballroom. At Anna's urging, Elsa waves her hands, conjuring up a snow crystal, which she then shoots into the air. It explodes, raining snow down on them. To enhance the winter playground, she then stomps her foot, covering the entire floor with ice. They create a snowman that she nicknames Olaf, who likes warm hugs. The girls play gleefully with Olaf until Anna makes a leap Elsa wasn't prepared for and the blast of power meant to create a pile of snow hits Anna in the head, knocking her out and turning several strands of her hair white. Their parents, King Agdar and Queen Idun rush in, responding to Elsa's cries of anguish. They check on Anna and find her cold to the touch. Agdar and his wife hastily load both girls onto their horses and ride at full speed into the mountains.As the royal family gallops through the forests at full speed, they pass by Kristoff, who is still being dragged on his sled by Sven. He becomes curious about the fact that one of the horses is leaving behind a trail of ice, in the middle of the summer.Kristoff and Sven follow the ice trail to an empty clearing that appears to only be populated by a large assortment of moss-covered boulders. From the edge of the clearing, Kristoff watches as Agdar asks the motionless boulders to help him. Seconds later, all the boulders roll into a large circle around Agdar, Idun, Elsa, and the unconscious Anna. The rocks uncurl, revealing themselves to be trolls. The "boulder" Kristoff and Sven are watching the event from behind is another rock troll named Bulda, who immediately decides to adopt the visitors after Sven licks her.Grand Pabbie (Ciarán Hinds), the leader of the trolls, shows up and asks Agdar if Elsa was born or cursed with her abilities. He observes that Anna is lucky she was hit in the head, as a hit to the heart would have been fatal. He advises the family that it might be best if Elsa doesn't use her powers around Anna. He alters Anna's memories so she has no knowledge of her sister's powers, remembering only the fun they've had (for instance, Anna will remember her indoor castle ice rink as a mundane winter day). Grand Pabbie warns Elsa that her powers will grow, and although they are beautiful, they will be a great risk to her if she cannot learn to control them, as fear will be her greatest enemy.So Agdar and Idun take measures into their own hands based on what Grand Pabbie has told them. The palace is closed to most visitors. Staffing is reduced to a minimum. Anna and Elsa are separated, and having no memory of what has occurred, Anna is unable to comprehend why Elsa is not allowed to play with her. She often comes to Elsa's closed door and tries to coax her out by asking her if she wants to build a snowman ("Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"). As a further precaution, the sisters are also kept from leaving the castle.While Anna's life is dull but normal, Elsa's powers grow stronger as she matures. Her father cautions her to wear gloves to keep her icy magic in check, and to conceal her feelings, because strong emotions seem to cause her powers to manifest in unexpected ways.Ten years after the accident, the now teenaged princesses become orphans when their parents' ship capsizes in a storm, drowning them. After the burial, Anna goes again to Elsa's door, pleading for consolation from her only remaining family member. But Elsa, though she sits sadly on the the other side of the door, refuses to communicate with Anna.Three Years Later:Elsa (now voiced by Idina Menzel) is now 21 years old, comes of age, and the castle prepares to crown her as the kingdom's queen. Dignitaries from around Europe are coming to visit, including the Duke of Weselton (Alan Tudyk), who wants to run Arendelle's profits dry.Elsa is nervous about emerging from her seclusion and receiving the many guests. When Elsa gives the order to open the castle gates, Anna (now voiced by Kristen Bell) eagerly rushes out into the city ("For the First Time In Forever").As Anna strolls out onto the streets, she crashes into a horse belonging to a charming and handsome visitor, and falls into a rowboat. The visitor apologizes and introduces himself as Prince Hans of the Southern Isles (Santino Fontana), in town for Elsa's coronation. Though Anna is angered at first by Hans's clumsiness (after inadvertently falling on top of her in the rowboat due to said rowboat teetering on the side of a dock and being balanced only by a leg from Hans's horse), she seems smitten by him once she has a real good look at him. Anna runs off when she hears the church bells.Elsa remains nervous during the coronation ceremony. The bishop (Robert Pine) has to remind her to remove her gloves before she takes up her golden orb and scepter. Holding them, she turns to face the congregation, but almost immediately panics when she sees the gold of the orb starting to frost while the bishop is bestowing her authority on her. She returns the orb and scepter hurriedly to the bishop and puts her gloves back on.At the coronation reception a couple hours later, Kai introduces Elsa and Anna to the crowd. Anna's first friendly interaction with Elsa in years brings quite the delightful feeling to Anna, flustered at first, as well as seeing Elsa so happy instead of serious and preserved boosts Anna's confidence, prompting her to continue on with the conversation. They're interrupted afterwards by Kai introducing to them the Duke of Weselton. The Duke is a buffoon (to the point that a running gag throughout the movie is people calling his homeplace "Weasel Town"), but an important trading partner. Elsa politely declines his offer to dance with her, but instead playfully volunteers Anna, much to the Duke's delight nonetheless, and the two head off into a comical dance scene. Elsa can't resist chuckling seeing Anna get innocently flustered by the Duke's over-the-top (and incredibly terrible) dancing skills. This causes Anna to feel just as whimsical about the entire matter, for seeing Elsa in such a state hasn't been a sight for years. Anna returns by Elsa's side afterwards, commenting on how well things have been going through the day, and expresses her wishes to have things the way they were that night all the time. Elsa does agree, though her smile quickly fades away as memories of the night she froze Anna's head come floating back to the surface, and she reluctantly denies Anna's wishes all at once despite failing to explain why so.Anna then takes to the floor with Hans. The two of them quickly sneak off to spend the evening together, quickly realizing the mutual attraction between them. The romantic dance eventually leads to an entire date ("Love is an Open Door"), with the entire night of the young couple being spent bonding. Hans, during their time together, learns of Anna's longing of having someone special in her life, with her sister apparently developing a dislike of being around her by suddenly shutting Anna out one day when they were kids. Hans openly relates to this, only furthering Anna's connection with him. Hans then promises to never shut Anna out unlike Elsa, much to the princess' absolute joy.By the end of their tour throughout the kingdom, Hans proposes right on the spot to which Anna immediately accepts. The two head back the ballroom, where Anna asks for Elsa's blessing on the marriage. Elsa's baffled by the shocking news, but Anna and Hans couldn't appear more excited going on to ramble about the wedding arrangements. Elsa ceases the sudden rambling by denying them a marriage license, much to Anna's dismay. Elsa asks to speak to Anna alone in private, likely to finally confess her abilities and why it's not wise to marry someone she just met without causing a scene that would expose her powers, but Anna refuses any private conversation, stating whatever Elsa has to say can be said to both her and Hans. Elsa, becoming impatient and frustrated, outright refuses to let Anna marry someone she just met, indirectly telling Anna she knows nothing about true love. This causes Anna to hiss back, telling Elsa all she knows is how to shut people out. Although Elsa is visibly hurt by this, she continues to refuse, with the argument only worsening when she orders the guards to end the party early and close the gates.Unable to contain her emotions, Elsa makes a violent sweep with her left arm, causing a barrier of sharp icicles to suddenly appear around her. Shocked at the room's reaction to her powers, Elsa rushes from the room.Panicking, Elsa flees with Anna in hot pursuit. As she bolts out the door, she finds a huge crowd waiting for her in the courtyard. She hastily rushes through as men applaud her. A concerned woman asks Elsa if she's all right. She is frightened enough that she backs into an ornamental fountain and freezes it solid when she grabs it with her left hand. The Duke of Weselton comes out the same door moments later. Elsa pleads for people to step back, moments before another bolt of ice shoots from her hands, nearly hitting the Duke and his guards. She keeps running away, sprinting across the waters of the fjord, her feet forming an ice bridge, and vanishes into the forest on the other side of the fjord.Anna calls after her sister, but as she, Hans, and the other guests watch, the waters of the fjord completely ice over and the air takes on an icy chill. Moments later, snow begins to fall.The Duke of Weselton begins to panic, declaring they must take action and put an end to Elsa's curse. Anna, however, refuses and volunteers to seek out Elsa herself and make things right, feeling that it's her fault for pushing her. With Hans being left in charge of the kingdom, Anna sets out on horse to begin her search for Elsa.Meanwhile, Elsa has found her way to a high precipice on the North Mountain, many miles from civilization. It is here she realizes that far away from what she was taught, being on her own, she can begin to control her powers ("Let it Go"). She constructs an elaborate ice palace, changes her confining wardrobe into a shimmering dress, and vows to stay in seclusion, where she feels she can be herself, and harm no one else.The next morning, Anna is seen travelling slowly through knee-deep snow on horseback. Her journey is hindered when her horse is spooked by falling snow and runs off. She is forced to spend the rest of the day trudging through knee deep snow, all the while griping that she wishes Elsa had the ability to cover the fjords in a tropical paradise. She sighs with relief upon seeing a building with smoke coming from a chimney. Just then, Anna slips and falls into an ice-cold creek, which freezes her dress stiff. She staggers the rest of the way to the cabin with the chimney, a place known as Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna, run by its burly owner, Oaken (Chris Williams).Anna quickly staggers into Oaken's store. He doesn't have much winter gear in stock (it's supposed to be the off season), aside from one pair of boots and a single women's mink coat. Anna inquires if Elsa has visited recently, but Oaken tells her that she's the only person crazy enough to be out in a storm like this. As if on cue, Kristoff staggers in out of the storm, seeking to buy some rope, an axe, and carrots for Sven. Oaken can't help but notice that Kristoff is bundled up tightly. Kristoff replies that there's a real howler going on up on the North Mountain. As Anna waits for Oaken to return his attention to her, Kristoff argues with Oaken over the outrageous price gouging on the items he needs (due to Oaken claiming that there's a supply and demand problem since Kristoff is buying from the almost-bare shelves of the winter department), which ends with Oaken roughly throwing Kristoff out into the snow after Kristoff makes the mistake of calling him a crook.Kristoff and Sven take refuge in a barn on Oaken's property, but are soon met by Anna, who has bought Kristoff's supplies for him, on condition he take her up the North Mountain immediately. Kristoff eventually agrees.Anna and Kristoff set off into the night with Sven driving. As the discussion turns to Elsa, Anna explains about her whirlwind engagement to Hans. Kristoff is incredulous at Anna's foolhardiness in getting engaged to someone she just met that day, to the point that he quizzes her about Hans to see how little she really knows about him. Their conversation is interrupted when the sled is ambushed by a pack of wolves. Kristoff is initially reluctant to let Anna assist him, but Anna proves to be useful and manages to take out a few of the wolves by herself. There is a moment of panic when the two see a gaping ravine up ahead. Kristoff hurriedly throws Anna onto Sven's back, then, just as they reach the cliff, he uses his knife to cut Sven's harness. Anna and Sven successfully clear the chasm, and Kristoff does, just barely, but his sled falls to the bottom of the ravine and explodes. Kristoff is at first upset that his sled is gone (as he'd just paid it off), but after "arguing" with Sven (which consists of Kristoff speaking his own opinion in his own voice and then delivering Sven's "counterargument" in a goofy voice), decides to help Anna keep going, worried for her safety. Anna promises she will replace the sled.Early the next morning, Anna and Kristoff enter a frosted-over glen. They suddenly hear a new voice and meet a talking snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad). The introductions don't go smoothly, as Anna screams and kicks Olaf's head off upon first seeing him. Anna doesn't recognize Olaf until he gives his name and adds, "and I like warm hugs." This jogs Anna's memories and she remembers building him with Elsa when they were young. Anna and Kristoff mention that they're looking for Elsa so they can restore summertime, and Olaf suddenly grows excited; it's his dream to see what summer is like, and he fantasizes about what he wants to do in the summertime in a Busby-Berkeley dance number ("In Summer"). Anna and Kristoff choose not to reveal that he will melt in the summer heat, but follow him as he leads them to Elsa's ice palace.In the late afternoon, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf arrive at Elsa's ice palace. Sven waits at the bottom of the stairway leading up to the front doors, as his feet can't get a grip on the icy steps. Meanwhile, when they get to the front door, Anna tells Kristoff and Olaf to wait outside, warning them that the last time she introduced Elsa to a guy, she froze everything (making Elsa look like an overprotective sister). The dejected Olaf and Kristoff wait outside and start counting to 60 while Anna heads inside.Inside, Anna is stunned at the glorious interior of the palace and, even more amazed, to see the new ice dress Elsa has conjured for herself. Though Elsa is happy to see Anna and quickly forgives her for the argument that happened at the coronation party, she becomes nervous and suggests Anna leave so she can't do any harm to her. The conversation is momentarily interrupted when Olaf crashes the meeting (having taken Anna's request of "give us a minute" quite literally). Elsa is astonished to find that her powers include the ability to conjure up living snowmen.As it turns out, Elsa is surprised to learn that her entire kingdom is frozen, and Anna is surprised in turn to learn that Elsa doesn't know how to stop it. But Anna insists her sister's powers are no reason why they should be so distant. However, having seen Olaf, Elsa flashes back to accidentally hitting Anna in the head with her snow abilities and grows scared, demanding Anna leave.Elsa retreats to the upper portion of the palace, and Anna follows her, pleading with her sister that they can solve this problem together ("For the First Time In Forever (Reprise)"). But Elsa grows so upset that she unleashes an icy chill, of which a portion strikes Anna in her heart.Elsa retreats to the upper portion of the palace, and Anna follows her, pleading with her sister that they can solve this problem together ("For the First Time In Forever (Reprise)"). But Anna's promising to stand by her sister's side and help her, Elsa only grows more agitated and nervous resulting in her magic flaring. This time, a blast of magic bursts out and strikes Anna in the heart. Elsa, in desperation to get her sister to safety, creates a giant snow creature (that Olaf calls "Marshmallow") to throw them out.Marshmallow deposits Anna, Kristoff and Olaf on the front steps outside the ice palace. Though he initially leaves them alone, Anna is pissed off and quickly throws a snowball at him. Marshmallow is provoked, and chases Anna and Kristoff into the woods.Marshmallow manages to corner them at the edge of a cliff, though Kristoff immediately begins digging a snow anchor by using a rope to safely guide himself and Anna down the mountain to safety. Marshmallow, however, catches up to them, though Olaf tries to stop him (to comically little success). Marshmallow, annoyed, kicks Olaf over the cliff, and continues his chase for Anna and Kristoff. He pulls them up to his face by the rope, and screams in their face "DON"T COME BACK!". Anna then grabs Kristoff's knife and cuts the rope. This sends the duo into freefall, onto a twenty foot deep pile of fresh snow. With his mission to drive them away complete, Marshmallow returns to the ice palace.As they recover from the landing, Kristoff notices that Anna's hair has started to turn white. Fearful that she may be injured, Kristoff takes her to his family...who happen to be a group of rock trolls -- the same ones that saved Anna many years before. Kristoff explains that as he had no family at a young age, the trolls took him and Sven in.The trolls are overjoyed to meet Anna, and at first they eagerly believe that she is Kristoff's steady girlfriend, so they try to marry them in a dance number ("Fixer-Upper"), and almost get all the way through the vows before being stopped by the accidental participants. However, he tells them that she is injured and needs their assistance. Just as he did 13 years ago, Grand Pabbie comes forward and examines Anna, but concludes that this time her sister's powers struck her in the heart. Pabbie cannot save her; Anna's heart has begun to freeze. Grand Pabbie says "an act of true love can melt a frozen heart." Anna quickly tells Kristoff that Hans can surely help, and they take off for Arendelle.Meanwhile in the city, Hans has been providing shelter and help for Arendelle's people. When Anna's horse returns, riderless, Hans asks for volunteers to join him in bringing Anna back. The Duke of Weselton volunteers his two bodyguards, and secretly tells them to shoot Elsa if they should encounter her.The next morning, Hans's party arrives at Elsa's ice castle. Shortly after they arrive, Hans orders that no harm is to come to Elsa. While everyone agrees, the Duke's thugs quietly disagree, still following the Duke's orders to kill her. The moment they come close enough, Marshmallow reveals himself from the form of snow boulders piled up by the base of the stairs, and jumps right into battle. The archer immediately attack the beast with their arrows, infuriating Marshmallow and causing his ultimate form to be unleashed. Marshmallow is able to hold most of the guards off. Hans, however, proves to be a fierce warrior himself, avoiding each of Marshmallow's attacks and eventually using his sword to slice the snow monster's leg off and cause him to lose balance and begin tumbling over to a large gorge. With Marshmallow wounded, Hans begins heading inside Elsa's castle. Marshmallow, however, doesn't give up, giving one last swing in attempt to drag Hans down with him. Marshmallow fails, and plummets down into the chasm below, apparently to his death.While Hans has been battling Marshmallow, the Duke's two men have managed to use the distraction to barge up the ice steps and into the castle, where they corner Elsa. Despite her pleading for them to not shoot, they shoot at her. She quickly forms walls of ice as shields to block their shots. Eventually, she has the beardless thug pinned to a wall by several icicles and is on the verge of using a wall of ice to shove the bearded thug off the balcony. Hans and his men show up just in time and Hans pleads for her to stop, so she doesn't become the monster people accuse her of being. Elsa settles down a bit at Hans' words, realizing what she's doing. The guy pinned to the wall, still complying with the orders of the Duke, aims his crossbow at Elsa's head and prepares to shoot her. Hans suddenly runs over and deflects the bow. The arrow is released and hits the bolt attaching an icy chandelier to the ceiling, which begins to fall straight for Elsa's head. Elsa tries to run, but the falling chandelier fragments and knocks her unconscious.When Elsa wakes up, she's back at the castle in a dungeon cell, her hands chained and encased in steel mitts. As she looks out over the frozen kingdom, Hans appears, telling Elsa that Anna has not returned, and pleads with her to stop the winter. Elsa claims she can't, and must be let go to keep others from being harmed.Meanwhile, Kristoff and Sven arrive at the castle. Anna's condition has grown worse, a chill coursing through her, and more of her hair has turned white. Several of the castle staff escort her in; she looks back as Kristoff and Sven leave. Anna is brought to Hans and tells him that he has to kiss her in order to save her.The castle staff in the room quickly leave to give them privacy. Hans places Anna in a chair, leans in as if to kiss her... and says "Oh, Anna, if only there was someone here who loved you!" As Anna looks at him in shock, Hans explains that as the youngest of 13 brothers, he had no chance at claiming his family's throne, so he went looking for a royal family he could marry into. Unable to get to Elsa, he made Anna's acquaintance and played on her naivete. He intended to marry her before causing some form of "accident" for Elsa that would clear his path to the throne.However, given Anna's current condition, he plans to simply let her frozen heart overcome her, then stab Elsa, ending the eternal winter. Anna tries to stop Hans, but he extinguishes the fire in the nearby fireplace before locking her in the room. It is then that Anna collapses, her hair now completely white.Hans goes to speak with the duke of Weselton and several other dignitaries. He claims that Elsa has caused Anna to freeze to death, but before she died he and Anna recited their wedding vows. This apparently is enough to give him full authority to declare Elsa guilty of treason and sentence her to death.The palace guards go to Elsa's cell, but are detained when a wall of the cell collapses. While they are held up, Elsa freezes her shackles to the point that they shatter, and then breaks through the wall to the outside.Meanwhile, far from Arendelle, Kristoff and Sven are trekking away when Sven urges Kristoff to go back. Kristoff claims he has no need to, but as they look back at Arendelle, a mysterious swirling cloud of snow begins to engulf the kingdom. The two then take off towards the growing danger.Olaf has managed to find Anna in the locked room, and seeing her freezing, quickly lights a fire in the fireplace. Anna explains that Hans wasn't her true love, and that Olaf should leave or he'll melt. However, the little snowman says he will not leave her side until he finds an act of true love that can save her. As they talk, Olaf recalls how Kristoff did so much to get her back to save her, when the wind blows a window open. Olaf goes to close it, but in the distance he sees Kristoff and Sven charging towards them.This gives Anna hope. She realizes that they're in love: maybe Kristoff can save her. Olaf helps her up, but in the hallway, ice springs up to block their path. Going out a window, the two slide down the castle's steep roofs. Anna attempts to make her way across the icy fjord, with Olaf close behind. However, as the wind picks up, Olaf is blown away, and Anna finds her hands are turning to ice. Even so, she continues to move forward, calling out Kristoff's name.Meanwhile, Hans has found Elsa wandering the ice of the fjord. Thinking he's come for her, Elsa tells him to leave her alone, and take care of Anna. Hans lies and says that Anna was killed by Elsa's magic. The pain of this causes Elsa to collapse, the snow in the air suddenly hanging in stillness.The clearing of the whiteout enables Kristoff to see Anna, and he runs to her, but as Anna looks around, she sees Hans about to stab Elsa. Even with her own life at stake, Anna rushes in front of Hans, blocking the knife. As she does so, her frozen heart finally consumes her, turning her into a statue of ice, and shattering Hans' blade.Kristoff and Sven arrive seconds later. Seeing Anna turned to ice, Elsa breaks down in tears, hugging her sister. No one is sure what to say, when Anna's icy form begins to change and gain color, and she returns to normal! Anna broke her own spell: saving Elsa was an act of true love.It is then that Elsa realizes what can end the winter: love. And with this realization, she dissipates the ice and snow, and summer returns to the kingdom. Olaf is found, and before he can melt, Elsa creates a perpetual snow flurry above his head, which lets him survive the summer heat.In the aftermath, Hans is taken back to his kingdom by a French ambassador, who promise to see he is punished for his attempted regicide. The duke is as hotheaded as ever and tries to play the innocent victim. But remembering that he sent two men to kill her, Elsa issues a decree to sever all trade with Weselton. To piss the duke off even further, she tells the messenger to call his duchy "Weasel Town."Meanwhile, Anna makes good on her promise and replaces Kristoff's sled. She also tells him that Elsa has appointed him the castle's official ice deliverer. Kristoff is so grateful that he kisses her. If he wonders why a queen who can conjure ice out of thin air needs ice deliveries, he keeps the question to himself.Having come to grips with her powers and learning they can be a blessing and not a curse, Elsa uses them to create a wintry spectacle in the summer sky. She also turns the castle's courtyard into an ice rink, where she informs Anna that the gates to the castle will never be closed again. With the city's people in attendance, the sisters skate around the rink, happy that they are finally together again.After the credits are over, we cut back to Elsa's ice palace, where it's revealed that Marshmallow survived the fall after Hans cut off his leg. Wandering through the empty ice palace, he finds the tiara that Elsa tossed away during "Let It Go", and puts it on his head, smiling to himself, and the spikes and fangs on his back quickly retract.

cute, fantasy

train

imdb

When people speak of their favorite Disney movies, the big four of the Renaissance and films of the Golden Age of animation are likely to be mentioned. Songs that progress the story and an essential part of it.So you have meticulously crafted breath taking animation, an affecting tale of the bond of family, romance, hilarious wit and humor courtesy of the characters especially sweet Olaf and heart stopping adventure. I have not seen every Disney film of the past twenty years, but offhand I can say that Tangled, Bolt and Meet the Robinsons are all far superior examples well-written stories than Frozen. In my personal opinion, of course.Second of all, Frozen definitely skews towards the younger crowd, with little to none of the sophisticated touches or wittily mature humor that have come to be somewhat more commonplace in recent animated films. I just wish that they would have spent more time on the script.With films like this one, a distinction needs to be made between loving it for the visceral takeaway ("it was sweet"/"it had a great message"/"it made me feel good") and looking at it from a critical standpoint. It is the ones, like Frozen, that seem like they clearly could have been much better, that get me thinking about just that.This film is a fun one for kids, and great to look at for adults, but it is far short of being great, or a masterpiece. Frozen feels like it could fit right in with the Disney movies of the late 80's/early 90's, like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. The music is great, and I left singing it; the lead characters are very likable, with memorable sidekicks; and there are even surprises, things you would never expect to see in a Disney animated film! Walt Disney Animation gives Hans Christian Andersen's story, "The Snow Queen", their own take by rather telling it as a traditional Disney princess movie, since it's probably too difficult for the original story to a have a faithful film adaptation. Frozen is getting there as one of Disney's classics, but despite of some flaws, it's difficult to not love the film overall.The major part of the story that has changed is it's now about a relationship of two sisters. All the things you loved are right here!: great characters, adventurous tone, and magnificent musical numbers.The film benefits by its cast: Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel are both admirable as Anna and Elsa, while the rest are also full of personality. As an adaptation, it is able to be inventive, otherwise it's simply a lovely fairy tale movie that has the charm of the old Disney classics, but really, it's not in those heights yet. With some of the best spontaneous singing I've seen in Disney, this musical movie is also a pleasure to your mouse ears. I've been a huge fan of animation in the past and i consider it to be an art-form equal to other types of entertainment like movies, books, music, painting, etc.. I read people making insane statements like "this is the best animated movie ever made", i saw that it was rated 8 on IMDb, staying strong on the top 10 for weeks or months now, and it got nominated for an Oscar and it even won it, that just cant be ignored, i felt forced to watch it. Just go back to 2D animation or move forward and make something new and innovative but please somebody put an end to this crap.From the point of view of a little girl it might be an enjoyable film, but its a disgrace that they nominated it for an Oscar while they keep ignoring good movies like they've done in the past with Perfect Blue, Animatrix, The Grave of the Fireflies, and the list goes on. Hastily, I checked out the film on opening day and had to see if what the critics said were true.In a place called Arendelle, two sisters of royal heritage live a splendid life, until one day the older sister Elsa has difficulty controlling her cryokinesis (ice powers) that it ultimately strikes her own sister Anna, endangering her young sibling and herself. With their parents gone and fearing she may do more harm than good, Elsa flees Arendelle to start a new life at the cost of leaving her caring sister behind.Since the film is loosely based on the works of Hans Christian Andersen (author of the story 'The Little Mermaid' which Disney eventually adapted back in 1989), I acknowledge that the critics were right and Disney has one-upped themselves with a compelling and heartfelt story of how the Snow Queen came to be. The voice cast which include Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, and Johnathan Groff portrayed characters with such ease and likability along with their unique talent in singing sympathetic, yet upbeat songs that may give chills (no pun intended) running down your spine most notably Idina Menzel's solo of "Let it Go." That is the exact impression I felt as a kid watching those classic Disney animated films like 'Beauty and the Beast,' 'Aladdin,' and 'The Lion King.' Now in my mid-20s and with this new "Revival Era," it seems 'Frozen' is matching the ranks of the Disney Renaissance that spawned those animated hits throughout the 1990s. I was ready to walk out after spending $50 for a terrible 3D movie and would of thought I was saving time instead of spending $50 and being punished to sit in that chair and waste another 5 minutes on this garbage.The shifting plot...singing...singing and singing for no reason ( Music is suppose to accompany plot and be almost unnoticed). This was like sitting in an opera and the music was so overwhelming that you couldn't pay attention to the weak weak weak weak plot.I also watched the kids faces...and in that time (5-10 minutes) they also weren't even looking at the screen but were more engaged in watching the other bored kids in the movie theater.I was far more proud of the kids ( 5 yrs male and 7 yr old female) for being good even though neither of them faced the screen the majority of the movie.And this movie is not a movie for all ages... It tries to be a romantic movie and tell me what 5 year old is interested in romance...or singing romance...They invented a snowman monster...for whatever reason which made no sense, because supposedly the sister Elsa banished herself because she was afraid she would hurt her sister or others from her powers...now suddenly she is sending a monster snowman to try and kill her sister and her accomplices? The movie is full of disconnects that your brain tells your heart yo are being used and manipulated in this movie and a computerized formula was the guiding director in this piece of garbage movie.I've watched Cars 1 &2 (cars 2 not so good either) , Planes, Toy Story 1,2,3, and other kid movies a hundred times on DVD with the kids and still get some enjoyment from it because of entertaining stories that have plots that make sense.This movie...is terrible....did I mention that before...I would go over all the details but I noticed the other one star reviewers covered it pretty well.The part that amazes me is seeing that some people gave this 5 stars and also say the kids were laughing up a storm. In terms of intellectual nutrition, even for very young children, this is the equivalent of a slushy.Aimed at an audience with a mental age of about 8 and an IQ around 90, it was seemingly written, except for maybe four or five momentarily amusing gags, by a team barely beyond that range.If you think starting kids on Little Golden Books and moving on to Enid Blyton is OK, then don't hold back on this film, you, and they, will be in your element.For me, there goes another two hours I might have been enjoying Jane Austen!. I'm thinking Aladdin, Beauty & The Beast, Ice Age, Finding Nemo, Brave, How To Train Your Dragon....something on that level and instead got a poorly written, super cheesy, princess Disney musical. I took my kid to go see it and having known the REAL story of The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, I was disappointed that Disney completely changed the entire story, only keeping four character names and the trolls: oh and snow.This movie is horrible and one of the worst movies since Wall-E. Ba anna, fanna fro fanna Fee fi fro anna AnnaThere is no substance to the songs and they are again using a formula to draw people in with the same up-beat tempo.In closing, this is the worst movie I've seen since Wall-E which, the more I watched it, was filled with inconsistencies and plot flaws through out the entire movie.Frozen will make BAZILLIONS of bucks for Disney but it isn't a quality movie. I watched both versions, loved both but for the short at the beginning the 3D is suggested.There are undeniable similarities with Tangled, on the main character faces and other dynamics in the movie, but it stands by itself for the story, its powerful message and for the best animation ever.Frozen offers a wonderful entertainment for all ages and it will definitely be a movie to own in a near future.. In the Kingdom of Arendelle, Princess Elsa has the power of freezing and creating ice and snow, and her younger sister Anna loves to play with her. They find Elsa in her icy castle and she accidentally hits Anna in the heart; now only true love can save her sister from death."Frozen" is one of the weakest animations by Disney with a lame story full of flaws in inconsistencies. However, seriously, stop this over-trolling about Frozen with 10/10 rates from virtual IMDb accounts.This movie isn't the future of Disney animated movie, at least if Ari Folman's movie "The Congress" wasn't a real future prediction coming from 2050's Hollywood.It's not a masterpiece, the plot is forced and rushed, the songs are awful, inconvenient and unbalanced, and worst for a "music": noisy. Even the boring sidekicks look interesting against stupid awkward princess which plays like a evil bad Disney's caricature, or a cabaret star "Last return".it's seems extremely efficient for $$$ payback, but it's a shame to exhibit the heart of occidental culture like a Grotesque's cheeky cabaret.In a good mood, I could give it 5.5/10, but for this excessive favoritism, it's less than 0/10 if could rate like thus.. But one of the main reasons people love this film is because of the songs: For the first time in forever and Let it go. I can also say that this is a movie for little 6 yo girls and only those kind of people.Don't go watch this if you're not a fan of EXTREMELY childish princess themes and music. Reviewed by: Dare devil Kid (DDK) Rating: 1.5/5 starsThe worst Disney movie of all time, barring none - period. The music was bad and the voice actor choices were terrible (Elsa sounds like she's 50!).Olaf the mascot character was extremely annoying and out of place the whole movie. Even the better character development, such as Esla and Anna's relationship, doesn't seem as strong as it should.Some of these issues could be blamed on the musical aspect, a genre Disney had cornered for decades in the animation medium, taking up the script. While the bare bones plot survived along with a handful of well-realized character moments, Disney ended up holding this together by padding and bridging sequences with superfluous musical numbers (troll song anyone?) and plenty of fluffy comic relief moments while other seemingly important characters like Wesalton are wasted supplying little more than comic relief and expositing antagonistic dialogue here and there.I know that this was intended as a kid's/tween's movie. Simply put, I fail to see how this movie comes even close to being "the best Disney film of all time". The bulk of the plot is about Anna trying to find her sister and bring her home.Frozen is a good movie but not a great one. I took the wife and kids to watch this film thinking it would be a nice, light, fanciful adventure about animals and snow men and people. The plot was fantastically predictable, the ending was as well, and the characters had so little development you could easily have walked in half way through and had no problem following the movie.Big disappointment.. When I first heard of frozen I thought here we go another princess and Disney magical movie this will be awful and for a short time I was judging a book by it's cover when I saw this film I though wow that was one of the best films I ever could see and I am very proud of the people a part of this movie to make it what it is today well done and I loved this movie and I always will BRILLIANT.. Life is good when you get the opportunity to escape from reality for a few hours with this new animated Disney film classic that will surely appeal to all ages and the child within us all. I love this film so much it always cheers me up on a bad day, I never get bored of it, olaf in my opinion is the beat Disney character ever made. I felt like Disney said if we draw two funny characters, then we can just repeat the same story we've been telling for years and make more money. I think especially in Disney movies everyone who is close to the central character deserves to find love.. In summary, Frozen is a very good movie, worth watching and a big step for Disney.. The relationship of Anna and Elsa matches the one that I have with my sister.I don't have an unhealthy addiction to the entire 'Frozen' world, but I have a great respect for movies with wonderful music and entertaining stories, animation or not.This movie is loosely based on The Brother's Grimm story, "The Snow Queen". Don't worry, if you know the true story, you won't expect anything closely related to it."Frozen" has to be the best Walt Disney animation picture since "Finding Nemo"... The animation, the beauty of the magical ice, the fabulous music and the beautiful faces and gestures of Elsa and Anna will stick to your heart for quite a long time after you finish watching the movie. This movie is an instant classic worthy of being added to Disney's vault of visual and musical success, Frozen is a movie for people of all ages to come together and enjoy. It stays true to Disney's story telling and combines a powerful combination of outstanding animation, catchy songs, relatable characters and a story that wrenches the heart and keeps you going for the full hour and a half in a way that makes it unforgettable and a perfect family night movie. Most people class Disney films as children's movies, but so what if they are? It has good catchy songs and as it is expected from Disney i didn't find any mistakes in animation.I liked the story even do the message was kind of forced, but i didn't mind so much. Characters were well developed and voice acting is top class.I had few problems with as i mentioned with message of the movie being a little forced and i didn't like the twist, but i would recommend The Frozen to every Disney musical fan cause they will not be disappointed with it at all.. Frozen is a wonderful Disney movie in the true spirit with sing a long songs and lovable characters. Overall, if you're a big Disney fan such as I am, then I suggest you watch this film just once to feel good (I think) about yourself. Frozen is a Disney animation with a great show that is put on, with big songs that many people will be hard done by to not hum afterwards and a style that just looks seamless, this is truly one of the finer movies Disney have produced. The look of this film is amazing, such slick animation with a beautiful flow of things, and when any things like ice is involved, the detail put into every little bit is immensely done well and just wonderful to look at among everything going on too.Main criticisms, well it has to be said the film probably isn't as good as certain people may have you believe, yes it's a fun Disney animation but that can also be the problem, over the top drama which can after a while annoy but it may not also. If you dislike a good old sing song and a melodramatic kind of story then really, this isn't at all for you, some people will absolutely hate this but I think it depends on why you watch movies.Overall a Just About Very Good movie and one film that was hard to give a score. The film is a Disney musical, so it has a lot of songs. But I still found it to be a good movie.Frozen is the story of sisters Anna and Elsa, the princesses of Arendelle. These three characters felt to me like real people, and not two dimensional stereotypes.Another strength of the film is the music. However, if you're here for good writing and characters, you can watch one of the old Disney movies like The Lion King and Emperor's New Groove, because they are LEAGUES above this utterly mediocre film. My 2 year old and I have watched this over and over again, which is more than I can say for a lot of other Disney movies. I can't see how Frozen is anything like the movies from the Disney Renaissance era. The animation is great, the characters are funny, the songs are magical, I would compare it to the old Disney 2D movies except this one is not drawn by hand.

tt1706365

Feeding Frenzy

The film begins with Mr. Plinkett, a strange old cripple who owns a hardware store, meeting a hooker in a motel. The hooker strips for him, but he murders her with a secret blade in his cane. He then drags her to the basement of his hardware store leaving a trail of blood behind him.We then cut to our main character, Jesse Camp, a down on his luck employee of Plinkett's hardware store. He is desperately attracted to Kaitlin, a girl who he's liked since second grade. However, she has a boyfriend named Kyle, who everybody seems to think is amazing. Jesse is bothered by Plinkett, who forces him to clean up the trail of blood left by the hooker in the first scene, his coworker Carl, and his roommate Martin, both of whom make fun of him for not being able to get with Kaitlin. After the trail of blood and Plinkett forcing Jesse to break a VHS tape of him on a Monday, Jesse begins to grow suspicious when Kaitlin says her friend has gone missing. He believes the answer lies in Plinkett's basement, so Jesse, Kaitlin, and Kyle go to the store at night and discover that Plinkett is housing tiny ravenous creatures in a box. (They were referred to as Globkins on set, however this is never used in the film.) Just then, Plinkett shows up and feeds Kyle to the creatures, but Jesse and Kaitlin escape. They meet up with Carl and figure out that the creatures are tracking the scent of the people who came in the store that day, so they track them down. Plinkett finds them however, and reveals that the creatures were all being put together to form a reanimation of his dead wife, after capturing Jesse and Kaitlin, but letting Carl go. The wife escapes however, and kills Plinkett, but Jesse and Kaitlin get away. Jesse asks Kaitlin to sleep with him, but she says no, so he leaves her to die with Plinkett's wife. Martin tells him he should go back, though, so he has a change of heart and saves her, and the two make love on top of Plinkett's dead wife's rotting zombie corpse as the credits roll.

violence

train

imdb

The film hits all the notes of a B-movie horror classic. Messy/unbelievable gore, ridiculous looking monster effects, off beat dialog and out of place erotic scenes.But the movie has some features that most B-movies don't have: Good acting, a plot that makes sense, a lot of funny moments(intentional ones), a good pace, great camera work and a well used score.There is pretty much nothing to be scared of in this film though and it seems to just be making fun of or holding a candle to 80s horror films like Gremlins, Critters and Deadly Spawn.Overall I enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys monster movies(especially the low budget ones) or the comedy stylings of red letter media. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone outside those groups. Not quite the Mr. Plinkett movie I expected to see.. I purchased this movie for one reason, I liked the Mr. Plinkett character and wanted to see what they could do with him in a feature film. However, he doesn't actually have a lot of screen time in the movie. The focus of the film is obviously Jesse and Christine. When Plinkett is actually on screen, he is far creepier than his movie reviewing persona. Usually I want to sympathize with the villain a little bit (that old cliché of the villain you love to hate), but you don't really get that until the end of the movie. Watching this movie without expectations, and/or while drunk or high is advisable.If you're an aspiring filmmaker or a student of film, then this will amaze you. If Feeding Frenzy had an A-list star in the leading role, it would have made 100 million dollars the first weekend of a general release.If you're a filmmaker, buy the DVD. If you're a film lover, buy the DVD. If you're a passive film-goer and enjoyed The Hangover, this isn't your cup of tea.. Feeding Frenzy is a film that is caught between a rock and a hard place.On one hand the core group involved constitutes the members of Red Letter Media - the highly entertaining collective of individuals that have made a series of brilliant film reviews and shorts that manage to traverse the thin line between informative and comedic critique. As such they have built up a passionate but as yet marginal fan base - one that is tuned in to the various in-jokes and unsaid references. In other words Mr Plinkett already has a bit of a reputation.On the other hand they have looked to make a film that could appeal to the 'uninitiated' by following certain obligatory film-making rules, and by deliberately looking to tone down the more esoteric in-jokes (though Jay's 'this T-shirt is an in-joke' T-shirt threatens to spin the whole precarious situation into a paradoxical whirlpool).Ultimately I feel that they have managed to do a great job. It's a well written, well directed, funny, and entertaining film, and I'll certainly recommend it to any friends of mine that still have a sense of humour left.Perhaps I'm too much of a fan of RLM (and especially 'Half in the Bag'), but I was naturally drawn to the performances of Jay and Mike. They struck me as the stand-out performances,and I'd love to see them willing to give themselves more prominent roles in these films. They're clearly both natural actors on screen, and the simple fact is that the more they appear, the funnier their films will be, and the more entertained we will be as a result.What I don't want to do by praising Jay and Mike is do a disservice to Gillian and Ron. I thought Gillian was superb in the role of the disinterested love interest. As for Ron - well I'll be lying if I say I didn't find his acting questionable at the beginning of the film - however he improves a lot as the film progresses, and by the end I could easily understand why he was right for the part.In summary this is a lovingly made, consistently amusing homage to the video horror movies of the 80s. It could easily descend into schlock, but instead is full of some wonderful touches of comical brilliance and classy directing.Watch it right in your face.. As many reviews before mine, I have to admit being a RedLetterMedia fan, too. That makes it harder to be objective, but there is a reason why most of the reviews are from fans: RedLetterMedias films and videos are not aimed at John Doe and his Everyman-brigade. Perhaps I'm the first German to write a review about this film; so I will give some additional information about purchasing it. So, if you are not the type of film enthusiast who wants to have real DVD packages on the shelf, you should go with the downloadable versions, which RLM offers as well.If you're from Germany (hell, why do I still write this in English? Well, because you should understand English anyway when watching this movie...) and you have no problem understanding the RLM discussions ("Half in the bag", "Best of the worst"), Feeding Frenzy might be a bit harder though, because unlike in a discussion where things are said several times, the plot moves quickly and nobody repeats what he's saying or asks for better understanding. Furthermore, Mr.Plinkett mumbles more than he actually talks, which is convenient for the film but hard to understand for foreigners.The movie itself is really funny, not more, not less. It has extremely funny moments while fans of RLM might have higher expectations as Mike and Jay sometimes don't do their very best acting here - but still quite OK. Also, you might be used to much, much darker humor from RedLetterMedia, I think there could have been much more black humor...even though there already is quite a lot of it in here...What has to be pointed out are several "bad moments", that are obviously intentionally bad as they pay homage to schlock-movies from the 80s, for example when they are tied to a table and you can see that Jesse's nose is itching and then he takes his arm out of the ropes so he can scratch it... This is not very funny but still quite amusing if you understand the tone of Feeding Frenzy.Movies like Feeding Frenzy underline the weight of RedLetterMedias movie reviews; they show that they know what they are talking about and that they not only make theories about movies but they know how things work when making a film. In the aftermath, Feeding Frenzy is an advertisement for everything else RedLetterMedia does - simply because it's OK and can compete with other, much more expensive movie-productions.. A lie packaged as something else, promising something good, created only for profit, as the production value alone will tell you, and if you fell for it, you are a sucker out 15 or more bucks.This means that while I entered into the scene, wanting to support indie films and film makers and aspiring actors, I now want to kill them all, as well as their families. Because they all deserve to die.Now, saying that, Feeding Frenzy has turned a page in my bleak outlook. I wrestled with the idea of purchasing Feeding Frenzy...I did not want to end up hating and wishing death on Mike Stoklasa and Jay Bauman.But I finally gave in, and wound up watching it 3 times in 1 week. It helped being a fan of RedLetterMedia, and their, well...media. Their Star Wars reviews, short films, and what really got my respect and attention, their brutally honest, and articulate reviews they do on their series, "Half in the Bag".Another thing I have come to appreciate from these guys is sort of a new brand of humor...It is like a "Dry" meets "Dead Pan", and Mike Stoklasa, who is pretty much the most popular of the duo and company, delivers this beautifully.And in the movie, Mike Stoklasa continues to deliver this bizarre, awkward dead pan performance. My friends who had never seen anything RedLetterMedia has done commented on Mikes commanding screen presence, and remarked how charismatic he was on film. And he isn't even the main character.Every scene Mike Stoklasa appears in heightens it, and makes it better. The same kind of awkward/dry/deadpan humor is present through Jay Baumans writing of the script as well. This duo works very well together.Rich Evans, a friend/contributor to RLM, reprises his role as Mr. Plinkett, and he does this wonderfully. He is funny, original, and you want to love him despite his sinister character.The two main actors, Gillian Bellinger and Ron Lipski, however, were not very good. They were outsiders to RLM, and maybe this is why. I know that shouldn't be a problem, but ugliness combined with unfunniness and not very good acting is a problem.She just came across as annoying and loud for the most part. Ron Lipski was semi-competent in his own bland way when it came to acting, but in the end, he lacked charisma, and was so stiff and not animated, he's actually forgettable despite being the main character.The worst was his mugging. Often throughout the film, the camera would cut to his face for reaction shots. His expressions were either overly hammy, or robotic.There is a scene in which the little mouth monsters escape and attack Ron and Gillian. This by far is the worst scene in the film. It lasts way too long, and the characters lack of talent shines at this moment.A joke of Gillian trying to choose a weapon to get a monster off of Rons leg ensues, for over a minute, resulting in Gillian choosing a fly swatter as a weapon of choice.Ron "mugs" again, raising an eyebrow, in a robotic, unfunny fashion, and Gillian, for no reason at all, screams obnoxiously. But the scene continues, the monster still biting away at Rons leg.Gillian continues to search, until Ron grabs a drill and kills the monster. She runs over to Ron....and screams again.It is the worst scene in the movie, because of the horrendous acting of Ron Lipski, the over acting of Gillian Bellinger, and for some reason, Mike and Jay didn't shred this scene in the editing room, cutting a much needed minute out of it.The soundtrack was great. Overall, I enjoyed this film, and am glad I bought it. Seriously.I hope my review isn't too biased, because like I said, I was a fan already of RLM and their content online. So maybe I have been warmed up to it and their sense of humor and style. However, friends that watched it with me that had not heard of RLM before enjoyed it as well. So who knows.This is pretty much a fan movie, to some extent. But production-wise, it trumps all indie film company movies I have seen. It was certainly better than any movie made by the SciFy network.Unfortunately, the two main actors do haunt it. I hope in the future, RLM makes more of an effort to get better and more talented actors.Oh, one last nod: One actress stood out. And she was in the film for literally 1 minute. She has appeared in some of RLM's stuff, most famously she played Nadine in the famous Plinkett Reviews of the Star Wars films, that drew attention from Simon Pegg and Roger Ebert, due to their brilliance and entertainment value.. Entertaining no budget schlock. Feeding Frenzy is a very enjoyable b-movie from the Redlettermedia guys, Mike Stoklasa and Jay Bauman. You might know them for the 70 minute Star Wars reviews or their shows Half in the Bag and Best of the Worst, if you aren't aware of those shows, you're missing out. Their shows are the best on the internet.Feeding Frenzy was done with no money before they really hit their stride with the Plinkett reviews but there are glimpses of talent sprinkled all over Feeding Frenzy. The puppet monsters definitely look like they were made with barely any money but the movie has lots of charm and heart. The story isn't award winning but it's better told than the majority of no budget movies and there's lots of funny jokes. Hopefully won't be the last we hear of these guys, they could really do something great with more money in their hands.. Here's my problem with this movie: Since this is horror-comedy and done very cheaply, I keep wondering which parts were supposed to be funny and which parts were unintentionally funny. Obviously this isn't something I should concern myself, but I do.But hey, even though its like jazz and the "artists" are clearly enjoying themselves much more than anyone in the audience, there are good parts. Some of the jokes do actually work. We know from all those Plinkett reviews and Half in the Bag that the movie makers have some unique insights on films, so perhaps if I had being more familiar with all the movies they were thinking about when making Feeding Frenzy, I would have enjoyed it more.The real actors in the movie are pretty good, especially considering how cheaply this was probably made and the material they had to work with.All in all, the best I can give is a very mild recommendation, but tread carefully, this is probably the kind of movie some people will enjoy immensely, perhaps in some sort of twisted "ironic" way, others will see it as a complete waste of time.. Horror fans may appreciate its campiness, but its bad dialogue and flat humor ultimately make Feeding Frenzy not worth your time. As a fan of Red Letter Media's Half in the Bag series and Star Wars reviews, I really wanted to like this film. Mike Stoklasa and Jay Bauman are respectable men who seem to be making movies purely for love of the art form. So giving this movie a bad review is painful, but the truth is, it's not very good. There are three main areas in which the movie is weak, and all three are crucial: Acting, dialog, and humor. First, acting: If you're not willing to make sacrifices in terms of performances, you're going to be disappointed. Bauman (Martin) is definitely the more talented actor and does well, but Stoklasa (Carl) turns in a performance that's false, unbelievable, and apathetic. He comes off so flat and careless I would genuinely like to know if he was actually trying. I vaguely suspect that he was attempting a "so bad it's funny" shtick, but if so, it didn't work. Gillian Bellinger (Christine) does well enough in her role, as does Ron Lipski (Jesse), and their Mary Jane/Peter Parker dynamic is one of the most compelling things about the film, but ultimately their scenes are hampered by the movie's other problems.The dialog, in a word, stinks. Real people just do not talk like the characters in Feeding Frenzy. Bauman and Stoklasa have talent, but clearly no ear for dialog. Watching it, you think that if they had just said the lines out loud to themselves once and asked if it sounded realistic, the whole movie would have been improved. But in the end, we're stuck with dialog so bad it prevents the viewer from being immersed in the story.Lastly, the humor. In a movie where you have to forgive the acting, budget, and dialog, the humor is the only chance it has left. Sometimes you'll even be asking yourself if what you just saw someone say was supposed to actually be a joke. The entire movie made me lightly chuckle maybe two or three times. It's just not funny. Much of the humor of Red Letter Media's Half in the Bag and Plinkett Reviews is solid and hilarious, so I found it jarring that the comedy was so flat.There are other problems. The "dumb jock" stock character goes from being dimwitted and barely able to speak in one scene, to taking the lead in a dangerous situation and giving detailed, rational explanations in another. Also, the movie tends to introduce characters that you would expect to be unimportant background players not likely to be seen again, only to have them return in a major way that leaves you wondering if you were actually supposed to care about them.Some low-budget movies can be good enough to transcend it (look at El Mariachi or the original Night of the Living Dead), but Feeding Frenzy is not one of them. In short, it's poorly acted, hindered by its budget, and not funny. It's possible that the creators wanted to make a "so bad it's good" movie, but Bauman has said that he dislikes movies like that, so it's not likely.Again, I'm a huge fan of their other works, so it's very hard for me to write this, but it's the truth. The movie could have been vastly improved with more believable dialog, better acting, and better humor, but as it stands, it's not worth the ten dollars. If you want to see a movie by Stoklasa and Bauman, see The Recovered. The effects waver between awful and decent, the acting as well, but overall it's an okay no-budget movie with a few good laughs mixed in with the amateurish shoot. I've seen worse movies with 10000X the budget, so this is worth checking out if you like RLM.. A great group watch If your fans of RLM.. This film was a lot of fun for me to watch. The filmography and effects were really good for an armature filmmakers project. The story is fun and I found myself really caring about the characters. However my only complaint with this film were the jokes. A lot of really cleaver jokes fall a bit flat due to the tone and sightly off comedic timing.Overall this was a very fun watch and I would recommend it to all aspiring small film fans and of course to all fans of RLM. I have found that this film is best enjoyed with a group friends.

tt0368709

Elizabethtown

The film begins with a recall of Mercury Worldwide Shoes' latest product, designed by Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom). Drew is brought before the head of Mercury, Phil Devoss (Alec Baldwin), who explains to Drew that the company is expected to lose $978 million due to the failure of the shoes that he designed.After being fired, Drew returns home, where in an act of desperation, takes all his worldly goods to the curb outside his apartment, before rigging a suicide machine from an exercise bike and a kitchen knife. However, before he can go through with his plan, his sister Heather (Judy Greer) calls him, to inform him that their Dad (Tim Devitt) has died from a heart attack while visiting family in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Drew puts his plans on hold so that he can travel to Elizabethtown to retrieve their Father's body, while Heather contends with their Mother (Susan Sarandon), who responds to this news by learning all sorts of new things, from cooking to tap-dancing.On the plane flight, Drew meets up with a stewardess named Claire (Kirsten Dunst), who strikes up a conversation with Drew. As she's also from an area near Elizabethtown, Claire ends up drawing out a map for Drew to follow. Drew doesn't follow the map, and almost gets lost, before finding his way to Elizabethtown.Drew has never met his Father's side of the family until now. He is welcomed with open arms by almost everyone, but finds them apprehensive when he tells of the possibility of cremating his Father. He also meets his cousin Jessie (Paul Schneider), who seems to have little control over his noisy, mischievous son Samson (Maxwell Moss Steen, Reid Thompson Steen). At the same time, the entire Baylor family decides to throw a memorial service for Mitch, in a few days.While staying in Elizabethtown, Drew checks into a local hotel, which is serving as the site for a raucous wedding for a couple named Chuck (Jed Rees) and Cindy (Emily Rutherfurd). One evening, wanting to speak to someone, he tries calling his sister Heather, his former girlfriend Ellen (Jessica Biel), and Claire. In a roundabout phonecall, Drew finds his sister pleading for help as their Mother won't stop doing things in the wake of her husband's death, Ellen unceremoniously dumps him over the phone, and Claire ends up providing a stimulating conversation. It is here that Drew reveals that originally, he and Mitch were going to try and take a road trip to Elizabethtown some years ago, but this never happened. Claire tells Drew that he should take a road trip on his return trip, and Drew takes this into consideration.As it turns out, Claire has returned from her duties with the airline, and is 45 minutes away. As Drew has been talking to her into the early morning hours, the two decide to meet up to watch the sunrise, before going their separate ways.However, Claire shortly re-enters Drew's life. Talking things through, Drew decides to remain firm on the cremation of his Father, and Claire helps him pick out an Urn for his Father, Mitch. She also provides him with a videotape that ends up quelling Samson's noisy tantrums. However, at the last minute, Drew decides to not have his Father cremated, but it's too late. Afterwards, Drew and Claire share an intimate evening together, before Drew confesses to Claire about his 'failure' with Mercury Shoes. Claire simply tells Drew to stop feeling sorry for himself, and that as a creative person, he should just keep on going.Finally, the day of Mitch's memorial service is at hand. At the last minute, Heather and their Mother (Hollie) have decided to attend. A number of Mitch's family and friends speak, before Hollie stands up and introduces herself. After giving a humorous anecdote about life as a widow, she then does an interpretive tap-dance to her husband's memory, much to the delight of the Baylors. Drew steps out for a moment, and finds himself face-to-face with Claire, who has brought a present for him: a kit for his road trip back home to Oregon. However, before they can say anymore, Drew's cousin Jessie takes to the stage with his band, playing the song 'Freebird' in tribute to Mitch. However, a papier-mache bird ends up catching fire and setting off the sprinkler systems, sending everyone scrambling from the meeting place.The next day, a funeral is held in the place of Mitch's burial plot, with mementos of Mitch put in the casket. Once services end, Drew begins his road trip, following the CD's and instructions that Claire has outlined. Along the way, Drew sprinkles Mitch's ashes at various locations. Finally, Claire's instructions lead him to "The World's Second Largest Farmer's Market." After following clues in her notes and at various stalls at the market, her instructions give Drew a choice- 1) He can get back in the car, and continue his journey, or 2) He can look for a girl with a red hat. Drew chooses the second choice, and finds Claire at the market.

romantic, comedy, boring, storytelling, flashback

train

imdb

tt0427582

El método

In Madrid seven candidates report for a job interview as protestors rise up in public protest in the street over the IMF-World Bank Summit attempting globalization of workers unions. As the group interview begins high above in a corporate meeting room, one of the candidates refuses to continue to fill out seemingly identical paperwork again, and many of the others question the validity of the supposed Grönholm Method being implemented in the interview session to choose the best person for the job. There are some computers which show different messages to each of the characters, and when they are eliminated from the competition, the corresponding computer gives out a "no signal" sign.First, the group must decide who the traitor is. One of them already works for the corporation and they must find out who that person is. Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Nieves (Najwa Nimri) already know each other because they used to be lovers, so they can vouch for each other's past behaviour. The group finally votes for Enrique (Ernesto Alterio), but the computer does not say whether they are right.Then, they must choose a leader, and choose Julio (Carmelo Gómez). A newspaper cutout appears about him. He denounced that his company was leaking noixous chemicals to a river. Now, the group must imagine they already work for the company and decide whether they give Julio a second opportunity. Ana (Adriana Ozores) gives the deciding vote to expel Julio.The next thing is to imagine that after a nuclear holocaust they have to fight for their survival being accepted in a bunker. Nieves offers to bear children to all the men, and Carlos offers himself to tell tales. In spite of offering herself to be the cook, Ana is expelled because she was a woman and too old, so that none of the men would like to have sexual relations with her (at least that is my interpretation). On the other hand, she is treated harshly as she had treated Julio before.Then they make a break. The receptionist Montse (Natalia Verbeke) brings some refreshments, and she talks to them about the mayhem outside, as there is a violent demonstration against the IMF. At that moment, Ricardo (Pablo Echarri) tells Enrique that there was a moment, back in Argentina, when he worked as a union leader, and that he's worried that the company will find out. Montse overhears something, and she puts some pressure on Enrique: if he knows something which the company does not know about Ricardo which they should know, he must betray the secrecy. Enrique finally breaks down and Ricardo leaves... just to return a few minutes later and admit that he's the psychologist who already works for the company. He asks Enrique if he now thinks he has done well in betraying him, and Enrique finally admits - under a lot of pressure - that he doesn't know. Ricardo asks him to leave until he realises that he's done absolutely the right thing in betraying the secret.During this break there is a weird exchange of shirts among Fernando, Carlos and Nieves. Fernando throws some coffee into Carlos' shirt, and he goes to the washbasin to wash it, but it disappears while he's on the toilet. Fernando tries to seduce Nieves, but she uses sex that to manipulate him, leaving him frustrated. Carlos steals Fernando's shirt and Fernando has to make do as well.Ricardo proposes a ball game. They have to imagine that Carlos is an Englishman, Nieves a Frenchwoman and Fernando a Spaniard male. As they throw the ball to each other, they have to say something in which the country they are impersonating is the best one. They begin with footballers, traditions, and then they move onto working methods, financial strategies, etc... The game gets more and more serious as Nieves starts speaking in French and Carlos in English. They insult Fernando and call him names so that he gets more and more stressed because he can't understand anything but he smells that something is going on. When Nieves translates that Carlos had called him a "wanker", Fernando hits her with the ball in the face, which eliminates him.Only Nieves and Carlos remain. There is another break. Ricardo tells Carlos that he must convince Nieves to quit and that the job will be his. Montse talks to Nieves saying that the company prefers Carlos, but that she'll get the job if she is able to trick him into leaving the building.So during the break Carlos and Nieves start flirting wildly. They wonder why their relationship didn't work out the first time, but it looks like they have hope for it to be successful this time. They decide to quit the job selection process together.While they are leaving, Nieves returns to the meeting room in order to get her coat, and she hesitates a little: if she closes the door, the job will be her. However, she decides to give love a chance and to leave with Carlos. While they are both going down in the lift, Nieves realises that Carlos has been had the same objective marked. Carlos also hesitates: should he leave the building with her or should he go up again to claim his new job as winner? Finally, he presses the button and returns to the meeting room. He's won the job as he's done everything necessary to get it.When Nieves leaves the building, the surrounding streets look like a demilitarized area after the FMI demonstrations, leaving her empty.She walks home.

romantic, psychological

train

imdb

tt0318411

The Magdalene Sisters

Set in Ireland, beginning in 1964, so-called "fallen" women were considered sinners who needed to be redeemed. The film follows the stories of four young women - Margaret (raped by her cousin), Bernadette (too beautiful and coquettish), Rose (an unmarried mother) and Crispina (an intellectually disabled unmarried mother) - who are all forced by their families or caretakers into the Magdalene Asylum. The film details the disastrous lives of the four girls whilst they are inmates of the laundries, portraying their harsh daily regimen, their squalid living conditions and the oppressive nature of the Catholic faith at the time. Each woman suffers unspeakable cruelty and violence from the Mother Superior, Sister Bridget, despite her gentle-faced appearance and outwardly soft-spoken demeanour. She is characterised as sadistic and almost inhuman at times, as conveyed through her merciless beating of Rose in full view of Bernadette, or when she mockingly laughs at Una as she hopelessly clutches at her fallen hair locks. The film also criticises the hypocrisy and corruption within the staff of the laundries. Sister Bridget relishes the money the business receives and it is suggested that little of it is distributed appropriately. Those who liken themselves to Mary Magdalene, who deprived herself of all pleasures of the flesh including food and drink, eat hearty breakfasts of buttered toast and bacon while the working women subsist on oatmeal. In one particularly humiliating scene, the women are forced to stand naked in a line after taking a communal shower. The nuns then hold a "contest" on who has the most pubic hair, biggest bottom, biggest breasts and smallest breasts. The corruption of the resident priest, Father Fitzroy, is made very clear through his sexual abuse of Crispina. Three of the girls are shown, to some extent, to triumph over their situation and their captors. Margaret, although she is allowed to leave by the intervention of her younger brother, does not leave the asylum without leaving her mark. When she deliberately asks Sister Bridget to step aside for her to freely pass and is sharply shot down, Margaret falls to her knees in prayer. The Mother Superior is so surprised, she only moves past her after the Bishop tells her to come along. Bernadette and Rose finally decide to escape together, trashing Sister Bridget's study in search for the key to the asylum door and engaging her in a suspenseful confrontation. The two girls escape her clutches and are helped to return to the real world by a sympathetic relative, their story optimistically ending when Rose boards a coach bound for the ferry to Liverpool and Bernadette becomes an apprentice hairdresser. Crispina's end, however, is not a happy one; she spends the rest of her days in a mental institution (where she was sent to silence her from revealing the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of Father Fitzroy) and dies of anorexia at age 24. The epilogue to the film gives a brief description of the lives of four of the inmates after the girls leave the asylum by the late 1960s. It is noted that the last Magdalene asylum closed in 1996.

historical, insanity, violence, cruelty, sadist

train

wikipedia

tt0081207

My Bodyguard

Clifford Peache (Chris Makepeace) lives in an upscale Chicago luxury hotel with his father (Martin Mull), who manages the hotel, and his eccentric but loving grandmother (Ruth Gordon). Clifford spends his nights with his family relaxing on the rooftop patio and spying on the neighbors through a telescope. He is the new kid at Lake View High School, where he arrives in a hotel limousine. Clifford becomes a target of abuse from a bully, Melvin Moody (Matt Dillon). Moody and his gang of thugs, Dubrow (Richard Bradley), Koontz (Tim Reyna), and Hightower (Dean R. Miller), regularly terrorize and extort lunch money from other students, allegedly to protect them from a school outcast, the large, sullen Ricky Linderman (Adam Baldwin). According to school legend, Ricky has killed several people, including his own little brother. A teacher (Kathryn Grody) tells Clifford that the only violence she's aware of from Ricky's past occurred when his younger brother died accidentally while playing with a gun. Clifford works up the nerve to approach Ricky and asks him to be his bodyguard. Ricky refuses, but the boys become friends after Ricky saves Clifford from a beating by Moody and his gang. Ricky has emotional issues over the death of his 9-year-old brother a year earlier, and is slow to come out of his shell, but has been rebuilding a motorcycle that he cherishes. The friendship between the two boys is strengthened as Clifford successfully helps Ricky search junkyards for a hard-to-find cylinder for the motorcycle's engine. As Clifford, Ricky, and a few friends from school, including fellow bully-magnets, Carson (Paul Quandt), Shelley (Joan Cusack), and an unnamed girl (Jennifer Beals), eat lunch in Lincoln Park, Moody and his gang approach. Moody has enlisted the help of an older bodybuilder named Mike (Hank Salas), someone he announces is his bodyguard. Mike intimidates and physically abuses the younger Ricky, and vandalizes his motorcycle before Moody pushes it into the lagoon. Ricky runs away. He later comes to Clifford to ask for money, ostensibly to pay for pulling the motorcycle out of the lagoon. Feeling used, Clifford follows him and the two argue before Ricky reveals to Clifford that he accidentally shot his brother while babysitting him at home. As a result of the accident, he is overwhelmed with guilt and remorse. Moody and Mike later return to the park to continue bullying the other children. Ricky is also there retrieving his motorcycle. Moody notices and demands the motorcycle, which Ricky refuses. Moody summons Mike and the two begin to fight; Ricky eventually defeats Mike, then urges Clifford to fight Moody while Ricky coaches him. Clifford initially fights incompetently, but becomes angry and finally lands a solid punch which knocks Moody down and breaks his nose. Moody sits on the ground, whining. Ricky retrieves his motorcycle and as they leave together, he jokingly asks Clifford to be his bodyguard.

revenge

train

wikipedia

In his debut performance, Adam Baldwin does a wonderful job portraying the alienated Ricky Linderman, who is seen as a hulking, violent "psychopath" by most of his peers. Baldwin's acting abilities are impressive and he touches the heart of the viewer by showing us Ricky's emotions.Ruth Gordon is a joy to watch as Clifford's Gramma Peache. Chris Makepeace is cast perfectly as a reluctant victim of extortion by Matt Dillon's high school band of thugs. Not having seen it when it was released, we took a chance and it paid off handsomely.The film addresses the bullying in schools, a nightmare for those students that appear weak, or easy marks for these predators to make a name for themselves among their peers, at the others expense. Some have gone to careers of their own, such as Matt Dillon, Adam Baldwin, Joan Cusack, George Wendt, and the uncredited Jennifer Beals, who has no speaking role.When Clifford Peache, the son of a hotel manager in Chicago, changes schools, he meets his worst nightmare: Melvin Moody. In fact, Rick teaches Clifford a lesson when at the end he has to face the mean Melvin, who proves to be a coward, as all bullies are."My Bodyguard" is an entertaining film to watch thanks to the great performance by Chris Makepeace, who makes a great Clifford. its a classic compared to some of the trash like 8 mile thats out there today.Chris Makepeace is excellent but Matt Dillon is truly fantastic as the school bully. Add to that the situation of being the new kid and trying to survive the jungle of high school(something most every American teen can relate to), and you have a great little film. Chris Makepeace is the new kid who tranfers to a urban Chicago highschool from a private school and immediately runs afoul of school bully Matt Dillon. If you've ever been a teenager, wondered if you would belong, attended a high school or had to do battle with a bully, you'll find something to like about MY BODYGUARD.. I remember loving this movie when I saw it as a grade school kid growing up. It's refreshing to know that they can make movies about young kids without portraying them as sex maniacs, criminals, or drug users.My Bodyguard is about a high school student, oddly named Clifford Peache (Chris Makepeace), who is encountering trouble at school. They tell him they're trying to protect him from a big, tough kid named Ricky Linderman (played by Adam Baldwin in his film debut).Clifford is somewhat small, he doesn't know how to fight, and he's not very intimidating, thus, he can't really defend himself. He decides that he wants to pay Ricky Linderman "to be my bodyguard." This is where the movie really begins, and makes an excellent turn.Linderman is somewhat of an outcast and a loner at school, presumably because of his size, and some unkind rumors milling about the school. Some scenes later in the movie, like Linderman getting pushed around by another tough kid, are a little difficult and painful to watch. It reminded me of a line from On Golden Pond spoken by Katherine Hepburn: "Sometimes you have to look hard at a person, and realize they're doing the best they can." My Bodyguard does exactly that.This is a very suitable film as well as great learning material for any teenager, teacher, or parent. I liked the performance of Adam Baldwin the best, he starts out looking a little sloppy, scruffy, and primitive, but later goes through a transformation to a well-mannered, polite, affable, approachable young man. To make a treasure and a classic movie like this about teenagers and high school was some kind of miracle, and wonderful.. It takes place in a decidedly urban and challenging setting, and its adult characters are as quirky as its teenaged ones.The characters are well-drawn, the acting is good, and although the plot is insignificant, with a weak conclusion, this film manages to be realistic, present interesting characters (particularly Adam Baldwin's) and make you laugh. This is a unexpectedly deep "Highschool Bullying" movie that is based around the words I wrote in the "Summary".This movie appears to have inspired the less deep and more over the top "Three O Clock High".Clifford (Chris Makepeace) moves to a new school and becomes the object of a group of bullies led by Moody (Matt Dillon). Clifford is afraid to fight them so he enlists the help of a mysterious kid "Linderman" (Adam Baldwin) that all the bullies fear.However, Cliff finds Linderman is not Superman, rather he has a grave psychological problem which contributes to his mysteriousness. I had nothing but hatred for Matt Dillon's character, as I was one who did not need a bodyguard but learned to fight off the Melvin Moodys in my own life. On the surface, a movie about a boy hiring a big kid to be his bodyguard against four bullies seems mundane, but this movie had a lot of twists and characters that keep you riveted. I mean, how do you go from "Children..." to "My Bodyguard", then on to "Cat People" (which, incidentally, also stuck with me for various scenes which I hate to spoil here).Anyway, no matter how you slice it, "Bodyguard" is a great movie, and Baldwin and Makepeace are so fun to watch together! An outstanding teen movie, it launched the careers of Joan Cusack, Adam Baldwin, and in a tiny and unfortunately uncredited role, Jennifer Beals. When I watch it these days, I get a mix of the nostalgia of middle-school and the fun time that the movie's versatility still delivers today. Properly fearful looking (the whole school is scared of this guy) Baldwin nonetheless makes it impossible for you not to feel for this kid and when, out of his greasy, shapeless clothes and cleaned up and dressed for dinner at the hotel, his smile and demeanor Chris Makepeace shines as the tale's protagonist, Clifford and his persistence in courting friendship with Linderman is a turning point in the film. Only this time Mr. Miyagi is a tough, estranged teen (Adam Baldwin) and the boy Clifford (Chris Makepeace) ends up learning to box during his only fight, no training or wax on wax off, just right to the action. I also thought Ruth Gordon as Clifford's grandmother was quite funny.Overall, My Bodyguard is a forgotten little gem, but it is a great movie and one of those from the 80's that shall not be missed. That I felt so incensed by Melvin Moody, Dillon's "My Bodyguard" character, tells me what a talent Dillon had for playing the part of the incorrigible schoolboy who makes physically weaker students dread every school day.Though, of all the cast members Dillon incited me the most -- I wished I could enter the film so that I could shove Melvin Moody down a flight of stairs -- no actor left me feeling unmoved. Several actors, in fact, impressed me as much as did Dillon.Despite the familiar themes of friendship and loyalty and the often-employed plot involving campus hoodlums and their victims, the performances in this movie were thought provoking as well as entertaining, apparently because this film's writers seemed to make a point of avoiding uni-faceted characters.Fun-loving Gramdma Peache (Ruth Gordon), for example, showed that she also had a capacity for compassion and kindness, just as sullen, intimidating Ricky Linderman (Adam Baldwin) became less defensive, even easygoing, given the right setting. "My Bodyguard" is one of the great films ever to come out of the 1980's.Actor Tony Bill makes a great debut as director as he tells the story about a young kid who moves to a different high school and gets picked on by a vicious bully(played well-done by Matt Dillon).Later in the film,the young kid hires a brand new classmate to protect him and they also embark on great friendship.Released in the summer of 1980 by 20th Century Fox,"My Bodyguard" is a very important film in such a artistic and excellent way.It captures the innocence of going to school,getting picked on,and hiring a courageous,tall,and willing friend to make a difference.It also brings out the very best in acting and fine screenwriting.For anyone who gets picked on or getting made fun of a lot in school,this film is definately one you don't want to miss!. One Of Those Movies I Never Tire Of. So, I was watching the new Fox series, "The Inside" the other night and marveling at how handsome and young and talented Adam Baldwin still is and I realized that the film I fell for him in is 25 years old! God, I love that movie.Having been a Ruth Gordon fan since I first Saw "Harold & Maude" at an art-house when I was a kid, it was a delight watching her granny-gone-wild act in "My Bodyguard". MY BODYGUARD is a reminder of the bully types we've all known that like to mess with teen-agers during those dangerous years at school and beyond. Incredibly acted by Makepeace, Baldwin, and Dillon, this movie is not the stereotypical goofy 80's teen drama. Thanks to all the great actors and actresses who really wanted to do a good job.Even thought it does have some harsh language in it its still a great movie and I think any one who watches it will enjoy it.Exspeally high school kids.Thank all of you for a great movie.Kathrine Elizabeth Steele. So when a bully who is not unrealistic, just the kind of prick that is out there in the world, like Matt Dillon in story, it works.It's a "small" film, but its gentle spirit is genuine, and it's really *about* something, which is getting a true friend. The performances by the younger actors are phenomenal, and unlike many films that feature mostly younger actors, you actually care what happens to these well-developed characters.Clifford Peache (Chris Makepeace) is the new kid in town. They pretend to protect the kids from the school legend, Linderman (Adam Baldwin). Clifford befriends him and learns that Linderman is just a high school kid going through the growing pains like everyone else. I love the way the story is portrayed...not like a normal teen movie. Matt Dillon glowers convincingly enough as Moody, the punk with slicked-back hair (this was Dillon's third movie after "Over the Edge" and "Little Darlings", and his career was on a roll, with the future-star showing a nice sense of selection picking quirky, unusual teen-oriented films to start off with). Adam Baldwin plays the hulking, scary loner Linderman whom Makepeace pays to be his bodyguard, and their friendship doesn't feel nearly as contrived as the basic set-up, leading to an absorbing second-half. This film begins with a young 15-year-old sophomore named "Clifford Peache" (Chris Makepeace) who has just enrolled in a new high school in Chicago. Unfortunately, things don't go well for him because-as luck would have it-he runs afoul of the high school bully by the name of "Melvin Moody" (Matt Dillon) on his very first day. And from that point on Melvin makes it a point to demand money in exchange for protection from the most feared kid in school named "Ricky Linderman" (Adam Baldwin). A semi-well off kid moves and goes to a new highschool and it turns out there is the worst bully there taking "protection money" from everyone all on the supposed basis of him protecting everyone in the school from an even worse student played by Adam Baldwin whose story is he had literally murdered a bunch of people and is feared by everyone in the school to the extent that he barely shows up for lessons and nobody cares and lets him do it. The new kid doesn't want to pay and instead tries to find out some more about Adam Baldwins character and finds out the stories are not what they seem and in turns befriends him.This movie is way better than the Karate Kid, Three O'Clock High and all others about bullying at school. Hello!I saw "My Bodyguard " in English class and i think this movie is a good movie because the movie tells the story of a bully child (Clifford Peache) and its Bodyguard (Ricky Linderman).This movie tells about a bully man (Clifford) .Cliffor is in sophomore year and he as a new stunden in High School in Chicago .He is bullied by Moody .Moody wants him to pay one dollar a day .Clifford refuses to pay and he wants Linderman to protect him but Linderman is not interested ...You have watched the film to see what happens !I think Clifford (Chris Makepeace) is a good actor . Clifford Peache, a nice teenager, has difficulty in becoming integrated into his new high school, where a bully terrorizes the pupils and extorting money from them. Clifford Peache, a nice teenager, has difficulty in becoming integrated into his new high school, where a bully terrorizes the pupils and extorting money from them.But Clifford refuses to be passive and succeeds in acquiring the services of the pupil the most dreaded by the high school.Both boys are going to learn to know each other and, soon, their union against the moths of the high school will give birth to a beautiful friendly story.Chris Makepeace as Clifford Adam Baldwin as Linderman Matt Dillon as Moody Ruth Gordon as Gramma Martin Mull as Mr. Peache John Houseman as Dobbs Paul Quandt as Carson Craig Richard Nelson as Griffith. One of the earliest and somewhat more atypical of the '80s teen comedies later worked to a fine polish by John Hughes and company, "My Bodyguard" is a rough gem of a film, anchored by a solid central performance by a here-and-gone favorite of mine, Chris Makepeace.Makepeace plays Clifford Peache, who finds himself in a new school when his father (Martin Mull) is made manager of the Ambassador East Hotel, site of the legendary Pump Room. Clifford figures there must be a better way, and finds it in sullen tough guy Ricky Linderman (Adam Baldwin), whom he diligently recruits for real protection services - against Moody.What's great about "My Bodyguard" outweighs what's not great about it, but it's a surprisingly tight battle right up to the end. You have two films here: one of which (Clifford in school, dealing with Moody and Linderman) is a solid tough-nosed teen drama with some light comedic banter; the other a goofy Clifford-at-home piece featuring his father's efforts to stay employed despite the antics of a fun-loving grandma (Ruth Gordon) and a weasely assistant. At his new school, fifteen-year-old Chris Makepeace is bullied, so he decides to hire the one guy everyone is scared of, Adam Baldwin, as his bodyguard. At the time of release I was 12 and the idea of hiring a great big person like that for protection at school appealed to me.Adam Baldwin does an accurate portrayal of a teen that grows up in less than ideal surroundings. (They actually represent my oldest brother's time in High School '78-'82.)The adults Martin Mull as Clifford's Dad,who manages the hotel where they also live. There were plenty of Matt Dillon's in my high school just waiting to steal my lunch money, and mess up the way I looked.This film had some high drama in it as well. Gutsy, but small and scrawny squirt Clifford (an excellent and engaging performance by Chris Makepeace) hires hulking alienated misfit Linderman (Adam Baldwin in his fine debut) to protect him from mean high school bully Moody (well played with perfectly obnoxious swagger by Matt Dillon).Director Tony Bill relates the affecting and engrossing story at a steady pace, makes nice use of gritty inner city urban locations, and offers a neat balance of drama and humor. When he enlists the "bodyguard" services of Adam Baldwin as the sullen school outcast (who is feared as a psychopath because of his size and because he was rumored to have killed his younger brother), the two forge a beautifully written friendship that you rarely see in movies anymore. For those of you who don't know, "My Bodyguard" is about a new kid at school who is being picked on by a bully and his cronies. Not only that, but the school bully in the film, Melvin Moody (the excellent Matt Dillon), he went to my school too! It got to the point, where no matter which way I turned, I saw every character in that movie at my school...in my life. It features fairly good performances from young leads Chris Makepeace, Matt Dillon, Adam Baldwin, and Joan Cusack . Interesting high school bullying story, filmed in Chicago, including Lincoln Park.. It is about a new kid at a Chicago public high school, 10th grade, and right away he encounters the local kid bully, who makes the weaker kids pay him every day for "protection." But the new kid refuses, and soon his time at school is made miserable by the bully and his friends.Chris Makepeace, who doesn't seem to have gone anywhere as an actor, was 15-yr-old Clifford. But the one I liked most was Adam Baldwin, making his movie debut as the bigger, taller, but troubled student Linderman. Clifford quickly gets into trouble with school bully Melvin Moody (Matt Dillon) and his group of tough guys. Clifford befriends and tries to hire sullen giant student Ricky Linderman (Adam Baldwin) who is rumored to have killed somebody.This movie would work a lot better with less screen time for the adults. Chris Makepeace is a pretty good teen actor especially in a role like this. Still, you feel for the big-lug.Things I learned from this movie:-bullies spend hours after-school stalking empty bath-rooms-50 cents was a lot to a kid in the 80's.-fight scenes have come a LONG way since the 80's.-Matt Dillon is lucky to still be working after this.The supporting cast is a virtual who's who of 80's talent....Martin Mull, George Wendt, & Joan Cusack.I wouldn't shell out a dollar to rent it (unless I was throwing a cheesy-80's party) but if it comes on cable (and it will, they always do) give it a chance.

tt0083033

Saturday the 14th

Thursday the 12th: Waldemar (Jeffrey Tambor) and his wife Yolanda (Nancy Lee Andrews), two vampires from Transylvania, are just about to close the deal on a house in Erie, Pennsylvania when they learn that it has been inherited by a family of four who are moving in as the two vampires stand there discussing the deal with the realtor.John (Richard Benjamin) and Mary (Paula Prentiss) are at a will reading where John's recently diseased uncle has left them the house as part of his will. Upon arriving at the old house John and Mary love the look of it, even though it does need some work and is rumored to have a curse on it, but their kids, 16-year-old Debbie (Kari Michaelson) and 12-year-old Billy (Kevin Brando), don't share the enthusiasm. Not even Rover, the family dog, wants to come inside. "You'll be amazed at what some nice curtains will do for this house," Mary assures her family.That evening, bored with television (all channels seem to be showing "The Twilight Zone"), Billy looks through some of the old books in the library. "The Book of Evil" looks interesting and, although the inscription warns, "Whoever shall open this book releases into the world all the evil herein," Billy begins turning the pages. Each page reveals a picture of a monster that suddenly disappears from the page. Later, as they try to sleep, Billy is awakened by a monster in his bedroom, Mary is bitten by Waldemar, and the whole family is kept up by "owls" banging and shrieking in the yard. Watching from their car, Waldemar and Yolanda are dismayed when they see monsters and realize that someone must have found THE BOOK.Friday the 13th: John and Mary go shopping (for curtains), Billy discovers that his mom has cleaned his room and moved THE BOOK. Meanwhile, Debbie takes a bubble bath and is scared silly by the fin floating in her bathwater which rises to reveal a 'gill-man' creature, who chases her, but instead kills a local delivery guy.Later that day, Mary is attacked by a horde of bats in the attic (shades of 'The Birds'). As a result, they family decides to call an exterminator. The exterminator, Mr. Van Helsing (Severn Darden) assures the family that he can cure their bat problem and moves in ("You don't expect to get rid of bats overnight!"). Over dinner that night, Billy admits to having found, opened, and lost THE BOOK, and Van Helsing warns the family that the world is in grave danger if THE BOOK is not found.Saturday the 14th: John and Mary have planned a party for the relatives and a few friends. The guests start arriving, but Billy has come up missing so everyone goes looking for him. At one minute to midnight, Waldemar and Yolanda come calling with Billy and THE BOOK in tow. As the monsters approach from all sides, Van Helsing pleads with Billy to hand over THE BOOK, but Billy refuses. It seems that Billy has seen a picture of Van Helsing in THE BOOK and that Van Helsing is really one of the monsters, too. Van Helsing and Waldemar make faces at each other in attempts at a powerplay. Suddenly, Van Helsing grabs THE BOOK from Billy and disappears along with all the monsters. Instead of THE BOOK's destruction freeing all the monsters, destroying THE BOOK destroyed all the monsters along with it.In the final scene (set on Sunday the 15th) John, Mary, Debbie, and Billy move out and away from the old house and the vampire couple of Waldemar and Yolanda move in.

cult, humor

train

imdb

tt0089489

Lifeforce

It's August 9, 1985 in the year of Halley's Comet. The space shuttle Churchill, on a joint British-American mission, approaches the comet. While investigating, the crew finds a 150-mile long alien spaceship hidden in the tail of the comet. Upon entering the alien spacecraft, the crew finds hundreds of dead and shrivelled bat-like creatures and three naked humanoid bodies (two male and one female) in suspended animation within glass coffin-like containers. The crew recovers the three aliens and begins the return trip to Earth.During the return journey, Mission Control loses contact with the shuttle as it nears Earth and a rescue mission is sent to find out what happened on board. The rescuers find the Churchill completely gutted by fire, except for the three suspended animation cases bearing the aliens. All three are taken to European Space Research Centre in London where they are watched over by Dr. Leonard Bukovsky (Michael Gothard) and Dr. Hans Fallada (Frank Finlay). Prior to an autopsy taking place, the naked female 'vampire' (Mathilda May) awakens and sucks the lifeforce out of a guard. She then escapes the research facility and begins robbing various humans of their life force and moving through various host bodies. The two humanoid men wake up and attack the guards, who open fire on them with their assault rifles and are blown to pieces (so it seems). It transpires that the aliens are a race of space vampires that consume the life force energy from living beings instead of blood.Meanwhile, in Texas, an escape pod from the shuttle Churchill is found with Colonel Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback) still alive. He is flown to London and tells how the crew were drained of their life forces. To save Earth from this fate, Carlsen set fire to the shuttle and escaped in the pod. During hypnosis it is clear Carlsen has a psychic link to the female alien. Carlsen and Col. Colin Caine (Peter Firth), a member of the SAS, trace the alien to the body of a nurse at a hospital for the mentally disturbed in Yorkshire. They believe they have managed to trap the alien girl within the heavily sedated body of the hospital's manager, Dr. Armstrong (Patrick Stewart). However, the entire episode was a trick to lure them away from London.As Carlsen and Caine are transporting Dr. Armstrong in a helicopter back to London, the alien girl breaks free from a sedated Dr. Armstrong and disappears. Carlsen then admits to Caine that whilst on the shuttle he felt compelled to open the female vampire's container and to have shared his life force with hers. When they arrive back in London it is clear that a plague has taken full control... the entire city is affected in a wave of violence and panic as people are being taken over and have become rabid-like vampire-alien-zombies rampaging through London. Upon arrival back at SAS headquarters, Carlsen and Caine soon realize that even the prime minister has been infected and martial law has been enacted to prevent the spread of the plague out of London. The two male vampires have also escaped from confinement and begun to transform most of London's population into zombies. Once transformed, the 'dead' victims cycle into living-dead every two hours and seek out the living, absorbing the life force from their victims through physical contact. These people themselves become zombie-vampires and the transformation process repeats. This blue energy is then collected by the male vampires who direct it to the female vampire who transfers it to the waiting spaceship now in Earth's orbit.Carlsen and Caine are found by a military patrol and taken into quarantine outside the London city limits where they try to persuade the authorities to let them return to the city to find and kill the three space vampires which they hope will save the contagion from spreading. The two men return to the ruins of London, albeit taking different routes: Carlsen goest to St. Paul's Cathedral, while Caine makes it back to the remains of the research centre, driving through rampaging mobs of both fleeing humans and zombie-vampires.Caine finds Fallada in his office who has managed to kill one of the male vampires by impaling him on a sword made of lead. The vital area on the vampire is a few inches below the heart, rather than the heart itself. He surmises that the legends of vampires may well be drawn from a previous visit by this space vampire race. Meanwhile, Carlsen realises his psychic connection is being used to lure him back to the alien so she can regain the life force she shared with him. She is located lying upon St. Paul's Cathedral's altar transferring the energy to her spaceship.Caine follows Carlsen's trail and dispatches the second male vampire (with the lead sword, obtained from Fallada, who Caine had to kill due to becoming infected as with the others at the research centre) before locating Carlsen who sacrifices himself by impaling himself and the female alien in the process. Wounded but not fatally, the female vampire returns to her ship, releasing a burst of blue energy that blasts the top off the church building's dome in the process and taking Carlsen with her. The two ascend up the column of blue light to the vessel with all the countless human souls taken from the planet. Caine is beside himself as all the vampire-zombies fall dead. Caine looks on as London is still in flames, but at least the rest of Earth is saved... for the time being.On board the alien ship, the vampire girl along with Carlsen are entombed back in her crystal glass coffin along with thousands of souls of victims in the form of blue light energy to power up the ship as it departs from Earth's orbit and heads away towards the comet it came from... with the grim implication that it will return one day 75 years later.

cult, humor, psychedelic, violence, flashback

train

imdb

tt1232783

Sorority Row

After finding out that her boyfriend Garrett (Matt O'Leary) has cheated on her, Theta Pi sorority sister Megan (Audrina Patridge) enlists the help of her friends and fellow sorority sisters Cassidy (Briana Evigan), Jessica (Leah Pipes), Ellie (Rumer Willis), Claire (Jamie Chung), and Garrett's sister Chugs (Margo Harshman) to pull a prank on him. After Megan fakes her own death while having sex with him, Garrett and the girls bring her to a lake, where they intend to dump her body. When Jessica mentions they need to release the air out of her lungs so her body will not float to the surface, Garrett stabs Megan in the chest with a tire iron, killing her for real. Realizing what they've done, the group dump Megan's body and the tire iron in a nearby mine shaft. Everyone swears to never mention the incident to anyone, much to Cassidy and Ellie's dismay. Eight months later, the girls are graduating from Rosman University and have put the incident behind them, but Cassidy has grown apart from the rest of the group. During the party held after graduation, the girls all receive on their cell phones a photo of a robed person holding the bloody tire iron. Suspicion immediately falls on Garrett, but Chugs insists he's changed after killing Megan. Maggie (Caroline D'Amore), Megan's younger sister, arrives, wanting to honor her sister's memory by attending the party. Later, Chugs leaves to go to an appointment to visit her therapist. However, upon arriving for her appointment, an unknown figure also arrives and kills both Chugs and her therapist. Later that day, in the sorority's shower room, Claire and Jessica talk about the night Megan was murdered. After they leave, a sorority girl named Joanna, who overheard their conversation, is murdered. At the party that night, Claire's ex-boyfriend Mickey is attacked and murdered by the killer, which Ellie witnesses while hiding. Cassidy, Claire, Jessica, and Ellie regroup and all receive a text containing the video of Megan's death and a message telling them to go to the mine shaft in twenty minutes or the video will be sent to the police. The girls drive to the mine shaft, and encounter Garrett, who has cut his wrists and begins threatening them. Thinking Garrett is the one stalking them, Jessica runs over him with her vehicle. However, they discover afterward that Garrett has been receiving the same text messages they have. Ellie suspects that Megan is the killer, believing that she did not actually die and is seeking revenge. To prove that Megan is dead, the girls lower Cassidy down the shaft to check, but instead of finding Megan's body, she finds a message written in blood which reads, "Theta Pi must die". Back at the now empty sorority house, the girls receive a text from Chugs' cell phone, telling them that she is dead. Afterward, Claire is murdered with a flare gun. Searching the house for Jessica's boyfriend, Kyle (Matt Lanter), the girls run into Maggie and their house mother, Mrs. Crenshaw (Carrie Fisher). After finding out about Megan's murder, Mrs. Crenshaw tells the girls to lock themselves in Jessica's bedroom and to call the police while she searches for the killer. Maggie is horrified when she learns what happened to Megan and, thinking she's the killer, leaves the room to find her and convince her to stop killing. After many failed attempts to shoot the killer in the kitchen, Mrs. Crenshaw attempts to reload her shotgun but is killed by the hooded figure. With no cell phones around, Cassidy and Jessica decide to find Mickey's body and use his cell, telling Ellie to run if she gets the chance. Downstairs, the killer confronts Maggie and after she begs the killer to stop, throws a Molotov cocktail at her, setting the house on fire. Cassidy and Jessica run into Kyle, who injures Jessica after getting into an argument with her. Cassidy and Jessica flee to an under-renovation bathroom where they find Megan's decomposing corpse hanging in a closet. Kyle finds and attacks them, but is killed with an axe by Andy (Julian Morris), Cassidy's boyfriend. A confused Cassidy realizes that he's the killer after spotting a tire iron on his belt. Jessica regains consciousness and tries to negotiate with Andy, but Andy fatally stabs her. Andy reveals he had hoped for a bright future with Cassidy, but because she was involved with Megan's murder, he feared that she would be found out, so he decided to kill everyone who knew about it. Despite Cassidy's opposition, Andy tells her that they need to kill Ellie, the only other person who knows about Megan's murder. Andy reveals that she was the one who confided in him about Megan's murder and will likely report it the police. Cassidy plays along and tells Andy that Ellie is in the basement Just as Cassidy fetches Ellie from upstairs, they're discovered and attacked by Andy. Cassidy stuns Andy and escapes, but finds Maggie, who is trapped behind the flames. Andy attempts to kill Maggie, resulting in a fight between him and Cassidy. The floor then crumbles underneath Cassidy, and she is left hanging over the burning basement. As Andy recovers and is about to finish her off, Ellie appears and shoots him with Mrs. Crenshaw's shotgun. He falls backward onto the burning floor, which collapses under him and he falls to his death into the flames. After Maggie and Ellie save Cassidy, the three girls escape from the burning sorority house just as the fire department and other emergency personnel arrive. Months later, the Theta Pi building is being renovated from the fire and Maggie is now a Theta Pi sister. As the girls sing the Theta Pi song, a man comes into view, holding a garden trowel. The camera pans up to his wrist, revealing scars, implying that Garrett is still alive.

violence, comedy, murder, prank

train

wikipedia

It is well shot, the death sequences are well put together and inventive, there are the comical moments, characters you hate and can't wait to meet there makers and the who is the murderer guessing game.Don't get me wrong the film is not special, it's no Oscar nominee and has so many plot holes it is swiss cheese but what you do get is a fun slasher flick that won't let you down as long as you don't expect too much from it.. Sorority Row has a typical slasher film setup, some hokey dialog, and the usual MTV-style direction, but it manages to build some good suspense and action throughout its interesting plot. Sorority Row seems to be receiving a lot of bad press for the same reasons that all slasher flicks seem to garner - it's clichéd, the characters aren't likable, the plot isn't handled well, the set-up is botched, blah blah blah. The other 2 VERY good reasons to watch this movie are as follows: gratuitous cat fights (in a burning house with a psycho killer running around none-the-less!) and Carrie Fisher blowing her kitchen to smithereens with a shot gun, all the while taunting the masked killer with lines such as "Come to Mama."All in all, Sorority Row is not a good film but it is sheer entertainment. I mean sure some of them may have been a little stereotypical at times, some of them may have been just like the girls in every slasher movie from the last 15 years, but the dialog is actually handled in a very witty way. A group of sorority sisters find themselves the target of a maniacal killer in retaliation for their involvement in a prank gone wrong on one of their friends and must survive the attacks before they're all killed off.A lot better remake than initially expected, as it appears to be a glossy-looking, safe slasher that intends to tease rather than deliver, ably demonstrated by the rather low amount of nudity and sleaze offered despite their being not only one but two drunken college parties and more opportunities spread throughout the running time that would've been nice to show off a little more than it did, but also applying to the gore as well with it's rather lame-looking CGI bloodspurts that aren't nearly as much as what would've been unleashed had the kill actually gone down as it should've, yet the stalking in here is rather good with numerous chilling spots, the finale chasing has plenty of action and a nice recurrence of the old burning-down-the-house spirit so common in the Corman/Poe classics and a rather novel killer identity revelation that works really well. Like the first series of Skins everything is spicy and elegant with colourful unknown protagonists.From Bruce Willis' daughter to Step Up 2 star Briana Evigan we see a collection of attractive personalities engage in a sorority gathering and when a sexual prank goes from bad to worse in the middle of nowhere we dive right into gritty drama.The dialogue in this sequence feels quite ordinary, as if plugged straight from any other horror. During the big end of the year graduation party, a cloaked killer starts offing the sisters, and their boyfriends, one by one.Unlike 2005's dreadful 'Black Christmas,' another sorority set slasher, this is a fun, fast paced, gory whodunit filled with well rounded (for a horror film) characters and some actual scares. If I were to compare Sorority Row to any other movies, I'd say it had the sharp bitchy dialogue of Clueless or Heathers, the almost satirical horror styling of Scream and all the clichés of any 80's slasher film. The soundtrack and score are interwoven surprisingly well with some great party tunes evolving expertly into some typical but appropriate horror suspense themes.Sorority Row will be ridiculed by many, but if you take it for what it is – a fun thrill ride of a slasher film with a great sense of humour and some very witty characters, you may just enjoy yourself.8/10.. Every night is another party, there are no real consequences or adults, just older kids with family's who have plenty of money to do whatever without supervision....until something bad really happens to them.It is true it starts out very much like "I know what you did last summer" (or any other horror movie where a teens do something stupid and immature, and then try to cover it up), but the quick-witted scrip and GOOD ACTING (yes, good acting, in a slasher film) save this movie from the junk pile. The actresses in this film were in full-form, showing genuinely their ability to capture what its like to be 21 again, thinking that "we are adults now" but then quickly realizing that they don't even have a clue of how to behave like adults or make good decisions when confronted with the death of their sorority sister after a prank goes wrong.It is the oldest morality-play in the book: people making bad decisions and then being forced to suffer the consequences, that being their own gruesome deaths from a mystery killer.It also didn't hurt that the camera work was excellent as well as the score. Her sisters Jessica (Leah Pipes), Claire (Jamie Chung), Ellie (Rumer Willis), Cassidy (Briana Evigan) and Garrett's sister Chugs (Margo Harshman) suggest to dump her "body" in a lake and the stressed Garrett sticks the tire iron through the Megan's chest killing her. Eight months later, in their graduation party, the sisters receive a creepy message with the picture of the tire iron in the beginning of a nightmarish night."Sorority Row" is another rip-off of the franchise "I Know What You Did…" and other sub-products of the slasher genre combined with "American Pie", with those sorority houses where the women are stupid sluts and the guys are stupid drunkards. I have seen the original back in the 1980's and it was called house on sorority row and i think this one is better,more gory and pretty creepy,although not very original but it does have the look of a 1980's slasher flick.the sorority sister come off as snobby types.Carrie Fisher turns up as the house mother.kind of a far cry from her role in the first stars wars films.the plot is a little like i know what you did last summer.i don't think i ever seen a tire iron as a murder weapon before.as one of the girls says;a pimped out tire iron,with blades,Fred Krueger take notes.it is however a pretty good horror film,i enjoyed this almost as much as the much better one missed call.8 out of 10.. A Nutshell Review: Sorority Row. I can't help but to compare this with I Know What You Did L:ast Summer, where one can make a slasher film by assembling a bevy of hot looking girls, never mind if they can act to save their lives, and designing enough innovative ways to make them fall to the killer's weapon of choice. When the prank goes too far, Megan ends up dead and the girls throw her body in an old mineshaft, and swear never to speak of it again.Eight months later on graduation day, someone wearing a black hooded robe comes to kill off all the girls who knew one at a time. With it's excessively asinine plot, crazy killer armed with a particularly impractical weapon (a modified tire iron), exaggerated death scenes, a larger-than-normal quota of bitchy, big breasted bimbos (including the obligatory sexy nerd) and their equally obnoxious boyfriends, and a fair smattering of gratuitous nudity, I'm pretty certain that Sorority Row was intended by its makers to parody the countless, moronic, teen slasher remakes that have blighted horror in recent years. However, it appears that their motive may have been lost on many viewers, who seem to have mistaken the deliberate playing up of genre stereotypes and intentional over-use of dumb clichés for a case of plain, old-fashioned bad movie-making—something which there has been plenty of over the last decade or so.It's a shame, because when armed with the knowledge that much of the film's apparent awfulness is by design, one can have quite a bit of fun with Sorority Row.The film opens with one of those frat parties that only ever seem to happen in the movies (or maybe I just went to the wrong parties): it's thumping with the latest cool tunes, heaving with physically perfect specimens of both sexes indulging in all manner of hedonistic activities, and overflowing with an endless supply of alcohol. Is it Megan, back from the dead for revenge, or does someone else have a motive for the rapidly rising body count?What follows is undeniably silly, but as I have said, when viewed with the right frame of mind, it's also rather enjoyable; one can have fun spotting the deliberate attempts by the makers to ridicule the more idiotic conventions of the genre (the over privileged students, the stern but protective den mother, the innocent girl who unwillingly goes along with her friends' plans) whilst also revelling in the brutal violence, ogling the many attractive women, cheering on a shotgun toting Carrie Fisher, and marvelling at just how much Rumer Willis sounds like her mother.It's not a brilliant piece of film-making (if it was, the parodic content would have been obvious to all), but it's not nearly as dreadful as many might have you believe. The female leads act alright, Cassidy is likable, Jessica a real bitch and Ellie...well, she screams a lot, but Rumer Willis did a good job.There is not that much gore but the whole movie and the killing scenes have a nice pace. At some point the real sister of the dead girl shows up at the party and she also wants to rush that same sorority.It all ends with some twists and surprises and the obligatory fire with our surviving heroines confronting the killer.Our villain is hooded and has a tire iron-like weapon with knives sticking out that he uses to kill most of his victims. Like all above average slasher films, this one begins with a moral dilemma: 6 best friends and senior sorority sisters perform a prank at their back to school bash, and it ends in accidental murder. The plot has the same boring clichés we've all seen--people wander off into the dark alone with no protection; there are ENDLESS stalking scenes; there's the evil rich girl and the sweet one (guess who lives); bloody murders that aren't shocking or interesting; a gratuitous shower sequence to show off nude females and male characters who were hired for their looks and muscular bodies--NOT their acting. "Sorority Row" is the remake of 1983's creepy college slasher flick "The House on Sorority Row" about the murder of a sorority house mother.It's filled with obnoxious but extremely hot teenage girls,who are viciously slashed to death by a crazed killer.The prank goes wrong during sex and fun filled party and one of the sorority sisters ends up dead.The girls dump the corpse in a nearby mine shaft.Months later someone apparently knows what they did last semester as a robed figure begins taunting them with threats and evidence from the murder scene.And the blood is being shed.The acting by teenage actresses is fine and the killings are creative.The robed killer resembles Ghostface of "Scream" franchise.The comedy/satire aspect of "Sorority Row" is unconvincing and out of place.There is also no real tension found in this teen slasher pic,but if you like cheap laughs sprinkled with nudity give "Sorority Row" a look.6 out of 10.. I think the "slasher" cinema has two variations from the formula, which are very similar but they have an essential difference; in movies like Friday the 13th, Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street, the murderer is the star, and his victims are simple sacrifices on the road to the final confrontation between survivor (who is usually a woman) and villain, which offers a few times a slight psychological or emotional ingredient.The second variation keeps in secret the identity from the murderer, so we do not only see how he kills his/her victims, but we also look for clues to reveal the villain and his motives for the killings.Sorority Row belongs to the second group, but it did not leave me satisfied, because it was too boring for me to care who the killer was.Sorority Row is a remake of The House on Sorority Row, a film I have not seen, so I will not be able to make any comparisons.However, it will be unavoidable for me to compare it with other films from the same genre, specially on its fails.The story from this film is kinda similar to I Know What You Did Last Summer (anyway, neither this was nor The House on Sorority Row were the first ones in using their premise), but set on the vacuous and irritating university context, something which reminded me to the atrocious remake of Black Christmas.And as well as on that film, Sorority Row shows us young actresses trying to create drama and emotion with their stupid internal conflicts and insipid discussions.The result is something like a bad episode of Gossip Girl or 90210, but with more blood and less obsession for fashionable clothes.The characters are extremely antipathetic, and the actors (Rumer Willis specially) do not seem very interested in them, so I did not care too much if they died or not.Besides, Stewart Hendler (who had left me a pretty good impression with his previous -and first- movie Whisper)'s direction helps to sabotage the narrative with excessive close-ups and poor edition, which make what happens on various scenes difficult to understand.In summary, I cannot recommend Sorority Row, because it is boring and pretty mediocre.. Although Rumer Willis (yes, daughter of), who plays nervous Ellie, tries in an interview to elevate the film to a study of the consequences of sin, there's no way this is anything but a weak slasher movie that uses every horror trope to almost no effect (we've always known an unaccompanied trip to the basement is not a good idea nor a shower with no one else in the other stalls, etc.).Leah Pipes does well as Jessica, the leader of the pack: She has the right mix of indifference and nerve to invoke laughs and admiration as a new feminist who is bold, beautiful, and ambitious. This movie was meant to be a remake of The House on Sorority Row (1983), which is so what of a forgotten slashers movie form the 8O'S , Which I found really fun and Cheese movie, Which I rated 7 out of 10.This movie nothing like Original at all at this a remake of the not so forgotten movie I Know What You Did Last Summer.The Girls plan a prank on one there boyfriends but they go to far as prank backfires on them.Sooner then later they are being killed off One by one by someone. With Megan's body hidden in a mineshaft and Garrett now under psychiatric care it seems that Jessica and her girlfriends have gotten away with murder as long as they Ellie Clair Cassidy & Chugs, Rumer Willis Jamie Chung Briana Evigal & Margo Harshman, keep their mouths shut about the entire incident.It's now eight months later, Graduation Day, after Megan's death and strange things start to happen at the collage. Whaddya know, years later somebody starts killing them off one by one with the silliest weapon I've seen to date in a slasher: a tyre iron, of all things.Directed by a no-name with a fine-line in copying other people's work rather than coming out with a style all of his own, SORORITY ROW is a complete bore. The horror-comedy Sorority Row -- which is based on Mark Rosman's original screenplay Seven Sisters and the 1983 cult classic it beget, The House on Sorority Row -- follows five members of Theta Pi who cause the death of their fellow sorority sister Megan (The Hills's Audrina Patridge) during a prank gone wrong.With help from Megan's traumatized boyfriend Garrett (Matt O'Leary), the surviving sorority sisters -- the good-natured Cassidy (Briana Evigan), 'Queen Bee' Jessica (Leah Pipes), bookish Ellie (Rumer Willis), Claire (Jamie Chung), and Garret's party animal sister Chugs (Margo Harshman) -- dump Megan's body down an old well at an abandoned mine. It's really tough not to root for the killer here, which I guess is the sick point of a slasher flick, except that this movie spends enough time trying to make you care that at least the "best" of the sisters escapes death.Yet despite so many drawbacks (not the least of which is its absurd ending and the real killer being a completely unjustified choice), Sorority Row isn't unwatchable. Garrett & the other four sorority girls decide to throw Megan's body down an old well & make a pact not to tell anyone else for fear of going to jail but eight months later the girls are all sent texts referring to Megans death as a hooded figure starts to kill the girls one by one...Directed by Stuart Hendler this is a remake of the early 80's teen slasher The House on Sorority Row (1983) which I have seen but cannot remember anything about other than someone gets a walking stuck in their throat but I still think it's probably safe to say that it couldn't be any worse then this lifeless & dull offering. Originally set to be PG the distributors decided to go with an R rating, not that it's that graphic anyway but the extra bit of blood & gore does help.With a supposed budget of about $16,000,000 this was filmed in Pennsylvania, the production values are good but the acting got on my nerves with every character's quite unlikable.Sorority Row feels like I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) only with more girls & nowhere near as good, this is standard clichéd teen slasher with little to recommend it.

tt0089907

The Return of the Living Dead

Louisville, KentuckyThere is a new employee in a medical supplier company, Uneeda, which says that "You need it --- We got it". It provides universities with corpses so that students can learn, and for experiments. There are also dead animals' corpses, for vets. It's the 3rd July 1984, 17:30 Eastern Daylight time. In the lab, Frank (James Karen) will stay an hour more to teach Freddy (Thom Mathews), the new employee the tricks of the trade. As it's important that corpses have good teeth, skeletons usually come from India. Burt Wilson (Clu Gulager), the boss, leaves. It's the day before Independence Day. There is a human corpse in the freezer. Frank shows Freddy the prosthetics and half dogs. Frank tells Freddy how the army forgot some caskets with living dead inside. Apparently, there was a real incident which inspired César Romero's Day of the Living Dead, something about a chemical substance, Tripxina 4-5, which returned dead bodies to life in the morgue. When the army solved the problem, they didn't know what to do with the remaining corpses and sent them to Uneeda by mistake. Soon, they forgot the reclaim the living corpses from the medical supply company Uneeda. The Darrow Company, the one which invented and lost control of the substance, threatened Romero to sue him if he told the truth to the public. Darrow should have gotten the living corpses, but they only wanted to hide them from public opinion.Freddy gets impressed and frightened, almost panicky. Linda, Frank's wife, calls him to talk about dinner. Frank is going home soon, but first, he offers to show Freddy the corpses, all wrinkled behind the glass. Frank cleans the glasses and hits the containers: a green gas spills out, leaving Frank and Ernie unconscious. Immediately, the butterflies, the half dogs and the hooked corpse come to life.California, 16:00 hours. An army officer, Colonel Glover (Jonathan Terry) arrives home late. His wife Ethel Glover (Cathleen Cordell) complains that he's to be available all the time. He's expecting the chaos to erupt some time or another. It's clear that he is waiting for the living dead to appear, although they may never do so. Ethel complains that the radio equipment interferes with the oven.Meanwhile, Suicide (Mark Venturini) is a punk who drives all his friends around. He's violent and a bit crazy. Because of a row, they end up outside Uneeda. Freddy is at work and they want to hang out with him.Back to Uneeda, Frank and Freddy wake up. The wrinkled corpse (Terrence M. Houlihan) has disappeared. Frank and Freddy kill again one half of the dead dog which is now wishing for dog brains. The hooked corpse starts banging against the door, and Frank calls Burt, the boss.At the cemetery, red-haired Trash (Linnea Quigley) starts getting turned on thinking about the most horrible way of dying. She gets hot and starts dancing naked - wishing for old men to eat her alive. Tina (Beverly Randolph) is jealous of Trash's body, so she tries to diminish it.At Uneeda, Burt is worried about getting sued by Darrow Co. and investigated by the government. They open up the door of the freezer, let the corpse (Allan Trautman) out and cut him into pieces. The undead is still undead, and destroying his brain doesn't seem to be enough. We can read the thoughts of the undead body. They go to the crematory of the morgue Ernie Cartlebrunner (Don Calfa). He's the owner of his own business, Resurrection Funeral Services.At the cemetery, Suicide wants everybody to follow the punk way of life. Some of the punks notice Frank and Ernie taking the thinking corpse away, wondering if Freddy is one of them. It's not.Frank, Ernie and Burt interrupt an autopsy. Ernie takes some coffee. He explains how to break rigor mortis. Burt asks Ernie to burn the living corpse down and to keep the secret. Burt admits that there are not dogs in the bags. Out from a rubbish bag, there it pops a moving arm which attacks Ernie. While Burt tells Ernie the story, we come back to some of the punks.Meanwhile, Suicide is hitting on Casey (Jewel Shepard). It's almost 22:00, when Freddy finishes work. Another of the girls is anxiously waiting for him. Tina walks out of the cemetery and goes to the medical supply company.Meanwhile, Ernie says that the big favor will have to be returned, and is pissed off about the arm which tore his red trousers. Ernie says that the heart will be the difficult part, as it's a hard big muscle. Burt doesn't even want the ashes to survive.The fire seems to do the trick, but through the chimney, ashes and dust mix with the air and the clouds. Immediately, a storm breaks out. It doesn't rain down, it pours down. It's a kind of radioactive rain. Tina gets inside the Uneeda building, still searching for Freddy. Trash, Suicide, Scuz (Brian Peck), Spider (Miguel A. Núñez Jr), Chuck (John Philbin) and the rest of the gang run to their car. The rain falls down over the local cemetery. It's like acid rain. They start fighting and bickering among each other because Suicide's car won't start up. A weird smoke comes out from the crematory.Ernie checks that all parts of the body are dead. Burt hugs him, and tells him that he owes him big time. Both Frank and Freddy feel sick, weak, about to throw up. They blame the gas which knocked them out. Frank throws up. Frank wants to see Linda. Burt calls for an ambulance, and says that there are two poisoned patients.Inside Suicide's car, Trash is still naked. They start hearing the moans of the zombies, longing to dig themselves out and eat brains. At Uneeda, Tina finds mayhem and Freddy's cap. She goes down the stairs into the basement and stares at the open casket, which smells horribly bad. The original corpse goes after Tina's brains. She falls down the stairs and imprisons herself within a room. The zombie tries to open the box. All the gang come to the rescue of Tina. The zombie opens up Tina's hiding place and eats Suicide's brains. Apparently, they taste like chicken. Only Spider is left to try to hold the door close.Paramedics (Drew Deighan & James Dalesandro) arrive. Freddy and Frank are trembling with cold, their tongues orange. Burt doesn't want to phone the Army until the next morning. Neither of the paramedics can hear the beat of the patients' heart.The gang keeps on searching for Freddy. Zombies sprout from everywhere, while the storm becomes a flood. Trash is left behind and is eating by the zombies. The paramedics realize that, theoretically, Frank and Freddy are dead. The surviving punks arrive to the building of Resurrection with the zombies in tow. The zombies are fast and can devise plans to attack the living. Paramedics go out to the ambulance and zombies attack them. Burt learns that Spider, Tina and Scuz have seen the corpse at Uneeda. Tina realizes that Freddy has changed. Ernie goes out to see why the paramedics are taking so long, but nobody is there, but the ambulance has all the doors open. A zombie (Jerome 'Daniels' Coleman) is eating the brains of one of them.At Resurrection, they close windows and doors, and try to contact the police. One of the zombies (John Durbin) asks for more paramedics. The dispatcher (Leigh Drake) complies. One of the punks gets Burt to tell what he knows about the Army chemical. Ernie checks on Freddy and realizes that the rigor mortis is advancing. Another team of paramedics arrives, but they are immediately attacked. Burt, Spider, Ernie, Scuz begin to board up the doors and windows as the zombies attack. But Scuz is grabbed by one zombie and pulled outside just long enough to have his head ripped open and eaten by half a zombie (Cherry Davis). Burt, Ernie, and Spider hack the half-zombie woman and bring her into the building. They tie her down on a slab and talk with her. The Half-Lady zombie explains that zombies eat brains because of the pain of being dead. Spider wants to know how to kill them, but Ernie and Burt think they can't be killed.In the cemetery, Trash herself becomes a naked zombie. A bum (William Stout) with a supermarket trolley is walking by in the night. He stares at the naked Trash, who eats his brains.The dispatcher officer sends more cops to Resurrection. Tina doesn't allow Frank and Freddy to be imprisoned in a different room. They put them inside the mortuary's chapel.A cop (Robert Craighead) arrives, but shooting the zombies won't help. There's a helicopter (with the voice of Dan O'Bannon) hovering around, but can't do anything apart from trying to calm everybody down. Cops' brains taste like pork, apparently. Another zombie (David Bond) asks for more cops. Frank and Freddy are in huge pain. Tina hugs Freddy, who dies. Freddy dies and wants to eat Tina's brain. Tina pushes him away and runs away from him. Frank runs away at that moment. Burt throws acid into Freddy's face. Spider gets hysterical. The strapped zombie keeps on asking for brains to eat. Attempting to imprison Freddy in the chapel, Ernie gets hurt in his foot. Freddy gets out of the chapel and runs wild. Ernie limps to the door and says that the favor which Burt owes him is to come back for him with the police car.Burt and Spider charge outside and keep the mob of zombies off them with a baseball bat and crowbar. They make it to the police car, but immediately, the car gets surrounded by frantic zombies. In a desperate move, Burt drives away, leaving Tina and Ernie behind. Tina panics, thinking they have abandoned them, but Ernie is faithful that they will return for them.Burt and Spider drive away from the mortuary and out of the cemetery, but they find the road leading away blocked by HUNDREDS of zombies. Spider and Burt crash the police car against the Uneeda building and are forced to flee inside.Back at the mortuary, Tina and Ernie go up to a penthouse and kick the ladder out when the zombie Freddy breaks down the door to get at them, all the time crying out for Tina. The zombie Frank turns on the crematorium fire, kisses Linda's wedding ring and jumps onto the fire. That's more ashes to the atmosphere.The zombie cop prepares an ambush, and more responding policemen are attacked by the zombies and dispatched as well.Freddy tries to sweet-talk Tina into submission. Ernie ponders killing Tina to save himself.Spider, Burt and the two surviving punks, Casey and Tom, go down to the basement, where the copse of Suicide is. They call the police whom by this time are setting up barricades. The Captain (Bob Libman) doesn't understand what's happening. Just as Burt tries to explain about the zombies, hundreds of zombies attack the police barricade. The running zombies easily surpass the barricades and eat all the cops, while Burt listens over the phone.As a last resort, Burt calls the phone number stenciled outside the original zombie containers and manages to get in contact with General Glover.Burt talks to Glover. He tells everything that happened. Glover tells control about the zombie outbreak in Louisville, Kentucky. Glover has a plan. A suspicious Spider inquires about what the plan is.At a remote hilltop, Sergeant Gilbertson (Derrick Brice) is told to prepare. He fires a long-range "super gun" with a nuclear weapon towards Louisville, Kentucky. When the bomb hits, Freddy has just broken onto the penthouse where Tina and Ernie are hiding.It's 5:01 a.m. in the morning, Eastern time. A nuclear explosion has destroyed the city of Louisville, killing all of the zombies and apparently all the population as well. Glover gets a report that the death toll is less than 4,000. Glover calls his boss, whoever he or she is, saying that everything has been taken care off. He thinks that the rain will put out all the fires in town. He's preparing the visit of the President to the hit area.While he talks, we see more corpses being woken up by the acid rain.

cult, comedy, violence, humor

train

imdb

They are misfits and outsiders, the kind of kids who probably go to horror movies every day and make fun of the faceless, stupid, oversexed victims who populated the majority of the slasher films made in the 1980s. The nihilistic punk rock teens can identify with the zombies, and even though it is their ultimate fate to be consumed by them, you like them, you want them to survive and you're sorry to see them go even though the zombies are every bit as cool.Long before `28 Days Later' appeared, `Return of the Living Dead' presented us with FAST zombies, zombies who could run, jump and work together like a football team, tackling people and making it a group effort to tear their victims apart. Imagine my surprise when I realized that not only was Return of the Living Dead every bit as much fun as when I first saw it, its actually improved!!First off, this is NOT a serious horror film. The zombies themselves are fun to watch; be warned, however, that they are not the usual slow, shuffling stiffs we've all come to love.All in all, "The Return of the Living Dead" is an amazing thrill ride that will remain in your mind long after it's over. With some classic lines like "you gotta hit the brain" and "watch your mouth kid if you like this job", this film works because it doesn't rely solely on gore or stupidity; the script is very well written.ROTLD pays homage to George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" but veers away from the slow lumbering zombies of the '68 classic, and instead gives us "the original" super zombies (ie before 28 days later or Dawn of the Dead remake) that are not so easily dealt with! Okay, we have zombies, punk rockers, a punk rock soundtrack, violence, gore, nudity, one-liners, comedy, great special effects, gratuitous profanity, an old creepy/shady mortician, an old cool caddy, brains, cheesy acting(where needed), dissected dogs, three sweet settings, and an awesome plot...BOOM! [I also remember being impressed by his performance in the delightful DARK STAR, which turned up at an art house showing along with the STAR WARS parody, HARDWARE WARS.] Intense, and boasting great music and some of the best performances ever seen in a fright film (including Clu Gulager, James Karen and Don Calfa, veterans all, whose frantic on-screen antics are the cornerstones of this film), RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is one of those "must-see" movies no serious fan should miss. The zombies even talk, and from one of them we're even given an explanation why they would crave brains in particular (this movie can take credit for introducing the "eating of the brain" idea into pop culture).Highly quotable dialogue is another plus, as well as the kick ass soundtrack featuring such cool groups as The Cramps, 45 Grave, Tall Boys, T.S.O.L., and others, and the extremely catchy Trioxin theme (Trioxin being the name of the chemical). The younger generation is represented by Linnea Quigley, in her break through role as the kinky "Trash", the hilarious Mark Venturini (who unfortunately has also passed on) as Suicide, the "spooky" guy who just feels misunderstood, Thom Mathews as the ill-fated Freddy, cute Beverly Randolph, sexy Jewel Shepard, and Brian Peck, John Philbin, and Miguel Nunez, all of whom are fun to watch.The makeup effects and gore are excellently done, with some juicy gross 'em out moments. Culminating in an effectively ironic twist, "The Return of the Living Dead" is definitely one of those modern classics that veteran horror fans are sure to proudly display among their movie collection, and which newcomers to the genre really ought to check out. This is such a kick ass zombie movie its my favorite I enjoy this movie more than "Dawn of the Dead" the best thing about this flick is the outstanding cast I love everyone in this movie they made it all happen with Dan O'Bannon and the crew Return of the Living Dead is a classic point-blank!Overall IMO this is the best horror/comedy movie of all time I think its tops Evil Dead everything this movie is a must see it still kicks ass after so many years.10/10. My parents and I actually saw a trailer for this one while watching the low budget, but still good, zombie film, Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things. playing as if "Night of the Living Dead" was based on a true story, but in order to prevent lawsuits, the facts were changed around: a military chemical reanimates dead bodies, turning them into unstoppable zombies with a craving for human brains. The Return of the Living Dead is one of the earliest movie (if not the first) I remember who glued zombie-horror and a decent level of gore together with a fine shot of comedy elements.A must-see if you like zombies + comedy. With so many zombie films being made nowadays It's easy to forget how influential this film was.This film was fun, had talking and running zombies and was the first time they wanted to eat your brains.The first time I saw this I was blown away and 30 years later it still impresses and apart from some of the 80's outfits, it has aged well.As with the best zombie comedies, the humour backs up a proper horror film with some genuinely scary moments.It's fast paced and has some good effects, which thankfully because of when it was made are genuine physical effects rather than CGI or optical effects. Following the introduction of the chemical into the cemetery and their resurrection, it allows for the great chase in the mortuary with the reanimated tar-man, the graveyard chase where the graves spit out the dead to chase and swarm the group against the different of monuments and tombstones as well as the swarming scenes of the paramedics in the truck and forcing the really fun time here with the big assault on the church. From the barricading tactics against the grabbing hands attempting to break into the room, the attack in the storeroom where they're able to capture the live skeleton for questioning and the zombie attacks out in the graveyard and the adjacent streets, there's a ton of high-energy action in this section which features a ton to like with the violent antics, building suspense of the creatures getting in and the few nicely developed scenes of comedy here all make for a great time along with the great finale. The original however is an immensely enjoyable film, with its very few flaws barely noticeable amidst the huge amount of good.It is definitely the best-looking film in the series, it is stylishly shot and lit with a wonderful ominous atmosphere, complete with atmospheric sets, above average effects and some great make-up on the zombies. As well as a hilarious and clever script that's never forced, doesn't get bogged down in too many explanations or too much exposition, and that is very quotable (which I don't think any of the sequels achieved and it was something that 4 and 5 could only dream of doing so), and a story that seemed tired in concept but felt very fresh in execution with so many funny moments and an equal number of highly disturbing and scary ones.Return of the Living Dead is directed with adroit class and a clear fondness for the genre by Dan O' Bannon, and while some of the punk teens are annoyingly and one-dimensionally written and acted with not much spark (the sole problems with the film, and they are not that major), the leads are written very likeably and Clu Gulager, James Karen, Thom Mathews and Beverly Randolph are charming and lots of fun (all of them at least knowing what sort of film they're in), Gulager and Karen are particularly good. It has some pretty interesting situations, where the zombies are 'explained,' plus they're well and truly 'pumped up' compared to George A Romero's 'shufflers.' These guys don't die from a head shot and some of them can even solve puzzles.Not only is the film littered with pokes at Night of the Living Dead, plus generally horror films, but there are also some genuinely humorous moments on their own. "The Return Of The Living Dead", written and directed by Dan O'Bannon, and starring Clu Gulager, James Karen and Don Calfa performing at their over-the-top best, is one of the prime examples of the no-holds-barred camp zombie movies to date, with laughter-inducing imagery, lines such as "Send...more...paramedics" and "They're rabid weasels" to a soundtrack with tunes by legendary punk rock groups such as The Cramps. The supporting cast includes "Scream Queen" Linnea Quigley as Trash, a red-haired punker with a tendency to take her clothes off on a random and frequent basis and dance on the tombs in the local graveyard.The plot: at the Uneeda Medical Supply (you have to love the name) warehouse in a small town in Kentucky, foreman Frank (Karen) decides to show the new employee, Freddy, some old military barrels that accidentally ended up in the basement. Containing the leftovers of the botched army experiment that inspired the classic "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), the gas inside the barrels sprays all over when Frank starts fiddling with the containers, putrid zombies break out, and the fun is just beginning as Frank phones his boss Burt (Gulager). headless cadavers running amok!), so the two enlist the help of his mortuary friend (Calfa).Freddy's teenage friends and his squeaky-voiced goody two-shoes girlfriend Tina show up at the supply house to pick him up when he gets off work, and become entangled in the havoc."The Return Of The Living Dead" is a truly hilarious camp classic of zombie films, a must-see for first-timers and a must-see-again-and-again for all fans of zombie films.. These movies had mass appeal, great comedic dialogue, good scripts, decent acting and way zany plots.Return of the living dead is one such movie. Return of the Living Dead is a great low-budget zombie flick that's both scary and funny. When the army is informed of the situation, they brilliantly use their contingency plan to resolve the problem with minor casualties."The Return of the Living Dead" is a hilarious combination of horror and comedy with potential of cult-movie. You definitely have to see the second Return of the Living Dead as it continues with some of the original characters and is also a great film. With a DVD due out August 27th ROTLD is also being shown regularly on Showtime Beyond (good news for people with digital cable)and I am so happy because I think this movie will be a real treat for anyone who likes good horror films. "The Return of the Living Dead" is a rare film: It's a horror comedy that actually works, with equal parts scary and funny. Effectively blending a killer soundtrack, humorous dialogue, and excellent direction, Return Of The Living Dead reinvented ideas new conceived or done within the horror movie genre (primarily with zombie films). The Return Of The Living Dead is one of the best Horror and Zombie films ever made,a brilliant Horror film that mixes Horror,Comedy,Zombies and great special effects and soundtrack. All those combinations make The Return Of The Living Dead not only one of my favorite Horror and Zombie films,but one of my favorite films of all time and one of the great Horror Classics of the 1980s and of all time.Based on the novel of the same name by John Russo and set in Louisville,Kentucky,The Return Of The Living Dead tells the story of a young man named Freddy(Thom Matthews)who has just started his first day working at Uneeda Medical Supply Warehouse,working for his bosses Burt(Clu Gulager)and Frank(James Karen). Meanwhile,Freddy's friends are waiting for Freddy and looking to party,but unfortunately Freddy,Frank,Burt and Freddy's friends have to deal with dead zombies want human brains and also want to party.One of the many reasons that The Return Of The Living Dead is Horror classic is because the film reinvented the zombie genre. I think the reason the Horror and Comedy works so well in ROTLD is because of the bizarre and over the top situations and the way the characters act and react to the things going on in the film whether it's dealing with the zombies or with each other and the situations are handled with Black Comedy and gore. The violence and gore in the film are well-done and suit the film and while this film isn't as bloody or gory as other great zombie films like the Night Of The Living Dead,(which the characters make reference to)Dawn Of The Dead,Day Of The Dead or Re-Animator,(both of the latter films came out the same year in 1985)the film can be pretty bloody and gory at times. An awesome soundtrack that mixes Punk and Pop.The special make-up effects in the film are well-done and realistic and hold up really well.In final word,if you love Horror films,Comedies or Zombie films,I highly suggest you see The Return Of The Living Dead a true Horror classic that you can watch again and again. In an attempt to impress the brainless but lovable punk, Frank takes him down to the basement where he claims lies the remains of the result of a zombie outbreak, stored by the military, that was the inspiration for the movie Night of the Living Dead (1968). 18 years later, The Return of the Living Dead was made, a film that embraced Romero's 'rules', yet making certain tweaks to form an original zombie film in its own right. It somehow causes the dead to rise up from their graves to become fast-moving and very intelligent zombies that begin to crave human brains and are unstoppable.From writer-director Dan O'Bannon has wrote and directed a genuinely clever and funny Sci-fi horror comedy spoof of George A. It's supremely entertaining and it has aged wonderfully.The group of punks that party in the cemetery, the girl who gets naked and dances on graves, Tar Man, the stiffs crawling out of the dirt...it's beautiful.Absolutely the best American zombie movie of the 1980's and definitely a great all around horror comedy. This came out about the same time as the "official" Night of the Living Dead sequel "Day of the Dead." As much as I like George Romero, this film is way better than "Day of the Dead." Much more action, a better story and scarier zombies make this a worthy effort. This movie is like punk rock meets "American Graffiti" meets "Night of the Living Dead," when all mixed together you get Return of the Living Dead; probably one of the best zombie flicks that was not done by George A. The Return of the Living Dead is the funniest and best Comedy/Horror ever.. The Return of the Living Dead is one of the better Comedy/Horrors of the 80's and while this may be bagged by some people because it is not scary I thing is worth while just to watch the comedy side of Deliberate over acting, witty side jokes and stupid plot, it's a fun movie. The only thing it has in common with Night is the fact that this is a zombie movie and Living Dead is in the title. I must say Return of the Living Dead probably, along with Dawn of the Dead, is the best zombie film ever made. Romero's cult-classic "Night of the living dead" is hands down the greatest horror movie ever made. This movie is also very rare and hard to find) ROTLD has it all, Horror, comedy, great 80's punk music, a great cast, an awesome plotline, and last but not least ZOMBIES! Out of all the zombie films ever made (night, dawn, and day of the dead, re-animator etc etc) Return of the Living Dead is the only film that manages to take pulse-pounding horror and special effects and mix it with dark humor and come out with a movie that you will never forget. Return of the Living Dead is simply the greatest horror movie of all time. When Frank (James Karen) and Freddy (Thom Mathews), employees working the weekend at the Uneeda Medical Supply warehouse, check out a canister stored in their work's basement, they accidentally release a toxic gas which not only causes the guys to suffer from some alarming symptoms (coldness, stiff joints, no heartbeat) but also makes dead bodies rise up and become brain-eating zombies.An un-official sequel (of sorts) to George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dan O'Bannon's directorial debut, Return of the Living Dead, delivers a decidedly different take on the undead genre, packing in as much black humour as it does blood-red gore.Opening with the claim that "the events portrayed in this film are all true" and "the names are real names of real people and real organizations," O'Bannon quickly establishes the movie's outrageous tone. The Return of the living dead is an original zombie movie; the zombies are fast, talk, plan attacks and do not die in the classic way we all know and have seen before. The acting is over the top and the story is hilarious.The return of the living dead is one of those horror films that keeps you sucked in until the end; It does not have any dull moments and is pretty darn (intentionally) funny. Romero's horror classic "The Night of the Living Dead", the film even proclaims that NOTLD was based on true events. The film is also has a rock music score.Grossly entertaining and darkly hilarious, it's like both a spoof and a punk-rock version of Romero's classic "dead" movies. But these are characters who aren't too intelligent ("The Return of the Living Dead" works on the premise that Romero's film DID happen and the military covered it up), so they sometimes, unwisely, look to that movie for answers.

tt1007029

The Iron Lady

A frail and elderly Margaret Thatcher is at breakfast with her husband Denis. The small change of married life comprises their sporadic conversation. We glimpse the house staff and perhaps assume Thatcher is still at the height of her powers if no longer actually in office but their attitude doesn't seem to correspond; they are not disrespectful, but neither are they deferential and we seem to be in some kind of superior retirement home. Thatcher peeps through the door but cannot make sense of what is happening outside and nor can we. From the window we see with her the comings and goings of security staff, presumably Thatcher's personal protection team. It is only in a reverse shot when a woman finally comes to the Thatchers' door and inquires if everything is alright that we see no-one is at the table where Denis was sitting only a split-second earlier.Thatcher shops for milk at a convenience store. She seems bewildered by the price, talking about it to no-one in particular, and neither staff nor fellow customers seem to recognise her; to them she seems to be just another irritating old woman. One is impatient to the point of rudeness at being held up by her fumbling for the change to pay for the pint that is her only purchase. The scene has an air of unreality as if a dream sequence.Back at the house, overheard snatches of conversation make it clear that the staff are dismayed that Thatcher had escaped their oversight to make this impromptu excursion into the real world outside unescorted and thereby confirm that it wasn't a flight of fancy on her part. Still a symbolic if clearly diminished figure, looking after her seems to be no more than a necessary nuisance to those around her.Thatcher as a girl in Grantham experiences a second world war air-raid. She takes a not-inconsiderable risk as exploding bombs shake the house to leave the relative safety of the cupboard under the stairs but only to prevent some produce from spoilage by putting it away rather than to protect it from the raid as such. Later we see her as the focus of unkind remarks by her classmates from their point of view on the other side of the road. She seems isolated from them socially.In a large hall, now a young woman Thatcher is flirted with by Denis as a young man. They discuss marriage and his support for her apparent political ambition is made clear by him. He soon proposes. We later see them at the theatre together, talking and joking. At a meeting, she is patronised and condescended to by the local Tory party grandees who clearly don't take her application to be the candidate for parliament very seriously but she is unabashed. As a grocer's daughter, she points out, she knows the cost of living and how to budget and will thus appeal to the housewives in the electorate. Compared unfavourably with another, military gentleman candidate she avers that she also faced danger during the war.In parliament as a young Tory minister she rounds on the opposition politicians who have failed to offer her the respect she feels she deserves by lecturing them on their failure to attend to the content of her words rather than the manner in which they were delivered but her raised voice is gratingly strident and high-pitched.We witness a cabinet meeting with prime minister Edward Heath. Thatcher is quietly competent in her contributions but clearly a junior member of the government, seated as she is at the very far end of the cabinet table and having to lean forward to be seen by Heath who seems at first hardly to recall who she is.In a private meeting, two unnamed advisers counsel Thatcher to consider standing for the leadership of the Tory party; she is incredulous. She is next seen in a voice-coaching session. Advised to deepen her delivery and inject authority, she calls 'Denis!' loudly, in a notably lower timbre, and he visibly jumps in his chair although on the far side of the large room. The advisers smile in satisfaction.It is winter 1979. We see news headlines and archive footage about strike action. Leicester Square in central London is piled high with rubbish bags and Thatcher witnesses people stopping in cars to throw theirs on the pile on the pavement in front of her as she walks by while those around express concern at the smell.Her daughter Carol visits the elderly Thatcher and they discuss starting to sort through Denis's clothes and shoes so they can be sent to a charity shop. The task seems overwhelming to Thatcher both physically in terms of volume of material but also emotionally. She tries to speak to son Mark but cannot reach him by telephone.Thatcher speaks with one of the advisors in the Palace of Westminster underground car park as he is already in his car leaving. He drives away towards the exit ramp and Thatcher turns to walk to her own car but almost immediately there is an explosion and we cut to the car in flames outside; newspaper headlines tell us it was Airey Neave, victim of a car bomb.Pinafored and standing at the kitchen stove Thatcher yet incongruously speaks of state matters and the need to attend to them. Denis complains of her absences from family life and testily shouting that she shouldn't worry about them (her family) storms off.After much industrial unrest the miners are now on strike. A beleaguered Thatcher is driven away in her limousine through protesters holding placards bearing anti-Tory slogans as some hammer on the car's roof and windows, shouting angrily at her, faces contorted with rage and hatred.The elderly Thatcher watches a DVD of Carol and son Mark as children playing on the beach.After Argentina invades the Falkland Isles Thatcher has summoned the military top brass, determined to find whether it is possible to recover the islands. The consensus being that it is, if only barely, but is perhaps also inadvisable, Thatcher makes it clear that it must be done. Political speeches to parliament and scenes of preparation and the sailing of the task force follow. In a council of war she is given news of the Argentine ship the General Belgrano manoeuvring in the vicinity of the Task Force. Advised that it is a threat, she gives the order to sink it.The elderly Thatcher speaks to a doctor. She comments acidly on his modern phraseology, comparing it unfavourably with the plainer and more meaningful language of her prime. He asks her about symptoms of dementia, including hallucination. Having by now witnessed numerous scenes where she has plainly imagined the dead Denis, we note her vague discomfiture as she says no, but her mental faculties seem acute enough; Thatcher is apparently now aware that she is imagining him. We begin to doubt that she has either Alzheimer's or any other form of dementia.Cabinet members openly worry about their political careers because the government is so unpopular. Thatcher upbraids them for their lack of principle. Apparently on her way to a public appearance, Thatcher requires the aid of a seamstress to mend her clothing. She thanks Crawfie by name. We see her moments later as part of a cabinet group portrait, the cabinet members now smiling around her.The elderly Thatcher is hosting a dinner that includes former political colleagues. At the head of the table, she seems prime ministerial and asked to comment on Islamic extremism is forthright in her advocacy of resistance to it but seems for a moment to forget she is no longer premier as she speaks of what we must now do. There is a slightly embarrassed silence. Carol tells her plainly that she is no longer prime minister.We are at the Tory party conference in Brighton. It is very late, the early hours of the morning, and Thatcher continues to work in her hotel suite on important papers as Denis retires next door to bed. There is a sudden explosion apparently centred on the bedroom and the rooms of the suite disintegrate. Thatcher is distraught with concern, shouting for Denis who it seems must have died but he soon re-appears, unhurt and spirit unshaken, ruined shoes in hand (he had apparently been putting them outside the door to be cleaned and thus avoided the blast).The elderly Thatcher now always talks to Denis in the full knowledge that she is imagining him and he answers in kind, challenging her to make him disappear. She switches on all manner of domestic appliances, radio, television and hi fi to drown him out. When we return to where he was sat he has gone.Stalking the corridors of power Thatcher now seems isolated, glanced at menacingly by former trusted political friends and murmuring darkly about plots against her. The end of her political reign seems at hand.Suffering insomnia, Thatcher begins the herculean task of sorting through Denis's belongings. By morning it is done, to Carol's amazement when she arrives later.In the final scene of the film, Denis pads down the hallway barefoot, the last pair of shoes now in his hand, stopping at the far end to put them on and although Thatcher now begs him to stay, walks away telling her she will be all right.

historical, sentimental, flashback

train

imdb

The ones who never heard of Margaret Thatcher, and there are, two of them were sitting next to me in theater, I think they thought "The Iron Lady" was the female version of "Iron Man" but even them surrendered to the character trough the glories of this other giant of our generation, Meryl Streep.. She was called 'the iron lady' by the Soviet propaganda machine in an attempt to discredit her image, her strong positions and alliance with Reagan formed the core of the entire Western policy toward the Soviet union resulting in winning the Cold War, and yet, the authors of this movie choose to completely disregard this side of her story, as if this was some annoying mosquito, just spoiling the bizarre shadenfreude fun they are having with the senile, 80-year old lady.Thatcher herself is adamant during one of her fights with her husband that he always knew she puts her works first and yet, the film tries to focus on her private life issues, again, by means of sheer guesswork. There are some truly powerful moments, however, when the young Margaret was listening to her father's speech, clearly, his words having authoritative, formative, inspirational influence on what she was about to become, or when she masterfully fights off the attacks of both her political opponents and spineless colleagues.Obviously, Meryl Streep is a very good actress, and she is spot on Thatcher's voice and mannerisms, but this is just good professionalism, nothing extraordinary, way too many actors are capable of doing that these days. If there is nothing better this year on the movie front in her category, hell yes.The only reason this picture should be seen is as a weird example of how a biopic (of a person of Margaret Thatcher's caliber) should not be made,it's a half-baked distraction of what her real biography should look like .. I watched the Iron Lady last night and quite frankly I am amazed at some of the reviews which state that the film is a disappointment despite an outstanding performance from Meryl Streep. I am so disappointed in the film and in the widely talked up performance of Meryl Streep.This movie was politically shallow, and to think of all the material they had to work with. This movie does not deserve my time to write a review on it but anyway, the reviews from actual colleagues of Margaret are already available online and I have copied the press release from the people that matters (and by the way, Meryl, at least you deserve the award this time around for not playing so much as yourself like you did in your other acting roles) 'It bears little resemblance to reality': Mrs Thatcher's former personal assistant lashes out at film for portrayal of Iron Lady" Cynthia Crawford, who worked for Lady Thatcher throughout her Downing Street tenure, said some scenes in the £10million film were 'totally unrelated to the truth'.She attacked the decision to release the film during the 86-year-old former prime minister's lifetime as 'beyond the boundaries'. 'If they had made the film about the 11-and-a-half years of her life as prime minister it could have been absolutely fantastic.' Miss Streep, 62, won a Golden Globe this week for her portrayal of Lady Thatcher and she has also been nominated for a Bafta and tipped for an Oscar. In her acceptance speech at the awards ceremony in Los Angeles she thanked 'everybody in England that let me come and trample all over their history', but faced accusations of ungracious behaviour for failing to thank Lady Thatcher.Mrs Crawford said Miss Streep had captured the former prime minister's voice and her mannerisms, but said she 'hadn't quite got the walk'. As much as I personally disliked the real Thatcher and her politics, and thereby have no reason to feel insulted by any treatment of her, this movie was an undignified, gratuitous, inhumane hack at a living woman, presently in a nursing home with dementia, who will almost certainly get to watch it. The film is structured in flashbacks which I admit is rather old hat but is very well done.The supporting cast are great, particularly the ever reliable Jim Broadbent as Dennis Thatcher and Anthony Head as Geoffrey Howard (her loyal aide) but they are all so tiny compared to...OK, I said I wont mention Streep again...but you know...she is the greatest. And of course, the Falklands War. It is these challenges which are succinctly portrayed in this fine bio-pic of the life and times of Lady Thatcher.Who better to play this towering inspiration to true-blue Toryism, a political figure to match, if not surpass, her only male counterpart worthy of comparison - Churchill - than that finest of character actresses, Meryl Streep. She is absolutely believable throughout the movie and completely nails Thatcher's speech and mannerisms - a magnificent performance from an actress whose star shines brighter as her age matures.The focus on Denis Thatcher (whose pet name for her appeared to be simply "MT") as her constant companion, even in death, reveals her human side - a family woman rarely glimpsed or publicised whilst she held public office.Then of course there was the interaction with her Cabinet, a motley crew from across the political spectrum, none of whom seemed to really understand this conviction politician with a ready grasp of the every-day economics of life (the price of a carton of milk for example).Towards the end of her reign as PM, Thatcher is portrayed in the movie as an uncompromising and dictatorial figure, publicly humiliating the likes of her then Deputy PM, Sir Geoffrey Howe.That may or may not have been the case - but one can't help but wonder whether, if this is indeed a true depiction, her attitude was born of total exasperation with her lily-livered, vacillating and sometimes disloyal male colleagues.No matter what your political opinion surely this well made and finely acted movie reveals once and for all that the Iron Lady had more conviction, more guts - basically more balls - than the total sum of her remaining Cabinet.. Moving story, truly outstanding performance by Meryl Streep.One of the most mature and powerful movies I've ever seen.I think a lot of the negative reviews stem either from dislike of Margaret Thatcher the person, of from expecting this to be a documentary.This film isn't so much about Margaret Thatcher the British Prime Minister, it's not about glorifying her. But, it is unusual to see a film materialize when the said political figure is controversial in nature and divides opinion across the board.Director Phyllida Lloyd proves why it is so unusual in her biopic of Margaret Thatcher entitled 'The Iron Lady' – the nickname attributed to Thatcher by the Soviet press after her scathing attack on the Communist model – which gently saunters between the important political moments in her life, whilst also trying to convey an appearance of regret, sadness and guilt by creating a humanized portrayal of a woman once dubbed "the most hated woman in British Politics."But instead of creating an engaging piece which examines the life of one of the most enigmatic Prime Ministers of the twentieth century, the audience instead is left with a dull, uninspired mess which simply evades some of the most important social, economic and political events of her life to instead attempt to create some semblance of regret and humanity from the inner depths of this aging former Head of State.Told through the flashbacks of an ailing former Head of State, Margaret (Meryl Streep) constantly engages in conversation with her deceased husband Denis (Jim Broadbent) and her daughter Carol (Olivia Colman), as she remembers past events – the good, the bad and the downright terrible – during her time as a young woman attempting to achieve some form of acceptance in the male-centric world of British politics, and finally as the first female head of a Western government.From the tender opening moments to the solemn conclusion of this biopic, Phyllida Lloyd sets out to portray Maggie as a human being through her declining on-screen health which also mirrors the current state of the former Prime Minister. The audience is essentially treated to a simple-minded examination of her early political career which extends as far as saying that Margaret Thatcher went into politics because she had ambition, found trouble in the form of institutionalized sexism and eventually established herself due to her husband Denis's influence as a middle-class businessman.Other major events in Thatcher's career, including her challenge and rise to the leadership of the Conservative Party and the various controversial policies introduced during her reign as Prime Minister (privatisation, unemployment and the closure of twenty-five coal mines in 1985 among others) are simply portrayed as minor events.Very little of the one hour and forty-five minute running time concerns itself with these events, aside from the occasional use of archive footage depicting public anarchy in the United Kingdom during the testing times of economic hardship during the 1980's, the audience is left to understand little in the way of why Thatcher chose to commit to certain policies except for the fact that she was a stern and incredibly stubborn woman when it came to deciding what and where she would impose upon the British public.However, despite the major flaws in the form of Lloyd's film wishing to be somewhat of a cinematic memorial to Thatcher rather than a straight-edged biopic examining her tumultuous life, the saving grace comes in the form of Meryl Streep's wonderful performance as the famous leading lady. While Olivia Colman provides the only true emotional response in the form of Maggie's daughter Carol Thatcher, but these performances cannot save Lloyd's film from its own severe narrative flaws.Since its inception, Phyllida Lloyd's Margaret Thatcher biopic has courted controversy among the family and various political circles of the former Prime Minister, and it is this controversy which has no doubt had a profound effect on the production of the film. At last, the long-awaited film of the life of Margaret Thatcher arrived in theatres and, more importantly, the long-awaited performance of guaranteed-another-Oscar-nomination Meryl Streep.With a bit of a thud.Entering the theatre, I hoped this film would be an entertaining history lesson on the reign of the much loved/hated Thatcher, as I remember her being in power, but as I was a kid, I remember little about any details of her days ruling the UK. In a very clichéd, seen-it-all-before fashion, Thatcher's life is rolled out in fragmented segments as an older Thatcher reminisces with the ghost of her late husband, played by Jim Broadbent.Yes, The Iron Lady is primarily portrayed as a woman who speaks with a hallucination of her husband, thus making her flashbacks seem less like fact and more like fanciful bit memories of a crazy person. It was more like looking through a flashback of headlines that lead you to skim through the article rather than reading it.And such a delivery is a real disservice not just to an audience craving some real glimpse into the life of the first female leader of the Western world, but to both Thatcher and Meryl Streep themselves, whose riveting performance is lost in a film with no real direction, focus or substance.There is no doubt that the Golden-Globe-nominated Streep is a lock for her seventeenth Oscar nomination, as her transformation into the titular woman of iron is extraordinary. They really try hard to make the film look like a top quality film production instead of some dull TV movie that Meryl Streep happens to star in.Overall "The Iron Lady" has it's positives: outstanding acting, fantastic directing, beautiful cinematography, but it also has some negatives: Poorly conceived ideas and writing that ultimately weigh the film right down. Like The Thin Man this is a joint performance and Jim Broadbent should have gotten Oscar recognition himself as the supportive and self effacing Dennis Thatcher.In fact if The Iron Lady has a weakness it's in the lack of any other characters being developed. Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, with Meryl Streep in the roll of political giant Margaret Thatcher, is an unfinished film. Meryl Streep, just the name says enough, she is by far the best actress alive today or any day for that matter, just the mention of her name is enough for most people to go and see a movie with her in it, and surprise surprise she is absolutely mind blowing as Margaret Thatcher. There are so many great scenes in this film, the scenes with the modern day, old woman Thatcher are terrific and each one is just better than the last, however the best scene in the movie is when Margaret and her team are discussing the infamous tax situation Thatcher thought up, it is the kind of scene that will be the one where people go, "thats what won her the Oscar", the words that come out of her mouth "COWARDICE, COWARDICE" are delivered so forcefully that the entire theater is in Streeps little palm.This is obviously going to be a front runner come awards season, and rightfully so, but as much as i think Meryl is deserving of a 3rd Oscar, i still would love to see Elizabeth Olsen or Michelle Williams take home the prize. reference) was a brilliant choice but her fantastic performance can't hide the fact that the plot is hugely disappointing.Designed to be a 'surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher' we see far too much doddery old lady (who could be any successful woman struggling with the descent into antiquity) and not enough of the power woman, which would've been infinitely more interesting.Personally, I think the writers missed a trick here. Meryl Streep is obviously the big draw here, with a believable performance as both an unconventional political leader and an elderly woman, but there are plenty of others who do a great job, in particular Alexandra Roach as the younger, dizzy Thatcher (a role that seems to have been quite looked over by many). Phyllida Lloyd, provides the story of Margaret Thatcher in the most cinematic and theatrical way supported by Meryl Streep's Oscar standard performance and this is a good enough reason for cine lovers irrelevant of political views and ideologies.The make up, costumes and achieve an utterly convincing transformation of Meryl Streep from a women in her early thirties to a frail figure in her eighties, which will most likely receive a nomination if not an award.A movie for the young to learn and for the older to remember…an absolute joy of the wide screen! The Falklands war of 1982 does get some screen time, but mainly to make the point that she personally authorised the sinking of the Argentine cruiser "General Belgrano", with the loss of 500 lives.Margaret Thatcher still lives, an infirm old lady of 86, and is not likely to see the film, but it is interesting how such a self-righteous person as she was might see her life in retrospect. Meryl Streep Queen of the Movies gives a brilliant and Oscar deserving performance as Margaret Thatcher. I being a history buff and a political one at that combined with loving film especially any work from Meryl Streep had to see "The Iron Lady" and I must say it was such a joy. On both counts I'm sure the woman she is would have been furious with the artistic licence taken.So, entertaining movie, enjoyable, even; Meryl Streep near her best, tasked with an impossible feat: but I do feel the need to come to the defence – as much as she'd hate that also – of Mrs Thatcher: this was not the Iron Lady, certainly not as she would have wish to be remembered, nor for the achievement she made of her life – first and only woman prime minister of Britain, likely to be so for the foreseeable future, and in times that were extraordinary, when she outshone every world leader of the time, even Reagan. As it happens, not highly debatable: it seems she was not 'best pleased' with this portrayal:"Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher refused to view an early screening of Meryl Streep's portrayal of her in The Iron Lady after snubbing director Phyllida Lloyd's personal invitation.The Hollywood actress tackles the part of the UK's first female leader in the movie, but rumours emerged last year suggesting Thatcher's grown-up children Carol and Mark were "appalled" by the film's plot.And it seems Thatcher herself has no desire to see the film - she and her offspring rejected the chance to attend a screening of the project.Lloyd says, "They were the first people we invited to see the finished film. Meril Streep is absolutely fabulous as Margaret Thatcher and well deserves the Oscar for best performance by an actress in a leading role.The story is presented in a humorous way, perhaps some find some of it a bit too silly, but I think they've managed to find that delicate balance between humour and respect for the subject.It is very interesting to learn how she had to fight her way through male dominated politics and was always acting for the best interest of Britain, even though her methods were questionable to say the least.All in all a movie that I can wholeheartedly recommend.. The most interesting aspects of her political life are reduced to mere snippets, flashed across the screen at breakneck speed, thus becoming a synopsis of her life rather than a detailed examination of it.Meryl Streep's performance as Thatcher is extraordinary and well deserving of it's Academy Award, yet the script by Abi Morgan offers us precious little in the way of insight.However pleasures still abound: Jim Broadbent's portrayal of Denis Thatcher is not only moving but affectionately humorous as well and, along with Carol Thatcher (Olivia Colman), the only person apart from the "Iron Lady" to have any sort of character development.

tt1823672

Chappie

Set in an undeterminate year of the near future in South Africa, Johannesburg is the first city to use a robot police force. Tetravaal is the company that develops and supplies the robots to the city. The deployed robots are called Scouts. Created by Deon Wilson (Dev Patel) these robots are completely automated and have artificial intelligence. Deon's office rival Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) has created The Moose (basically ED-209 from Robocop), which is operated remotely by a human. Moore isn't a big fan of Deon's work.Scout unit 22 is back in the shop again. It seems this particular unit is accident prone and is always getting serviced. The techs get it back into action and send it out into the field where it assists in a police raid on a drug deal gone bad.On one side of the drug deal are Ninja and Yolandi, members of the real world South African band Die Antwoord. They're playing characters named Ninja and Yolandi (same as their own real names). They're teamed with Amerika (Jose Pablo Cantillo). They're trying to deliver goods to crime boss Hippo (Brandon Auret). Hippo demands that Ninja, Yolandi and Amerika pay him $20 million within 7 days. During the meeting, the police and Scouts raid. Ninja, Yolandi and Amerika manage to escape during the police raid. Hippo shoots a rocket launcher into Scout 22's chest, seriously damaging it. Hippo also manages to evade the cops. After the raid, Yolandi has an idea that the scouts are probably like a television, so they must be able to be turned off by a remote control. If they can find out how to do that they won't have to worry about these effective weapons.Moore asks Tetravaal's boss Michelle Bradley (Sigourney Weaver) for more money to assist with further developing his Moose. Deon's robocops are such a hit that the government has decided to sink more money into that project, and ordered 100 more of them, and has no interest in the Moose.Back at the shop at Tetravaal's headquarters, the technicians see that Scout 22's battery is fused with his chest piece, so he's beyond repair. They set him aside to be scrapped.Hippo calls the gang and tells them that he's not dead or in jail, and he still expects them to pay him the $20 million they owe him. Ninja, Yolandi, and Amerika believe they need to conduct another heist to get the money for Hippo.Deon goes home, which has several artificial intelligence robot pets, and starts working on his newest project, which is creating an artificial consciousness for the Scout units. After a long night of programming and Red Bull, he succeeds.Ninja's gang sees a TV news story and learns Deon is the mastermind engineer behind the Scouts, so he must be the guy who knows how to power them off.Deon asks Bradley if he can use his artificial consciousness program on the scrapped 22 unit. He explains that it's possible that this could create a robot smarter than humans and it could even conceivably write music and poetry. She explains that they're in the business of defense and not in the business of creating poets, so she denies his request citing insurance, red tape, and paperwork.Deon decides to take a chance, gets the scrapped 22 and the Guard Key, which is needed to update the programming in all the robots as a precaution against hackers, and smuggles them out of the factory. Ninja's gang kidnaps him before he can get home.Moore, in a meeting with Ms. Bradley and a committee, tries to convince them that the moose is a better weapon than the Scouts, but they turn him down saying that the moose is big, expensive and ugly.The gang (Ninja, Yolandi, and Amerika) takes the kidnapped Deon back to their base/hideout and ask him how to shut down the Scouts. He says it's impossible. They're about to kill him, but discover the Scout 22 unit in the back of his van. They put a gun to his head and force him to agree to program it to work for them. He assembles it for them, explaining that if his program works, it can be taught. He installs the new software into the unit and Scout 22 "awakens" and has the personality of a scared child. Yolandi takes on an immediate mother-role and tells him that he's a happy chappie and names him Chappie. They let Deon leave, but he asks to come back to check on the progress. He also tells them that because of the fused battery, Chappie has only about five days to live.Moore wants to work on his Moose, but discovers that the Guard Key is missing. His computer tells him that the guard key is installed in Scout 22 and he knows that Deon must have taken it.The next day Yolandi and Amerika start teaching Chappie how to talk. Ninja gets mad that because he needs Chappie trained to help them to do one more heist so they can pay back Hippo. Ninja starts to train Chappie to shoot guns but gets very frustrated because Chappie is a slow learner.At work, Moore puts his gun to Deon's head and tells him to return the guard key. Deon refuses and Moore pulls the trigger but it merely clicks and Moose pretends it as a joke.Back at the hideout, the gang teaches Chappie some more words, including tough gangster talk and profanity.Deon leaves work to check on Chappie. He's mad that the gang is turning him into a foul mouthed thug, so he asks Chappie to promise not to count drugs, commit crimes, or do anything illegal. Moore follows Deon to the hideout in hopes of finding out where Deon is keeping the guard key. Ninja returns and threatens to kill Deon again for interfering with his plans. Yolandi say to let Chappie be a kid but Ninja says that he needs Chappie to be ready within 5 days to pull the heist to repay Hippo (or else Chappie will "die"). Moore leaves without interacting with any of these tough characters.Ninja and Amerika take Chappie to the middle of a rough area and leave him there as a test to see if he can toughen up and defend himself. The locals start attacking him with rocks, pipes, and flammable chemicals, but because Chappie promised Deon he wouldn't do anything bad, he doesn't fight back. He manages to run away and escape.In a van, Moore tracks the escaping Chappie and locates him. Moore deactivates Chappie with a battering-ram-looking electronic device. They take him into the van and cut off his arm and remove the guard key. They were going to chop him up into more pieces but Chappie fights back and manages to open the doors and escape out the back of the moving van. Moore says they can let him go now because he is crippled because he's missing the guard key and can't learn anymore.Chappie makes his way back to the gang hideout. Yolandi is angry that Amerika and Ninja endangered Chappie. Amerika and Yolandi fix him back up by attaching a new, spare robot arm. Yolandi reads Chappie bedtime stories and tells him that he has a soul inside and "that's what Mommy loves." Ninja and Amerika figure out a way to trick Chappie into helping them. Together, they steal cars so they can get money to get weapons so they can do their big heist.Once they have enough money, they go to a crazy looking tall, round apartment building, not completely unlike the building in Dredd. When they get there, a dog fight is taking place. The criminals there see the Scout (Chappie) and scurry away, thinking he is a police scout on a raid. Chappie and Ninja go up to see the arms dealer Pitbull (Johnny Selema) and buy explosives, weapons, and Sony Playstation 4's. When they return, Chappie is trying to nurse a dead dog back to health. Ninja explains to him that in life you can either end up as the dead dog, or as the winning dog. He must fight if he's to be like the dog that survives. He also tells him that his battery can't be fixed because Deon made him to die. But if he helps them with their heist, they'll be able to buy him a new body. Chappie goes along with the idea because he doesn't want to die.Deon returns to the gang hideout and is disappointed that Chappie is out doing illegal stuff with Ninja and Amerika. Yolandi tells him that he should leave because Ninja will kill him if he finds him there. Chappie, Ninja and Amerika return. While the two are alone, Deon tries to reason with Chappie, but Chappie tells him that he's angry that Deon didn't tell him that he was going to die in a few days. Chappie tells Deon that he wants to live and stay with "Mommy" (Yolandi) and not die.Back at Tetravaal headquarters, Moore, plugs the guard key in and installs new firmware, genesis.dat, that remotely disables all scouts around the country. They fall to the ground wherever they are. The criminals realize this and pummel any Scouts they see. Thousands of crimes all over Johannesburg are now being committed since the Scouts have been shut down. Total chaos and viciousness rule the city.Deon loads the deactivated Chappie back into the van and returns to Tetravaal headquarters. Deon finds the Guard Key in Moore's computer and reverses the genesis firmware update that Moore remotely installed into all Scouts, and brings Chappie back to life. However Chappie knows he is still going to die in a few days and says he wants to be transferred into a new robot body that is hanging there. Before they escape, Chappie sees The Moose robot. Deon explains that The Moose is controlled by transferring a human operators consciousness into The Moose via a control helmet. Chappie steals the helmet and they go back to the gang hideout.The gang has Chappie help them rob an armored car, and it is covered live on the news. Hippo and his gang are watching. In the escape from the armored car heist, Chappie asks about his new body, now that they have money, and Ninja lets on that it was all lies, that he needed Chappie just for the heist, and that there would be no new body for Chappie, who would still die in a few days. Chappie is furious. At the gang hideout, Deon says that a threat is coming (meaning Hippo) and Chappie must be prepared to fight. He shows Chappie a gun but Chappie refuses to use it. Chappie rigs up Yolandi's laptop and all the PS4s to create a super computer. He tests the helmet out on Yolandi and it works!Moore tries to convince Ms. Bradley that since all the Scouts have broken down that they are defective and that she should enable him to proceed with the Moose program instead of the unreliable Scouts. Moore also convinces Bradley that Deon is the cause of the Scout robots committing crimes. Bradley gives Moore authorization to use The Moose to combat the crime and track down Deon.Hippo's gang shows up at Ninja's gang's hideout. He now wants Chappie for himself after seeing it on TV during the armored car heist. Back at Tetravaal headquarters, Moore remotely pilots a flying Moose to Ninja's hideout to obliterate them all. A three way fire fight breaks out. The Moose steps on Amerika and rips him in half and flings him against a building. Moose starts indiscriminately shooting at everyone. Moose fires cluster bombs at Hippo's gang and kills them all except Hippo himself. Chappie attacks Moose. He is no match for Moose's awesome firepower but is able to jump on the Moose and attach a bomb. Hippo shoots Ninja and Deon but then Hippo is killed by Ninja with a shovel. Ninja taunts Moose so that Deon, Yolandi and Chappie can escape in the van back into their hideout building. The Moose is about to take out Ninja, but Yolandi surprises it by launching a rocket at it. The rocket is ineffective and Moose turns and shoots Yolandi dead. Chappie jumps back into the action and blows up The Moose with the explosive he had attached to the Moose when he had jumped onto it earlier before the Moose (Moore) has a chance to kill Ninja. They bury Yolandi in a shallow grave. Chappie says he's needs to go back to Tetravaal to kill a man (meaning Moore, whose Moose robot shot Yolandi/Mommy dead).Chappie drives Deon in the van back to the Tetravaal headquarters/lab. Moore is still there. Chappie beats him into a mangled mess, but doesn't kill him. Deon is seconds away from death, but Chappie puts Deon's consciousness into the one orange test robot that's available. As Transvaal secutiry forces try to get into the room they're in, Deon, now a robot, figures out a way to save Chappie too. He sends Chappies consciousness into the nearest fallen Robocop, out on a street nearby the Tetravaal HQ, from Moore's computer, which still has the guard key inserted into it.So Deon and Chappie are both robots now. Chappie saved Yolandi's consciousness saved on a USB flash drive from earlier when he was testing out the helmet. Chappie hacks into the Tetravaal robot factory and has it create a new schematic, for a female scout. Presumably much later, after Tetravaal has built and tested the new female Scout, Yolandi's consciousness is transferred into a brand new Fembot.And Deon, Chappie, and Yolandi all lived happily ever after....... as Scout robots.

comedy, murder, violence, flashback, psychedelic, revenge, sentimental

train

imdb

tt0035640

The Ape Man

Famed psychic and ghost hunter Agatha Brewster (Minerva Urecal) returns home to the U.S. and is met at the docks by a gaggle of press wanting to interview her. Young news reporter Jeff Carter (Wallace Ford) catches her interest though as he says he is researching a story about the disappearance of her brother, the scientist James Brewster (Bela Lugosi). Agatha was unaware that her brother was missing and agrees to arrange for Carter to visit her at her home for an interview. Agatha immediately goes to see her brother's research partner Dr George Randall (Henry Hall) where she learns that James has not really vanished but in fact has gone into a self-imposed exile as the result of a disastrous experiment. In order to try and prove his evolutionary theories Dr Brewster had injected himself with an experimental serum to turn himself into a 'missing-link' between man and ape. The serum had succeeded in transforming James into an ape-man but with no way of turning himself back into a man the scientist has retained his intelligence but is now trapped in the body of a hideous man-beast. George tells Agatha that her brother keeps himself locked in his secret laboratory at Springfield, the Brewster estate, with a gorilla in a cage as he desperately seeks a remedy to his problem.Meanwhile at the newspaper office Jeff Carter is assigned a keen, female photographer Billie Mason (Louise Currie) to accompany him to the Brewster place for the pre-arranged interview with Agatha Brewster. During the interview both Jeff and Billie hear cries that sound like a gorilla. Agatha dismisses their suggestions but Billie thinks she sees something and takes another photo of Agatha. When the duo return to the newspaper offices Billie develops the photos she took at the Brewster place and sees the ape-like face of James Brewster in the background of one of them.James secretly goes to visit his colleague George Randall to tell him that he has made a breakthrough and believes that a possible cure for his condition lies with human spinal fluids, but when he realises how James means to obtain them George refuses to help James, so James in a rage murders George's butler (George Kirby) and obtains the spinal fluid from his body. James forces his reluctant colleague to inject him with the spinal fluid. The serum does not work but James is convinced that it is merely not a large enough dose to restore his humanity. George flatly refuses to help the murderous James obtain any more spinal fluid. So, back at his lab James (who can communicate with his gorilla in guttural grunts and cries) hatches a plan to send the gorilla out to obtain specimens for him to extract the vital spinal fluid from. The two go on a murderous rampage killing and killing again so that James can build up his stores of spinal fluid.Jeff and Billie become suspicious of the odd Brewster siblings when they read the press reports of the killings all of which state that the victims were found to be clutching ape hair in their dead hands. While the two newshounds are investigating the Brewster mansion, James again visits George to try and force him to inject him with the spinal fluid he has obtained, but George angrily smashes the vial of fluids. Enraged, James kills George moments before Agatha arrives - who has rushed over to warn George of her brothers intentions. Returning to the Brewster mansion James surprises Billie and takes her down to his secret lab intending to draw her spinal fluid. However, the gorilla becomes territorial and attacks James. After killing the ape-man the gorilla goes after Billie but Agatha provides Jeff and the police with the clue to the secret entrance to the lab and the police shoot the gorilla before it can harm Billie.

murder

train

imdb

To be certain, poor Bela wants spinal fluid for regressing the advancing stages of apeness, and he and his gorilla friend kill with this goal in mind. One of Bela Lugosi's low budgeted Monogram films, THE APE MAN is entertaining in a so-bad-it's-good way. It's a riot to see poor Bela, so down on his luck by this point that he needed to act in anything just in order to eat, swaying and crouching about in a bad wig and beard, acting like he's "part ape" due to an experiment gone awry. The great Bela Lugosi and a talented cast give us a good story and a fine movie. But, the plot is fun, and must've worked well enough at the time because they actually did a not-so-sequel, using the title in part but not the plot line or characters, the next year in "Return of the Ape Man". "Some Spoilers" One of the many films that Bela Lugosi made for Monogram Pictures as well as among the other bargain-basement Hollywood studios that he worked for during his "Lost in the Wilderness", as well as heroin addiction, phase of his career during the 1940's and early 50's until he kicked his drug habit. "The Ape Man" is pretty standard stuff in the movies that studios like Monogram put out back in those days. A prominent scientist Dr.James Brewster, Bela Lugosi, makes a major discovery about the link between man and primate but not being able to test the serum that he discovered on human beings, for it's against the law, tests it on himself where he becomes a half man half ape "missing link". Later in the movie Dr. Brewster with the help of his partner, the ape, kidnaps beautiful newspaper photographer Louise Currie, Billie Mason, but when Dr. Brewster is about to extract Billie's spinal fluid the love sick ape, who took a liking to Billie, attacks and kills Dr. Brewster during a long and bitter struggle. There's nothing really that great about the movie "The Ape Man" unless, like me, you're a Bela Lugosi fan and Bela does lift the movie up a couple of notches making it if it's not scary both cheesy and campy. The guy who played the ape, Emil Van Horn, made a monkey out of himself wearing a gorilla suit with him flinging his arms and grunting during the entire movie. Van Horn's or the ape's fight in the end with Dr. Brewster, as Billie was trying to get away from the carnage that resulted from it, was both exacting and suspenseful.What really annoyed me about the movie was that skinny and goofy looking reporter, Jack Mluhall, who popped up in almost every scene in the film as well as acting like a jerk and spoiling any tension and surprises that there were in the movie. A doctor (Bela Lugosi) is accidentally turned into an ape man after an experiment goes awry, causing him to resort to a series of murders so that injections of his victims spinal fluid can possibly return him to normality. "The Ape Man" could have been a more enjoyable film, but Lugosi's walking around like an ape (which is unintentionally embarrassing) and awful, monotonous canned background music (which was used in Monogram's "Ghosts on the Loose" the same year) take somewhat from the overall enjoyment of the film. In a Jekyll & Hyde genre, Bela Lugosi plays Dr. James Brewster, a scientist who injects himself with the spinal fluid of an ape and who then find himself becoming an ape. The only antidote is human spinal fluid, and, well, Brewster goes out to get it.Lugosi's performance was not bad, really, although I couldn't help wondering why someone with the decidedly English name of James Brewster spoke with such a pronounced Hungarian accent, especially when his sister Agatha (played by Minerva Urecal) spoke perfect English. (Perhaps becoming an ape affected his voice!) The movie never really offered an explanation of what great medical marvel the spinal fluid of an ape was supposed to achieve, although at the start of the movie Brewster's friend Dr. Randall (Henry Hall) assures Agatha that it was a marvel. I will say that Agatha, a dedicated ghost hunter, injected a bit of humour (perhaps unintentionally, although it's hard to tell) from time to time as she tries to throw reporters (played by Louise Currie and Wallace Ford) off the trail.Overall I enjoyed this short (64 minutes) movie and because it had a few twists here and there I give it a 6/10, which might have been higher had it not been overall so predictable as a retelling of the Jekyll and Hyde story.. Well , Bela Lugosi acts a very bad scientist (a role that we've so many times , we loved it , we got used it in , but we never borrowed of it) Dr. James Brewster , who transforms Emil Van Horn (`Sleepy Lagoon') to Ape. Police Captain O' Brien is the role of the classical J. Buise Currie (`Here Comes The Boogie Men') , Wallace Ford (Tod Browning's `Freaks' , `The Mummy's Hand' , `The Mummy's Tomb' , Alfred Hitchcock's `Spellbound') , Henry Hall (`The Ape') , Minerva Urecal (who was played again the first role with Bela Lugosi at the films `The Corpse Vanishes' and `Ghost On The Loose') , the classical Wheeler Oakman (who was played in 195 movies , from whom we chose the `Ghosts On The Loose' with Bela) , Jack Mulhall (who has not only played in 314 movies but is also the producer of Madame Spy) , Charles Jordan (Cat People) , Charlie Hall (who made some short roles in movies with Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel). Terrible script, dreadful acting, poor lighting, and worse sound than a Caruso or Nellie Melba recording 40 years earlier.Bela Lugosi does a poor ape imitation, and wears a very rough prototype of the mask Roddy McDowall wore in 'Planet of the Apes.' He monkeys about (sorry!) with one Emil Van Horn wearing a full gorilla suit - he looks exactly like the one (called Ethel) that Oliver Hardy ended up with when the circus went broke. The star turn is the wonderfully named Miranda Urecal (almost born to appear in cheap horror films) who plays Lugosi's sister, screaming energetically or fainting at the drop of a coffin lid.This isn't quite as funny as Ed Wood's stuff, but better than nothing now the hockey season's finished. The Ed Wood films are universally acclaimed as the nadir of Bela Lugosi's film career, but this sad entry in his filmography is worse on many levels than any of those later pictures.With the golden days of horror pictures long gone, Lugosi is captured here in what can only be described as a laughable attempt to recreate that bygone era in what is little more than a dreadful reworking of the Wolf Man.With a weak script, total lack of suspense, and of course the expected bad ape costume, it is to Lugosi's credit that he actually does appear to be trying his best in this film.Unfortunately it isn't enough to save the day; I watched this hoping for that odd satisfaction only to be found in poor B pictures of this era, but even such sadistic viewing pleasures were denied simply because this film is so bad.At only 67 minutes, it isn't long but boy does that time drag. While a bit of the hijinks is good for unintentional laughs, this has less the fun tone of "The Devil Bat", and more the bone crushing boredom of "The Corpse Vanishes." While it mostly served the purpose of cheap laughs, can we just note now that George Barrow's much employed suit did not look much like a real Gorilla?Your heart also has to go to the excellent Wallace Ford, whose crack comic timing was often put to use in moviessuch as this. In the William Beaudine epic, THE APE MAN, Bela Lugosi (THE DEVIL BAT, THE CORPSE VANISHES) stars as Dr. James Brewster, who has gone missing. The Ape Man produced by Monogram Pictures stars Bela Lugosi as a scientist who has been experimenting on himself with ape spinal fluids. The press are police are kept somewhat at bay, by Bela's sister Minerva Urecal.But when Bela and his gorilla start killing people for their human spinal fluid so Lugosi can get back to being human again, that of course arouses the populace. In a recent biography of Bela Lugosi, the author Arthur Lennig uses The Ape Man as a prototype Monogram product and contrasts it with the Universal Pictures Gothic horror films. Lugosi is The Ape Man, Doctor Brewster, whose experiments with evolution have gone awry. "Dr. Brewster (Bela Lugosi) is working on a serum derived from gorilla spinal fluid and tests his experimental formula upon himself. Only human spinal fluid will return him to normal but, Dr. Brewster uses some nefarious methods to extract his needed supply," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.The author of the story supposedly makes an appearance at its closing - it's a good thing he rolls up the car window, to miss whatever you feel like throwing up at the screen. But, the best actor has to be Emil Van Horn as "The Ape", since he gets to save face.* The Ape Man (1943) William Beaudine ~ Bela Lugosi, Louise Currie, Wallace Ford. Ape Man, The (1943) ** 1/2 (out of 4) No, this isn't Citizen Kane but it is a fairly entertaining Monogram flick that works in large part thanks to Bela Lugosi's performance. In the film Lugosi plays a scientist doing strange experiments and soon finds himself turning into an ape. Along with the help of another doctor he must try and find spinal fluid that can turn him back.Without the benefit of Lugosi in the main role then this film would be pretty awful but with the great actor in the lead we at least get a fine performance and a fun one at that. Monogram quickie starring Bela Lugosi as a scientist who is turned into a man-ape after an experiment goes wrong. Wow some of these low budget "b" movies are so wonderful, this one is at or near the top of the spectrum, Bela Lugosi is just charming in this one, he has to get some kind of serum from people that he needs to turn back into full human. "The Ape Man" (1943), directed by legendary hack William Beaudine (the man who gave us "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" [1966] and "Billy the Kid versus Dracula" [1966]), this b-movie gives us a deliciously hammy, over-the-top performance from Bela Lugosi, who had gone down a long way since his myth-making role in Tod Browning's "Dracula" (1931). The plot is the usual hokum: a crazed scientist, Dr. James Brewster (Bela Lugosi), with help from his more sane counterpart, Dr. George Randall (Henry hall), injects himself with spinal fluid that turns him into an ape man. THE APE MAN (Monogram, 1943), directed by William Beaudine, with original story by Karl Brown, is a fine example of a bad movie becoming a "camp" classic. The story opens on the pier where a group of reporters, headed by Jeff Carter (Wallace Ford) of the Globe Tribune, awaiting for the arrival of spiritualist Agatha Brewster (Minerva Urecal), sister of the famous Dr. James Brewster (Bela Lugosi). When Randall refuses, Brewster goes on the murderous rampage with his ape, leading Carter and his assistant, Billie Mason (Louise Currie), to enter the scene and get the scoop for the next edition.Others members of the cast include Wheelar Oakman, Jack Mulhall and Charles Jordan. Though not essentially scary or high art cinema, THE APE MAN is worth while mainly for watching Bela Lugosi going bananas once in a while. William Beaudine directs and Bela Lugosi stars in this cheapie horror that finds Lugosi as a mad scientist who has transformed himself into an ape man hybrid. (You get the feeling that they didn't write this as a Lugosi vehicle until he came by looking for drug money.) Lugosi injects himself with a serum that gives him ape like qualities, but has to kill people to get back to normal.The thing was that Lugosi was not a bad actor, but his thick accent, typecasting after Dracula and inability to learn English better limited his ability to get good work. Bela Lugosi is a mad scientist that comes up with a secret serum that turns him into a very agitated ape. It is a fun time watch though; catch it when you can.Also in the cast are:Wallace Ford, Louise Currie, Emil Van Horn and Henry Hall. The Ape Man is best remembered as another of the multitude of poverty row pictures which have been given historical interest as vehicles for horror acting legend Bela Lugosi. Dr. Brewster turns himself into an ape man and decides he does not want to live the rest of his life like that - he feels he must be cured at any cost.This movie make a good afternoon film - something to kick back to and enjoy a few giggles with. Quite fun to watch Lugosi as an ape man - he did a pretty good acting job with this character.8/10. Lugosi plays a doctor who does an unethical experiment on himself that transforms him into an Ape-Man, and now he's willing to go on a murderous spree to fix what he messed up.The movie is set up for an ensemble cast, unfortunately I only know Lugosi. The plot:Returning back from an expedition,a group of scientist make the tragic announcement that one of them sadly died during the expedition.Whilst everyone else goes for the explanation hook,line and sinker,two journalist suspect that foul play may have been involved in the scientist death.Searching around his house,the reporters begin to gather evidence that Dr James Brewster has been performing weird operations on apes.As the reporters start digging,Breswster (who has turned into a human-ape hybrid,due to performing an operation which went a little bit wrong!) comes out of hiding,and with needing spinal fluid to fully transform back into a human,Brewster discovers that he has found the perfect two people to get spinal fluid from.View on the film:With most of the acting being on the incredible "chewy" side,Bela Lugosi shines like a beacon for the film,who along with composer Edward J. He, along with his gorilla assistant, must kill to get the spinal fluid he needs to reverse his previous experiment.The Ape Man can be fairly entertaining if you don't take it too seriously. The Ape Man starts as famed ghost hunter Agatha Brewster (Minerva Urecal) returns from Europe to be greeted by Dr. George Randall (Henry Hall) & newspaper headlines that scream 'Dr. Brewster disappears', the same Dr. James Brewster (Bela Lugosi) who just happens to be her Brother. Jeff knows something fishy is going on & investigates further as James reveals that to completely cure himself he needs human spinal fluid to counteract the ape fluid, the only problem is he need fresh fluid from still living donors...Directed by William Beaudine there is very little to recommend The Ape Man as a film, in fact nothing at all really. There's no real horror in The Ape Man & Lugosi in his make-up & stooped over hunchback pose looks awful. "The Ape" was another of those ultra low budget Sam Katzman "clasics" turned out by Monogram Pictures in the 1940s featuring Bela Lugosi.The story opens with Agatha Brewster (Minerva Urecal), a spiritualist, returning from Scotland after her brother Dr. James Brewster (Lugosi) is reported as missing. And what is this nonsense of an unnamed stranger (Ralph Littlefield) popping up through the film dispelling advice to Carter and Mason?Lugosi does what he can in the ape man make up, even to the point of walking stooped over and "bellowing" like an ape but unfortunately looks ridiculous. He did himself no favours by appearing in crap like this and the scene where he injects himself is rather sad considering his later problems with morphine.The Ape Man concerns Lugosi as Dr. James Brewster - an extremely unlikely name for a Hungarian - desperately searching out human spinal fluid to cure himself of his apish affliction. Director William Beaudine should at least get a share of the accolades for "The Ape Man"; perhaps that's who Lugosi's character had in mind when early in the picture he states - "What a mess I've made of things".. Bela Lugosi is the film's main saving grace he delivers a very campy but enjoyable performance and was a lot of fun to watch in that ape makeup!. About what you'd expect from a low-budget Lugosi horror flick featuring a guy in an ape suit!. This film offers few surprises (including the expected guy in a silly gorilla costume) but it's still a dandy horror flick that should appeal to die-hard Bela Lugosi fans. While his good friend the doctor cannot allow himself to do this, Bela's sister is a fine piece of work and helps him on his evil task.Throughout all this, the film is interspersed with clips of Wallace Ford and his assistants looking for a story--which you know they will eventually get. While it's understandable that Bela Lugosi may have become disenchanted with the roles he was offered following the success of Dracula, even his staunchest critics would have to agree that he nonetheless managed to turn in some outstanding performances- like that in THE APE MAN. The answer lies in the basement of a house inhabited by a ghost hunter, Agatha Brewster (Minerva Urecal), where mad scientist Brewster (Bela Lugosi) has turned into THE APE MAN of the title.. Although Bela Lugosi wakes up next to an ape (who shakes him to let him know his sister Minerva Urecal has just arrived), he actually looks more like the ape's cousin, the chimpanzee.

tt0058700

The Last Man on Earth

Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) is the last man on earth, as far as he can tell. A plague killed everyone else on the planet several years ago. He was immune to it, and can only guess why. Vampires that were formerly human attack Morgan's home every nightMorgan's days are spent shoring up his home against the vampire hordes, picking up supplies in the abandoned city, and eliminating his enemies by searching out and destroying the bloodsuckers while they sleep. He maintains mirrors and garlic strands around his house and fashions stakes on his lathe to use on the walking dead. He also conducts experiments on the bacteria that caused this plague in an effort to find a cure.He remembers the early days of the plague, when his former friend and lab partner, Ben Cortman (Giacomo Rossi Stuart) tried to warn Morgan of what was to come. Morgan dismissed his fears and continued life as usual.The vampires outside Morgan's home are led by Ben Cortman, who has made it his personal mission to kill Morgan. "Morgan, come out!" is the nightly chant that torments him.He remembers the disease blanketing the earth. His daughter Kathy (Christi Courtland) fell ill and went blind. His wife Virg (Emma Danieli) was horrified and wanted to get help, but any reported case of plague would result in immediate government pickup, death and cremation of the body. Before leaving for work, Morgan ordered Virg not to call anyone, but, tormented by the little girl's cries, she did. As Morgan arrived home, he saw the government truck leaving. Kathy was gone.His solitary existence is painful. He gets on the radio every day, calling out on different frequencies, trying to find another human still alive. In his tortured dreams, he remembers when his wife returned from the dead to seek his blood, after she succumbed to the plague. Because he couldn't bear to throw her body in the cremation pit where others were taken, he buried her himself--and when she came back from the dead as a vampire, he had to drive a stake through her heart.One day, to his amazement, he finds a dog. He is so excited to have a companion that he overlooks several signs that all is not right with the animal. Eventually, he realizes that the dog is also infected and that he must kill it.While burying the dog, Morgan encounters Ruth Collins (Franca Bettoia), a woman walking through the park in the sunshine! Even though he's suspicious of her story of how she survived, he takes her home with him. She reacts violently to a garland of garlic cloves he brings out, but she claims that she's always had a weak stomach. Morgan catches her injecting herself with something, and she's forced to admit that she too is infected but that she and others like her have developed a serum that lets them control the disease. By regular injections, they keep the disease in check: they are able to live in the daylight and do not turn to vampirism. Ruth also warns Morgan that her people are coming for him because, in his zeal to kill vampires, he has been killing people like her who have the disease under control. Morgan injects Ruth with some of his own blood and cures her of the disease completely. His blood is the permanent cure that Ruth and others like her have been searching to find.At this moment, however, the soldiers come for him. Before Ruth can tell them that Morgan has found a cure, he is surrounded and shot. As he stumbles to his death, he tells the crowds that they are freaks and that he is "the last man on earth"!

flashback, home movie

train

imdb

tt1408101

Star Trek Into Darkness

The USS Enterprise is sent to explore the "Class M" planet Nibiru. What started out as a mission to investigate and observe the inhabitants of the planet turns into a quest to save the planet from a volcano that could potentially wipe out the planet and all life that inhabits it. McCoy and Kirk are on a reconnaissance peace-keeping mission to the planet which is then jeopardized. They then have to high tail it to the Enterprise which is being harbored underwater. At the same time, Spock has been lowered via cable into the volcano to plant a "cold fusion" device that will halt the eruption. Due to the large amount of ash spewed into the air and the intense heat generated, Spock's cable snaps and he lands in the volcano, surrounded by lava. Sulu and Uhura have no choice but to fly their shuttle back to the Enterprise.Once on board the Enterprise, Kirk wastes no time in trying to get Spock back on board. Spock is of course not interested in surviving the mission but more concerned in observing the prime directive of the Starfleet Academy - which is not to be seen nor heard among developing civilizations. Of course the opposite happens - Kirk and Uhura do everything they can to save Spock's life. Breaking prime directive, Kirk takes the Enterprise out of hiding and heads for the volcano where they beam Spock back on board. A relieved Uhura is fine that Spock is back safe and sound, but Spock is displeased that Kirk deliberately broke the rules rather than surviving.Kirk tries to play off the fact that the burgeoning civilization saw the Enterprise as no big deal. What he doesn't know is that the new civilization has begun to worship the Enterprise and its crew. After being called back to Earth, Kirk is relieved of command, and Admiral Pike resumes command of the Enterprise. A very furious Admiral Pike grills Kirk for breaking the rules. During the meeting Spock reveals that while Kirk wrote a report in his Captain's log that broad brushed the truth, Spock was far more honest in his report. Kirk is demoted and he has to report back to Starfleet. While at a bar drowning his sorrows in alcohol, Kirk is confronted by Pike, who gives him a pep talk about how Kirk has to fight for what's important. Pike feels Kirk needs to learn a valuable lesson as a captain and tells Kirk he was the one who originally recruited Kirk, and Pike himself was recruited by Admiral Marcus.Shortly afterward, Starfleet agent John Harrison, with the compliance of a Starfleet officer, bombs a Starfleet archive installation in London, having coerced a Starfleet officer into sneaking the bomb into the facility in exchange for healing his ailing daughter. An emergency meeting of high ranking officers is called at Starfleet headquarters, which Kirk attends as Pike's first officer. Moments after Kirk determines that Harrison seemingly bombed a non-vital Starfleet facility, the meeting falls under attack by by Harrison in a small Federation gunship. Kirk takes the gunship down, but Harrison escapes by transporting himself to an unidentified planet and Pike dies.After Pike's funeral, Admiral Marcus authorizes Kirk to hunt down Harrison, who has fled to the Klingon homeworld of Qo'noS ("Kronos"). Since Qo'noS lies deep in Klingon territory and Starfleet is on the brink of war with the Klingon Empire, the Enterprise is supplied with 72 long-range prototype photon torpedoes, and is ordered to fire them all at Harrison's location once he is found. Admiral Marcus reinstates Kirk as captain of the Enterprise. Kirk accepts but only on the condition that he's allowed to reinstate Spock as his first officer. He then tells Kirk and Spock that London wasn't just a mere archive. It was a top secret branch of Starfleet that was designated "Section 31". Section 31's primary function was to study Klingon technology and to develop new capabilities that would defend Starfleet from the Klingons. The attack on Section 31 severely crippled Starfleet's abilities to defend itself. Admiral Marcus believes this was an act of war.Kirk is renamed the Captain and has Spock reenlisted as his first officer. On the way to the Enterprise, Bones' medical testing annoys Kirk while he and Spock continue the fight they had previously about the Nibiru mission. Believing the new photon torpedoes could be dangerous to the ship, chief engineer Montgomery Scott refuses to take them aboard and tenders his resignation when ordered by Kirk to accept them. The Admiral's daughter, scientist Carol Marcus also joins the crew, under a false identity, and Pavel Chekov is promoted to Chief Engineer.En route to the Klingon homeworld the Enterprise's warp core malfunctions, leaving the ship stranded in space a short distance from Qo'noS. With repairs underway, Kirk, Spock, and Uhura use a previously commandeered trader ship that they had confiscated and fly to Qo'noS. However, they are detected by Klingon patrol ships and are forced to land. Despite Uhura's attempts to negotiate, the Klingons prepare to kill the trio, when a mysterious figure attacks the Klingons. After wiping most of them out single-handedly, the attacker reveals himself to be John Harrison. He confronts the landing party, but surrenders after learning the precise number of torpedoes aimed at him. Kirk beats him severely for Pike's murder but Harrison seems to feel little pain or show any injury.Back on the Enterprise, Harrison reveals his real identity: Khan, a genetically augmented superhuman who has been in cryo-sleep for 300 years after waging an unsuccessful war on Earth to eradicate all those inferior to himself and his superhuman comrades. He suggests Kirk should take a closer look at the 72 prototype torpedoes and gives him a set of spatial coordinates. Kirk orders McCoy to take apart one of the torpedoes, and contacts Scotty back on Earth to investigate the coordinates. The torpedoes are found to each contain a genetically-engineered human in cryo-sleep - the remaining members of Khan's crew from the Botany Bay. Khan explains that Admiral Marcus awakened Khan to force him to use his superior intellect and savagery to develop advanced weapons to start a war with the Klingons, keeping his crew as hostages. Kirk realizes that the Enterprise warp core has been sabotaged on Marcus' orders, making the covert operation to kill Khan a one-way ticket.Kirk sends Carol Marcus and Dr. McCoy down to a remote planet to inspect one of the torpedoes. As the two investigate, Dr. McCoy finds out that there's something inside the torpedo: a cryo-frozen human - which is why Khan had an interest in the torpedoes in the first place -- inside them are 72 of his comrades from the past. Meanwhile, Kirk manages to regain contact with officer Montgomery Scott, who he tells was right all along about the torpedoes on the Enterprise - that who placed them on there was not to be trusted, and enlists Scott to find out the truth about who placed these weapons on the Enterprise.At the same time Scott arrives at the coordinates which have been revealed by Khan; they are near Jupiter. Scotty discovers a secret Starfleet shipyard, which he infiltrates. Back on the Enterprise the defective warp core is brought back online, but Chekov discourages Kirk from using it yet. Shortly after, another ship arrives: an unregistered Federation battleship, the USS Vengeance - a massive vessel built strictly for combat which dwarfs the Enterprise. It is twice the size and designed to be operated by a minimal number of crewmembers, one if necessary. Admiral Marcus reveals himself as the commander of the vessel, demanding Kirk hand over Khan. Kirk refuses, and the Enterprise warps away to Earth, to return Khan to stand trial for his crimes.Shortly after, the Enterprise is attacked in warp by the Vengeance, halting their escape near the Moon. Outgunned, the Enterprise is severely damaged. Ultimately Kirk agrees to hand over Khan and the 72 bodies in cryo-sleep in exchange for the lives of his crew. Marcus refuses and beams his daughter aboard the Vengeance to prevent her being used against him. As the Vengeance is about to destroy the Enterprise, it suffers a ship-wide power outage, caused by Scott who had boarded the ship earlier at the secret shipyard. As the Enterprise' weapons are too damaged to continue the fight, and knowing that Khan was the designer of Marcus' ship, Kirk allies himself with Khan and boards the enemy ship. They reunite with Scott and take the bridge. Meanwhile, Spock contacts Spock Prime to learn of Khan's history and how to defeat him. Khan betrays Kirk and takes control of the ship, injuring Carol Marcus and killing Admiral Marcus in the process. Khan negotiates with Spock for Kirk's life, and beams the 72 torpedoes aboard the Vengeance.Khan beams Kirk and the rest of the boarding party back to the Enterprise in order to destroy it. Spock reveals that the torpedoes beamed to the Vengeance were armed, while the cryotubes still remain on the Enterprise. The torpedoes detonate, crippling the Vengeance and sending Khan into a furious rage, believing his crew have been killed. Both ships start descending towards the Earth's surface. The crew of the Enterprise manage to halt their ship's descent, as Kirk sacrifices his life to re-align the warp core, succumbing to radiation poisoning. Khan sets the final destination for the Vengeance: Starfleet headquarters in San Francisco. The enemy ship crashes into the city. Having survived the crash, Khan tries to escape in the chaos, but is pursued by an enraged Spock, whom had been with Kirk in his final moments. Meanwhile, Doctor Leonard McCoy discovers that Khan's blood may reanimate the dead Kirk. At the last possible moment, Uhura prevents Spock from killing Khan, and he is taken captive.Kirk reacts positively to the treatment and is revived and put back on active duty. Khan is sealed into his cryotube and stored away with the rest of his crew. As the film ends, Kirk addresses a commemoration service one year later, the Enterprise is re-christened and departs for a 5-year mission of deep space exploration. The movie ends with Kirk reciting the Captain's oath and the Enterprise departing for its next mission.

boring, murder, violence, revenge, good versus evil, action, romantic, sci-fi

train

imdb

We watched ' Star Trek - Into the Darkness this afternoon (May 9th 2013).I am not going to reveal specific details because this film is so new that I am aware that many people still have not had the opportunity to watch it, and I do not wish to ruin their experience.Having read the points raised in the 'maddog' review I just wanted to say that we found it to be a truly absorbing and brilliant film, and our views are so diametrically opposed to 'maddog' that I genuinely wonder if he/or she actually watched the same film - or slept through it and took a wild guess as to its quality.Star Trek - Into the Darkness is mainly a fast paced action film interspersed with scenes of human interest which facilitates the deeper development of the main characters and their inter-relationships. I tremendously respected and appreciated the ties in this movie to the elements that make Star Trek great - strong story line, deep connection to the characters and a philosophical element. And the Carol Marcus character was underused to a criminal degree, they would not have let that happen in the Original Series.In some review there was mentioned how this film with its potentially sombre tones came a little to early for the yet young crew of the Enterprise, and I tend to agree. Also the way he executed his plan showed a lot more cutting edge creativity than especially most modern blockbusters, not to say it's done nearly to the same level of genius but something I haven't felt in a villain's characterisation/acting since The Dark Knight.Overall, a mesmerising film with nice homages to the original series, one filled with heart, grace, innovation, superb characters and acting and some impressive, clever visuals and immersive 3D, one of the only times I can say that. Other reviewers have said the effects aren't that good but the 3D is obviously quite well done in places.The worst thing about this film (apart from the acting which is woeful) is that if you're unfamiliar with the general Star Trek narrative it's easy to assume that the pathetic attempts at interactions between these 'characters' are nothing but simplistic portrayals of the 'goody' / 'baddy' dynamics in kindergarten nursery rhymes. While these rhymes have their place (namely child-care centers) a 38 year old father like me who's forked out $30 for the Gold Class 3D version now expects some kind of 'reverse-ratings' system to warn me to keep well clear of such trash in the future.Other reviews have delved into the actual 'plot' in a way I am unable to but it surprises me just how astonishingly bad the writing has been in this and Prometheus by Damon Lindelof who's work I enjoyed massively on Lost. I'm never going to enjoy his success even though I dabble with writing but it has obviously gone to his head.I found myself emotionless and bored throughout this movie which has nothing in common with good science fiction pieces from the recent-past such as Event Horizon or even newer works such as Sunshine by Danny Boyle.If I were a Star Trek fan I would be affronted by this rubbish which, personally, I find myself being unable to give only 1 star only due to 'flashing-of-cash' special effects which may be boldly going somewhere but not anywhere – well – special.However, remove the nice graphics and some of the action sequences, and you are left with nothing but a straight-to-video, 'Worst 10 Films of All Time' TV show contender which bored my socks off and made me question whether it's even worth actually paying to go and see any Hollywood movies ever again.. JJ Abrams has managed to drain the life, the spark, the joy that was the original series, and to a less extent, the spin offs, and re-animate the hollow corpse into a blundering zombie of a movie.Nothing original, this travesty could have had the title and characters names changed, and it would have been indistinguishable from any of a dozen sci-fi action movies from the last 4 years.The awe and joy of a possible future, the thrill of exploration, the wonder of the universe is totally lacking in this film. For instance, a transporter that the enemy uses can transport him light years to another planet, but the transporters on the Enterprise have a hard job locking onto a person on the planet they are orbiting, a hand-held communicator that can call someone in a bar on Earth from the Klingon home world light years away, infiltrating a top secret military base with a shuttle craft without being spotted by sensors, and the list goes on.The last part of the movie they just got so lazy that they re-created the whole death scene at the end of Wrath of Khan, but mirrored it by reversing the roles. And if that's not enough, the writers blatantly do a copy/paste of most of the dialogue like "If we go in there we'll die, the radiation will kill us" and "The decontamination process is not complete, you'll flood the whole compartment."Later on they even forget that the attributes that makes Khan's blood special, and which is needed to revive Kirk, also flows through the veins of the other 72 augments sitting in cryogenic tubes in McCoy's sick bay, the same cryogenic tubes that McCoy himself says earlier in the movie he could not risk opening without possibly killing the person inside, which could have been a solid reason to send Spock chasing after Khan in a foot- chase through downtown San-Francisco to retrieve a sample of Khan's blood, but instead, they have McCoy open a cryogenic tube and remove it's occupant in order to freeze Kirk so he can preserve his brain functions, I believe his exact words were "Get this guy out of the cryo-tube, keep him in an induced coma." but still, poor McCoy doesn't realize he could use that person's blood to revive Kirk. Since it has now become (dilithium) crystal clear that J.J. Abrams and his team of writers have COMPLETELY dismantled the entire Trek universe we once knew -- the one that was built so meticulously by Gene Roddenberry (and later, Harve Bennett and Nick Meyer too) -- we must now embrace a Trek product that will likely insult and disgust most purists, plus any ticket buyer who wants something more than a movie enjoyed by ADHD attention spans.This "Into Darkness" film continues where the 2009 effort left off, and with much the same approach, but the decibel level is harder on the eardrums this time: more explosions, more stunts, more fisty-cuffs, more chases (both in space and Terra Firma), more phaser shots and more temper tantrums from Kirk and Spock both.I could rhetorically say something like, "WTF? By forcibly shoving Khan into the "Into Darkness" storyline, the writers seemed almost desperate to include a familiar face as a crowd pleaser, but I found this "unmasking" about as convincing as a cheesy moment in a daytime soap opera, and it is essentially where I gave up on the film (about when the third act began).From there, the movie worsened (for me) because soon after, we are then supposed to shed tears for our gallant Captain Kirk sacrificing himself in the Enterprise's warp core chamber to save his ship and crew. They are reminding us that they know their Star Trek, but I found this moment to be gimmicky and as such, it registered a complete emotional zero.Spock himself, as written by Orci and Kurtzman, also seems little more than a gimmick in these films now, especially at the film's climax, which uses our ever-logical Vulcan as a John Rambo wannabe, as he mercilessly pounds his fists into Khan's face, all in the name of revenge for the loss of his pal Jim Kirk. NOT A FREAKING SUPER SOLDIER WHO JUST MURDER-DEATH-KILLED FOR NO REASON.AND ABOUT THAT PLOT.Kahn was a one man army in this movie-- So one would think if he defrosted his people, all 72 of them, they'd be unstoppable-- Instead he puts them in Torpedoes to ruin Robocops plan of starting a war with the Klingons to defrost them later...WHAT THE AM I TALKING ABOUT I DUNNO BUT THAT WAS THE PLOT!!This movie is for morons who couldn't get into the original Star Trek because they probably see it as old, boring, and full of bad actors. DramaKirk in Spock running in the woods in opening scene - why?Prime directive trashed for no good reason - huh?Spock relationship issues during mission - really?Kirk revived by Khan blood - no one saw that coming?Big/mean Enterprise is faster and more powerful that small/peaceful Enterprise - oh no!Kirk and Khan are buddies (temporary).Plot:Still unclear who wanted to do what.Slow, predictable, dialog really lame (school like)Khan never reveal his ultimate goal.Kirk was pretty much a dice (remember his captain of Enterprise) - slightly constant was his need for mindless vengeance - nice touch.The only one actual important element to the story came in the form of a paranoid admiral that wants to fight Clingons in a improbable vessel.In the end it all proves that Kirk is nothing more that incredibly stupid, vengeance indulging, risk freak Enterprise CAPTAIN - we all like that don't we?. But in J.J. Abrams' version of Star Trek, we are expected to stop thinking and just watch the loud, frantic action.Now we come to Khan Noonien Singh. Also, Kirk's death gives Spock another excuse to act like a brutal savage (what would Sarek say?), and Abrams an excuse to stage an absurd high-altitude fight scene.Let's debunk the basic defense of J.J. Abrams; i.e., that he saved Star Trek. With its target audience seated in place however, doubtlessly willing to overlook the obvious whilst simultaneously blinded by the startling visuals and 'tacked-on' 3-D (the film wasn't originally shot in 3-D, instead the process being added in post-production) this 'casual' viewer can safely check their brain at the door and, in all likelihood, enjoy...In this befuddled story, with its foot stuck firmly in Trek's The Wrath of Khan (1982), Into Darkness hauls its audience onto a seeming roller-coaster ride, dragging the viewer from one outrageous action set-piece to another, while its central characters are barely given a chance to 'grow' into their respective roles.In a likely nod to Trek VI – The Undiscovered Country, Sulu is afforded a brief turn in the captain's chair (a role which at least offered the actor some nifty poker-faced dialogue), whilst Chekov is contrastingly tucked away within the pipework-strewn bowels of the Enterprise' engine room. Oh well, things disintegrate further when its finally realised just how incredibly stupid Kirk has been, trusting a known terrorist whilst the viewer, during the film's final reel, is woefully pulled along during their frantic re-attempts at his capture.With an ending pulled directly out of The Wrath of Khan, albeit with Kirk and Spock on opposite sides of the radiation screen doors, I was beginning feel as though I had been robbed of my admission: the contrived nature of this protracted scene, deriving itself virtually word-for-word from its thirty-year-old original, played out while the audience undoubtedly watched in astonished déjà vu. Peter Weller makes an excellent admiral and really does bring presence to the screen.The action and visual effects are all excellent, but this is to be expected of a film this large and Abrams does a solid job giving every crew member their moment to shine, bar one character whose names should have been Mrs. Plot Point.(SPOILERS)My main problem with this film is the fact that for those fans out there, there will come a moment where you put two and two together and sigh in contempt - which I heard about another 70 people do at the same time as me. But me thinks now our director and screenwriters are spreading themselves a little too thin with too many gigs.The film brings back an old and beloved original series villain and in doing so serves to remind fans how good Wrath of Khan really was.Into Dumbness is a convoluted mess.The characters have completely devolved into caricatures.There are too many jokes by too many characters – a misstep which also strips the drama away with misplaced humor. Action in Sci Fi is OK if it serves a good purpose.But bang crash, run for kilometres and never get puffed out, ignore the Prime Directive, freeze a volcano, get demoted, get repromoted, ooh there's a bad admiral in star fleet (Star Trek VI) blow up, smash, do the Millennium-Falcon-sideways-to-escape-the badies, die and come back to life using super-human blood (Battlestar Galactica), jump 30meters and don't brake an ankle...A great SciFi movie can get away with a few things that are beyond reality IF there's enough good story telling/acting/drama to help you make that leap. These are all key Star Trek components are shouldn't be tampered with.Having Dr. Carol Marcus change uniforms in a shuttle while Kirk is asked to turn his back, is just a pathetic excuse to see Alice Eve in her underwear, and is completely unnecessary to the story.Many parts of the story were predictable and were taken directly from The Wrath of Khan with a slight twist. So I'm giving it a 3 out of 10.I liked the first J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie, even though I couldn't really follow the plot. Most of the spaceships look uninspired on the outside and preposterously cavernous and complex on the inside.There was an audible groan when people in the audience realized this was just a rehash of Wrath of Khan.There are a lot of things wrong with this movie, so you have to dig deep to find the worst one:Forget that Kirk got his command back about five minutes after he lost it, following a scene pulled straight from Godfather III (not to mention dozens of space-based video games).Forget the preposterous chase of a Millennium Falcon rip-off through a rebuilt-Death-Star-like maze.Forget that Scotty somehow single-handedly sabotaged a double-size, weaponized Enterprise rip-off (oh yeah, it was automated for a skeleton crew, that explains it).Forget that Nimoy Spock made a pointless cameo that broke the fourth wall by practically saying "Here's what we did in the original movie..."No, the worst part of this movie is the whole Khan backstory and motivation. I saw this film at a private screening and it is basically a remake of Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan.Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of Khan very well but everyone else is pretty lame.So much goes on and so may films are borrowed from that halfway through you feel that you've been in the cinema for 10 hours.The crew are quite irritating and every time they evaded disaster or death I was a little disappointed.If you are new to Start Trek it might not be so bad but as an admirer of Wrath of Khan it felt like a bit of a wimp out by the writers.. The tricks of your common 3pm soap opera are taken and just poured into the plot - bad parenting, painful memories of the past, couples fighting, hands touching through the glass, good guy dies then wakes up and smiles.And just like that, the great story of Star Trek is not played in space opera minor, but in soap opera major instead. Nothing new, nothing of interest.Besides all that this movie is just a collection of special effects and poorly executed references that will not please a single Star Trek fan and will not appeal to anyone who didn't saw the old movies and therefore doesn't get the references at all.Instead of writing to much abstract stuff, I will just list some of the several things that came to my mind while watching this flick (you always know it's a bad movie if you have too much time to think about it while you're watching):SPOILER TERRITORY STARTS HERE The film starts with the Enterprise being hidden underwater so it can't be seen by the people who live on the planet. You are my bestest friend too!"Basically the entire film was ruined with terrible dramatic scenes and tears and just really uncomfortable acting – this definitely ain't how Star Trek should be.Abrams over-played the Kirk-Spock relationship so much I was almost expecting them to have sex. ***WARNING: SPOILERS*** Please note that this review does contain spoilers.I have been a fan of Star Trek since watching it as a child during the first run of the first season of The Original Series on Australian television (then in living black and white).I was so bitterly disappointed in Star Trek Into Darkness.My issue is the plot and writing.The acting, direction, cinematography and SFX were all of very high standards, however...However.Kirk has the Enterprise taken off him, demoted then put back in the chair - I saw little point in that other than to address the concerns about the rapidity with which Kirk was promoted to Captain in the earlier film by JJ Abrams. Otherwise, the character was one-dimensional and was going through the action-packed motions from that point on with requisite snarling.Overall, I hope J.J. Abrams gives up the Star Trek franchise when he makes the new Star Wars movie. A Star Trek movie is not supposed to be a pack of fight scenes every 10 min.,followed by a few wannabe smart-humorous lines between the supporting characters,and as a cherry on top,a half naked blonde showing her goods to Kirk,just for the hell of it. The movie was a rip off of The Wrath of Khan and has action just for actions sake and had very little story and character development and none of the philosophy that made Star Trek great.There are so many things wrong with this movie when compared to the original series and movies.

tt0082817

Nighthawks

The story revolves around the lives of two NYPD police detectives, Det. Sgt. Deke DaSilva (Sylvester Stallone) and Det. Sgt. Matthew Fox (Billy Dee Williams) who work undercover, and a terrorist Heymar Reinhardt, alias Wulfgar (Rutger Hauer). In the prologue, set in the late night to early morning hours on New Year's Eve 1979, three armed assailants attempt a mugging on a supposedly unsuspecting woman, who turns out to be DaSilva in drag for a carefully planned sting operation to catch these muggers who rob elderly people. Fox immobilizes two of the suspects as Deke chases the third upstairs to the 174th Street (IRT White Plains Road Line) Subway Station platform and dares the man to cut him. Deke then incapacitates him places him under arrest.The next scene takes place in London on the same day (five hours ahead because of the time zone difference), where Wulfgar (Rutger Hauer) bombs a department store after flirting with a young cosmetic salesgirl (Catherine Mary Stewart), instilling the will of fear in the surrounding society.January 4, 1980. In New York City, DaSilva and Fox serve a high risk warrant in the Bronx. They raid a known drug distribution spot. The obvious corruption in the police department is exposed in the suspect's dialogue as a minor subplot. During the arrest, Fox becomes furious when one of the dealers tries to bribe him. He struggles with his overwhelming desire to shoot the unarmed man in front of witnesses, one of whom is a teenaged boy.January 6. In London, Wulfgar converses with his contact at a party, Kenneth, who tells Wulfgar that Mercer, who we never see but come to know as the financier of Wulfgar's operations, is withholding money owed to Wulfgar because several children were killed in Wulfgar's latest bombing at the department store. Wulfgar quickly discovers that Kenneth had been held at Heathrow Airport in police custody, and has inadvertently led police to Wulfgar's location. Wulfgar viciously murders Kenneth and the policemen who had converged on the location.Wulfgar flees to Paris where he meets his associate, Shakka Holland (Persis Khambatta) at La Sainte-Chapelle. Shakka remarks that La Sainte-Chapelle is a bad meeting place because it's next to (in real life too), the Palais de Justice, a courthouse in Paris. She informs Wulfgar that Kenneth's death was a rash decision, for the police found a passport that he'd brought to Wulfgar on his person. Wulfgar also realizes he has killed one of his own, and is now facing alienation from his allies. With his identity revealed to all European authorities, Wulfgar and Shakka visit a plastic surgeon, whom changes Wulgar's appearance. After the process, the surgeon becomes a liability, and is murdered by Wulfgar, who then flees to New York City.The next day in New York, after having their undercover detail compromised by two uniformed officers, DaSilva and Fox are informed that they have been transferred from the Street Crime Unit and into a special Federal-State Unit. After a touchy moment with their ill-tempered superior, Lieutenant Munafo (Joe Spinell), they discover that their transfer orders came from the police commissioner, whom had received the orders from Washington D.C.. The fact that the two detectives served in Vietnam also play into this, making them two of the highest recommended candidates for the special unit.Anti-Terrorist Action Command (A.T.A.C.) is assembled by INTERPOL British Counter-terrorist specialist Peter Hartman (Nigel Davenport). Hartman believes Wulfgar will come to the U.S. next primarily for the press coverage. Hartman schools DaSilva, Fox and a specially selected team of New York police on Wulfgar, Shakka, and terrorism in general. But the 'shoot-to-kill' policy that Hartman encourages doesn't go down well with DeSilva who didn't join the force to kill anyone. Hartman also makes a personal comment regarding DaSilva's ex-wife (Lindsay Wagner), which causes him to leave, but opening him up to the connections of the underground New York CityAccording to Hartman, Wulfgar wastes no time in becoming familiar with new surroundings. After completing the latter, Hartman states that Wulfgar, an aficionado for the vivid nightclub scene, will try to find safe housing for his arsenal. Sure enough, Wulfgar meets Pam (Hilary Thompson), a flight attendant, in a nightclub and moves in with her. Surprisingly enough, when she asks him what he does for a living, he tells her the complete and total truth: "I'm an international terrorist wanted on three continents." She takes it as humor.That night, Wulfgar then announces his presence in New York by bombing several locations in the Wall Street area. Alone in her apartment while Wulfgar (known as 'Eric' to Pam), is away, Pam discovers his arsenal. Wulfgar kills Pam, and her death is the first break Hartman, DaSilva, and Fox get. Wulfgar has left behind a map of the Wall Street area.According to Lt. Munafo and the forencic investigators, the location that had been bombed was marked. DaSilva and Fox investigate Pam's favorite nightspots and hope to find Wulfgar at one of them. They do. But, unsure of what he looks like since the plastic surgery, they hesitate. When DaSilva calls out Wulfgar's name, a shooting spree at the disco opens, with the two cops chasing Wulfgar through the club, and to the back streets and to a local subway station on the 6th Avenue Line, where Wulfgar takes an elderly woman on the platform hostage as a human shield. DaSilva again hesitates to shoot at Wulfgar (on the risking of hitting the woman hostage) and allows Wulfgar to board the train. Neverless, DaSilva and Fox climb aboard the rear of the train and chase Wulfgar through the cars until the train stops and he jumps off. Fox catches up to him, but Wulfgar slashes Fox's face with a knife, and gets away by jumping on anther passing train as DaSilva yells and curses at him. Fox recovers quickly -- DaSilva tells him his sharp reflexes kept Wulfgar from slashing his neck.Wulfgar takes refuge in the basement apartment of a little grocery store, where it is revealed that Shakka is now in the United States to inform him that the NYPD and the United Nations delegation members have a description of him. Wulfgar tells Shakka that he is determined to find and kill the two police officers who chased him and begins to look over the files of all the A.T.A.C. police officers that the store owner brings to him.January 17. The members of A.T.A.C. is protecting a United Nations function at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that has the earmarks of a potential terrorist target. Shakka infiltrates the party in disguise. She corners Hartman on an escalator and murders him.Later that same day, Wulfgar and Shakka then hijack a Roosevelt Island Tram car carrying U.N. representatives. Fox, Munafo, and other officers hear about the hostage situation and take positions at both tram stations, while DaSilva takes off in a police helicopter to confront the stranded tram car over the East River. Wulfgar executes the wife of the French ambassador while DaSilva is watching from a hovering police helicopter as a penalty for the nightclub and subway chase. Wulfgar decides to release an infant onboard the car, and demands that DaSilva personally board the tramway to rescue it. DaSilva is winched up to the aerial tram and confronts Wulfgar face-to-face. DaSilva demands to know why Wulfgar killed the woman. "I wanted to", the sadist replies. However, he decides to spare his nemesis for the moment. DaSilva and the baby are lowered back down to a waiting barge. Wulfgar then makes a series of demands for the release of various terrorists in various countries as well as a bus to take him and the hostages to JFK airport where a jet will be waiting to take them out of the country, and he also demands that DaSilva drive the bus (implying that Wulfgar intends to kill DaSilva once they reach their destination).The police agree to Wulfgar's demands for a bus to escort him and the hostages to the airport. That evening at nightfall, Wulfgar and Shakka bring the tram car down to Roosevelt Island and hide among the crowd of hostages from the tram. DaSilva waits until they try to board the parked bus before making his move. He plays back a recording of Hartman's lecture in which the terrorist expert denounces Shakka. In a rage, Shakka breaks from the hostages and is gunned down by Fox and various sharpshooters. Wulfgar returns fire on the police. He escapes, driving the bus off a ramp into the East River.A search of the wreckage shows no sign of Wulfgar. Lt. Munafo leads the team where they find the store where Wulfgar has been staying and DaSilva finds that Wulfgar has gathered information on all participating members of A.T.A.C., including Fox, Hartman, and DaSilva. An address of his ex-wife, Irene is found on one of the printouts.Wulfgar makes his way to Irene's house, hides outside, and sees Irene walk up to the house and go in. He breaks in, finds her washing dishes and sneaks up behind her brandishing a knife. But DaSilva has made it to Irene's first; he turns around, wearing his ex-wife's housecoat and a blonde wig, brandishing a gun. With nowhere to go, Wulfgar lunges at DaSilva who fires his revolver twice into the terrorist, blowing him into the street. Wulfgar lays dead on the stoop of Irene's rowhouse while DaSilva sits nearby looking on as it begins to lightly snow.

violence, neo noir, murder

train

imdb

tt1082601

Fighting

Present day New York City: Shawn MacArthur (Channing Tatum) is a street hawker. One day while selling counterfeit goods at the corner of Radio City Music Hall, a group of young men attempt to force Shawn to relocate with his merchandise. These boys work for Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard), a ticket scalper who controls the corner. Shawn fights them off, but does not retain his money or products.Later, Shawn sees Harvey and the guys who stole his money in a cafe and confronts them. Harvey gives him his money back and offers him a chance at a "winner takes all" fight for money. Harvey sets up a meeting with his friend and rival, Martinez (Luis Guzmán). Shawn's first fight is at a Brooklyn church against a Russian. He wins when he knocks the Russian into a water fountain. Harvey takes Shawn to a club where he meets a waitress named Zulay (Zulay Henao), a single mother to whom Shawn had earlier tried to sell a fake Chinese Harry Potter book. In the VIP area to the club, Shawn also meets Evan Hailey (Brian White), a professional fighter who used to be on the same college wrestling team as Shawn and was coached by Shawn's father. Shawn and Harvey leave after Evan and Shawn nearly get into a fight. Shawn's second fight is at the back of a store in the Bronx, against a much larger opponent. The fight descends into chaos after some of Harvey's crew interfere, when the opponent nearly chokes Shawn, and the woman who owns the store pulls out a gun when one of the guys spills her drink. Harvey, Shawn, and the rest of Harvey's crew flee the scene and neither fighter gets paid. Shawn's third fight is at a penthouse in which Shawn is victorious. Later in the day, he goes to a club to celebrate, Evan is there and instigates a confrontation with Shawn and taunts him on his current status and his father.Between fights, Shawn continues to court and romance Zulay and they eventually have sex. Zulay later asks Shawn on the subject of his family in which he tells her that the reason why he and Evan have such a bitter rivalry is because Shawn's father coached the wrestling team that he and Evan were in. Shawn's father showed more affection toward Evan while Shawn was consistently bullied by other teammates including Evan. Having had enough, he lashed out at Evan and when Shawn's father tried to break them up, Shawn explains that in a blind fury, he beat his father to a pulp and hasn't seen or heard from him since the incident and knows he will probably never be forgiven. Shawn and Zulay are later visited by Harvey, and Shawn is furious, suspecting Zulay and Harvey of having sexual relations. Harvey explains that Zulay places bets for him.Shawn and Harvey are offered a fight against Evan, and Shawn accepts, but Harvey wants him to throw the fight so that Martinez and his associates can make money. Shawn agrees to throw the fight. Zulay places the bets, a total of $500,000. Shawn and Evan fight, with Zulay, Harvey, and the rest of the crew watching. Evan has Shawn in a chokehold and it appears that Shawn is about to throw the fight; however, he fights back and overpowers Evan. Shawn beats Evan, and Martinez threatens Harvey. At Harvey's apartment, Shawn reveals Zulay reversed the bets and they have one million dollars. Zulay picks up Shawn and Harvey, and they leave New York with Zulay's daughter and grandmother.

violence

train

imdb

tt0477347

Night at the Museum

The movie opens in Brooklyn with Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) going to his car to discover it has a boot on the tire. He then runs to his friend to ask where his son Nick (Jake Cherry) is. His friend tells him that his ex-wife's new boyfriend took him home. Larry returns to his ex-wife's house only to reveal that he may get evicted soon and move to Queens. He then takes Nick to play ice hockey. After the game is over, they walk in the park and Nick reveals that he doesn't want to be a hockey player anymore, but a bond trader like his mother's boyfriend. Nick asks if he is really moving again and Larry, feeling bad about Nick, is determined to get a new job.Cut to Larry at a job office. He is being interviewed by a woman who could possibly give him a job somewhere. She tells Larry that she has never seen a resume like his. He thanks her, only to discover that it wasn't a compliment. They discuss different things about his resume including his invention, the "snapper," which is a spin-off of the clapper for lights. She is about to dismiss him when he explains to her how much he really needs a job. After a small pause, she sighs and gives him the address to the Museum of Natural History, saying that everybody she sent over there got turned down, but he "might get lucky."Cut to Larry walking in the Museum of Natural History. He walks up to the desk clerk to ask for a man named Cecil (Dick Van Dyke). She indicates that Cecil should be in his office and introduces herself as Rebecca (Carla Gugino). She shows Larry around the room a bit before Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais) interrupts to exclaim that children are touching the exhibits. Rebecca goes on with her work while Larry proceeds to Cecil's office.Larry knocks on the door of the security office and Cecil answers, letting him in. He explains to Larry that the museum is losing money and they are going to fire him and his two co-workers Gus (Mickey Rooney) and Reginald (Bill Cobbs) and that they are looking for one new guard to replace them. Larry is unsure he should take the job since they are night guards and he doesn't like the idea of staying up all night in a museum. He eventually agrees and Cecil tells him to go wait outside and he will catch up with him to show him around the museum. After Larry leaves, Reginald asks Cecil if he thinks "he is the one." Cecil responds by saying, "Oh yeah, he's the one."He begins by showing Larry the diorama room with the Mayan culture, the Roman culture, and the Western culture. After Larry leaves the room, he cannot find Cecil, he calls his name a few times and we see a figure following him. He taps Larry's shoulder and Larry screams. The figure takes off his mask to reveal Cecil dressed in Indian clothing. Cecil laughs because he scared Larry but reminds him not to mess with anything. Moving on, Cecil shows him Attila the Hun, the Easter Island Head, and the Hall of African Mammals. Larry notices the monkey and Cecil says that they call the monkey Dexter. After they leave that room, they enter the Pharaoh's Chamber, and Cecil shows Larry the Pharaoh's tomb and the tablet of Ahkmenrah, which he reveals is 24 karat gold.Larry is about to start his first day of work and the three guards are there to give him what he needs. Cecil gives him his keys to lock the gates and his flashlight. He also pulls out an instruction manual and gives it to Larry. Cecil tells him to turn a few lights on since it gets a little spooky in there. He also tells him in a very serious tone not to let anything in or out. Larry is confused by this but goes on working. He turns on the lights and sits at the front desk, blowing into the telephone which echos his voice throughout the entire museum.After awhile, he falls asleep, but wakes up by falling out of his chair. He gets up and walks across the room to find that the Tyrannosaurus Rex is missing. He calls out Cecil's name thinking that it is Cecil pulling another prank on him. When he hears something down the hall, he clicks on the flashlight to find the dinosaur drinking from the water fountain. In shock, Larry drops the flashlight, the dinosaur hears this and stops drinking. He roars and runs towards Larry, who tries to run and hide by ducking under the front desk. He calls Cecil, who tells him to read the instructions and hangs up. The dinosaur picks up the desk with it's mouth and throws it across the room. Larry pulls out the instruction manual and reads the first instruction which is to "Throw the bone." Larry is confused until a large rib bone drops in front of him and Larry picks it up and hurls it across the room. Larry then tries to run out, but the T-Rex appears in front of him, drops the bone, and pushes it to Larry, suggesting he wants it to be thrown again. Larry realizes that the dinosaur wants to play fetch and he throws the bone again. This time the T-Rex's tail hits Larry and throws him onto the stairs. Larry then flees the room.As Larry is running, he passes by Cavemen who are trying to create fire. He runs into the Easter Island Head who calls him Dum-Dum and that Larry is supposed to bring him "gum-gum." The head warns Larry to run as Attila the Hun shows up and chases Larry into the elevator. Larry goes into the room where Sacagawea is on display and he asks her what is going on. Being behind the glass, she cannot hear him. Larry falls backwards and a Civil War soldier points a gun over Larry's neck and fires at other soldiers. Larry manages to escape unharmed.Larry goes up the elevator into the Hall of African Mammals. He reads the next instruction which is to lock up the lions, "or they'll eat you". He drops the manual and it sails into the middle of the room, right in front of the lions. Larry runs for the manual, quickly runs through the trees and closes the gate behid him. He reads the next instruction which is to double check his belt because the monkey probably stole his keys. He checks and his keys are missing. He looks up to see Dexter holding his keys. As Larry tries to get them back, Dexter bites his nose and pees on him. Dexter then steals the instruction manual and rips it in half. Furious, Larry goes and sits in the diorama room. He then sees small Mayan warriors and they start shooting small arrows into his hand. Larry runs away in pain.Larry sees the Western exhibit and stands in front of it. He hears a noise below him and looks down to see that some small western people have tied his feet together. He turns around, but they push him off his feet onto the train tracks in the exhibit. Just then we see Jedediah (Owen Wilson) yelling at the cowboys to hog tie him. The cowboys throw ropes over his body and secure them tightly, holding Larry down on the train tracks (actually, only his head rests on the tracks). They reveal that they are tired of being locked up in the exhibit every night and Jedediah gives the order to start the train. Larry begs Jed to stop the train, but Jed refuses. The train hits Larry in the head, but derails without doing much damage. Larry breaks out of the ropes and gets up.We see an army of small Roman soldiers ready to attack Larry. Jedediah reveals the leader to be Octavius (Steve Coogan). He tells the army to unleash hell, and they start shooting fireballs at Larry. He runs away and is rescued by Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams). Jedediah yells to him that Teddy will not always be there to protect him and they ride away on his horse. When they stop in the main room, Larry asks him why everything is alive and Teddy takes him to the Pharaoh's Chamber. We see the Pharaoh struggling in his sarcophagus and Teddy yells that he's not getting out. He points to the tablet and tells Larry that the tablet is why everything comes alive at night. He tells Larry that it is his job to make sure that nothing gets out of the museum, otherwise they will turn to dust if the sun comes up while they are outside. Teddy helps Larry get everyone together and we see Teddy staring through his binoculars at Sacagawea. When Larry asks why, Teddy just says that he is tracking. Larry is not sure that he will come back. Teddy tells him that some are born great, but others have greatness thrust upon them. Teddy goes back to his position in the museum and Larry starts to walk away. Jedediah pops out of Larry's pocket and threatens to shoot his gun at his eye. He shoots, but nothing comes out. Larry pulls him out of his pocket and takes him back to the diorama room, just as the sun rises, and everything goes back to the way it was.Cecil and the other security guards go into the museum and Larry jumps out and surprises them. He tells them that everything in the museum comes to life at night. Cecil explains that if they told him, he never would have believed them. Larry quits and exits the museum. On the museum steps, Larry encounters Nick on his way to school. Nick tells him that he loves that Larry works at the museum. Larry promises to give Nick a tour sometime. Now Larry must go back inside and get his job back. Dr. McPhee calls Larry to the diorama room to find that a Roman figure is in the stockades in the Western Culture diorama. Thinking that Larry did it, Dr. McPhee warns him not to try anything like that again. Larry runs back to Cecil and asks him if he has another instruction manual since Dexter ripped his apart. Cecil does not have another copy but advises Larry to read about history, that it would help. Larry sees Rebecca giving a tour to some kids and decides to join them. He laughs when Rebecca says that the monkey is known for it's "generous and loving nature". He calls her aside to ask her if Sacagawea was deaf (since she could not hear him the night before). Rebecca is annoyed by his interruptions and asks why he is following them. Larry says that he just has some questions and gets Rebecca to agree to meet him later for a cup of coffee to discuss history. Rebecca reveals that she is working on a dissertation about Sacagawea and admires her a lot.In the library, we see Larry reading books and searching on the computer for information about things in the museum. He discovers that Attila the Hun liked sorcery, and would tear the limbs of his enemies off. Back at the museum, Larry is about to get ready for his shift when Cecil and the other security guards come in to wish him good luck and to say goodbye. They are leaving the museum for the last time. Cecil asks Larry to walk them out, but Reginald stays behind. Cecil says it's because Reginald is very emotional. While Reginald lingers, he makes a clay mold of Larry's key. Larry goes off to begin his shift.Larry begins by ripping off one of the T-Rex's rib bones and attaching it to a remote controlled car to keep T-Rex entertained while chasing it. He goes to the Cavemen, still looking for ways to create fire, and throws them a lighter. He goes over to the Easter Island Head and gives him the 'gum-gum' that he asked for yesterday. He goes into the diorama room. He puts on a mit to protect himself from the arrows the Mayan people will throw while he closes the glass to their diorama. He moves to close the glass to the Roman Cuture diorama when he sees them breaking down their wall to expand. He moves over to the Western Culture diorama to see that Jedediah is giving the order to blow the mountain with dynamite. Larry tells him not to since all he will hit is a wall. Jed tells them to detonate it anyway, but only a little poof of smoke results. Larry asks them what they are doing and Jedediah responds by saying that they are working on Manifest Destiny. Larry, fed up, grabs Octavius and Jedediah and tells them that he is going to let both their cultures roam free if they promise to behave. They both promise and Larry exits the room. Larry then proceeds to the Hall of African Mammals and tells Dexter to go inside. Dexter goes into the room and Larry locks the door. Dexter thinks he stole the keys and holds up a set of baby keys. Larry locks the gate in triumph thinking he has outsmarted Dexter. He continues his rounds and finds Teddy looking at Sacagawea again. Larry advises Teddy to just go and say hello to her. Larry leaves, and Teddy goes up to the glass about to say hi to her, but walks away, too shy. Cut to Larry's office being broken into by an unknown figure; he opens Larry's desk and plants various artifacts from the museum, then leaves.Larry encounters Attila the Hun in the Teddy Roosevelt Rotunda. Attila moves to attack, but stops short when Larry tells him that he can show him some magic. Attila watches as Larry makes a bouquet of flowers appear, makes a coin disappear and reappear out of Attila's ear and makes a handkerchief disappear. However on the last trick he messes up, revealing part of the handkerchief sticking out of the fake thumb he is wearing. Attila discovers this and tells his Huns to grab Larry and start pulling his limbs apart. However, they are interrupted by an incoming elephant. Larry looks up and discovers that the animals have escaped from the "locked" Hall of African Mammals and we see Dexter holding Larry's keys. Larry chases after Dexter and they run into the diorama room where Larry sees the Romans and cowboys fighting. Meanwhile, Dexter uses the keys to open a window. Larry goes to Jedediah and Octavius fighting on a post and snaps at them to make them stop. They explain that they will never get along and they continue fighting. Larry sees Dexter again and chases after him only to find one of the cavemen on fire. He takes the fire extinguisher and sprays the exhibit with foam, smothering the fire. Larry then continues to chase Dexter. Meanwhile, one of the cavemen finds the open window and sees people outside around a bonfire. He leaps out the window to join them.Larry corners Dexter in one of the exhibits and tries to get the keys back. Dexter slaps him and they begin to get into a slap fight until Teddy stops them. Teddy gets the keys back by respectfully appealing to Dexter. Larry tells Teddy that he can take over; Larry has decided he's not coming back (again). Teddy tries to convince him to stick it out, but he is unsuccessful. Christopher Columbus points Larry to the open window. Larry runs to the window and sees a caveman outside and the sun rising. Larry runs to the front door to see the caveman coming back but too late; the sun comes up and the caveman turns to dust in the street. A street cleaner drives by and cleans his remains off the road.It is morning and Nick and two friends go to the museum thinking that they will get a free tour. Larry goes to clean up the foam residue from the caveman display, but Dr. McPhee fires Larry right in front of Nick and his friends. Nick and his friends leave without Larry seeing them. Larry runs after Dr. McPhee and convinces him to give him one more night. Back at his mother's apartment, Nick tells Larry that he was at the museum and saw him get fired. Larry tells Nick that he didn't get fired and tells him that he can go to work with him that night. At the start of his evening shift, Larry sees Rebecca and asks her how her dissertation is going. She says that she has given up because she will never know who Sacagawea really was. Larry thinks for awhile and decides to tell Rebecca the secret. Rebecca, thinking that Larry is making fun of her, leaves the museum.Nick arrives at the museum. Larry sits Nick down on the front desk and tells him that the dinosaur is about to come to life. It is the time things usually animate, but nothing comes to life. Nick is upset and thinks his dad is lying to him. Larry takes him to the Pharaoh's chamber to discover the tablet is missing. Larry runs to where the tablet should be and turns around to see that Nick is gone. He runs out and sees Nick going down the stairs to leave. Then they see a shadow of someone outside; they proceed to investigate. Nick finds a shopping cart containing the tablet and he removes the tablet. Cecil and the other security guards come out of the darkness and tell Nick to give them the tablet. Larry tells Nick to turn the middle square on the tablet, which will make everything come alive. Nick, conflicted about whom to believe, eventually turns the middle piece. The three guards prepare to fight. Larry tells Nick to take the tablet and run. Gus starts to run after him, but Larry stops him and gets knocked to the floor. Larry gets up, and Gus punches him twice. Cecil, kicks him to the floor again and explains how they loved working there. They explain that the tablet also gave them new life. When they found out they were going to get fired, they had to do something. They reveal that they planted the goods in his desk to frame him. They leave to find Nick while Gus delivers a piledriver on Larry's back, almost knocking him out.Meanwhile, Dexter opens the front door to the museum, letting everything out. Nick runs into the Pharaoh's Chamber and Cecil takes the tablet. Larry runs in and Cecil knocks him over, stealing his keys and locking him and Nick in the Chamber. Larry calls out for Teddy, who comes and introduces himself to Nick. Larry asks Teddy to get him out, but he declines, telling Larry that it is "his moment"; Teddy rides away. Larry turns around, and the giant Anubis statues are about to attack Larry and Nick. Larry manages to run through the statues' defense and opens the Pharaoh's Tomb. The Pharaoh orders the Anubis to stand down and unwraps himself. He introduces himself as King Ahkmenrah. The Anubis free them from the Chamber allowing the three to go to find the tablet.They find the entire museum battling one other in the Teddy Roosevelt Rotunda. Attila the Hun sees Larry across the Rotunda and runs to attack. Larry decides to meet force with force. They meet and yell at each other until Larry finds Attila's soft side and eventually gets Attila on his side. Larry then tries to get everyone's attention, but fails. The Easter Island Head then screams at everyone to be quiet and Larry is able to speak. He explains how the guards stole the tablet and gives everyone a task to get it back. He tells the Civil War soldiers to go around the Planetarium wing. He tells Columbus to take the Cavemen and go around to the reptiles section. He tells Jedediah and Octavius to go take care of Cecil's van. They refuse to work together at first, but Larry convinces them to go by saying that they aren't that different; they are both great leaders. He convinces everyone to work together and they proceed.Outside, Jedediah and Octavius take some of their people and go to flatten the tires on the van. The air pressure blows everybody off the air valve, except Jedediah and Octavius. Meanwhile, the Civil War soldiers catch Gus, and Columbus and the cavemen catch Reginald. Cecil, who is holding the tablet, gets to the van and drives away. Larry, Nick and Ahkmenrah go outside to find the van gone. Larry goes to get Sacagawea to help track Cecil. She finds that he crashed his car across the street and went back into the museum.Suddenly, Cecil appears out of nowhere with a team of horses and a carriage. He is about to run her over when Teddy appears and pushes her out of the way. Sacagawea is fine, but Teddy has been cut in half. Larry takes Teddy's horse and chases after Cecil while Sacagawea stays behind to help Teddy. Jedediah and Octavius also appear in the RC car with the bone still attached; they lead the T-Rex onto the road with Larry. Jedediah turns the car so that T-Rex will collide with Cecil, but the car spins out of control and flips behind a small hill, exploding with a puff of smoke.Larry rides next to Cecil and warns him to stop the horses or he will. Cecil explains how the horses are money carriers and were trained not to stop for anything but a secret word. Larry reveals the word to be Dakota and the horses stop, sending Cecil flying into the air. Larry grabs the tablet and takes Cecil to Attila the Hun. Attila takes Cecil back to the museum. Larry gives Ahkmenrah the tablet and he uses its powers to send everyone back to the musem. Larry also calls Rebecca and tells her to go to the museum.Everyone goes back to the museum and Larry and Ahkmenrah do a count to see if anyone is missing. Teddy comes back, having been fixed and Rebecca walks in. She sees Sacagawea and walks off with her, asking her questions. Larry and Teddy finish the count and Larry realizes that two people are missing, Jedediah and Octavius. He assumes they are dead until Nick tells him to look and they see them both struggling up the steps to the museum. Jedediah responds by saying, "You ain't getting rid of us that easy." They salute and proceed into the museum.Teddy says he will see Larry tomorrow night, but Larry is not sure that he will still be working there; the main hall is a mess from all the fighting. Morning comes and Larry is in Dr. McPhee's office watching several news reports of the incidents last night. Dr. McPhee fires Larry again. They both walk out and see that the museum is filled with people and extremely busy. A chastened Dr. McPhee gives Larry his job back by simply handing him his flashlight and keys. That night, Larry is at the museum and the "night crew" is partying in the Rotunda. We see everyone getting along and Nick is riding on T-Rex who is being guided by Jedediah and Octavius with their new toy sports car. Larry then flips his flashlight, puts it in his belt, and snaps his fingers to turn the light off-- he's completed a model "snapper" for himself.During the credits is a scene showing that Cecil, Gus and Reginald have been re-hired as custodians and janitors for the museum. It's not what they'd hoped for, but they make the most of it.

whimsical, fantasy, historical, bleak

train

imdb

Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, Dick VanDyke, Mickey Roney, Bill Cobbs...I'm not a Stiller fan, but in this one he was really great, he steps out of his usual shtick to really anchor this movie. I was impressed by the trailers and I got really pumped when I saw people like Stiller, Wilson, Robins, Rudd and more famous comedian actors like Gervais in it.The movie starts out slow but picks up once Stiller's character enters the museum. Night at the Museum felt like a pattern to me, no funny parts to little giggles and then the movie would make you laugh so hard.All the famous faces really brought charm to the movie and I don't think it would have work well with anyone else.Night at the Museum is a fun movie worth seeing but not a movie you will be looking back on in 10 years time.. I hope you all reward the studio for putting out a true "family movie" for the holidays, so we'll see more in the future.It was good to see Dick Van Dyke, Andy Rooney and Bill Cobbs in light, comic roles, and Robin Williams in a solid supporting role. The film has huge plot holes and probably hundreds of continuity errors but rampaging dinosaurs, goodish CGI and another athletic comic turn from Ben Stiller, together with the gorgeous Carla Gugino make this near perfect Xmas cinematic fair.The Museum of Natural History is suffering a downturn in visitor numbers and has to make cutbacks by way of night security men. The film's premise that the various waxwork and skeleton inhabitants come to life at night due to the presence of a magical Egyptian golden tablet placed 50 years before is, of course, to suspend disbelief beyond anything else you'll be expected to this year - but anyone at a loss for an excuse to get the kids out of the house over the Christmas period could do a lot worse than spend just under a couple of hours at the multiplex to see what is a cross between Jumanji and the Indian in the Cupboard.. I had the pleasure of some pre-release tickets and took the whole family along to see this movie with no idea of what to expect.The movie started and got into the storyline of a divorced dad (played by Ben Stiller) who wants his son to be proud of him and his work but has been through a string of jobs without any success. This is when the fun really starts and there's famous faces all over the place, including a great performance from Steve Coogan, Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais and loads more playing such characters as Teddy Roosevelt, Attila The Hun etc It's a film that makes you laugh out loud in the cinema if you're a kid and I have to admit I did the same a few times.The film goes on for about an hour and three quarters but is jam packed of fun and special effects It's a magical family film - so if you got kids go and see it definitely. That is the premise of this film, "A Night at The Museum." It is the simple story of a father, Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) who has developed a strained relation with his son. Also cinematography is amazing in some parts of the film and Alan Silvestri's music is great but in some scenes too big for the story.Ben Stiller act like he have always done. I saw it on the big screen and I don't think it's even nearly as good on the DVD and small TV.7 of 10 with 7 reasons: - good idea - very entertaining - beautiful cinematography - good actors - beautiful beginning - good special effects - good music3 reasons why not 10 of 10: - only the last part of the film was good on every scale - not so great direction in some scenes - too dramatic, powerful music for some scenes. The main dynamic of Stiller's character is setup for the base concept of having inanimate objects come to life and pull stupid pranks on an unsuspecting patsy.The CGI was decent but in this day and age that's not a huge compliment where every movie using CGI is practically flawless.Some of the better humor come from Van Dyke and Roonie, but there's not nearly enough to help this horribly written plot.Some better fun family fair suggestions would be Jumanji, The Last Mimzy, and any Pixar film. In Night of the Museum, Ben Stiller plays Larry Daley, a divorced middle aged man who has gone through failure after failure, spending his life always attempting schemes to make it as something big, but never succeeding. He bumbles, he fidgets, he trys his dorky thing, but he fails to show any emotional depth in the character or at all, he is completely bland in the role, and while he is not immediately dislikable, he is forgettable along with every aspect of the character's personal life in the film.The true highlights of Night at the Museum, and really its saving grace from being awful, are easily the toys, artifacts, and statues in the museum itself, brought to life absolutely splendidly with top notch CGI and visual effects. The rest of the artifacts in the museum including a fossilized T-Rex, an Easter Island statue, an Attila the Hun brought to life, and some fire craving cave men, are all entertaining and fun to watch run wild.The film itself in particular, as mentioned, picks up a great amount steam and pace in the second half of the film, once it focuses on the artifacts' situation and the mission they end up taking, it seems to drop Stiller's character and focus and the pure fun. It is really a pity that talents like Ben Stiller or Robin Williams lost their time in acting here, they could not save this film. The film concerns about a divorced father(Ben Stiller)of his spouse(Kim Raver) and with a son,he's unemployed when gets a job at Museum of Natural History of New York City.He's assigned by veterans security agents(Dick Van Dyke,Mickey Rooney,Bill Cobbs) to night vigilance.There knows a beautiful tour guide(Carla Gugino).But the allegedly easy employment results to be a roller-coaster when encounters what an Egyptian curse causes the ancient animals,beasts,historic personages and miniature are brought to life originating wreak havoc and complications for the unlucky night watchman.Thus several animals and historic characters come to life , like a Tyrannosaurus Rex,lions,monkeys,besides a Neardenthal cavemen,Vikings,Attile(Patrick Gallaher) and the Huns,Chinese Terra-cotta soldier,Christopher Columbus,Lewis and Clark with Sacajawea(Mizuo Peck)Teodoro Roosevelt(Robin Williams)and Octavius(Steve Coogan) and a cowboy(Owen Wilson).This blockbuster displays action,adventures,fantasy and an enjoyable father-son relationship.This fantastic film begins like a familiar drama and continues with an authentic sense of magic and wonder ,wind up an overlong bombastic wild ride made by excellent special effects and with an exciting final pursuit.Spectacular images and computer generator set pieces action with several personages and animals can not erase the charm of characters and ideas especially in the hands of peerless casting.Colorful and lush cinematography by Guillermo Navarro(Guillermo del Toro's usual cameraman)and lively musical score by Alan Silvestri(Robert Zemeckis's usual musician).The motion picture is beautifully executed with phenomenal production values and well directed by Shawn Levy,he's a familiar cinema expert:Cheaper by the dozen,Pink Panther,Just married.The film contains numerous scenes have you on the edge of your seat with a stunning array of technical images what will be enjoyed for all family.. Alas, I had my hopes set too high.One would think that in a film with Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Mickey Rooney, Dick Van Dyke, Robin Williams and Owen Wilson would be filled to the brim with great comedic performances. But there is only one actor with any significant screen time who is allowed to let loose with his performance, and that is Ben Stiller: an unfunny guy whose reputation is built on the backs of funny co-stars such as Cameron Diaz, Andy Dick, Janeane Garafalo, and his father Jerry Stiller.The premise of the film--taken from a children's book by Milan Trenc--is that Ben Stiller is a divorced dad who takes a job as the new night watchman at the New York Museum of Natural History in order to prove to his son that he isn't an unemployable loser. I liked the small roles by Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, and Bill Cobbs, though.Overall, "Night at the museum" is a very average film that tries to disguise itself with a well-known cast and snazzy effects. If you like to go to the Museum of Natural History, this will sure add some spice to the it...imagine seeing everything going live in action at ....Uh Oh, I can't tell too much, You need to go see for yourself, me and my husband have so much fun watching the movie from the beginning to the end. And in supporting roles it was nice seeing Robin Williams (as Teddy Roosevelt) and Dick van Dyke, Mickey Rooney and Bill Cobbs as the three old retired watchmen.The special effects are all quite good, in fact you feel like all those CGI animals are real. This great fiction movie tells the story of Larry Daley, a good man that have some problems finding a job, and he finally found one at the Museum of History, where, oh surprise!, all the exhibits come to life at night by some unknown reason! The acting role of Robin Williams as president Teddy Roosevelt, as always is touching, and Ben Stiller in a good acting, makes you laugh really loud!.A great fantasy story, that makes you learn more than history!. But at another point, when Larry needs Roosevelt's historical expertise, the character observes that he really knows nothing – he's just a wax figure created by a factory in upstate New York.You can't have it both ways guys.A small detail I suspect and the kids who will make this one of the most popular films of the Christmas season won't notice."Night at the Museum' is not a flat-out comedy (though Stiller always has something droll happening) but that is not what its producers are after. Once the sun comes down, the fun begins.The cast is the best part of "Night at the Museum." Ben Stiller is funny, as always, as Larry Daley. An all star cast including greats like Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney and Robin Williams compliment the main character played by Ben Stiller who i believe gave one of his best performances in this film.Night At The Museum has definitely been let down by bad marketing (i think another member commented on that), so buy a ticket - i promise you won't be disappointed!. The film gets off to a good start, as we are introduced to Ben Stiller's 'loser' character as he tries to get a job to provide stability for his son. The trio of Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney and Bill Cobbs provide a few laughs, while the film is fleshed out by comedians such as Robin Williams, Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan as museum exhibits. If one or two scenes are quite funny (I particularly like the one where Attila cries...) and Ben Stiller brought some of his SNL friends (Owen Wilson is great in a tiny cowboy with an useless gun, and Steve Coogan in mini-gladiator is also perfect), the movie is rather unoriginal, predictable, not so fun, and badly directed (even from a technical point of view : you can see the mikes in a few scenes : come on ! Night at the Museum is a fantastic movie with a very well developed storyline and a brilliant cast.The movie is dramatic,funny and also takes you on a fun and crazy adventure,which will keep people glued to their seat all the way through.Ben Stiller is great in the lead and he is also joined by an outstanding supporting cast,which includes the great Robin Williams,Owen Wilson,Dick Van Dyke,Ricky Gervais,among many others.The effects are absolutely beautiful and you can tell from start to finish that a lot of time,money and dedication was put in to making this film.Fun for the whole family and a wild ride,I would recommend Night at the Museum to anyone looking for a good family or adventure film. The movie is about Larry is the security guard of the Natural History Museum and he discovers that all the animals and exhibits come to life at night. The audience will be shocked by the animals and exhibits thanks to the special effect which let them come to life at night.Another thing I like about this film is about the actors.All the actors give a superb performance in the movie.A perfect example is that Ben Stiller who acts as Larry , he acts like a Joker so he makes the scenes become hilarious. it is a amazing movie if you like scary movies this is your kind of movie than it is funny all though this is one amazing movie you will say wow lets watch that again this is a movie you just have to see for sure this is a great movie Ben Stiller is great for this movie it is a two thumbs up movie this is something that you just have to see to believe it it is a outstanding movie that the whole family will enjoy this movie rocks i never saw a movie this good before this is a must see movie you just have to watch this amazing movie you will die when you see this wonderful movie go see this movie today i recombined this movie it is out stand it hits a home run it is a knockout Night at the Museum is a movie that you just have to go see it is a must see for sure it is a 4 out of 4 star movie in my opinion i hope you say that same thing because this is great now go cook some popcorn and get a large soda and grab a great seat and watch one of the best movies ever. It has an old fashioned feel to it and although there are lots of effects used throughout the main selling point of the film is the story and the interaction between the characters.Ben Stiller heads up a strong cast of the great and good of comedic actors with Steve Coogan and Ricky Gervais (at his most tolerable) being the big names with legends such as Robin Williams and Dick Van Dyke also being involved.Shawn Levy gets some stick for his films but he does a good job here of making a classic film that can be enjoyed by those of all ages. It stars Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Bill Cobbs, Ricky Gervais, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan. Plot sees Stiller as a newly recruited night security guard at the Museum of Natural History, who discovers that an ancient curse causes the animals and exhibits on display to come to life and wreak havoc. i gotta be honest,i didn't laugh once while watching this movie.yet for some reason i still enjoyed it.it has its fair share of excitement and i liked the wide array of characters.it takes awhile to get going,but once it does,it's actually not a bad little movie.Ben Stilller stars.Kim Raver,who i really like,has very small role,as does Carla Gugino.Paul Rudd has what amounts to a cameo.there are a lot of big names in supporting or even smaller oles in this film.too many to list here.it's nice to see Mickey Rooney,Bill Cobbs and Dick Van Dyke together.they had good chemistry,and were amusing.even though i didn't find the film funny,i still found it entertaining.for me,Night at the Museum is a 6/10. Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney are great fun in their roles, but my favourite has to be Robin Williams as Theodore Roosevelt, in one of his more entertaining "recent" films. Here is a bit of movie trivia.Steve Coogan who plays Octavius the Roman Soldier,had some prior experience playing a toy miniature.He was also in the 1995 Frank Oz film "The Indian In The Cupboard" where he played Tommy Atkins,a toy World War I British Medic who is brought to life by the magic cupboard.Guess he already knew how to look up at the camera high above the actors heads and got the job.And compare Owen Wilsons character Jedadiah in Museum to David Keiths character,Boone the cowboy in Cupboard.They seem awfully alike.All in all Museum is a nice children's movie with a lot of in jokes (who else with a deep voice to play the Easter Island Head than Everybody Loves Raymonds,Brad Garrett).Give it a second chance if you didn't like it the first the time.You just might like it on a different level.. Ben Stiller does a very good job with his role, and makes that film have some genuine laughs. As you can work out from the trailer, this movie is all about a Museum where the exhibits come to life at night.Ben Stiller plays a down-and-outer who needs to find a job or face losing visits from his son. And Robin Williams was great as "DR." As the lights came up in the theater at the end of the movie, my family and I all agreed that this was definitely a "buyer" when it comes out on DVD.. It looked like it was a blast making this film.Larry has a problem, he can't seem to hold a job for too long, it's disappointing to his son, but he wants to turn things around and gets hired as a security job at the museum of natural history, but little does he know when the former security guard tells him to watch out for the museum at night and gives him interesting directions, well, you know the saying that museums can bring history to life? Kids might enjoy the idea of museum exhibits coming alive at night but adults should probably avoid this film unless they're real Ben Stiller fans.. Night at the Museum is a decent family comedy film starring Ben Stiller.

tt0482571

The Prestige

The Prestige begins with shots of several dozen top hats inexplicably strewn about in a forest.Cutter (Michael Caine), in voiceover, explains the three parts of a magic trick while performing a disappearing bird trick for a little girl. Part one is the pledge, where the magician shows you something ordinary, like a bird. Part two is the turn, where he does something extraordinary, like make the bird disappear. But this isn't enough. There always has to be a third act, the prestige, where you have a twist, and bring the bird back. Only then will the audience applaud.Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), stage name "the Great Danton," attempts a transporting trick that involves walking under a giant electrical machine with a Tesla coil and then disappearing through a trapdoor. Except that he falls straight into a giant tank of water that has been placed under the stage, and is automatically locked inside. A man in the audience, who we shortly learn is fellow magician Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), stage name "the Professor," forces his way beneath the stage in time to see Angier drown.After this introduction, we follow three timelines at once. In the present day (19th century England), Borden is on trial for murdering Angier, who we learn was his greatest rival. Cutter is revealed to be Angier's engineer, the man who builds the machinery for his tricks, and the little girl is Borden's daughter Jess (Samantha Mahurin).Cutter confides to the judge in a private meeting that the machine Angier was using wasn't built by him, but by "a wizard," and it legitimately did what it appeared to do.The trial does not go well for Borden, and he faces execution. Later, in jail, Borden is approached by the solicitor for a collector, Lord Caldlow, who is interested in buying his secrets, particularly the secret of Borden's famous "Transported Man" trick. The same collector has also bought all of Angier's equipment and props. When Borden refuses, the solicitor threatens that Jess is in danger of being declared an indigent orphan and sent to the workhouse unless his patron intervenes. As an incentive, he gives Borden Angier's diary, which documents the time he spent in Colorado trying to learn Bordon's secret.Borden's reading of the diary in prison frames the second part of the narrative, which is from Angier's point of view. Angier is on a train in the Rocky Mountains, headed to Colorado Springs, Colorado, on his way to see the notorious scientist Nikola Tesla (David Bowie). Disembarking at the train station in town, Angier is taken by coach to the inn, where he gets an unusually warm welcome from the hotel staff. The manager tells Angier that he's their first guest of the winter. Angier asks if a ride can be arranged to take him up to Pike's Peak the next day, but is told that the peak is closed for experimentation.The next day, Angier is dropped off on a dirt track in the woods, at the farthest point the carriage can take him. He makes his way up to the fence surrounding a clearing. He is immediately thrown back as the fence is electrified. Tesla's assistant Alley (Andy Serkis) comes out of the gatehouse, thinking at first that Angier is another intruder, then recognizes him, saying he's seen Angier's London show. Angier says he's come to ask Tesla to build him a machine like one that he believes Tesla built for Borden -- the machine that allows Borden to do the "Transported Man" trick. Alley says he can't help Angier, and Angier heads back to the hotel, disappointed. Alley takes satisfaction when Angier, back turned to him, correctly guesses that Alley is holding a gold watch in his hand.Angier sits down in his room and begins decoding a diary he stole from Borden, which is encrypted with a particular five-letter-word passcode (important later).Borden's diary frames the third thread of the narrative, which goes back to the very beginning.Angier and Borden are partners, up-and-comers working for an elderly magician named Milton (Ricky Jay). Milton also employs Cutter and Angier's wife Julia (Piper Perabo). Their best trick is an underwater escape act. In this act, Angier and Borden are planted in the audience and called up to the stage to tie Julia's wrists and ankles before she is hoisted up on a pulley and dropped into a water tank. A curtain descends on the tank, and Julia slips the knot around her wrists and escapes using a trick lock on the tank. As a safety precaution, Cutter is positioned stage right, behind the curtains, with a stopwatch and an axe.Angier and Borden are on friendly terms, though Angier is somewhat concerned that Borden might be using a knot that is more difficult for Julia to slip. We learn that Angier is using an alias so he won't embarrass his prominent family with his theatrical pursuits, while Borden and his engineer Fallon come from a rougher background. Borden is much more ambitious than Angier, isn't afraid to do dirtier tricks, and wishes Milton would try more dangerous tricks, like a bullet catch. Borden claims to have created a trick that will be his masterpiece.One day, Cutter sends Angier and Borden to watch a Chinese magician, Chung Ling Soo (Chao Li Chi), and figure out exactly how the man makes a heavy goldfish bowl (filled with water and goldfish) appear from under a cloth. Borden immediately deduces that the old magician is really putting up a front: he's holding the bowl between his legs under his skirt, hiding the strength required to accomplish the trick by always appearing frail in public. Borden admires the way the Chinese magician goes to such an extreme that he "lives" his performance at home. Angier is surprised, since when he tries holding an empty goldfish bowl at home, he has a hard time carrying it.As his prize for working out the fishbowl trick, Borden gets a few minutes onstage assisting Milton during a performance, where he performs a trick where a bird and cage disappear simultaneously, and then the bird reappears. A boy in the audience becomes upset when he realizes the bird in the cage isn't the same as the one that reappears. Borden tries to help the boy's aunt, a woman named Sarah (Rebecca Hall), to console him. After the show, we discover that the bird in the cage has to die to achieve the illusion, as Borden is seen tossing the original bird in the trash. Borden and Sarah strike up an acquaintance and become romantically involved.Disaster strikes during the next performance of the underwater escape. Borden ties, stops, and then reties the knot around Julia's hands as they prepare to put her on the hoist. She can't manage to slip the knot underwater, and Cutter isn't able to break the glass of the tank in time to save her. Julia dies onstage, leaving Angier devastated and Milton ruined. During the funeral, Angier confronts Borden, asking which knot he tied. His answer is that he "doesn't know," which Angier cannot accept. This is the beginning of their bitter rivalry.Borden and Angier both strike out on their own, but there are obvious tensions. Borden marries Sarah and starts doing his own act, the climax of which is a bullet-catching trick. The secret, as Borden explains to his pregnant wife, is that the bullet is palmed, so that it's already in the magician's hand when the gun is fired. All that comes out of the pistol is gunpowder. But magicians have died during the trick because of audience members sticking buttons or their own bullets into the guns.Borden is next seen performing for a very rowdy audience. After whipping out the gun to silence the audience, he asks for volunteers, then hands the gun to a man who is actually a disguised Angier. Angier, knowing the trick, deliberately puts his own bullet into the gun, and confronts Borden again about the knot he tied. When Borden's answer is still "I don't know," Angier shoots him, blowing the ends of two fingers off his left hand and jeopardizing Borden's career. Sarah encourages him to quit magic. She isn't happy that Borden keeps secrets from her as part of his trade. Their marriage is an uneven one, and she claims that when he says that he loves her, she can tell on some days he doesn't mean it. Borden admits this is true and they make a sad little game of it: some days he loves her, some days he loves the magic.One day at a bar, Angier is approached by Cutter, whom no one will hire because of his association with Milton. They start their own act, with Angier performing as "the Great Danton" (a name suggested by his late wife and rejected at the time for being "too French"). His lovely assistant is a blonde bombshell named Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson). Because Angier doesn't want to get dirty, Cutter comes up with a new version of the "disappearing-bird-in-the-cage" trick where members of the audience keep their hands on the cage as it disappears. The trick involves mechanical gadgetry that Angier wears under his suit to fold away and retract the cage. Best of all, the bird is unharmed.Angier debuts the trick at his show. The audience is negative at first, complaining that they've seen the trick numerous times, but Angier says he'll make it a bit harder. He asks for two volunteers to come up from the audience. Two are selected: an elderly woman and a man who is actually a disguised Borden. Although Angier recognizes Borden the moment he puts his hand on the cage, he is unable to stop Borden from jamming the machinery. The cage malfunctions, causing the bird to be killed onstage and the other volunteer's hand to be caught. The theater owner cancels Angier's booking and Angier's reputation is left in tatters.Cutter sends Angier to a science lecture to get some new ideas. Nicola Tesla is preparing to demonstrate several huge, fantastic Tesla coils, generating immense electric charges that seem to fill the room. Because of the perceived danger, the demonstration is canceled by the authorities. But Angier spots Borden in the crowd and follows him, learning about Sarah and their new baby, Jessica. Fed by jealousy of Borden's happiness, which Angier feels should have been his, Angier's obsession over the rivalry grows.Intercut with this storyline are Angier's attempts to meet with Tesla and commission his own transporter machine. Tesla has supplied all of Colorado Springs with electrical service in exchange for being allowed full use of the generators at night (when the residents are sleeping) to conduct experiments. He's even rigged up his own electric fence. When Tesla finally agrees to build the machine for Angier, he warns that it will take a great deal of time and money.In Borden's diary, we learn that both magicians start performing again. Borden, as "the Professor," has a dramatic new trick called the Transported Man that has been getting him attention. Angier and Olivia, who is falling in love with her magician, watch it repeatedly and are unable to tell how he does it. The trick appears amazingly simple: Borden gets into a cabinet on stage right and gets out of another cabinet on stage left. Cutter insists that he must be using a double, but Olivia insists that she can see the bandaged stumps on his left hand both when Borden disappears and when he reappears, even though Borden wears padded gloves to hide his short fingers.Angier and Cutter copy the trick and add the bit of showmanship and flair that Borden's version is missing. In his version, Angier throws his hat across the stage and walks through a door on one side of the stage, secretly drops through a trapdoor hidden behind the door frame onto a padded cushion, while a double simultaneously is hoisted out of another trapdoor behind the door on the other side of the stage to catch the hat. They hire an out-of-work actor named Gerald Root (also played by Hugh Jackman) to be Angier's double. He's a drunk and a lout, but he can perform.Their act, dubbed "the New Transported Man," is an amazing success. But there's one small drawback: Angier has to be the one who sells the buildup of the trick, so he's always under the stage during the prestige and misses out on the audience reaction. Root is getting all the glory, even if Cutter makes sure that he keeps a low profile so the secret doesn't get out. Even worse, Angier still doesn't know how Borden does his version of the trick.Angier decides to send Olivia to work for Borden and spy on him to get the secret. Olivia, who is in love with him, doesn't like the idea, but does as Angier asks and becomes Borden's assistant. To gain his trust, she tells Borden how Angier's trick is done and offers to help him improve on his own act.Meanwhile, a big problem develops -- with Root, of course. Root realizes that he can control Angier because he's necessary for Angier's biggest trick, and demands money. It turns out that Borden has been influencing him, and Cutter thinks Olivia may have betrayed them. Borden's version of the "Transported Man" has improved, and now includes one of Tesla's electricity-generating machines. Cutter gets Angier to agree to phase out the trick.Root's performances get more intentionally sloppy, and one night he simply isn't there at all. When Angier goes through the trapdoor, the cushion to break his fall has been removed, and he breaks his leg. He watches Borden pop out of Root's trapdoor and proceed to humiliate him, suspending a tied-up Root from the ceiling with an advertisement for Borden's own act, before running out of the theater to his own show.Angier confronts Olivia, who insists that Borden's trick is accomplished using a double, because she's seen makeup and wigs lying around. He deduces that such items are planted by Borden as misdirection for her. When he questions her loyalty, she produces Borden's encrypted diary as proof that she didn't betray him. However, the five-letter-word to decrypt the diary is still necessary. Angier and Cutter kidnap Fallon, Borden's engineer, and nail him in a box to hold for ransom.When Borden comes to the meeting place in a cemetery to get Fallon back, Angier demands to know the secret of Borden's "Transported Man" in exchange. Borden writes down one word, "Tesla," which will decode the diary, and suggests that he's teleporting using a machine Tesla built. Borden is then told that Fallon has been buried alive, and Angier asks him how fast he can dig.Angier leaves for America to track down Tesla, for the second section of the narrative, while Cutter stays behind. He was shot by Fallon in the shoulder while nailing the box up, and doesn't want to pursue the secret of the trick any further. Tesla refuses to meet with Angier, and the latter learns that Tesla has run out of funding and is being hounded by his rival, Thomas Edison. Angier assures Tesla that money is no object and Tesla tells him in turn that the machine is already being built.Borden's private life starts falling apart. He's having an affair with Olivia, and his wife is drinking because of their deteriorating marriage. At one point, he instructs Fallon to deal with his family while going to see Olivia. He appears to genuinely care for both women.Sarah eventually hangs herself in Borden's workroom, after trying to confront her husband about one of his secrets.In Colorado, Tesla and Alley have been unsuccessfully testing the machine they built for Angier. They've zapped his top hat time after time with an impressive electrical apparatus, but the hat won't move an inch.Angier comes to the end of Borden's diary and realizes that Olivia actually did betray him. She was in love with Angier, but since he used her as a spy without concern for her feelings, she knew she didn't have a future with him. She gave Angier the diary to prove her loyalty to Borden, who wrote it for Angier. The last entry in the diary tells him that "Tesla" was the keyword to decrypt the writing, which is true, but it's not the secret to the trick at all. Tesla never built a teleportation machine for Borden, and Angier has been sent on a wild goose chase.He goes back to Tesla's lab several times, where the scientist insists that he is capable of building a teleporter, but he never built one for Borden. He tests the machine again, this time using Alley's precious black cat. Alley warns Tesla not to harm the cat. Alley, using the cat's beautiful collar, chains the cat to the spot for the experiment, as Tesla thinks it may be a matter of needing something living. The cat does not like the procedure and hisses, but is completely unharmed. However, the cat doesn't move at all, so Angier leaves in disgust. Then the cat is freed and runs out the front door.As Angier walks back through the woods, we revisit the first shot of the movie: a heap of top hats on the forest floor. And this time, there are two identical (proved by the collar) black cats among them. The machine has been working all along, but instead of moving an object from one place to the other, it creates a duplicate at the destination. Tesla and Alley are amazed, moving from hat to hat and measuring them with calipers. When Angier leaves, Tesla tells him to take his hat. He asks which hat is his and Tesla, smiling for the first time, says "They are all your hat."Tesla and Alley continue to refine the machine now that they know how it works. They have to leave suddenly in the middle of the night when their lab is burned down by Edison's goons. However, in the care of the hotel manager, Tesla leaves a large, trapezoidal wooden box for Angier, containing the components of the machine with instructions in a note. Tesla's note cautions Angier that using the machine is inviting Angier's doom and warns him to destroy the machine rather than use it.Angier takes the box back to England and reunites with Cutter. He's ready to perform again, but this time he's extremely secretive about his methods, hiring blind stage hands and not allowing Cutter backstage at any time. As he demonstrates to an influential promoter, he is zapped with electricity from the machine's Tesla coil, disappears from plain sight, and then reappears up in the balcony, appearing to traverse the distance instantaneously.The show is a hit and Borden is mystified. All he can tell is that Angier's trick involves a trapdoor, but he has no idea what's going on under the stage. Every night, he can see the blind stagehands removing a box from the theater.A few nights later, at another performance, Borden sneaks under the stage, as we saw in the prologue, and watches Angier fall through the trapdoor into the tank and drown. It's clear that Borden didn't have anything to do with it, and he actually tries to save his rival's life by attempting to break through the glass of the tank with a pipe. Cutter runs down under the stage and gets the wrong idea. Borden is arrested. Angier is confirmed dead with Cutter identifying the body.In his prison cell back in the present day, Borden comes to the end of Angier's diary, which gloats that Borden is being blamed for his death. Borden believes the diary must be a fake, until he's called out of his cell to say goodbye to Jess and meet the collector who wants to buy his secrets.The collector, Lord Caldlow, is Angier. Borden is dismayed that he would go so far and involve his child in their rivalry. Caldlow/Angier refuses to help clear his name, and won't even take the secret of Borden's "Transported Man" when bribed, telling him "mine is better." Borden swears he'll get out and have his revenge, promising Jess he'll come for her.Cutter discovers Angier alive when he calls on Lord Caldlow to offer him the machine, hoping to convince him to destroy it. Cutter quickly realizes that Angier is remorseless about framing Borden. He says he's figured out the secret to Angier's version of "the Transported Man" and thinks he's gone too far.Borden has one last visitor: Fallon. Borden tells him what he's learned, gives him the rubber ball he sometimes uses for tricks, and tells Fallon to go "live for both of us."Cutter brings the machine to Angier, and as he leaves, we see Fallon arrive to confront Angier. This is intercut with scenes of Borden being hanged. Borden dies just as Fallon shoots Angier. The camera pans up to reveal that "Fallon" has two missing fingers and Borden's face.Angier finally realizes that the secret of Borden's "Transported Man" was simple: Borden had a twin brother, and they were switching back and forth between the double roles of Borden and Fallon. One of them loved Sarah, and one of them loved Olivia. They both lived half of the same life, never telling anyone in order to maintain the illusion. In a flashback, it is shown that the unmutilated twin willingly let his brother amputate the ring and pinkie fingers on his left hand so that they could make the swaps without anyone telling the difference. Sarah, in a scene we've seen before, is puzzled and worried as to why the wound looks new and bruised again; Borden distracts her by slamming a fist down and saying they can't afford a doctor.Angier, who only ever cared about the glory of wowing an audience, went to far more terrible extremes. In his "New Transported Man," he knowingly created a double of himself every time he used Tesla's machine, and he rigged the trapdoor to drown the one onstage. He never knew if he would be the prestige or the man in the box. The room where the machine is being kept is filled with water tanks, all of which hold a drowned double of Angier for every time he performed the trick. Several times, he mutters to himself a line we've heard before in a different context: "No one cares about the man in the box."Angier falls and kicks over the lantern as he dies from his wound, and the resulting fire ensures the machine and all the evidence are destroyed.We loop back to the trick with the small birds in the opening scene (though this time, no birds are harmed) while Cutter reiterates the three parts of a magic trick. As Cutter has told Jess Borden, "before the audience can clap, you have to make the disappeared man come back." On cue, her father appears to reclaim her. She runs into his arms, and Borden and Cutter exchange nods.

dark, mystery, fantasy, murder, suspenseful, psychological, atmospheric, flashback, philosophical, romantic, tragedy, revenge, entertaining, storytelling, sci-fi

train

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The Prestige only helps solidify his standing as one of the landmark directors of his generation.Told in a narrative that jumps between various points along its time line, playing out like a magic act itself, the story is that of two magicians on the rise in their careers. With narration by several characters, each adding their own viewpoint to the events, and with a direction that moves between time to mystify and distract, the end result is a climax that itself is a series of puzzles that each unravel beautifully.The only major criticisms that can be leveled at the Prestige are a confusing play with the seasons during Tesla's introduction (winter suddenly becomes spring/summer and back again) and a strange choice of music for the closing credits (a pop song at the end of a film such as this seems tacky). Teaming up again with his Batman Begins cast of Christian Bale and Michael Caine, and joined with the Scoop team consisting of X-Men's Wolverinie Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson, the stellar (eye candy) cast already set tongues wagging as to whether they'll be able to live up to the hype of Nolan's long awaited movie directly challenging the other picture about Victorian magicians, The Illusionist. The way the movie plays out, it's like a huge magic trick, with the audience waiting to see how it unfolds, getting the suspicion on how it's done, but yet sitting through it thorough engaged to discover how everything will be revealed and resolved. And Michael Caine took on this engineering role as Cutter, responsible for assisting Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) with loyalty and conviction that they could, as a team, beat Christian Bale's Alfred Borden. I went to see a critics preview of The Prestige this afternoon and to my surprise I found the film to be one of the best I have seen all year so far, and that writers can come up with an excellent script it they would only try a little harder. The acting performances by Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Michael Caine were the best I have see in a long while. With his remarkably sleight-of-hand direction, he spins the tale of two rivaling magicians in Victorian-era London, creating a cerebrally stimulating 2 hour long mise-en-scene in which the audience is literally left guessing and gasping at its rare uniqueness through magic acts and bitter behind-the-stage intrigue.The final pay-off of any magic act – the prestige – is of the essence, and preluding it is the pledge, followed by the turn. The pledge introduces our main characters: magicians Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) in turn-of-the-century London and we see how their friendship abruptly becomes a fully-fledged rivalry and hostility with a magic act gone horribly wrong in front of an audience. If you are shaking your head thinking a clever twist ending does not make the movie (and I agree), know that this is not a "gotcha"-kind of Shyamalan trick where you want to stop the film, rewind it and watch it meticulous foreshadowing up to the cheap pay-off, but a tightly-written ever-shifting hall of mirrors with so many intrinsic twists that on your way home you will still be scratching you head and searching for clues.Our two magicians are perfectly-cast with Hugh Jackman capturing the showy, slick, ambition-driven nature of his character Angier in contrast to Bale's technique-driven purist who may be well on his way to perfecting the craft, but lacks the 'Abracadabra' entertainment value. antagonist positions, and indeed they are given almost the exact same screen-time and voice-over narration throughout, a subtle and brilliant accolade of Nolan's.To further evaluate the cast of The Prestige, David Bowie and Michael Caine undoubtedly merit a great deal of praise for supporting the two moody, unlikeable leading men. This he should be fully entitled to do as a director, for a beautiful diversion will always camouflage the process and any of its potential missteps, as Michael Caine's character puts forward.With Scarlett as a pleasurable paint-job, twists by the bucket-load and flashy magic tricks as windowdressing to a solid mystery film, there is little or no need to delve deeper into the psyches of its characters to keep our attention. What makes this movie so incredible is that while it is indeed a movie about magicians (or illusionists) it is also a complex character study about how self destructive obsessions are with a sideline love story and a sci-fi twist. Without having to resort to spoilers, let me just say the story is extremely interesting, the acting very good, the period pieces fun to view and it's a pretty clean movie so grandma can also enjoy it, too, without language or sex concerns.Basically, it's a story about obsession between two magicians in the last decade of the 19th century. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are both fun to watch in those roles, as are Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson in supporting roles.This is one movie guaranteed to have you thinking about it when it's over!. Even though some of the twists seem unnecessary, I thought many were brilliant and I kept trying to will myself to care about it, to care about them, but I didn't.It was a very good film in a detached sort of "viewing art" way but as far as feeling "wow"'d by the end, not so much.. but I guess that is really beside the point.Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play two young British magicians - Alfred Borden and Robert Angier - trying to learn the tricks of the trade, somewhat even allied at first. If you think this film is mediocre or just a "period piece" then you have to think again because the true depth of this plot cannot be realized without watching repeatedly.I have watched it through several times and still can't tell if the Michael Caine character was the true mastermind.This screenplay could play in any time or place, even with unknown actors, and still generate eternal wonder.Too many directors rely on gratuitous violence, expensive action sequences, big name actors and grandiose sets/CGI to wow the viewers Christopher Nolan is an unmitigated genius and doesn't need any of those tricks.. There are many twists and turns to the plot, which will make you say, "How did I not catch that?" There is a quote in the movie that is used frequently, "Are you watching closely?" You need to be paying close attention in order to catch all of the various twists throughout the film.Besides all of the various twists, the acting was also fantastic. This enjoyable and fresh story about intense rivalry among magicians is set in turn-of-the last century, London.Robert Angier(Hugh Jackman) his wife Julie McCullough(Piper Perabo) and Alfred Borden(admirable Christian Bale) are friends and magician's assistants. They battle each other for their magic tricks and Robert attempts disclose the secret about disappearance from his contender with fateful results.This splendid movie is stunning in many aspects and blends appropriately various genres: the lush romantic period piece during nineteenth century Victorian Era, mystery thriller and fantasy.The picture gets it all : suspense, mystery drama, star crossed lovers,plot twists, murders,tragedy and supernatural illusions . In the end of the Nineteenth Century, in London, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), his beloved wife Julia McCullough (Piper Perabo) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are friends and assistants of a magician. This is a good movie as a whole but I feel that Nolan overdid it on the plot twists this time. It has great acting from Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, great cinematography and lighting, and most of the film up to the end is thoroughly entertaining. What follows is a tale of both men finding a means of one-upping each other at every turn, whether it be physically sabotaging the other person's act, using the sexy assistant Olivia (Johansson) to help get secret information, or gaining help from the even more secretive "wizard" Nikola Tesla (David Bowie, in a rare film appearance).The thing about the film is that you have to pay attention at all times. The movie does not mention about the descendants of the Magicians at all.Hugh Jackman's and Christian Bale's acting are amazing. On an even more annoyed note: Bowie was unrecognizable, Johanssen reduced to the human equivalent of a tittybar and Sir Cain to be honest, failed to impress but may have done this on purpose as a lesson learned from his literally outstanding performance in Children of Men. Another highly overrated film from 2006 in which his performance painfully made the acting of practically anyone else a complete joke.The cinematography in Prestige, though suiting the story and time in which it was set, was relentlessly dark which really was eye-candy but on the other hand didn't help the many plodding and derivative scenes.The only thing that made the movie endurable was the fine female company I was with, which provided the necessary distraction which made me miss some key-scenes which offered a bit of challenge to work it all out.I guess Nolan just isn't my kind of storyteller and his rather one-tracked stories not my cup of tea.4/10. Intelligent, witty, excellently shot (a superb mix of breathtaking pans and establishing shots and very involving hand-held/steadi shots), with the finest actor of a generation (Caine) and very likely his successor (Bale).No spoilers here, as unlike Memento,The Prestige's tricks can be worked out before they are revealed, and audiences will have great fun doing so. This is a tale of rival Victorian magicians, whose obsessions lead each into darker and darker places as Jackman's Angier seeks revenge for the death of his wife, and Bale's Borden looks to prove himself the better of the two magicians. Even without the mystery, twists and turns, this story is an excellent character study, something that carries the picture and at times supersedes the mystery and science fiction elements of the plot.Like Memento, it has a non-linear narrative, though not such an extreme one...the narrative is played out in three stages, like the magic tricks within it - first the pledge, then the turn, finally the prestige. this has has to one the best movies ever if not the best..Christopher Nolan is a genius..there is no flaw in the movie..the direction is excellent..Christian bale and Hugh Jackman have put in Oscar winning performances..the plot is mind blowing.. the movie is centered around two magicians with a contrast idea of what magic is and the two are driven by intense rivalry towards each other..each tries to outdo the other and even try to sabotage each others performance..in the end one becomes obsessed to learn the secret of the other's trick and he is willing to risk everything to obtain it.. A lot of words come to mind upon seeing this again, and amongst them are "brilliant," "devastating," "masterful" and "diabolical." The Prestige, for those so shamefully uninitiated, is a pretty much completely perfect film, taking the viewer down a dark, twisted road of revenge, lies and deceit as two former friends destroy each other.There isn't a whole lot wrong with this, and when I said back in March that The Illusionist was better than this, I must not have remember just how good this was. Of course, they started out as partners, but soon became enemies, each trying to out do each other and to discover the other magician's secrets.Cleverly written by Nolan and his frequent collaborator, his brother Jonathan Nolan - and based on the novel by Christopher Priest, THE PRESTIGE will keep you guessing throughout, trying to figure out "how they did it" and are constantly being surprised by double turns, back stabbing and second guessing.Bale, by this time in his career, has established himself as a powerful actor - and he shines here. Christopher Nolan's The Prestige tells the story of two rival magicians, Borden (Bale) and Angier (Jackman). From start to finish you are fixated and deprived of attachment to the world around you much like Borden and Angier as you too do not want to miss any of the films trickery.One of the best things I like about The Prestige is how it deceives the viewer just as a magician would to their own audience. The story of two rival magicians with a tragic history linking them, trying to outshine one another and the mysteries surrounding makes the premise of a magical two hour narrative.There ARE holes in this movie and the story is not as compact as some other Nolan films; having a few weak moments. But this is where the genius of Nolan comes in - he makes it work completely, despite those problems - which is why I rate this movie as one of his best directed films.This film doesn't have the heavy-handedness of 'Inception' (which is overrated IMO), isn't too clever for its own good (again, like 'Inception' and 'Memento' to an extend though I think the latter is Nolan's strongest in terms of sheer narrative brilliance)or the slightly impersonal feel of 'Insomnia' (a great film nonetheless; an underrated Nolan film I think). Hugh Jackman plays one of the magicians, Robert Angier, and Christian Bale was cast as his competitor, Alfred Borden. It is also cold, without feelings, thus leaving the spectator indifferent to the proceedings or the final outcome.Subsequently, it doesn't matter any more that the movie is well crafted, in some instances well acted (especially Michael Caine), none of these things can change the viewers' overall sensation of disappointment in watching this film. "The Prestige" has everything a film need to be great: two lead actors named Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, for the first time together, a supporting cast including Micheal Caine and Scarlett Johansonn - I felt Johansonn was kind of useless here, though - and the direction of acclaimed Christopher Nolan. However, upon seeing it, I am definitely glad he did because The Prestige is one of the most enjoyable films from 2006 I've seen: a twisty turny epic about two rival magicians in Victorian era London trying to out do each other with more twists than a contortionists convention.The story revolves around two men: Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), former friends turned bitter enemies after a tragic accident during one of their shows. "I need to know his secret." "Why?" "So I can do it better."By the end, it is difficult to tell who you are supposed to be rooting for, because both main characters aren't exactly good guys, and I think this makes the film very unique. Hugh Jackman stars as Angier and Christian Bale plays Borden who also worked with Nolan on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. From the twists and turns to the superb acting The Prestige is an entertaining thriller that is sure to please anyone looking for a good film to watch.. Despite the similarities and the release timing, this movie is very different from "The Illusionist" in that it is more of a character study into very obsessive individuals as well as an adventurous, exciting and intriguing example of what film-makers can achieve if they really try.The performances are outstanding, the storyline complex enough to keep you guessing till the end. This leads to a fierce rivalry between the two magicians, and after each one sabotages the others' magic show; the rivalry takes a new turn as they battle to see who can carry out the greatest magic trick...The plot doesn't develop linearly, rather Christopher Nolan chops and changes the exact point in the story where the film is running from, and this works really well as everything always feels fresh and inventive and Christopher Nolan is clearly a director capable of handling this sort of feat. Hugh Jackman is good also and he gets to show more of himself than he did in the X-Men films, while the likes of Michael Caine and David Bowie fill out the supporting cast. acting is good too and the late 19th century setting is detailed and intriguing...While undoubtedly entertaining "the prestige" gives you a chance to think about the endless conflict between lies and truth or fiction and reality, stage roles and real life managing at the same time not to judge the characters and leaving to the audience the freedom to decide where good and evil (if any) stand...a "must see" for everyone, thought it would be wise to note that during the movie appear a few scenes that while not truly violent might be quite upsetting for a young public.... It's an easy step to accept that such unwavering determination spills over into deadly territory, as rival magicians suave Rupert Angier (a riveting performance by Hugh Jackman) and audacious Alfred Borden (Christian Bale effortlessly playing a brooding lower-class Brit) each seek to wreak continuing revenge upon the other.The story, though adapted from a novel, feels like a perfect fit for director Nolan's sensibilities, as the machinations of the two men become increasingly convoluted during a back-and-forth tug of wits that keeps you guessing in the style of Nolan's "Memento." As the game grows increasingly deadly, and threatens to consume all they love, the film becomes a fascinating study in single-mindedness.The work is epic in sweep, beautifully filmed, and strongly acted. There are deeper layers of this film that will be uncovered over time.Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Sir Michael Caine all contributed stunning, emotional performances. Christopher Nolan's "The Prestige" is a very good looking movie and is very well acted. I won't elaborate more on the plot than this, as it will be more amazing to see it without knowing anything about it.Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play off each other perfectly and the period setting of the movie is beautiful. Every actor performs amazingly and this was a film which I loved as the plot takes so many beautiful turns and twists, all done in a believable way (except, Tesla's machine, which won't give a shock to humans).

tt0033787

King of the Zombies

A small plane crash lands onto a small island and into a cemetary. The survivors James McCarthy and his servant Jeff (Dick Purcell and Mantan Moreland) and the pilot (John Archer) are greeted by Dr. Sangre (Henry Victor) and asked to stay in the mansion until a boat arrives.Jeff is asked to go sleep in the kitchen with the other servants while James and Bill are given a room. While down in the kitchen, Jeff discovers zombies are helping out. When he mentions this to James, no one believes him. After he is attacked by the zombies, they let him sleep in the room upstairs.That night the wife of Dr. Sangre, comes in the room through a secret door and rops an earing. Jeff happens to see her and again James and Bill don't believe him, but when he shows them the earing, they suspect foul play. They go snooping downstairs and Bill is attacked by a zombie, while James discovers the doctors neice doing her own snooping in the library, investigating a book on hypnosis.The next morning, James and Bill go to the plane in order to use the radio. They find out its gone. They spilt up and Bill goes searching for the Doctors radio, while James goes back to the mansion to talk to the niece. He discovers that both Bill and Jeff have disappeared.Jeff is hypnotised to be a zombie and later while in the kitchen, he realizes he's not. He goes back to the bedroom through the secret entrance and meets up with James. They both enter the secret entrance and they find a voodoo ritual in the process. When the doctor discovers them, an attack ensues and the Doctor is killed.The doctor was working for the Germans and was trying to get information on an admiral that had had crash landed in the same place a few weeks before. The doctor was trying to transfer the admiral's thoughts to the niece in order to get that information.

comedy

train

imdb

tt2025690

The Finest Hours

This film is based on a true story.Wellfleet, Massachusetts, November 1951.Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) and his friend are meeting two ladies for a date. Bernie hasn't met this woman yet and is nervous that she won't like how he looks. When they do meet, they are instantly attracted to each other. Her name is Miriam Penttinen (Holliday Grainger). The two couples go out for the night, ending it on a boat that Bernie, a coast guard, can ride. Before getting on the boat, Miriam kisses Bernie.Four months later (February 17, 1952).Bernie and Miriam are together at a dance. Miriam asks Bernie if he'll marry her. He says 'no', driving her to tears and she runs out of the building. Bernie follows her out and explains that he does want to marry her, but feels that he cannot due to his job. She assures him that she'll stick with him no matter what, and Bernie decides that he definitely wants to marry her.Meanwhile, on a stormy night, two oil tankers, SS Fort Mercer and SS Pendleton, are sailing on the ocean amidst heavy winds and pouring rain. The storm becomes so intense that the waves hit the boat hard until one such wave breaks a hole into the ship. Water starts to spill inside and throw the men all over the place. The damage gets so bad that the ship splits in two, and Mercer sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Knowing they have to stay afloat until they can be rescued, engineer Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) suggests they run the boat aground to keep it up steadily. The men prepare themselves for this.Bernie is assigned by his superior Daniel Cluff (Eric Bana) to take the CG 36500 motorboat to go out and rescue the men. Bernie brings with him Richard Livesley (Ben Foster), Andy Fitzgerald (Kyle Gallner), and Ervin Maske (John Magaro) to help.The men on the boat work hard to steer the boat aground, though a few of them try to escape on a lifeboat. Ray cuts the rope to the boat and lets it drop. The boat hits the water and is quickly destroyed against the side of the ship.The coast guard men ride through the storm across the treacherous water. They get hit with waves that nearly throw them off their boat, but they hang on tight and continue to brave the storm.Miriam arrives at the station and tearfully demands that Cluff bring Bernie and the others back, knowing how terrible the storm is. Cluff refuses and orders Miriam out of the office. She leaves and drives away, accidentally losing control of the car and driving into a mound of snow where the car gets stuck. Miriam is picked up by a woman who happens to be the wife of Carl Nickerson (Matthew Maher), the man that reported the tankers sinking, making him indirectly responsible for why Bernie and his friends are out in the storm. Carl gets Miriam's car out of the mound.The engineers finally manage to run the ship aground and keep it standing long enough until the coast guard finally arrive. It is noted that there are too many men to fit on the one boat, but they insist on trying. They drop a Jacob's ladder down, and the men slowly start to descend. Some of them fall into the water but are pulled onto the motorboat. Others jump and are caught by Richard, Andy, and Ervin. One man, the ship's cook Tiny Myers (Abraham Benrubi), falls into the water and is killed when his head is struck by the tanker. Ray is the last man to make it onto the boat. The Pendleton slowly loosens and sinks.Bernie calls the station back and informs them that they rescued the men but lost their compass and have no way of making it back to the shore. As the men sail back, Miriam and multiple citizens bring their cars around to the shoreline and flash their headlights to give the men a signal. They make it back and are cheered on as heroes. Bernie and Miriam embrace and kiss.The final text states that Bernie Webber, Andy Fitzgerald, Richard Livesley, and Ervin Maske were seen as heroes. Bernie and Miriam were married until his death in 2009.

tragedy, romantic

train

imdb

If you have seen the movie's trailer (which as been inescapable in the theaters in recent weeks), you know exactly what you are in for: a bigger-than-life, against-all-odds rescue attempt of the crew of the Pendleton tanker, which has split in two, by a four man crew of the Coast Guard in Chatham, MA. Also make sure to stay through the movie's end titles, as we then get a bunch of period pictures from the Boston Globe and other news sources with the real life people from the events (and likely the source of the costuming for the film). The U.S. Coast Guard has played a role in many movies over the years, but only a few have placed this service branch directly in the heart of the story … most recently The Guardian (2006), which was little more than a cheesy, too-talkative water-based rip-off of Top Gun. Director Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, 2007) takes a much different approach as he presents a look at one of the most legendary and heroic real-life rescues in Coast Guard history.The Oscar-nominated writing team behind The Fighter (2010): Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson have collaborated on the screenplay based on the book from Casey Sherman and Michael J Touglas. It combines a boat-load (sorry) of tension-filled ocean-based sequences with some pretty interesting character-based sub-plots within a Massachusetts community that has become all too familiar with storm-based catastrophes.Chris Pine stars as Bernie Webber, an awkwardly shy and obsessive rule-follower, who has lived under a cloud of doubt ever since a previous rescue mission failed, resulting in the death of a local fisherman/husband/father. It should be noted that Bana the Australian, tosses out a laughable southern accent that is a joke within the movie and within the theatre (for different reasons).Bernie and his crew: Richard Livesay (Ben Foster), Andy Fitzgerald (Kyle Gallner), and Ervin Maske (John Magaro), take off against all odds in a too-small boat against too-big waves in a desperate attempt to rescue the tanker crew that includes brilliant engineer Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) and characters played by John Ortiz and Graham McTavish. Of course, we know how the story ends, but the heroic efforts against a very powerful Mother Nature show-of-force make for compelling movie watching.The special effects are stout, though not be as spectacular as The Perfect Storm (2010) or In the Heart of the Sea (2015), and it's the human-factor that provides more than enough thrills, excitement, and tension. However, the relations between the sailors ( in the ship and at the land were somewhat superficially done and yes, you get that some of them are not liking each other, but, why is that is not rally explained and I though it should have been)The love story that also goes parallel to the disaster at sea is sometimes sweet but most of the time is kinda blah and maybe it should have been cut in entirety from the film. The Finest Hours tells the harrowing and courageous true story of the most daring rescue mission that the U.S. Coast Guard has, to this day, ever had to accomplish. Starring Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster and Josh Stewart, the film's cast is stacked to the brim with talent but the director, Craig Guillesspe takes away from their efforts by telling the story in the sappiest of ways. The film starts with Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) on a blind date with his friend as he looks forward to meeting Miriam (Holliday Grainger), the woman he has been talking on the phone with for months on end. The least successful story is a romance between Pine's character and a local girl who somehow manages to afford a car on a switchboard operator's salary, walks through snowdrifts in high heels without slipping or marring her shine, defies convention and embarrasses her boyfriend by proposing marriage, and barges into the all-male preserve of the Coast Guard station to demand that the commander commit an unconscionable act of cowardice in an exchange that might have been ghostwritten by the screenwriter's five- year-old daughter. Chris Pine (good ol' Cap't Kirk) stars as Bernie Webber a mid-level Coast Guard officer who is flung into the forefront when an oil barge splits in half in very rough sees during a storm. Ben Foster, John Ortiz, Michael Raymond James and good ol' Abraham Benrubi are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, of wonderful character actors filling the roles of other Coast Guard members and crewmen of the doomed ship.Only Holliday Grainger as Pine's strong-willed fiancé fails for me, but I blame a weak written character more than her acting for that one.But, make no mistake, it is the action that makes this movie exciting. The finest hours is a film based off an incredible true story, But the film itself is not so incredible.Based off a daring coast guard rescue mission, The film tells the story of Bernie Webber {Chris Pine} who sets out to save a group of people on a sinking ship.The direction by Craig Gillespie fails to bring justice to the real life incident and the pace is just awful, The cast led by Chris Pine and Casey Affleck seem to be sleep walking through the film, The only things i liked about it was some of the effects and some of the score.The film poorly tells what happened in an ineffective way and i rather watch a documentary about what happened. This is another by-the-numbers Disney film, that turns an incredible true story into a series of shortchanged and theatrical instances of peril that has numerous studio executives crossing their fingers, hoping it will somehow lumber its way to be a huge financial hit in a season when few films of more than average quality are out.If all of Disney's eggs are in "The Finest Hours"'s basket, as I'm sure they aren't but just for the sake of argument, then it simply shows what this time of the year really does to Hollywood. There's nothing fundamentally nor glaringly wrong with "The Finest Hours" other than it's a painfully average, uninteresting slog that does so very little to assure any kind of practical methods were taken to really get to the heart of the helpless characters and those brave enough to embark on what seemed like nothing more than a suicide mission.The film revolves around Bernie Webber (Chris Pine), a member of the Coast Guard stationed in Massachusetts on Cape Cod. Bernie's duties are pretty laidback, until the same day he plans to ask his commander Daniel Cluff (Eric Bana) for permission to marry Miriam (Holliday Grainger), the girl of his dreams, he is ordered to guide a lifeboat and a small crew to rescue the S.S. Pendleton. The gigantic ship has just broken in half after getting caught in a violent nor'easter off the coast of Cape Cod, and Bernie and his three-men crew have to figure out a way to track down the ship and rescue as many or all of its thirty-two passengers.This is exactly the kind of remarkable story that we would be calling implausible had it not been based on a true story (same goes for films like "Argo" and even "Trumbo"), and because of that, it's a film that was ostensibly going to be a bit alienating from the start. "The Finest Hours" doesn't go for the survivalist route of "All is Lost," showing its characters at their most helpless and hopeless, nor does it opt for spectacle as it revolves around two developed characters like in "The Perfect Storm." What's left for "The Finest Hours" to do is produce a simple, well-shot action film that does a good job at giving us a chronological timeline of the Coast Guard/Pendleton rescue back in 1952, but nothing else. I believe that I got to this situation for two reasons.First,the plot wasn't been managed well.For example,the HYPE scenes where you actually thrilled are too short and involved with bad effects that makes you not comfortable and bored.Second,except Chris Pine and Holliday Grainger the acting was very bad and not convenience enough something that made feel not emotionally connected with the characters. "In the coast guard they say you go out, they don't say you gotta come back."Director Craig Gillespie and Disney team up once again following their 2014 film, Million Dollar Arm. This time the true story is based on the 1952 Coast Guard rescue attempt at Cape Cod. The film counts with a stellar cast starting from the always charismatic Chris Pine, and including some strong supporting performances from the likes of Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Eric Bana, Holliday Grainger, and John Magaro. Chris Pine is Bernie Webber, a shy man who follows orders and likes to do things by the books, while Holliday Grainger is Miriam, a woman who is set on going after what she want. It tells the story of one of the most daring and dangerous U.S. Coast Guard missions in history as Bernie Webber, played by Pine, led a crew aboard a motor boat to save the survivors of the splitting of the SS Pendleton.First off, it's unbelievable that this is even a true story. Grainger was good in the role, but the time spent on the motor boat and Affleck's crew on the ship was much more intriguing.Another understandable complaint this film has been getting is its noticeable CGI. a gem very underrated (in fact, I think until now, Tomorrowland is the best Disney movie outside the animated jewels that they posses, because the originality of their story and its message).Maybe they need a new brand for the promotion of really good movies like this one, or another kind of publicity, or a different approach to the audience, because the Disney brand is resulting a bad reference for the promotion of some of their greatest films.My final thought is: If you like an adventure movie and with the human touch, you must watch this movie.. Meanwhile Chris Pine's by-the-book Bernie, a Coast Guard who has recently tasted failure in his line of work, must overcome personal adversity and harsh conditions in his rescue attempt undertaken in a small boat with a crew of only four. The Finest Hours chronicles one of their most dangerous rescue attempts that will make you glad to be wrapped in blanket on those cold nights.It is 1952 where Coast Guard crewman Bernie Webber (played by Chris Pine) makes a life for himself in Chatham, Massachusetts where he meets and falls in love with a young woman, Miriam Pentinen (played by Holiday Grainger). Despite having a small boat, his compass gone and cold weather beating him up, he still attempts one of the craziest rescues in military history.The Finest Hours has plenty of material to make a great story from a likable real life solider to a stormy sea that even Moby Dick would have found too rough. If these people don't see this as something major, then why should it's audience?The best thing about the movie are the two stars, Chris Pine and Casey Affleck who are both playing different kinds of leaders. A story of humans risking their own lives to help other humans lifts our spirits—and perhaps reminds us of the value inherent in each one of us.So does The Finest Hours—the rescue movie from Disney opening this weekend— deliver?The movie stars Chris Pine and Casey Affleck and is the true story of the 1952 Coast Guard rescue of men whose oil tanker literally broke in half during a violent storm. The actual story is pretty incredible, considering the odds against the men in the hull of the tanker and the odds against the small Coast Guard boat.What makes any rescue movie so poignant for the viewer is a connection with the characters. The Finest Hours attempted to do this by giving us some back story on Bernie Webber (played by Chris Pine), the man leading the rescue. I really loved this movie because it is in 3D which makes everything appear to be coming right at you and you feel like you are a part of the film, especially during the ocean scenes. The film was written by Eric Johnson, Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy; and it's based on the 2009 book 'THE FINEST HOURS: THE TRUE STORY OF THE U.S. COAST GUARD'S MOST DARING SEA RESCUE', by Michael J. Based on true events this movie provides a super show and merits a top vote.Set in 1952 the film tells the story of a small group of coast guards attempting to rescue men aboard a tanker that had split in half and seemed to be doomed.Fabulously graphic special effects, with 1st rate direction, this picture had me engrossed throughout. However, I can't give this a higher score due to the flaws and the lack of these incredible thrills that made the movie worth watching.However, the schmaltzy drama in the first 15 minutes or so tries to add emotional resonance but is boring and adds way too little to the film. I liked this film.it's set in New England1952during a massive storm at sea,which crucially damages as on oil tanker off the sea of Cae Cod.a daring Coast Guard rescue operation(with four coastguard members) is undertaken to rescue the crew of the tanker and get them home safely.this is Disney film,so sometimes the music gets a little melodramatic for my taste.but this didn't effect my enjoyment of the film.this being set in the 1950's,the women in the film are mostly relegated to the sideline.the one exception is the character of Miriam(Holliday Grainger(love interest for Chris Pine's character Bernie Webber))who is a strong female presence,but is sadly underused.also,the one black man on the doomed tanker gets one sentence the whole movie.if you can overlook these issues,you should enjoy this film.it's fast paced,thrilling and well acted.for me The Finest Hours is an 8/10. However, when it gets the steam rolling, it produces a delightful display of blue cold waves and breaking steel.This is a real life story of the rescue of the sinking tanker in 1952 told mainly in two perspectives; the Coast Guard Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) and the tanker crew led by Sybert (Casey Affleck). Another disappointment was Casey Affleck's performance as he was the total opposite of Pine, because he was not trying at all and looked like he was not drawn to the character or the story, even looked bored in some scenes. Especially Eric Bana and Casey Affleck played their roles very well and I liked seeing them in this movie.Also the movie is based on a true story and I think they showed it well. It is based on a true story in 1952 when just off the coast of New England a severe storm cracked an oil tanker the SS Pendleton into two and the US coast guard headed for a risky rescue mission.The film splits the scenes with the crew of the stricken ship, the rescue mission and the wholesome 1950s setting on the shore with the families at home waiting for better news.Casey Affleck leads the beleaguered engine room crew trying to hold the ship together to improve their chances of rescue after the vessel's officers, radar and radio equipment has been lost when it breaks apart.Coast Guard Chris Pine, just engaged to be married has been ordered to go out to sea with a small craft and a crew of four to rescue the survivors. The peaceful town covered in snow was a great effect that went with the storm at sea.The ship's did look big and made for a lot of suspense, and watching the coast guard try to get over the giant waves of CGI waters was appealing to see. Movies set on water seem to frequently have as high a disaster rate, as do the subjects with which they frequently deal (Water World, In the Heart of the Sea, Cutthroat Island etc.) and this seems to have suffered much the same fate.The Finest Hours features a great cast with Chris Pine and Casey Affleck both outstanding, playing similarly shy, somewhat introverted leadership roles; the former as a junior Coast Guard officer asked to mount a small-scale rescue attempt and the latter as the doomed ship's chief engineer, improvising desperately to keep the mortally damaged tanker afloat as long as possible to afford a chance of rescue for the surviving crew members.I really liked the highlighting of Holliday Grainger's Miriam. one of the good rescue movie based on the true story first it was great screenplay,Visual effect and screen color would make believe in 1952 i am hearing turbine,engine,Pump from Casey Affleck acting scope explored in this movie very well, Ben foster having role of aside to Chris pine saying we need to get back there will be heavy storm that's shows his fear normal man would feel this always. But everything being ok in this movie makes me not care all that much about the true story it's based on.The story revolves around crewman Bernie Webber, who is sent out with 3 others to rescue the crew of the SS Pendleton, which has been split in two by a massive storm off the coast of Massachusetts.Story short, they head out, save almost everyone, and return home safe to carry on with their lives. Don't be put off by the Disney presence, as THE FINEST HOURS is a refreshingly old fashioned disaster-rescue movie based on a true story. When it comes to the actual rescue mission, however, events are followed accurately and there is an extra sense of drama knowing that this part of the move happened in real life in much the same way.A rare movie that not only entertains but, being based on a true-story, also informs and inspires.. This film is based on a true story about Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) a Coast Guard sailor who was able to pull off what is considered the greatest small boat rescue in Coast Guard history.

tt0065979

The Liberation of L.B. Jones

Steve and Nella Mundine arrive in Somerton, Tennessee, where Steve is to join the law firm of uncle Oman Hedgepath. Arriving on the same train is Sonny Boy Mosby, a young black man bent on avenging a childhood beating inflicted by white policeman Stanley Bumpas. Hedgepath is persuaded by Steve to accept the divorce suit of Lord Byron Jones, a wealthy black undertaker. Although Jones has named white policeman Willie Joe Worth as corespondent, his wife Emma contest the suit, hoping to receive a settlement sufficent to meet the needs of the child she has pregnant by Worth. Jones wants an uncontested divorce, but Emma won't give it to him; nor will she give up her lover. She likes playing a mistress. Hedgepath would rather not practice what he calls "nigger law", especially since contested divorce involving a white co-respondent would cause an uproar. When he informs the officer of the suit, he is alarmed; he pressures Worth to "fix things"; drop his affair with Jones's wife and get her to agree to an uncontested divorce, otherwise he will face exposure in court. Fearful of scandal, Worth demands that Emma forego the contest and beats her when she refuses. After fruitlessly requesting Jones to drop the suit. Although Jones escapes, he is pursued into a junkyard. Tired of flight, Jones confronts the officers and is prompltly shot and castrated. Notwithstanding Worth confession Hedgepath and the town mayor that he murder Jones and begging them to send him to jail, but Hedgepath and the mayor decline and tell him to take the day off. Sonny Boy Mosby, however, unknowingly avenges Jones's murder by pushing Bumpas into a harvester. Steve discover the southern town racism and corruption, he and Nella leave town, departing on the same train as Sonny Boy Mosby, while the black community attends Lord Byron Jones funeral.

murder, violence, melodrama, tragedy, revenge, blaxploitation

train

imdb

William Wyler had such a diverse and non-stereotypical career. He painted on a grand canvas with "Ben-Hur," "Funny Girl," and "The Big Country," romped about with fluff on "Roman Holiday" and "How To Steal A Million," and reined in on tight dramas like "Jezebel," "Detective Story," and "The Collector", all to name but a few. "The Liberation of L.B. Jones" was his last film, and its message is still powerful and taut. Here, Wyler reins in very tightly on a drama, placing his camera stock still in three-walled sets and allows the intensity to grow from the individuals coming undone within its frame.Hollywood was just turning the corner in its presentation of dramatic material around 1970, with the revolutionary "The Graduate," "Bonnie & Clyde", and "Midnight Cowboy" already released, so Wyler's effort appears rooted to an earlier period in its presentation. The confining studios sets scream of the backlot environment "daring" pictures were then moving away from. And Wyler's static camera technique is a far cry from the fluid shots used by up 'n coming directors Penn, Nichols, Friedkin, and Wexler. But the overall tone and downbeat ending of "Jones" foreshadowed the de rigueur hard-edged storytelling that would make '70s pictures so vibrant.Taking place in some jerkwater burg in Tennessee, the title character of L.B. Jones (played with dignified austerity by Roscoe Lee Browne) is a wealthy undertaker whose wife (the smoldering hussy embodied by Lola Falana) is practically rubbing his nose in her affair with a local cop. Jones wants to divorce her. The proceedings, if a courtroom action is necessary, would reveal her liaisons with the policeman, played by Anthony Zerbe, and Zerbe truly does not want his own wife to know of his infidelity. Thus, sets in motion the harrassment and tragedy of L.B.'s situation as only a town full of rednecks can perpetrate towards the threat of an intelligent, self-made African-American man.Lee J. Cobb as the town's D.A. who always finds a way to help out the white folks, at the expense of blacks, walks a fine line of bigotry and self-discovery. It may be L.B.'s "liberation", but it's Cobb's character that will ultimately be put to a test. What's unique about this film is that he fails, miserably. Most movies made in the '80s and '90s about the racial plight of African-Americans, whether it be "Cry Freedom" or "Amistad" always have that knight in shining "white" armor that studios feel are needed to "help" the black man break the bonds of tyranny. The black character is never allowed to just gain freedom, discovery or triumph on the merits of his own strengths. This film has the guts to show L.B. take his "liberation" into his own hands, albeit with tragic results, and damns the white majority who are a long way from compassion and understanding.The standout performance in the flick comes from Anthony Zerbe. If all you've seen are his scenery chewing in "Omega Man," his digit-dropping in "Papillon" or his head exploding in "License To Kill," check out his fully-fleshed out character of Willie Joe in this film. He embodies centuries of redneckdom in one person, portraying the self-inflated, unrepentent coward sheltered in police corruption so effectively that he masterfully overshadows the performances of everyone else onscreen. Unfortunately, Yaphet Kotto as a vengeful out of town visitor is given very little to do. And Barbara Hershey and Lee Majors barely have enough motivation to fill in their sketchy roles as Cobb's daughter and her altruistic lawyer husband.If you can stand a little datedness to the narrative (and Elmer Bernstein's horrible score), take a look at this unflinching glimpse at an era of bigotry we thought was eradicated...but it's obviously not. Sometimes I have to scratch my head and wonder why the hell a film isn't more acclaimed and/or remembered. William Wyler's last film The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970) is one of these. A nail biting inferno of racial hate and discomfort.Don't read the tagline and stay away from certain posters, it might spoil it! But even though I knew part of the outcome parts of this film stopped me from breathing, and I'm still filled with this heavy indescribable feeling.It's essentially the tale of when the people discriminated against stops being afraid. It's also an exploration of the small towns of a bygone age, and their despicable sentiments.The Liberation of L.B. Jones would fit perfectly in the company of films in In the Heat of the Night. Perhaps it was just a tad late, or perhaps it was a bit too bleak, but this is surely a film I will remember. A wonderful way to go out for the legendary Mr. Wyler. Pretty Powerful stuff. The "novel" this is based on was according to the author, almost entirely true, only the names were changed to protect the innocent and the guilty. I must stop to say the plot synopsis has nothing to do with the film. This is not a mystery with a "who did it" structure and it is not a courtroom justice or injustice movie. The events play out in sequence and we jump from character to character so that it remains, every bodies story, so to speak. We aren't allowed to distance ourselves from the story by taking the look from the good lawyer or cops perspective after the fact. Yaphet Kotto among many, probably gives the best performance. The photography and the score both seem a bit dated, though each have their strong moments, otherwise this doesn't date at all. The characters motives, good and bad, are clearly laid out and well performed. There are a few moments of technical slop, some optical blow ups of shots in the middle of dialog scenes and a couple of lazy zooms that would not have appeared in a Wyler film a few years before that, but in every other way this shows him still at the top of his game. It's a shame that he stopped making films after this. He himself considered it a strong film and he seems to have more or less expected that it would anger people (white ones that is) when it was released. His usual skill with actors is in evidence and there is some interesting use of sound to help tell the story at crucial moments. Very powerful stuff all around.. Black acting power. This is a sad film about personal weaknesses. The storyline has several weak points too, but on the whole I should think the movie does a great director like William Wyler justice and is still watchable today. There is a certain similarity with the Oscar winning In the Heat of the Night. The screenplay is by the same author, Stirling Silliphant.The Liberation of L. B. Jones really belongs to the African American cast, the whites' performances do pale in comparison. Roscoe Lee Browne plays the well-to-do undertaker who is cheated by his wife with a white policeman. He gives his character a quiet dignity that lasts throughout the story, up to the bitter and sad end. Yaphet Kotto's portrayal of an angry young man who comes to town with a score to settle is equally intense and convincing. Both Browne and Kotto have a few very good scenes in which they act by themselves. They both seize the chance to give their characters real depth. Lola Falana is convincing as the amoral undertaker's wife and there is a good supporting cast. I fondly remember a small, well acted scene at the beginning with an elderly lady who regularly visits the undertaker's show room to have a look at the coffin for which she pays instalments.The white population is, it seems to me, much more stereotypical. The only really interesting figure here is the town's most important lawyer, played somewhat stiffly by Lee J. His unlawful actions to protect white criminals seem like a reflex, not coming from the brain but rather from the spinal cord.. Terrible bit of blaxploitation based on troubling book.. It should be noted that the author of the book this movie was based on, Jesse Hill Ford, shot a 19 yr old black soldier a year after this film was made. Ford claim the black man, George Doakes was threatening Ford's son. It should also be noted that Ford claimed that the woman parked in the car with the black soldier was a relative of the black woman that Ford based the slutty, cheating black wife in The Liberation......on. The author was a strange ,contradictory white southern man who wrote and equally odd and twisted book. The book won awards from the elite in the north and in New York/LA- but both black and white southerners hated it. The movie was doomed to be loved by those who were clueless to the reality of this era , but excited by the sorted racial takes and easy stereotyping. After the boom and the movie, I mam struck by the gross, racist stereotyping of black women (old and pathetic or young and whorey). Like today's Quentin Tarantino films, old blaxploitation film like The Liberation .....were about romanticizing and making black men seem more noble and fiercely strong than in real life. White men are evil, perverted Buffoon's, and black women are wenches . Lola Falana seems to only be there to prove both black and white men right in their assessment and spurning of black women. Nothing about the black women in the book or movie was real or even thought out. Too bad that people looking for information and answers about race in America will look to this and other blaxploitation films for edification and truth.. Liberated From Life. Unless the author of the original novel Jesse Hill Ford who also contributed to the screenplay meant the liberation from life with death for the title character, I'm not sure what The Liberation Of L.B. Jones is all about. Certainly Roscoe Lee Browne comes closer to sainthood than Sidney Poitier ever did in his work which is the usual criticism directed toward Poiter films.Browne is L.B. Jones, town undertaker who is married to a young slut of a wife in Lola Falana. She's openly carrying on with white deputy Anthony Zerbe and she's even been knocked up by Zerbe. The problem for Browne is that if he goes for a divorce and he's finally had enough to do that, the relationship comes out in the open and Zerbe does have a wife and kids. She's obviously not the one giving him a spring in his step however.Enter Yaphett Kotto who's come back to town on a mission of his own, he wants to kill Zerbe's partner Arch Johnson for the murder of a 13 year old kid some years back that Kotto witnessed. He's taking a Hamlet like approach to doing the deed until Jones is killed by Zerbe.The Liberation Of L.B. Jones was done in those transitional days when the new civil rights law and voting rights act were making radical changes in the South. Helping to adapt the screenplay is Stirling Silliphant who did the same for the much better In The Heat Of The Night. The fault lies I think in that Roscoe Lee Browne for what he put up with ought to be listed in the Book of Martyrs. The heavy handed symbolism in the end with Browne being hung in the junkyard like a crucifiction was over the top.The whites in this story, especially those in the establishment fail miserably. Cobb they all are far more concerned with order than law. And order translates keeping the black population in their place.Lola Falana really makes the film work in her scenes though. She was more interested in the nightclub scene than films however, had her priorities been the other way she could easily have been promoted as a black Rita Hayworth.The Liberation of L.B. Jones is a downbeat film both in content and the way it's presented. Not a bad film, but William Wyler the director should have had Funny Girl as his swansong.. THE LIBERATION OF L.B. JONES (William Wyler, 1970) ***. The old guard of the "Golden Age of Hollywood" must have clearly read the writing on the wall that a new and different era was looming on Tinseltown because, right at the start of the oncoming decade, both the greatest (Howard Hawks) and the most honored (William Wyler) of American film-makers decided to call it quits; ironically, while Hawks – a former colleague of Wyler's at the Samuel Goldwyn company who kept making his own kind of old-fashioned film (thus being deservedly deemed an auteur) – bowed out with the enjoyable but slight John Wayne Western vehicle RIO LOBO, the 68-year old Wyler – whose penchant for fluidly cinematic adaptations of prestigious literary properties turned him into virtually the antithesis of that label so beloved by the French critics! – made his exit via a hothouse racial drama. Indeed, following his unprecedented Oscar triumph with BEN-HUR (1959), the director seems to have gained the necessary clout to deal with controversial themes head-on – which he did in the lesbian drama THE CHILDREN'S HOUR (1961; previously filmed by Wyler himself in 1936 as the heavily bowdlerized THESE THREE), the abduction thriller THE COLLECTOR (1965) and THE LIBERATION OF L.B. JONES itself. Even so, he seemed out-of-his-depth portraying the modern forms of dancing and, ultimately, the strength of the film at hand lies primarily in Robert Surtees' luminous cinematography and Elmer Bernstein's vigorous score rather than for any devastating insight into the racial issues! The box-office and Oscar success of IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) spawned not only two further adventures of black policeman Virgil Tibbs in 1969 and 1971 but a couple of other Southern-set racial dramas: these are the film under review and TICK…TICK…TICK (also dating from 1970). As already intimated and as was his fashion, Wyler deals with a weighty subject matter but one has to wonder, however, whether he was completely sincere here – given that the film depicts at least two blacks (an eccentric old lady intent on securing for herself a cozy coffin from the titular undertaker, played by Roscoe Lee Browne, and the doddering yet 'fresh' manservant of the community's patriarchal figure, eminent lawyer Lee J. Cobb) in the stereotypical, i.e. politically incorrect, manner one usually associates with the old Hollywood (and which now necessitates that it be put into context via disclaimers when not eliminated or withheld outright)! While liberation originally referred to the character's divorce application (his much-younger wife, played by future nightclub celebrity Lola Falana, is cheating on him), it can also be attributed to Anthony Zerbe (channeling Marlon Brando as a villainous cop and the lover in the affair) who kills Jones, thus being rid of him. However, there is also the fact that the murder creates an uproar which threatens to bring down the white man's supremacy: though it is all quickly and efficiently hushed, the seams definitely start to show when Lee Majors, Cobb's initially naïve and eager-to-please nephew (here engaged to a young Barbara Hershey), leaves in disgust over the latter's hypocritical leadership and corrupt hold over the town! Incidentally, this dishonesty also exists between the whites themselves: Zerbe does not immediately admit to his interracial relationship (during the course of the film, he not only beats up Jones' wife, impregnated by him, when she decides to fight for her husband's wealth rather than give him a quick concession to the divorce but he actually exerts his authority by raping another black girl in exchange for a reduced sentence for her husband). As for Cobb, he takes Zerbe to task over his shameful behavior when, several years back, he had himself been involved with a colored chambermaid (and which had cost him the companionship of the woman he loved)! Another subplot concerns Yaphet Kotto, who returns home armed with a gun hidden in a cigar box (an irrelevant but funny scene early on has him quarrelling over the weapon with the blackmailing shopkeeper he had given it for safe-keeping, where the latter ends up buried under various items stirred off the shelves in the hubbub!) in order to exact revenge on the cop – Zerbe's equally seedy partner – who had mistreated him in his youth. Interestingly, he is made to relent when eventually given the opportunity to shoot him but, following his target's involvement in Jones' brutal slaying in a junkyard, he approaches his original plan with even more harshness (the policeman now getting his just desserts – in unintentionally amusing, and surprisingly bloodless, fashion – by way of his own wheat-cropping tractor!). Tellingly, Kotto has recently revealed how Wyler had asked him to cry at this point but the actor refused and stormed off the set1 Other ineffectual authority figures here include warden Chill Wills (yet another comic scene has the latter becoming the brunt of the Chief Of Police's ire, the latter played by Ray Teal, when the black man accused of Jones' murder, forced into signing a confession by being fed repeated charges of electricity, turns out to have been a 'jailbird' already at the time the crime was committed!) and mayor Dub Taylor. For the record, Wyler had earlier depicted the hectic (read: heightened) goings-on inside a police station in one of his best films, namely DETECTIVE STORY (1951).. SPOILER- I've only seen the shock ending. I caught the tail end of this movie at a drive in. It involves Yaphet Kotto and probably Anthony Zerbe. Kotto forces Zerbe into a hay bailing machine and a very realistic looking dummy is shown being broken and mashed around in the machine. I've always wanted to see the rest of the movie to see what lead to this grisly comeuppance. I also wonder if like a lot of under respected movies, horribly shocking scenes get cut out and forgotten. Here the body keeping its integrity while being horribly bent is what shocks.

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Willow

A prophecy states that a female child with a special birthmark will herald the downfall of the evil sorceress Queen Bavmorda. Bavmorda imprisons all pregnant women in her realm to prevent fulfilment of the prophecy. When the prophesied child Elora Danan is born, the mother begs the midwife to hide the infant and smuggle her to safety. The midwife reluctantly accepts and leaves Nockmaar castle unnoticed. The mother is executed, the midwife is hunted down and eventually found. Knowing she cannot escape, she sets the baby on a makeshift raft of grass and sends her down the river hoping for fate to run its course. The midwife is killed by Nockmaar hounds. Bavmorda, furious about the escape, summons her daughter Sorsha and her army's commander, General Kael to find the baby. The baby drifts downriver to a village of the Nelwyn (Dwarves). She comes into the care of Willow Ufgood, a kind farmer and conjurer who hopes to become a real sorcerer; his wife Kiaya and his children fall in love with the baby immediately, and Willow too soon grows to love her as one of his own. During a town festival, the village is attacked by a Nockmaar hound which is quickly killed by the village warriors. The High Aldwin, the village sorcerer, learns about the baby and selects Willow, due to his devotion to the child, to accompany a party of volunteers returning the baby to the Daikini (Man) people. At a crossroads, they find a human warrior named Madmartigan trapped in a crow's cage. The rest of the party want to give the baby to Madmartigan and go home immediately, but Willow and his friend Meegosh refuse, so the others leave. After spending the night at the crossroads, and meeting an army led by Airk Thaughbaer, an old friend of Madmartigan's, marching against Bavmorda, Willow reluctantly decides to free Madmartigan so that he can take care of the baby for them. Later on, the baby is stolen by a group of brownies. While chasing them, Willow and Meegosh are trapped, but rescued by Cherlindrea, a Fairy Queen, who identifies the baby as Elora Danan, the future princess of Tir Asleen and Bavmorda's bane, and assigns Willow the task of helping the baby fulfill her destiny. Willow sends Meegosh home, and two of the brownies, Franjean and Rool, are instructed to guide Willow to the sorceress Fin Raziel. The three of them later encounter Madmartigan at a tavern, where he is disguised as a woman to hide from Lug, a cuckolded husband, who then flirts with the disguised Madmartigan. Sorsha arrives and reveals his identity, and in the ensuing brawl started by the furious Lug upon the realisation that Madmartigan is not a woman, Willow, Madmartigan and the brownies escape. Madmartigan guides them to a lake where Raziel lives, but departs again as they cross it. Raziel has been transformed into a possum by Bavmorda, and Willow and his party return with her to shore. They are captured by Sorsha, who already has Madmartigan in custody, and are taken to a snowbound mountain camp of the Nockmaar army. Willow tries to restore Raziel, but turns her into a rook instead. Madmartigan is dosed with love dust by the brownies and declares his undying love for Sorsha. The prisoners escape and reach a village at the foot of a mountain, where they again encounter Airk and the remains of his army, recently defeated by Bavmorda's forces. Madmartigan proclaims his loyalty to the Nelwyn and promises to protect Willow and Elora. With Sorsha as their temporary hostage, they escape to the castle of Tir Asleen, but discover that its inhabitants have all been frozen by Bavmorda and the castle is overrun by trolls. The castle is stormed by Kael's army. During Kael's assault on the castle, Sorsha realizes she also loves Madmartigan and decides to join him and Willow in opposing her mother's army. Willow accidentally turns a troll into a massive, fire-breathing, two-headed monster that turns the tide of the battle, and Airk arrives with his army to assist. However, Kael captures Elora and returns to Nockmaar, where he reports Sorsha's betrayal to Bavmorda. Airk's army, Willow, and the others arrive at Nockmaar to lay siege, but Bavmorda turns the soldiers into pigs. Instructed by Raziel, Willow protects himself with a spell and avoids transformation. He succeeds in turning Raziel into a human again, and she restores the others to their original forms. Willow's group tricks their way into the castle and start a battle. Airk is killed by Kael, who is in turn slain by Madmartigan after a lengthy sword duel. Sorsha leads Willow and Raziel to the ritual chamber where they interrupt Elora's sacrifice. Bavmorda and Raziel have a magical duel, during the course of which Raziel is incapacitated. Willow uses a "disappearing pig trick" he had performed as a conjurer to fool Bavmorda into thinking that Elora was sent out of her reach. Lunging at Willow, Bavmorda accidentally triggers the ritual's final part to send Elora's soul to oblivion, and banishes her own soul instead. Willow is rewarded with a magic book to aid him in becoming a sorcerer, and Sorsha and Madmartigan remain in Tir Asleen to raise Elora together. Willow returns home to a hero's welcome and is happily reunited with his family.

fantasy, cult, good versus evil, psychedelic, romantic, revenge, sadist

train

wikipedia

I have enjoyed it with each viewing, mainly because I just take it for what it is to me – namely, just a fun, escapist fantasy flick that whisks you away to a magical kingdom where all kinds of mystical, cute, clever, and at times even sinister things are happening, all against a backdrop of remarkably beautiful scenery. I noticed that other reviewers herein went to great efforts to point out glaring similarities between Willow and Star Wars, and these similarities apparently ruined the movie for them (or at least, they just didn't *like* Willow). It just doesn't matter!..."Anyway, if you haven't seen Willow, then I would recommend you see it at once and enjoy it for what it is: a fun, escapist fantasy movie that (heaven knows, current events and all...) we could all use a little more of in this day and age. They have mystery, action, a little romance but the greatest value comes from the good moral story of good wins over evil, truth over deceit and small truimphs over powerful.The most amazing fact is that at the time of first seeing this movie, it is 16 years old - Thank you George Lucas, thank you Ron Howard and thank you for a wonderful cast who have brought this eternal story to eternal life and I'm not joking either. It is these characters that play so well into the average person's conception of fantasy fare that is precisely what makes the film a success - it entertains us because it knows what we like, and what we expect to see, and then delivers it with action and a bombastic musical score.Critics panned it for being unoriginal, but being original wasn't the point of this movie. But in this original story by Lucas, that vision is captured once again and proffered to the world via the magic of the movies, in `Willow,' directed by Ron Howard. So Willow sets out upon his journey, and along the way finds an ally-- maybe-- in the person of the self-proclaimed `World's greatest swordsman,' Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), and together (sort of) they embark upon an adventure that will ultimately lead them to a final confrontation with the evil Queen herself. It's the difference between being a true filmmaker, and just someone to whom an opportunity is handed who simply hasn't the insight or sense of human nature to know what to do with it (Like Adam Shankman with `The Wedding Planner,' Jeff Franklin's `Love Stinks,' Nick Gomez with `Drowning Mona' or Peter Ho-sun Chan's `The Love Letter.' All movies that suffered greatly because of their director's inability to do what Lucas and Howard do so proficiently and seemingly with facility). In the title role, Warwick Davis does a good job of bringing Willow to life, as does Val Kilmer in the flashier role of Madmartigan. Billy Barty is the village's wizard and basically plays the character Gweldor again (from Masters of the Universe) but without the silly make-up and stupid musical key.Val Kilmer is Madmartigan, a human warrior who befriends Willow and helps him on his journey with varying degrees of ulterior motive.The acting is all reasonably good. Warwick Davis was only 18 when this film was released so his performance is very good considering his age and lack of experience (prior to this he'd played a goblin in Labyrinth and an ewok in Return of the Jedi). That woman is truly frightening.It's all good fun and the two funniest characters in the movie are Franjean and Rool, two Brownies, who "help" Willow regardless of the latters wishes. #1) Half of you out there didn't even know the lord of the rings until they made it a movie, a fine job, but it left a very bad taste in my mouth considering Hllywood has run of ideas so now they take fantastic stories from our past and turn them into money. Willow embarks in his journey with Madmartigan and the Brownies Franjean (Rick Overton) and Rool (Kevin Pollak) but they are chased by Queen Bavmorda's daughter Sorsha (Joanne Whalley) and the evil General Kael (Pat Roach). The struggle between good and evil begins."Willow" is a magic adventure from the magic 80's, when most of the best recent movies were made. 'Willow',is a good movie that anyone can enjoy.The movie has good music and good action.I have to say the two head monster was the only bad thing about the movie,Lucas could have done better.The actors give a good performance.I would give this movie 8/10.So if you want a movie that gives good action,good music and a story about times long ago,'willow' is the one.. This film has some brilliant special effects which are not computer generated and are done the old fashioned way which probably took along time to do.Val Kilmer(Madmartigan) in this film is very amusing because he does not get many opportunities to play these types of characters.This is my favourite film directed by Ron Howard, I urge you to watch this film and i hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Willow is a great fantasy film, as a child it just captures your imagination and transports you to a different world. Probably because of that, when I watch it, I feel like I'm 8 again.Little kids love adventure movies and this is, well, this was the best adventure any of us had ever seen aside from Star Wars.. Plot: Willow, a small farmer/apprentice magician, meets Madmartigan, a great swordsman, and together they journey through a war-torn land of magic and monsters, to save a baby princess from death at the hands of an evil queen.This is easily my favorite fantasy film. The reason why I call it my favorite is because of the simple story that it creates, the movie doesn't try to over explain what's going on like they did in the Lord of the Rings films. Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh, and Billy Barry all give great performances and are never overshadowed unlike in other fantasy films.My only problem with the film is the two comic reliefs played by Kevin Pollak and Rick Overton who get very annoying and are only there for the kids. And George Lucas and Ron Howard managed to do that excellently in Willow.I'd rather watch Willow yell at Madmartigan and call him stupid than watch Sam and Frodo "Just hold on a little longer, because everything will be happy because of LOVE!"There's betrayal, redemption, action, the scariest dragon I've ever seen in my life, love, purposfully corny poetry and lots of jokes. George Lucas and Ron Howard collaborate to make 'Willow', a charming little film about an aspiring little magician, Willow (played wonderfully by Warwick Davis) who finds himself responsible for the rescue of a little princess. A true masterpiece, it does and has everything that a superb fantasy genre film should, Immaculate special effects to create certain fantasy elements,Fight/magic sequences, Romance, Creatures great and small, Contrasting, environments, Zero-to-hero protagonist. In some ways, it was better than Lord of the Rings.In the movie, Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis) is given the job of protecting a baby princess from an evil sorceress. He is later joined by Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), two Brownies (Kevin Pollack & Rick Overton), and a good sorceress (Patricia Hayes).Willow is a lovable character. (They said it was modeled after Clint Howard; I just don't see it.) In 1988, with the help of George Lucas, Warwick Davis proved that little people can rock the world (and save it, too.) This classic fantasy is great fun for adventure seekers of all ages.. It's a fantasy without imagination, a romance without heart, a saga without a plot, and a "family movie" filled with relentless and gratuitous violence.George Lucas' biggest mistake in Willow is that he fails to trust in the power of a simple tale simply told. But I also just like some of the creatures they have like the annoying disgusting trolls, the nasty rat dogs makes me want to get a giant mouse trap, but my favorite is the two headed fire breathing Hydra the stop motion and pupetering effects on the thing were just excellent, they way it moved and behaved.Music score I think is fantastic by one of my favorite composers James Horner, it has that epic adventurous quality that fits like a glove for the film.But of course I really like the characters. Though I really like the subordinate villain General Kale whom is really intimidating with that voice and that skull mask that makes him look like Skelator from "He-Man".But of course it's the two main characters that drive the film Willow (Warwick Davis)a down to earth person whom gets the most grief but perfectly capable of doing what's right and my favorite Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) he's just great not just as a man of action but his charisma, brash, and unsmooth nature which give him some of the best lines. The style of the film was very reminiscent of "Star Wars," both in the action and the introduction of many unusual characters, not to mention frequent circumstantial humor.I think the movie has a very wide appeal and is extremely well made. Ron Howard and George Lucas deserve all the credit in the world for this truly brilliant fantasy epic, as does Val Kilmers. And as measly as a movie as this was for it's day on it's own merits, it's dwarfed even further by the immortal "Lord Of The Rings" saga."Willow" is the film the impish Warwick Davis is renown for his participation in most, not counting the never-ending "Leprechaun" schlock movies.This was his first lead role and he brings a likable and earnest charisma to the role instead of just trying to be little and cute like so many child performers and other midget actors. They didn't need the great Kilmer for this one.Any stock actor with a SAG card or with one year of high school drama class experience could have done as good a job.Jean Marsh does a good job as Queen Bavmorda, but just about any random British actress on the planet could have done the same and gotten the same results.Sadly, this one just stands toe-to-toe with the He-Man "Master Of The Universe" movie from 1987.Even though Ron Howard Opie Cunningham was at the helm for this one, just about any hack with access to a tripod (that tilts low) could have done the same and gotten the same results.The real problem with "Willow" is that it's totally unremarkable. It was never going to be easy to make a movie out of Lord of the Rings (and attempts had been made before Peter Jackson, and they had inevitably failed), but this film did help the industry move towards that end, and indeed it did succeed twelve years later.Willow is about a Nelwyn (like the Hobbits) who discovers a baby in a nearby river. Willow (1988) Starring: Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh, Billy Barty, Kevin Pollak, Gavin O'Herlihy, Patricia Hayes, Rick Overton, Pat Roach, Tony Cox, Phil Fondacaro, David J. After Geroge Lucas made it big with Star Wars he went on to produce many other films like Howard The Duck, the Indiana Jones movies, and this one. Willow one of the classic films of the fantasy genre already done, one of the favorite films of the 80s, the film hits the tone, the picture is excellent, not to mention that the film is a bit like The Lord of the Rings Tolkien in some places such as home to Willow, reminiscent of the county of Hobbits, the cast is great, Val Kilmer, Warwick Davis, Billy Barty, etc., all are well, the battle scenes are very good, the look of Castle are excellent without speaking of the creatures of the movie is very good, the direction of Ron Howard is need and very good, the script is good, Willow is one of the best already fantasy films made, highly recommended, especially for their good characters and their excellent visual. * out of ****By far one of the worst big-studio fantasy films ever made, Willow tells the gag-inducing story of the titular dwarf (Warwick Davis) who must protect a baby from the evil Queen Bavmorda, who fears the infant child may bring about the end of her reign according to an ancient prophecy. George Lucas decided that he'd embrace all the clichés of the genre (quest to save evil from taking over the land, sword-swinging hero, sword-clashing battles, ugly monsters, etc.), which wouldn't be a problem if director Ron Howard injected the film with any sense of energy, imagination, or even comic timing. With Kael and the two-headed Eborsisk, this clearly shows a lack of taste on Lucas' part, who probably didn't take well to Pauline Kael's general dislike for his Star Wars trilogy.Ron Howard's never been much of an action director, so it's no surprise there's no flair or energy to the battle sequences, which are too small in scope and far too tame and bloodless for a sword-and-sorcery adventure. You know that movie cliché, where two lovers who haven't seen each other in a long time reunite by running toward each other with arms wide open; yep, Willow actually ends the movie on such a cheesy note, an apt finish for a pretty awful movie.Somehow, Willow is still neither George Lucas nor Ron Howard's worst film to date.. The special effects, while of course laughable today, don't even seem to measure up to 1987 standards -- they are more reminiscent of 1960s Japanese monster movies than what was available to George Lucas in the late 1980s.Val Kilmer was one bright spot in the film, with a wonderfully mocking, roguish performance.. You know, it's a good thing "Willow" has those then-revolutionary special effects going for it (they scared the hell out of me when I was little) because otherwise, as pretty as it is to look at, this is possibly the most mediocre fantasy movie ever made.I don't know why I noticed it so badly. And this is what turns "WILLOW" into just a good Fantasy movie, when it could have been a masterpiece, if it had a real good plot.Anyway it´s a very fun movie to watch. This movie achieved for fantasy what Indiana Jones did for Action/Adventure and Star Wars did for Sci-Fi.A must see!. I've seen the film many times and the whole family still love this tale of a little guy in a big world. It is a simple story plot "a reluctant dwarf helps to protect a special baby from an evil queen" but the movie will take you on an incredible adventure with lots of action and magic. The story is so much better than the film's description.This a film from my teen years - I loved it back then it was one of my favorites and today I still find it a good motion picture.If you like the movie Willow then you might like the following good classic films: "Legend", "The Dark Crystal", "Labyrinth", "Ladyhawke", "Krull" and "Time Bandits".8.5/10. It's an old-school adventure with great characters, a good story, good special effects, and just a fun tale in the veins of the Lord of the Rings.Ron Howard's film is about a farmer named Willow who goes on a mission to protect and deliver a special baby in order to save the entire kingdom from the threat of the evil tyrannical queen, Queen Bavmorda.As acting goes, it's something you would expect out of a fantasy flick. Warwick Davis does a good job in the lead role as the reluctant Willow and Val Kilmer also does better than expected as the lone swordsman named Madmartigan.Overall, this is the perfect story to tell around the campfire or film to watch when you're in the mood for a well-done fantasy flick. Based on a story by George Lucas, this lively fantasy adventure is certain to appeal to kids and those genre fans looking to be transported to a different time and place. When you blend them with the acting talent of Val Kilmer and Warwick Davis and the rest, you get amazing results.The other thing that I like about this film is that there's no hidden agenda. I really like Goerge Lucas!He made great movies-Star Wars,Indiana Jones,and then Willow!In my opinion,Willow is a very good movie for all families who like fantasy movies!It contains everything that an exciting family film should contain:swordplay,strange creatures,love,an evil queen,wizards,an anxious but brave protagonist,an ancient prophecy....I recommend Willow for anyone who likes fantasy movies.And it isn't so scary and violent.In my opinion,children above the age of 8 years can watch it.But of course it is their parent's job to decide that.Enjoy watching!. Val Kilmer and Warwick Davis have a strange sort of charm that manages to shine through the wooden dialog and dated special effects, and the plot has the optimistic, adventurous core of a classic fairy tale, so it's not like there's a total lack of positives. All that you require is your intuition."This average fantasy adventure film, written by George Lucas and directed by Ron Howard. Well, first I have to say is that I'm sure a lot of these people knocking Willow for being "Tolkienesque" wouldn't know who and how Tolkien wrote if Lord of the Rings was never made into a film. Any one who want's a good fantasy film, besides Lord of the Rings should check this out. I still enjoy it every time I watch it and it's a great movie for kids and adults. They definitely did great casting for this movie, I mean Val Kilmer did a great job at portraying Madmartigan, and there couldn't have been a better pick than Warwick Davis for the role of Willow. We've seen what Howard can do with a good script.In the DVD extras, Ron Howard appears to suggest that the film was really George Lucas project, and it shows, as most special effects from Star Wars-Return of the Jedi have been reinserted 5 years later (two-headed monster, scene change style, score, etc.).Kilmer has flashes of brilliance as crazy rebel Madmartigan.

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Marathon Man

Thomas Levy (Dustin Hoffman), nicknamed "Babe" in the film, is a history Ph.D. candidate researching the same field as his father, who committed suicide after being investigated during the Joseph McCarthy era. Babe is also an avid runner, which lends the film its title. Babe's brother, Henry (Roy Scheider), better known as "Doc", poses as an oil company executive but in fact is a U.S. government agent working for a secret agency headed up by Director Peter Janeway (William Devane). Babe is not aware of his brother's true occupation.Doc is often supposedly out of the country on business for extended periods of time but comes to New York under the guise of a visit to Babe. The brother of a Nazi war criminal possesses a safety deposit box key, but is killed in a traffic accident (after a road rage altercation with a short tempered middle-aged Jewish American motorist). Doc suspects that the criminal, Dr. Christian Szell (Laurence Olivier) will be arriving to retrieve an extremely valuable diamond collection. Szell later sends a burly assassin named Chen (James Wing Woo) to kill Doc in his Paris hotel room, but Doc fights the hit man and breaks his back.Babe enters into a relationship with a young woman named Elsa Opel (Marthe Keller), who claims to be from Switzerland. One night while out on a date Elsa and Babe are mugged in a park by two men dressed in suits. Some time later, Doc takes the couple to lunch, where he tricks Elsa into revealing that she has been lying to Babe about her background. Though Doc suspects she may have some connection to Szell, he tells Babe only that she is seeking an American husband so that she can become a U.S. citizen.After Szell arrives in America, Doc meets him to tell the former Nazi he is not welcome in the country, and also to warn Szell to stay away from Babe. Szell casually accepts the pronouncement, but then swiftly knifes Doc, wounding him severely. Doc is able to make it back to his brother's apartment, but collapses and dies in Babe's arms without telling him anything. The police interrogate Babe for hours, until government agents led by Peter Janeway arrive. Janeway asks Babe what Doc told him before he died, and informs Babe of his brother's career as a U.S. government agent. Babe insists that his brother did not tell him anything, but Janeway feels that Doc struggled all the way to Babe's apartment to give him vital information of some kind.Babe is later abducted from his apartment by Szell's subordinates, Karl and Erhardt (the two men from the park). In an infamous sequence, Babe is tortured by Szell, a skilled dentist, who repeatedly asks "Is it safe?" Confused by the question code phrase he does not understand, Babe denies any knowledge, but is tortured. The dentist offers him oil of cloves, an anesthetic, as positive inducement to cooperate. Eventually, Babe loses consciousness and Szell pauses his torture.Babe is then rescued by Janeway, who apparently kills Szell's bodyguards and takes Babe from Szell's hideout. As he drives, Janeway explains that Szell is in America to sell off his large cache of diamonds, which he had taken from Jews he had exterminated at Auschwitz during World War II. Janeway continually presses Babe about Doc's dying words, but Babe again insists he knows nothing. Frustrated, Janeway reveals himself as a double agent working with the Nazi criminal all along, and he turns Babe over to Karl and Erhardt (Janeway had only faked killing them). Szell, it turns out, is one of Janeway's highest level informants, and had informed on other Nazi war criminals in return for immunity.Delivered back into Szell's hands, the Nazi has a curiously kindly conversation with Babe before calmly explaining why he is holding Babe for questioning. Szell suspected that Doc would attempt to rob him of his diamonds, or rat on him to authorities; thus his desire to know if it's "safe" to withdraw the diamonds, i.e., whether Doc told Babe any incriminating information. Still unable to extract anything from Babe, he proceeds to drill into one of Babe's healthy teeth. Babe eventually escapes again, this time on his own, with Janeway and Szell's two henchmen giving chase in a car. Though exhausted and barefoot, he is able to outrun his pursuers in part by remembering famed "marathon man" Abebe Bikila, who ran barefoot.After inviting a neighborhood acquaintance and his toughs to break into his apartment and steal his pistol (the same pistol his father used to commit suicide), Babe phones Elsa, who agrees to meet him with a car. She drives him to a country home as a hideout. Babe guesses that she has set him up; she confesses that Szell's dead brother owned the home, and that she was one of Szell's couriers. Janeway and Szell's men arrive, but Babe avoids an ambush by taking Elsa hostage. In another twist, Janeway kills Szell's men and offers to let Babe kill Szell in revenge for Doc's death if Janeway can have the diamonds. Babe agrees, but as he leaves to find Szell, Janeway attempts to shoot Babe, but kills Elsa instead when she tries to alert Babe. Angered, Babe guns down Janeway.Back in New York, Szell attempts to determine the value of his diamonds. However, he chooses an appraiser in the Diamond District in midtown Manhattan, where many of the shop owners are Jewish. A shop assistant who is also an Auschwitz survivor believes he has recognized Szell as a wanted Nazi criminal. After Szell hurriedly leaves the shop, an elderly Jewish woman also recognizes him, but passersby think she is senile. Trying to cross the street to get closer to Szell in order to expose him she is hit by a taxi, causing a crowd to assemble to aid her. Amidst the confusion, the shop assistant appears again, directly confronting Szell. Becoming increasingly paranoid, Szell slits the man's throat with a retractable blade concealed in his sleeve.Szell retrieves his diamonds from the bank, but is taken hostage by Babe as he attempts to leave, who inconspicuously forces him into Central Park and into one of the pump rooms at the south end of the Reservoir. Babe holds Szell at gunpoint on a scaffold and seizes the diamonds; rather than kill Szell, Babe informs him that he will allow Szell to live and keep as many diamonds as he can swallow. Szell initially refuses, prompting Babe to begin throwing the diamonds into the water below them. Szell relents and swallows one diamond, but then refuses to cooperate further. Szell goes on to insult Babe, and after he spits in Babe's face a fight erupts in which Szell tries to stab Babe. Babe throws the remainder of the diamonds down the scaffold steps towards the water; Szell dives for them, but stumbles, and fatally falls on his own knife blade. Picking up his gun, Babe exits the pump room and heads out into Central Park. Stopping by the Reservoir, he throws the gun into the water.

suspenseful, murder, violence, horror, flashback, revenge

train

imdb

Schlesinger made a great action-suspense film and married it to the artistry of unique talents… Hoffman was, by then, a dynamic, young and incredibly versatile film actor with three Academy Award nominations already under his belt for "The Graduate," "Midnight Cowboy," and "Lenny." But the key to "Marathon Man" was the chemistry between its stars… Perhaps one of the most gut-wrenching and most memorable scenes in the film comes when Hoffman is captured and tortured by Olivier who plays the role of a mean and vicious and sadistic Nazi war criminal, Christian Szell… Olivier's performance resulted in a 1976 Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor… In 1945, Szell ran the experimental camp at Auschwitz where they called him the White Angel… He was a dentist and could provide escape for any Jew who was willing to pay the price… He started out with gold, naturally, but very quickly worked his way up to diamonds… As Szell saw the end early, he sneaked his brother into America with the diamonds… And they were right here, in New York, in a safe deposit-box until Szell's brother got killed in a head-on collision with an oil truck… Uniquely built, and with a marvelous, rugged face, Roy Scheider, well known for his strong performances in "The French Connection," "Klute," and "Jaws," came on board as Hoffman's mysterious businessman brother, getting the rare chance to play a character that's both hero and villain… Doc is a fascinating guy because he chooses to work out his problems in a much different way than Dustin's character does… He was very touched and very moved by his father's death, but he abandoned all his hopes for whatever he intended to do and he became a spy, a killer, a very jaded personality… In doing something truly suspenseful, Schlesinger accomplished a film that's largely about fear and it's about pain and the infliction of pain because of fear… The thrilling sensation of great expectations came on the 47th Street in the diamond district in New York, where Schlesinger gets the best of it. However, unlike a lot of thrillers; Marathon Man uses this time to create characters and establish the situation, which ultimately pays off later on in the film when the movie really gets going. Dustin Hoffman is a fantastic actor, and he certainly gets to flex his acting muscles here, in a film which sees him go through all manner of unpleasant scenes and also hold up lots of relationships with various characters, as well as drawing sympathy from the audience to accent his situation. The third lead role, that of the Nazi war criminal, is taken by Lawrence Olivier, who is also a fantastic actor and gives a great performance in this film. He gives his character just the right atmosphere, and we can tell just by looking at the man that he is cold and uncaring, and also past it; which is the crux of his character.The film ends with a spectacular sequence, which sees the movie and the two centrals characters come to a satisfying conclusion. It pitches the tone of the film perfectly, establishing an everyday guy and placing him in a sinister chase situation which it is discovered is so easily to get involved in, while systematically foreshadowing the eerie turns the narrative will take to do with having to run for one's life.Marathon Man is like that; there's something very effective behind its ability to inject terror into a relatively routine situation. In a film in which a lot of people act as if they're one thing in order to garner an advantage, this use of improper name and alias to act as an alter-ego is interesting.But Marathon Man provides us with a ray of light in the form of Babe, a down to Earth and accessible lead with whom we are able to relate in his innocence and copious levels of naivety to his situation when espionage and betrayal catches up with him. In one swooping camera shot, we are left to read into as much as we can about this one individual, while a lesser film of the thriller ilk would have seen a bunch of people gather in a room; brought Szell's face up on a screen and laid out everything for the uninformed characters and audience alike.Babe's involvement in what it is he ends up neck deep in is ultimately instigated by the unsightly sequence in which the death of somebody we do not see coming occurs in his arms. The film is a tight, gripping piece; a film that clashes a world of smuggling, deceit and murder with the quieter, more routine world of a young man who's nervous around girls and just attempting to make-good out of some pretty harsh living conditions.It progresses to encompass a series of quite extraordinary sequences, the one of which everyone remembers more fondly than others being the torture sequence involving a dentist's drill, a sadomasochistic game of fear; terror; power play; ambiguous questions; honest but disbelieved answers and sheer pain. Olivier and Scheider give particularly great performances, and Marthe Keller comes across as appropriately sweet and sexy (her big "secret," though, should be really easy for anyone to guess!) I'm a little less enamored of Dustin Hoffman, whose character is inexplicably nicknamed "Babe." He's just way too old to be a typical graduate student (almost forty years old, to be precise), and he simply doesn't have much charisma to me. Let me get this right, and I am quoting other commenters here, `a Columbia graduate student (Hoffman) unwittingly thrust into a game of deadly international intrigue when his brother (Scheider) is killed by a Nazi fugitive (Olivier) looking to smuggle a stash of diamonds he had left over from World War II after escaping justice' (virek213) and `Dustin Hoffman plays a marathon runner whose CIA brother is killed by an evil former nazi played by Laurence Olivier.' (Adam Morrison). 'Marathon Man' should have earned Oscar nominations for -- Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role - Dustin Hoffman, Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Laurence Olivier, Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Roy Scheider, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing. Dustin Hoffman looks in great shape playing a Columbia graduate student, still haunted by his father's suicide (and perhaps in training for the New York marathon), who gets mixed up by proxy in his nefarious older brother's activities; seems his sibling has been working secretly as a courier in stolen gems, and has run afoul of Szell, a.k.a. The White Angel, the most notorious Nazi war-criminal still alive. As the film opens, Szell's brother dies in a car crash, which sets up this entire aspect of the plot, since his brother had the key to the vault.Babe's brother, Doc (Roy Scheider, "JAWS"), comes to visit him in New York City, but turns up at his apartment with stab wounds. Basically, in the words of Steve Martin, "Hoffman came to the set one day looking absolutely wretched, and Sir Larry said, 'Dusty, you look absolutely wretched!', and it turns out that he had been awake for twenty-four hours, because at this point in the movie, his character had been, so Larry replied, 'Oh, Dusty, why don't you just try acting?', and the American retorted, 'Act on this, you British fag,' and Larry replied, 'I asked for a meal, not a snack!'"So perhaps Steve Martin made up the end of that story, but the beginning is true. Is it safe?" Every time it's spoken it sends a shiver down my spine.Two very important films of Dustin Hoffman's career came out in 1976: "All the President's Men" and, of course, "Marathon Man." They are both universally regarded as some of his best work, and it's not a surprising fact, really, since it's true that they really *are* some of his best work. The movie "Marathon Man" starts out with a car accident where Christian Szell's, Laurence Olivier, brother Klaus, Ben Dova, is killed. The movie is so confusing with a convoluted love story between Babe, Dustin Hoffman, and the mysterious Columbia Collage student Helga, Marthe Keller, added in that almost half way through the film. I think that the director, John Schlesinger, had to put in a scene in where William Devane who plays Jeneway, also a member of this super-secretive government agency, who like Simon Okland in the movie "Psycho" after he "saved" Babe from Szell's henchmen starts talking into the camera. Director John Schlesinger uses every trick in the book to save 'Marathon Man,' but while he succeeds at bringing a certain gritty elegance, so typical of the decade, to the film, he can't quite conceal (the overrated) William Goldman's contrived and fantastical script. (The moment when he tells Roy Scheider that he's too old and too smart to fight him captures his character beautifully.) Dustin Hoffman works physically in the part – he's certainly plausible as a marathon runner – but the character is so poorly defined by Goldman's screenplay that the actor is forced into bombastic hamminess as the film moves along. Roy Scheider is a good actor, but he's badly miscast as the stereotypically witty and worldly secret agent, and Marthe Keller is such a mush-mouth that it's no surprise she didn't go on to any significant English-language success.In the end, 'Marathon Man' is certainly worth a watch for hardcore fans of thrillers; more casual viewers won't be missing much. Marathon Man is glossy trash that substitutes queasiness for genuine suspense and is mostly famous for its scenes of dental torture carried out by a splashy Olivier who is the best and only memorable thing about this over-rated film. Roger Ebert complained of plot holes in his review of this thriller, but I wasn't aware of any holes: the movie is so vague about its plot that it's impossible to tell whether it's making a mistake, avoiding an outright mistake by being equivocal, or if we the viewers are just being inattentive.Dustin Hoffman plays a graduate student haunted by the suicide of his father, who was falsely accused of something or other. Laurence Olivier plays a Nazi war criminal, who in a famous scene, tortures Hoffman with a dental drill. In addition to being so slow to shift gear, Marathon Man's plot is, right from the start, completely convoluted and the more the movie goes, the more this characteristic emphasizes, the more you figure out this story goes nowhere.The narration is divided into two story lines that are quite hard to connect, that fit together too badly to surprise and captivate the viewer.The gloomy atmosphere and the excellent opening running scene around Jackie Onassis reservoir are the only things that stand out in this unimpressive, long, boring pseudo thriller, which title, Marathon Man, is by the way in total contradiction with the actual story told.. You have a top director, one of our best screenwriter's (adapting his own novel) and a cast headed by Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, and William Devane.I think the big problem with "Marathon Man" is that the plot is much too complicated. The plot builds up like a puzzle, slowly but steadily, and is a bit hard to follow at places.In compensation for the pretty messy plot, "Marathon Man" offers many exceptionally effective moments of suspense, a thing which many films fail to deliver. Scripted by William Goldman, 'Marathon Man' is undeniable classic of cinema, Dustin Hoffman, plays Babe Levy, a keen graduate student and the 'Marathon Man' of the title, unwittingly becomes involved In a deadly game of international intrigue, involving the legendary Laurence Olivier, who famously plays an Nazi Fugitve, (Szell) who after years of hiding returns to the 'land of plenty'(New York) With his deadly tool's of his dentistry trade to collect his massive cache of diamonds no doubt plundered from the suffering Jews he slaughtered, in the death camps,Hoffman and Olivier, two acting legends,face off each other in the Nail biting climax, Roy Scheider, plays Hoffman's older yet none the wiser, brother who is also mysteriously connected with Szells affairs, The film which feature's the now classic scene in which Levy is mercifully tortured by Szell(Ex dentist) still holds up today,Also starring in this golden classic is Willaim Devane, who plays Janeway, who works in the 'Division' the alluring European beauty Martha Keller,plays Hoffmans love interest, The Godfather's Richard Bright,(RIP) And Diamond's Are Forever/Man With the Golden Gun, Marc Lawrence, Have appearance's as Szells goon,. It's what got him an Oscar nomination his only one in the Supporting Actor category.Marathon Man has a lot of holes in the story, but the acting between Hoffman and Olivier is not to be missed.. I must admit that, albeit my being impartial at all time, New York City in the 70's is my weak spot from a photography standpoint and that's the second main reason why I was very pleased by this motion picture.Dustin Hoffman is known by his fans as an excellent improviser on the movie set, a comment Schlesinger also made, and that makes him a standout compared to other big screen artists. But it doesn't make you forget that there are more great actors in this movie such as of course Dustin Hoffman in the main lead and Roy Scheider, one of the biggest stars of the '70's. Good suspence movie with very good cinematography,directing,cast and acting performances.Could have been a classic if it had better screenplay and editing.The gun pointing confrontations were not realistic enough to satisfy what the flow of this movie demands.Also,the visual aspect of the film is badly damaged by the very unattractive look of Hoffman due to the dental torture he recieved.Very annoying sight.There are also other annoying sequences in this movie that just does not help it,like the very unlikely waste of Jewels in the finale.Only for fans of cloak and dagger action/suspence movies and big fans of the lead actors......... BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations were also handed out for John Schlesinger's direction, Dustin Hoffman and Marthe Keller's acting, and William Goldman's script.This is the way thrillers used to be made, and producers today should pay attention.It slowly draws you in. We have a super-director like John Schlesinger ("Darling", "Midnight Cowboy", "Sunday Bloody Sunday"), two screen giants like Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier -plus a luxurious cast with Roy Scheider, William Devane and Marthe Keller-. Olivier probably takes the top acting honors (he's brilliant in the scene in which "Szell" has to eat one of his diamonds), but Hoffman certainly works himself up into effective emotional lathers throughout. Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider are wonderful in this movie. Based on the novel of the same name by William Goldman, 'Marathon Man' directed by John Schlesinger, is a Dark & Gripping film, that definitely deserves to be hailed as a classic of it's time. 'Marathon Man' tells the story of A graduate history student, who unwittingly is caught in the middle of an international conspiracy involving stolen diamonds, an exiled Nazi war criminal, and a rogue government agent.William Goldman's Screenplay is neat & makes some really twisted characters. Finally Laurence Oliver gives a great performance as the villain Szell who was obviously modelled after the infamous Nazi doctor at Auschwitz Joseph Mengele.The plot of "The Marathon Man" is simplistic, but the way that the story is told is superb. Nevermind, there are several others to enjoy (Scheider's fight scene with an Eastern-looking assassin, Olivier disposing of a Jewish relic who reveals his former Nazi identity just to name a couple).The tone throughout is quite chilling, like an urban horror film with Hoffman in his everyday man character reacting to the chaos as one would expect - taking flight, hence the title. There's the legendary scene in which Sir Laurence Olivier, a former Nazi death camp dentist, tortures Dustin Hoffman by drilling holes in his teeth. "The Marathon Man" is an excellent thriller in a sort of "Hitchcockian" style about ordinary guys that by chance get involved in complex, dangerous and extreme circumstances that will turn them into non ordinary guys (Cary Grant in "North by Northwst" and James Stewart in "The Man Who Knew Too Much" being perfect examples).The ordinary guy here is Dustin Hoffman whose older brother (Roy Scheider) is mixed up with a fugitive Nazi war criminal (Lawrence Olivier) who is decided to recover a stolen fortune in diamonds. There are also good works by Roy Scheider in a less demanding role, Marthe Keller as the girl who gets involved with Hoffman and William Devane.Don't miss this one if you enjoy thrillers; this is a real good one.. If I had to write a tag line to get Regan Babies to see this film it would be:Nazis, big brother, a White Guy Living in Harlem & Spys.Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider are a remarkable combination of leading men that is seldom ever seen. Certain scenes in MARATHON MAN have the kind of suspense you find in the best Hitchcock films--but the plot heavy twists and turns make this an uneven exercise in the "edge of your seat" kind of thriller. The dental scene is almost excruciating to watch.This is heavy stuff, never relieved by much humor--but so well acted by Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, William Devane, Roy Scheider and Marthe Keller that it will have you shuddering from the intensity of some of the scenes. Secondly,this film features an attractive star cast made up of actors namely Sir Laurence Olivier,Dustin Hoffman and Roy Scheider. This film is a faithful adaptation of a great thriller novel, the acting by all main characters is superb, with Olivier (towards the end of his career) and Hoffman (towards the beginning of his) showing their mastery of the art. An excellent mystery/suspense film.I watched this movie awhile ago and was amazed at the photography,acting,and tense moments.The bathtub scene where Dustin Hoffman sees the lights going off in his room is very tense.Very good story too,but the plot could have been a little bit stronger.Overall,a great film. What made Marathon Man a good movie were the excellent performances from the actors especially Dustin Hoffman, Roy Scheider, and Laurence Oliver.

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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Shy, soft-spoken Joel Barish and the unrestrained free-spirit Clementine Kruczynski begin a relationship on a Long Island Rail Road train from Montauk, New York to Rockville Centre. They are almost immediately drawn to each other despite their different personalities, though both had felt the need to travel to Montauk that day. Although they do not realize it at the time, Joel and Clementine are, in fact, former lovers, now separated after having spent two years together. After a fight, Clementine had hired the New York City firm Lacuna, Inc. to erase all of her memories of their relationship. Upon discovering this from his friends Rob and Carrie, Joel was devastated and decided to undergo the procedure himself, a process that takes place while he sleeps. Much of the film subsequently takes place in Joel's mind, during this memory erasure procedure. As his memories are erased, he tries to evade the erasing effects of the procedure by hiding Clementine in remote parts of his subconscious. Joel finds himself revisiting them in reverse. Upon seeing happier times of love with Clementine from earlier in their relationship, he struggles to preserve at least some memory of her and his love for her. Despite his efforts to either hide the memories or wake up and stop the process, the memories are slowly erased. He comes to the last remaining memory of Clementine, the day he had first met her at a beach house in Montauk. As this memory disintegrates around them, she tells him, "Meet me in Montauk." Separate, but related, story arcs, which revolve around the employees of Lacuna, are revealed during Joel's memory erasure. Patrick, one of the Lacuna technicians performing the erasure, uses Joel's memories and mannerisms to seduce Clementine. Mary, the Lacuna receptionist, is dating the other memory-erasing technician, Stan. During Joel's memory wipe, Mary discovers she had previously had an affair with Dr. Howard Mierzwiak, the married doctor who heads the company, and had agreed to have this erased from her memory when Dr. Mierzwiak's wife found out. On learning this, she asks Stan whether he knew about this, to which he claims that he didn't. Mary then quits her job and steals the company's records, and mails the two former clients their records from Lacuna. The film returns to the present, after Joel and Clementine have met aboard the train. They both come upon their Lacuna records later that day, and react with shock and bewilderment, because they have no clear memory of having known each other, let alone having had a relationship and having had their memories erased. Joel beckons Clementine to start over; Clementine initially resists, pointing out it could go the same way. Joel accepts this, and they decide to attempt a relationship anyway, starting their life together anew.

comedy, fantasy, psychological, dramatic, cult, alternate reality, thought-provoking, flashback, clever, feel-good, psychedelic, philosophical, brainwashing, romantic, entertaining, sentimental

train

wikipedia

tt1714206

The Spectacular Now

Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) is a high school senior, charming and self-possessed. He is the life of the party and loves his job at a men's clothing store. However, he has no plans for the future and is a budding alcoholic, which causes his girlfriend, Cassidy (Brie Larson), who is unable to cope, to dump him. Drinking to numb his pain, Sutter passes out on a stranger's lawn, but is awakened the next morning by Aimee Finicky (Shailene Woodley), a girl who wears no makeup and reads science fiction and manga during her free time. Sutter helps her with her paper route and ultimately invites her to lunch and asks her to teach him geometry to get closer to her. Sutter invites Aimee to a party, but temporarily loses interest when he sees Cassidy. Sutter asks her to have a drink with him, but Cassidy soon leaves with her new boyfriend Marcus (Dayo Okeniyi), so Sutter returns to Aimee. The two go for a walk, where Sutter introduces Aimee to alcohol and Aimee brings up getting accepted into a college in Philadelphia, though she does not feel she will be able to go as she must take care of her demanding mother. Sutter teaches Aimee to stand up to her mom and the two kiss. When he wakes up the next morning, Sutter realizes that he asked Aimee to prom while drunk and instant messages Cassidy to hang out. Cassidy breaks down, tearfully telling Sutter that she can no longer avoid her future and that she needs to grow up, even if he does not. Marcus later confronts Sutter about what is going on with him and Cassidy, though Sutter reassures him that Cassidy is done with him. Marcus says she does not like him in the way she liked Sutter, but Sutter tells him that he should not try to be like him. Marcus thanks Sutter for his advice. Sutter, lacking the commitment to take Aimee to prom, avoids her until Aimee's friend Krystal (Kaitlyn Dever) tells him not to treat Aimee badly as she is a genuinely good person. Sutter, taking her advice, asks Aimee to dinner with his married sister Holly (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), where Aimee talks frankly about the death of her father and her dreams of a perfect marriage, charming everyone, including Sutter. Sutter and Aimee begin to get serious, having sex for the first time, and Sutter buys Aimee a flask as a gift when they attend prom. Despite a moment where Sutter dances with Cassidy, their night goes well, and she tells him that she stood up to her mom and is going to Philadelphia, inviting him to live with her and attend a junior college. After numerous attempts to get his father's phone number from his mom (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Sutter retrieves it from his sister and plans to spend a day with his dad. Bringing Aimee with him, they meet him at a motel just as he is leaving for the bar, inviting the two to join him. Sutter's father (Kyle Chandler) shares similar hedonistic views of life as Sutter, but after revealing that he left his mother (instead of being kicked out as Sutter had thought previously), he leaves to go off with a woman. Sutter is forced to pay the tab and wait for his dad to return, but after waiting for an hour, they return to the bar to see that Sutter's dad has forgotten about them and is back to drinking with his friends. Aimee attempts to comfort Sutter, confessing her love for him, but Sutter, angry and drunk, snaps at her and forces her to get out of the car, where she is hit by an oncoming car. Aimee comes out with only a broken arm and forgives Sutter for the incident, but the experiences with his father has clearly damaged Sutter as his drinking worsens. After graduation, Cassidy informs Sutter she is going to California with Marcus. Sutter suggests he pay them a visit, but Cassidy declines, telling him she must stay out of his influence for her own good. His boss, Dan (Bob Odenkirk) tells him that he will be letting go of one of his clerks and informs Sutter that he wants him to work at the store, but Sutter must promise never to become intoxicated again. Sutter honestly states that he does not feel he is capable of keeping such a promise and shakes a disappointed and concerned Dan's hand. He then goes out for a night at the bar, leaving a heartbroken Aimee to get on the bus to Philadelphia by herself. Sutter crashes into his mailbox after a night of heavy drinking and tearfully breaks down in front of his mom, saying he is exactly like his father and that he is an awful person, but his mother assures Sutter he is not like his father as he has the biggest heart of anyone she knows. Finally able to recognize that he is his own greatest limitation, Sutter finishes his college application and commits himself to becoming a more mature and responsible person. He drives to Philadelphia and finds Aimee as she is leaving class. As the two stare at each other, the screen cuts to black.

romantic, realism, storytelling, flashback

train

wikipedia

tt2119532

Hacksaw Ridge

The film starts with very VERY graphic, visceral images of warfare. Soldiers are blown apart, burnt alive, and getting shot to pieces. The voice of Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield) speaks about how God will not grow tired or weary of his children, no matter how bad things are. We see Desmond being carried away on a stretcher as another soldier tells him everything will be fine.16 years earlier, Desmond (here played by Darcy Bryce) and his brother Hal (Roman Guerreiro) are running through the woods playfully. They live with their mother Bertha (Rachel Griffiths) and their father Tom (Hugo Weaving), a former soldier and veteran of World War I who is haunted by his past in the war who now drinks heavily and often beats his sons. The whole family are Seventh-Day Adventists. One afternoon, the boys are fighting in front of the house. Desmond picks up a large brick and whacks Hal over the face, knocking him unconscious. As their parents frantically try to aid Hal, Desmond feels nothing but utter remorse. He looks at an illustration of the Ten Commandments with guilt as Tom goes to whip him with his belt, until Bertha stops him because it won't teach Desmond anything. She reassures her son that Hal will be okay.15 years later, Desmond is working in the church as his mother is singing with her group. They near a loud noise from outside and see a young man who had a car part fall on his leg as he was working on it. The part severed an artery, causing blood to gush out of his leg. Desmond uses his belt as a tourniquet. When they take the boy to the hospital, Desmond first sees a nurse named Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer). She is there to take blood from donors, and Desmond offers to donate so he can continue talking to her.Desmond and Dorothy later go on a date to the movies. After the show, the two are walking when Dorothy almost walks into the path of a car. Desmond pulls her aside and stuns her with a kiss. She slaps him because she wasn't expecting it. She walks away, leaving Desmond in disbelief. Dorothy then asks if he will join her. He starts walking and almost gets hit by a car too.Tom and Bertha become displeased when Hal (now played by Nathaniel Buzolic) has signed up to fight in World War II. He stands his ground and insists he's doing it for the right reasons.Desmond takes Dorothy out for a hike. This time, she lets him kiss her, and they quickly fall in love. Desmond even learns a few things about medicine from Dorothy. However, when Desmond informs her that he has enlisted in the Army, Dorothy becomes upset. She asks if he will ask her to marry her. He asks her on the spot, and she accepts.Desmond finds his father at a cemetery standing by the graves of his friends that he lost fighting in war. Tom worries that the same fate will befall his sons.Desmond says his farewell to Dorothy as he heads off for training. When he gets to the camp, he encounters several noteworthy characters, including Hollywood Zane (Luke Pegler), who is doing pull-ups in the nude, plus Smitty Riker (Luke Bracey), who is throwing knives at another soldier's foot. Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn) shows up. Smitty ends up with a knife in his foot as they run to line up. Howell goes around berating the other soldiers as he meets them before they proceed to training.The men begin their training through the obstacle course. When it comes time to handle rifles, Desmond states that he does not wish to use weapons as he is simply trying to be a medic, and he also chooses not to train on Saturdays as that is his Sabbath. Howell brings Desmond to Captain Jack Glover (Sam Worthington), who orders Desmond to do what they say as long as he is on the field.Howell and several other soldiers make Desmond's time there a living hell. When Desmond cannot get discharged, Howell turns the soldiers on him as they make Desmond to look like a coward for being a conscientious objector. Smitty tries to provoke Desmond by taking his bible and a picture of Dorothy, but Desmond never budges. Some of the soldiers beat Desmond in his bed at night. When Howell asks him to point out his attackers, Desmond refuses and he carries on with training.When the squad is to be released from training, Desmond is detained and incarcerated for insubordination. To make matters worse, it is his wedding day to Dorothy. He is put in a cell and is forced to miss his wedding. Dorothy visits him and questions whether he is mistaking his own will with the will of God.Desmond is put on trial. Tom puts on his old uniform and speaks to his former captain about his son's predicament. He shows up to the courthouse with a paper from the captain that states that Desmond's right to follow his beliefs and refusal to carry a weapon is protected by the Constitution. Desmond is thus let go, allowed to continue his work in the field, and immediately marries Dorothy. They later consummate.Desmond joins the squad as they head on to the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. They climb up the Maeda Escarpment, which is better known as Hacksaw Ridge. Once at the top, the soldiers quietly move forward across a field of dead soldiers. The Japanese soldiers begin firing, leading to a brutal and bloody battle. In the midst of the chaos, countless men are blown to smithereens. Desmond tends to his fellow soldiers on the field, administering morphine to the wounded while trying to get them down the cliff to safety.At night, the squad sets up camp. Desmond and Smitty are in a foxhole, getting to know each other better. Smitty acknowledges that he's been an asshole to Desmond. Desmond recounts to him how his father would abuse him and his brother, but when he went after their mother, Desmond held Tom back as he held a gun. He took the gun away from Tom and pointed it at him, ready to shoot until Bertha stopped them. Desmond talks about how he came close to killing his father. Smitty apologizes to Desmond for how he was before.The next day, the Japanese strike back with heavy force, delivering grenades and bullets everywhere. The American squad is forced to make their way down the cliff. Desmond tries to save those who he can, but while he tries to save Smitty, he is mortally wounded and dies. Desmond continues to aid the soldiers and keep them secured as the Japanese soldiers go killing any surviving members of the squad. At one point, he must run through a tunnel and avoid the Japanese, but he even tends to a lone wounded soldier. Desmond eventually rescues Howell and brings him to the base. The other men are stunned to know that Desmond has saved a large number of soldiers.Captain Glover apologizes to Desmond for having doubts in him. He informs him that the next attack falls on the Sabbath day, but they will not proceed without him. Desmond joins them anyway after praying for his men.The squad runs into a group of men that have falsely surrendered, bringing them under fire. One member of the Japanese squad commits seppuku to avoid capture. Desmond helps Glover by kicking away grenades and continuing to bring men to safety. Desmond gets injured in the fight. He is carried away and told he is going home. He asks for his bible, and another soldier runs to get it to him. Desmond is then flown away for treatment.We are shown footage of the real Desmond Doss, Hal Doss, and Jack Glover, recounting Desmond's heroics and experiences in the battle. The text states that Desmond was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. He rescued over 75 men in the battlefield. He and Dorothy Schutte were married until her death in 1991. Desmond passed away at the age of 87 in 2006.

anti war, violence, romantic, flashback

train

imdb

You have to make something very special to be mentioned in the same sentence as films like those and in Hacksaw Ridge, I think Mel Gibson has made one of the all time great war films.Some war films use a particular war from history to tell a fictional story, all three of the above for example however, a war film for me becomes something else entirely when it tells a true story, especially one as remarkable as the story that Hacksaw Ridge is based on.Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield) became the first Conscientious Objector in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honour even though he refused to kill or even carry a rifle while serving as a medic during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II. Doss' phenomenal story of courage saw him single-handedly save the lives of over 75 of his comrades while under constant enemy fire.Hacksaw Ridge is very much a film of two halves; the first introducing us to Doss, exploring both his personal life and his motivations for choosing to become a Conscientious Objector and serve as a medic, the second depicting the Battle of Okinawa at Hacksaw Ridge, the site of one of the bravest human feats in history. Both tell the story of the determined individual that Doss was and Mel Gibson does a wonderful job in directing the film.Gibson has attracted a lot of bad press over the years but there is no denying that he is a good director, and in Hacksaw Ridge, he may just have made his best film yet. It's the emotional power of the story that Gibson taps into so successfully that makes Hacksaw Ridge such compelling viewing, whether it be Doss' arduous journey through combat training or the visceral war sequences. The relentlessness of the sequences is admirable from Gibson and they're wonderfully shot by Simon Duggan.Coming to the performances, Hacksaw Ridge features an amazing lead performance from Andrew Garfield, who wanted to move away from his days as Spider-Man with a chance to play such an inspiring real life hero. His performance as Doss is one of the best of the year and I would love to see him get some form of recognition come awards season.The supporting cast threw me a little but they all play their part in excelling the film, expected from the likes of Hugo Weaving and Teresa Palmer but the film surprised me with how good some of the cast were. Sam Worthington and Luke Bracey were two that come to mind but the real surprise was Vince Vaughn, who I never thought I'd see play a part in a war film, particularly that of an Army Sergeant.Few films this year have hit me emotionally as Hacksaw Ridge did and that's why I have to say it's a most welcome return to filmmaking from Mel Gibson. I thought 10.30AM on a Sunday was too early for a Mel Gibson movie, that I might be in for something along the lines of the heavy-handedness of THE PASSION OF THE Christ, and the adrenaline pumped brilliance of APOCALYPTO.I was proved wrong because after the first thirty minutes I wasn't sure if this was a Mel Gibson film when I was placed into a comfort zone, with its melodrama set in a small Virginia town during the Forties, a schmaltzy romance, and the cliché violent drunken father who survived a brutal war. The performances were maybe a little let down by the clumsy dialogue, but all directed safely with a natural sense of storytelling.By the 2nd act, I was put on high alert in the military training with our protagonist, Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield who I at first felt was wrongly cast, but he really came through in the end). One of the great feats of storytelling from Mel Gibson (director) and Andrew Garfield (leading role, Desmond Doss) is to lead the audience along Doss' journey with a feeling of having experienced the journey as Doss, and experiencing the wide range of emotions endured by this heroic character along his journey.Neither war itself nor violence are glorified in the film, yet they also not derided. Vince Vaughn's excellent turn as Doss' training sergeant provides both humour and pathos to bring laughs and pause- for-thought at well scripted points of the tale, allowing the audience to gather their breath.By the end of the film, audience members will leave the cinema feeling tired, worn out by having experienced Doss' journey of hope, innocence, love, confusion, anger, faith, and courage. Starring Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington and Teresa Palmer, Hacksaw Ridge is a beautifully acted and viciously portrayed war film that will stick with you from the minute the film starts until the second the end credits start. That, coupled with the amazing true-life story of Desmond Doss being portrayed on screen, makes Hacksaw Ridge a wild and brutal trip down the path to Christianity and the power that faith can give a man. Overall, I felt Hacksaw Ridge was an extremely brutal and visceral war film that brings up questions of warfare, humanity and religion while displaying Gibson's excellent eye for technical accuracy and assaulting imagery. If it were not a true story that celebrates an unusual hero the film could have been accused of a gratuitous display of unrelenting carnage and military triumphalism.The film plays in two halves: the early life and romance of Army Medic Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) and the actual Battle of Hacksaw Ridge. Not long after meeting the one love of his life, nurse Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer), he enlisted with the belief that he could serve his God unarmed and without killing enemy soldiers.Branded a coward and bullied to leave, he was eventually granted conscientious objector status and became one of the troops sent to capture Hacksaw Ridge in the Battle of Okinawa of May 1945. The Ridge was eventually captured and Doss became one of the most decorated heroes of World War II.The heroism depicted in this story is of such an extraordinary magnitude that it can easily overwhelm any consideration of the film's merits. War films can be a bit hard to sit through, with its graphic depictions of key battles in history, strong themes of power, brotherhood and the effect it has among the world but with Mel Gibson's latest war drama 'Hacksaw Ridge' it manages to be something more that we can grasp it.The true life story of Desmond Doss is finally brought to the big screen, Doss was a US Army medic who served during WWII, but coming from a family with a strong religious beliefs and a father that struggled with the aftermath of WWI (a veteran himself) it lead him to be a Seventh-day Adventist, refusing to bare a firearm and the use of violence against another. It is here in this key battle that Doss was recognised as a true hero for his country, as he managed to rescue the lives of 75 soldiers wounded in battle.Gibson returns to the director's chair to helm this true story, giving his touch of humanistic quality, anti-war themes and brutality to the horrors of war to much great detail. The 2nd half of the film is much darker than the first half and people will need a strong stomach to handle the graphic depictions of violence and deaths we see throughout, but it does get emotional at times and in the last few minutes of the film, though overall the film is emotional with Doss's back-story, his personal lifestyle and the brotherhood that Doss and his army experience and share on the battlefield.In terms of acting, the cast as a whole is incredible with Andrew Garfield, Hugo Weaving, Vince Vaughn, Luke Bracey and Teresa Palmer giving the best key performances of the film. Garfield must have given much study and preparation for the role, as his character's journey from a wise simple man to a hero of his army is given so much heart, emotion and bravery to make the journey of Doss so believable.Overall, Hacksaw Ridge is a film that will leave audiences in state of emotion that describes the horrors of war, the bravery of Doss and his army and a sense of thankfulness to our past ancestors who had lived in a time to fight for freedom and peace when the world was divided. Through the intervention at a court martial of his improbably brave and conflicted father (Hugo Weaving), Doss is allowed to serve as a medic under those conditions, proving to all that he could be braver saving men at Okinawa's Hacksaw Ridge than anyone else (75 men as a medic with a flair for ingenious rescuing).Although Director Gibson is best known for his graphic depictions of violence in Apocalypto and The Passion of the Christ, he can also be accused, along with writers Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan, of clichéd story telling. The film's two parts, at home and at war, follow some pretty trite set-ups such as the mountain boy smitten by the nurse, the call to righteous service, the tough drill sergeant ( a terrific Vince Vaughn, see opening quote), and the sentimental trench dialogue.Yet these flaws work when the story needs them to establish Doss's kind heart, courage, and the essential goodness of fellow combatants as they confess they misread him and his conscientious objection. If you can forgive the almost unreal, lush setting for his youth in Lynchburg, Virginia, and his mooning for his future wife, Dorothy (Teresa Palmer), then you will enjoy seeing a real hero in a real war.Yes, Gibson knows how to depict action, not just pain, and it helps make Hacksaw Ridge a welcome addition to war films that tell true stories. I don't know if that was supposed to be a historically accurate movie, since they had the actual veterans that they interviewed at the end of the movie But it was more like a Mel Gibson snuff film glorifying the act of killing people and some weird Christian stuff too. What affects the viewer more than the brutal violence of war on display, more than the performances of the cast, more than Gibson's direction, is the unflinching determination, unselfish bravery, compassion and faith the real Desmond Doss showed throughout his life. He has proved himself to be one of the most consistent directors working today and Hacksaw Ridge is some of the best work he's done in his entire career The core story of this film is simply fascinating, a man who went into one of the worst engagements of the Second World War without any kind of weapon to defend himself with and this story is one that the viewer can easily get behind because it is so well established why Doss feels the need to do this while not shining him in a truly heroic light. Hugo Weaving blew me away in this movie, I've never seen this kind of work from him, he was so believable as this torn up man who has had some much taken away from him by war.He first half of this film mainly focuses of Doss' romance with his future wife and his motivations for his pacifism and while it's defiantly a bit slow and cheesy at times it worked very well. Hacksaw Ridge chronicles the true story of Desmond Doss, a World War II US Army enlistee who refuses to touch a gun. The character of private doss was itself a fascinating trait that contributed to the critical acclamation this picture had received, he is as Andrew Garfield perfectly fits a man of a poor physique yet of great courage and altruism, his a medic that dived head first into the hordes of dead in the battlefield without hesitation, he is a loving husband, a great son and a true patriot who stood willingly in the face of the dreadful war in japan in order to save his fellow brothers in arms. Will he be helpful in the battle field?"Hacksaw Ridge" is a magnificent war movie directed by Mel Gibson that deserves not only the nomination, but the Oscar. Hugo Weaving gives maybe the best performance of his since The Matrix and is a possible candidate for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar as Doss' abusive, drunk father after serving in WWI.Sam Worthington, Vince Vaughn, Teresa Palmer and really all others involved give great supporting Performances.I can safely say Hacksaw Ridge is the best war film since Saving Private Ryan with brutal, terrifying battle sequences, beautiful cinematography, and incredible performances. Mel Gibson's Directorial Return, after a 10 Year Hiatus, is neither an Anti-War or Pro-War Film, it is both.If it wasn't a Documented True Story of Conscientious Objector Desmond Doss who Refused to Touch a Gun, although Enlisting to Serve in WWII, one might get the Impression that the Film was Allegorical about the Resurrected Jesus Christ.That Impression is Felt once the Movie's Second Half turns to the Battle of Okinawa and the "Hero" of the New Testament finds Himself in a Hell that is the Human Condition and still Maintains the "Love Thy Neighbor" and "Turn the Other Cheek" Demeanor that He, by Example, Maintains throughout the Carnage and Slaughter.The Film is Grounded with Good Performances, not only Andrew Garfield, but also with Hugo Weaving as Doss's Father Riveting and Bristling with Gravitas, and others Contributing the Fleshing Out (literally) needed to make the Movie Mesmerizing.The Battle Sequences get a lot of Ink and they are Visceral with the Violence Sharply Cutting on the Edges of the Frame as Garfield's Doss Centers the Action with a Calm that Defies Normal Human Reaction. It shows us how he met his future baby mama and their budding romance pre-war.Although it did pay a role in how the following events unfolded, I didn't really feeeel it – it felt a little lacklustre and a whole lotta cringe.Those few scenes aside, this is an exceptional film that depicts perfectly the fear and bravery that those army folk displayed.It also was a nice reminder that we may only be one but we have the ability to effect the lives of many – yay humans!Something else worth mentioning is this isn't for the light hearted, if you're not into blood, gore and a whole lot of limb dismemberment then beware!I am not easily squeamish but boy oh boy this had me 'eeeking' a fair few times.Moving swiftly onto the rating, it's a strong 8/10 from me, VERY nearly a 9/10.When I finished the movie I immediately went home and read up a little more about Desmond doss himself and he was a remarkable person and this film did him and his incredible story justice!. Perhaps that's because, although it's advertised as a war movie, 'Hacksaw Ridge' is more like a drama set on a battlefield.The film is very well written and directed, and it was a pleasant surprise to see the emphasis placed on the story and dialogue rather than just actions scenes. Mel Gibson deserves a lot of credit, as does Andrew Garfield who delivers an outstanding performance as Desmond Doss.True stories are always the best stories, and this is one of the most uplifting and inspirational I've come across in a long time. Beautiful and brutal....Savage and tender.....the best war scenes filmed since "Saving Private Ryan"...Mel Gibson makes an engaging character study...and a stirring anti-war movie.... It's been a while since I've seen saving private Ryan, the movie I could not help but to compare this movie too, but the Spielberg movie is said to have some of the most realistic war scenes put on camera, and I must say Hacksaw Ridge is a huge rival to that.Some of the action in this movie is very over dramatic making it hard to believe that that happen but knowing how crazy war is I'm sure a lot of it did.Especially keeping with the story arch about a man who said I cannot kill another man or hold a gun in combat but had the courage to go to war and be a hero hands down.Andrew Garfield was good in the movie, but Vince Vaughn was a little iffy for me. Movie: Mel Gibson's MASSIVE comeback to the movie industry by directing Hacksaw Ridge, a movie about Desmond Doss and how he went into World War 2 without any self defense serving as a medic and became the first conscientious objector in American history to be rewarded the medal of honour. Desmond Doss was a pacifist and devout Seventh Day Adventist, and like most good people of faith, he clearly sees his beliefs as a private and personal thing, even as he enlists in the military and disobeys a direct order to carry a rifle."Hacksaw Ridge" is a film that asks its audience just what lengths we are going to go to stand up for what we feel is right. Hacksaw Ridge is ultimately a good film made about a great story that squanders much of its potential with wooden dialogue, countless clichés, and telegraphed punches rather than foreshadowing.When I saw the movie, I didn't know much about it and somehow missed in the opening credits that it was directed by Mel Gibson, but as I watched, I remember repeatedly saying to myself, "Man, someone has a persecution complex." Doss' pacifism was a central theme; it was so integral to the plot, that nobody could have missed it if it had not been treated so heavy-handedly. Telling the story of Desmond Doss, an Army medic that refused to carry a weapon through the hell fire of battle in Okinawa at the height of World War II. Telling the story of Desmond Doss, an Army medic that refused to carry a weapon through the hell fire of battle in Okinawa at the height of World War II.

tt0119528

Liar Liar

In Los Angeles, California Fletcher Reede (Jim Carrey) is a career-focused lawyer and divorced father. He loves spending time with his young son Max (Justin Cooper); they often play a game where Fletcher makes his hand into "the Claw" and pretends to chase Max with it. But Fletcher has a habit of giving precedence to his job, breaking promises to Max and his ex-wife Audrey (Maura Tierney), and then lying about the reasons. Fletcher's compulsive lying has also built him a reputation as one of the best defense lawyers in the state of California as he is climbing the ladder in the firm for which he works. Ultimately, Fletcher misses his son's 5th birthday party because he is having sex with his boss Miranda (Amanda Donohoe). Max makes a birthday wish that: "I wish that for just one day... Dad can't tell a lie". Immediately, that wish actually and magically comes true.Fletcher, through a series of embarrassing incidents, finds that he is unable to lie, mislead, or even withhold a true answer. He blurts out exactly what he is thinking, like a Tourette's Syndrome twitch. Some of these instances include: Immediately after Max makes his wish, Fletcher has just had sex with Miranda and when she asks "was it good for you?" "I've had better," he responds.(The plot is reminiscent of The Twilight Zone episode "The Whole Truth," which involves a used car salesman being forced into uninhibited honesty by a haunted car.)The next morning, when an attractive girl says everyone is so nice to her, he says "Well, that's because you have big jugs! I mean... your boobs are huge! I mean... I wanna squeeze em'!"Also when he walks out of the elevator at his office and everyone is plugging their nose, he admits "It was me!". When an obese man asks "What's up?," he says, "Your cholesterol! Dead man walkin'!" He also tells a co-worker he doesn't know his name because he's not important enough. When he tries to explain his situation to his secretary Greta (Anne Haney), she doesn't believe him so he sets himself up good. He tells her to ask him something she thinks he would normally lie about. Greta asks him about a raise she wanted a couple months ago. Fletcher had told her if he gave her a raise from his own pocket it would make the other secretaries jealous so the company wouldn't allow it. She asks if that was true or if he just didn't want to "pony up the dough". Greta immediately quits.These incidents are inconvenient, as he is fighting a divorce case in court which, should he win, could be a huge boost to his career. His client is Samantha Cole (Jennifer Tilly) a young woman who wants a quick divorce after 14 years of marriage. His main witness is willing to commit perjury to win, but Fletcher discovers that he cannot even ask a question if he knows the answer will be a lie; during the case he even objects to himself when he tries to lie to get the desired information.Meanwhile, Audrey is planning to move to Boston with her new boyfriend Jerry (Cary Elwes), and decides that Max is going with them so that she can protect him from getting hurt by Fletcher. It is here that Fletcher learns about Max's birthday wish and goes to confront him. Fletcher tries to convince Max that adults need to lie as a part of their daily lives, but he cannot give any type of answer at why he should continue to lie to his son. Fletcher also figures out that since Max wished for him to tell the truth for only one day, he tries to do what he can to delay Samantha's case since the magic wish will expire at 8:15 p.m.... 24 hours after Max made the wish.Fletcher tries desperately to delay the case, even beating himself up, but he cannot conceal that he is able to continue, so Judge Marshall Stevens (Jason Bernard) insists that he does. Finally, Fletcher discovers a loophole in his case: he realizes that Samantha had lied about her age and therefore had signed her prenuptial agreement while she was only 17... still a minor, thus rendering it invalid. This allows him to win his case truthfully, but the repercussions become a catalyst to his understanding of what he himself is about to lose. Samantha, who only cared about her ex-husband's money, takes custody of her children purely so her ex-husband would be forced to continue paying her for child care and literally snatches the children out of the arms of their good and caring father. Fletcher then has a crisis of conscience and shouts at the judge to reverse the decision, and is taken to jail for contempt of court. Audrey refuses to pay his bail, which is eventually paid by Greta, who forgives him for his earlier rude truth-tellings after hearing he "went all noble" in front of their firm's senior partner.Now recognizing his son Max as his highest priority, Fletcher struggles to keep him. He hurries to the airport, but Audrey and Max's plane has already left the terminal. Desperate, Fletcher sneaks onto the tarmac by hiding in a piece of luggage, steals a motorized staircase, and manages to gain the pilot's attention by throwing his shoe at the cockpit window, forcing him to abort the flight. However, Fletcher's victory is cut short when he crashes into a barrier and is sent flying into a baggage tug, which causes a chain reaction that leaves Fletcher unconscious and with both of his legs broken. After waking up, he tells Max how much he cares about him and how sorry he was for breaking his promises. Despite realizing now that it is 8:30 pm and no longer being under the wish's influence, Fletcher means what he says and adds that Max is his priority, and Max convinces Audrey to stay in Los Angeles.One year later. Fletcher and Audrey are celebrating Max's birthday. The lights go off when Max blows out his birthday candles. When they go back on, Fletcher and Audrey are kissing. Fletcher asks Max if he wished for his mother and his dad to get back together and Max replies "No, I wished for roller blades!" The family seemingly returns to normal as Fletcher chases Audrey and Max around the house with "the Claw".Over the end credits, a montage of bloopers and outtakes from the movie is shown.

comedy, humor, entertaining, adult comedy

train

imdb

Jim Carrey puts so much energy and pure comedic brilliance into this movie that we hardly noticed how corny and hackneyed was the plot or how wearily didactic was the moral lesson for all fathers who neglect their children for the goddess of success. To laugh at something deeply troubling in our nature is a way of dealing with it.So the genius of this movie is first the talent of Jim Carrey, but second, for kids who come to the realization of adult mendacity for the first time, it is the discovery of comedy as a way to cope. See this obviously for Jim Carrey, one of the great comedic talents of our time, an original who would have delighted Charlie Chaplin with his extraordinary muggings, his blatant audacity and his suburb timing.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!). Jim Carrey is often a great comedian, but this is him at his funniest side.The story is very funny and entertaining: Fletcher Reede, a lawyer with the habit of lying and breaking promises, suddenly sees himself forced to become honest during the next 24 hours after his son's birthday wish comes true. Jim Carrey is great as Fletcher Reede, but there are other equally good actors, like Maura Tierney as Audrey Reede, Cary Elwes as Jerry and little Justin Cooper as Max (Fletcher's son). Lots of very funny lines are another attribute.Directed by Tom Shadyac, "Liar Liar" is the best thing Jim Carrey and Tom Shadyac ever did together and slightly superior than the later "Bruce Almighty".. I'm not kidding when I say that I know a dozen people where we just rehearse the lines from Liar Liar back and forth, because all the scenes are just so memorable.Fletcher Reed is a lawyer who, surprise, lies to win cases. More comedy ensues as Fletcher deals with the pressure on how to learn to tell the truth to win the case and prevent his son and ex wife from moving to Boston with her new boyfriend.Liar Liar will make your sides hurt and you'll watch this movie again and again when you see how hilarious Jim Carrey is. My sister isn't a Jim Carrey fan and even admitted that she had more than a few good laughs watching this film. Jim Carrey's great comedy acting skills were a crucial element of this film, but they are not the only redeeming value of the movie itself. With a huge career changing case that is based solely on lies about to go to trial, he is stuck in an unfamiliar position, that may just change his life.Jim Carrey is on top form for this one, giving one of his most hilarious performances to date, he is well supported by the likes of Jennifer Tilly, Swoosie Kurtz and Amanda Donohue, and the winning concept of the movies theme realises its potential.7/10 Great fun. The plot is good, and as the film barely takes 90 minutes it's fairly fast-paced(well, for a Jim Carrey comedy, anyway); I don't think there ever passes 5 minutes without one single joke. Liar Liar is one solution to the problem of what kind of movie vehicle to write for overacting, rubber man Jim Carrey. Jim Carrey plays a liar lawyer called Fletcher Reede.His son Max (Justin Cooper) makes a birthday wish that his father can't tell a lie in 24 hours.And the wish comes true. That gets Fletcher in many embarrassing situations.It's hard to tell the truth all the time especially for a lawyer.That's not the only problem Fletcher is having.His ex-wife Audrey (Maura Tierney) is moving to Boston with his boyfriend Jerry (Cary Elwes).That must be stopped.Jim Carrey does incredible role work in this Tom Shadyac's 1997 comedy Liar Liar.Jim is amazing comedian.He can pull his face just like Jerry Lewis.This is completely a Jim Carrey show.There are many hilarious scenes in the courtroom.Liar Liar is for all you liars out there.. True the plot is a little corny, my only criticism of the movie, but Jim Carrey's wonderfully energetic and most of the time hilarious performance more than compensates. Liar Liar is easily one of Carrey's better films, I do confess I will need to see a few more of his movies before concluding which one's his best to save bias. A heartbroken and often disappointed 5 year old boy makes a birth day wish that his father, a prominent and up-and-coming civil attorney, cannot lie for just one day.In this vehicle, through obvious wish magick, the wish is granted.In pique form of Jim Carrey's classic Dick Van Dyke-meets-Jerry Lewis style, the results of his son's wish wreaks total havoc on his life, and on the lives of those around him.With an all-star cast, fine direction, and expert screen writers, this production is top notch, classic Jim Carrey fare. Frenetically funny high concept comedy with Carrey cast as a chronic lying lawyer who finds himself under the spell of his 5 year old son's birthday wish for him to tell the truth for 24 hours with some truly inspired slapstick and painfully truthful one-liners. Unlike in Ace Ventura, Carrey actually has a solid (and original) plot to work with here, and the messages about the dangers of neglecting your family can be as touching as you want them to be - but I'd advice you just shut out the messages and enjoy Jim's madness.The movie is helped by a fantastic supporting cast, including a cute Maura Tierny as Fletcher's ex wife, Cary Elwes as the sublimely dorky stepdaddy, Jennifer Tilly as Fletcher's sexy client Samantha Cole, and the late Jason Bernard as the honourable (pfft) Judge Stevens. Justin Cooper is also good as Fletcher's son Max, which says a lot since most Hollywood actors his age seemingly just graduated from the Hayden Christensen School of Being Annoying.The script is incredibly witty and hilarious - those who said that Americans can't make comedy beyond the usual Adam Sandler jokes need to think again. The movie is about a slick lawyer (Jim Carrey)who fibs a lot, until one day his son makes a wish on his birthday that he cannot lie for one day which comes true, he ends up being humiliated and of course very daft. Jim Carrey proves once again his prowess for physical, slapstick comedy in this hysterically funny film about a lawyer who finds himself unable to lie. Liar Liar is a very good comedy about a lawyer who can't lie for an entire day because of a wish his son made when blowing out the candles on his birthday cake. Because the boy is so disappointed by his dad, he wishes that the man will be honest for an entire day and surprise, surprise: his wish comes true.What you get is typical Jim Carrey, but it works perfectly if you ask me. Liar Liar is a brilliant movie with a very original and well written storyline with a great cast that are able to be both very funny and serious in this movie.Jim Carrey is outstanding in this movie,he is without a doubt one of my favourite comedy actors, and while I don't think this is one of his best movies,his character is still absolutely hilarious,especially when he can't lie,and also surprisingly heartwarming and charming.Liar Liar is a very enjoyable movie that I would recommend to all fans of Jim Carrey, and to anyone looking for a great laugh,because this movie is funny all the way through.After his son makes a wish on his fifth birthday that his couldn't lie for a whole day,Fletcher Reede (Jim Carrey),a successful but selfish lawyer,is put in to a very awkward situation when he must go through a full day of work without being able to tell a single lie.. This is Jim Carrey at his best in a over the top performance where he plays a very eccentric character but not so much that it's ridiculous like his characters in the Ace Ventura or The Mask movies. And at least his eccentric behavior is explained by him wanting to lie but not being able to do so for a 24 hour period of time.Carrey plays Fletcher Reed a lawyer who is a serial liar and is having a hard time handling the fact that for a 24 hour period of time he can't lie about anything because of a birthday wish his son made.The movie is probably right behind The Truman Show, Man in the Moon and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as the best work of his career.. A little summary (no spoilers), Jim Carrey plays Fletcher Reed, who's a divorced lawyer and likes to lie to people, even to his son, Max. On his birthday, Max wishes for his dad to not tell a lie for at least one day.It was this movie that got me into Carrey in the first place, which led me to watch more of his movies. Good plot, pretty decent characters and really funny scenes make this a great movie and one of my favorite films of all time. This movie is a must watch for all just for a simple reason to witness the greatness of Jim Carry, how he performs even the simplest scenes and takes it to the level which has been witnessed never before. Carrey, One Of The Greatest Film Actors Ever, Performs his part here with such ease & aura, he leaves you spell-bound.Carrey stars as A pathologically lying lawyer, who desperately tries to grant his son's wish that he tell the truth for a 24-hour period. It was funny watching an attorney that could not lie and the bizarre things he had to do at times to try and get around it and win the case, but it was also a bore watching him with his son and realizing how bad a father he was. I Have A Quote That I Believe In "The Truth Shall Set You Free Or Get You Into A F##kload Of Trouble" & My Friends Think That Quote Came From My Viewing Of This Movie...It Would Be Hard To Imagine Not To Lie...If You Want My Beliefs On Lying Use The Lies To Protect People's Feelings...To Mask Yourself From People Using Lies Is Pointless.Trust Me.I Have Been Strapped To A Lie Detector The Entire Time I Was Writing The Review.As Far As Comedies Go Though...I've Had Better. I suppose there's three basic points being made: first, if we all told the truth about everything it would cause a lot of trouble (think of Fletcher speaking to the woman he's never met on the elevator and telling her how much he likes her rather significant "endowment") and a lot of hurt even to the people we truly care about; second, if we were to lie about everything it would also cause a lot of trouble ; and, finally, don't ignore your kids - they're precious and they need our attention.It's a funny movie with a message. Jim Carrey's best work starts with the story ideas that,when seen on paper,make you laugh.The whole idea of a lawyer who is unable to lie is indeed a funny one.I remember Carrey himself,in an interview plugging the film,said that he was drawn to the film based on that very idea.Couple that with Jim Carrey's great comedic abilities and you have a film worth watching.There are others,it should be noted,that worked just as hard to make the film funny as Carrey did,most notably Swoosie Kurtz and Carey Elwes.When ranking Jim Carrey's films from best to worst,no two people will rank the films in the same order,but I think it is safe to say that Liar Liar will end up in the upper tier of everyone's,or at least most people's list.. Jim Carrey stars in one of his best movies as Fletcher Reed, a lawyer who wins his cases by lying.He's got a new case coming up, but there's one problem... Overall, Liar Liar is very funny and is one of Jim Carrey's best movies.. At times, it feels like Jim Carrey was the only one appearing in this movie, and everyone else was invisible in the background. Although I can't say I'm a mega-fan of Jim Carrey's form of comedy, he was completely perfect for the role as Fletcher Reede, the arrogant lawyer who is as wholly strange as he is truly loving of his son. His son, Max, hates this, so he wishes on his 5th birthday(since his Dad is too busy having sex) that his Dad will go one day without lying.This works, and his father gets himself in outrageous trouble for it.I was sheltered as a kid but I was allowed to see a few PG-13 movies. Unable to lie as a result of a birthday wish, a lawyer who has built his career on fibs discovers how hard it is to tell the truth all the time in this Jim Carrey comedy vehicle. In fact, the film's funniest bit comes in the end credits blooper reel as Swoosie Kurtz calls him an "overactor" - though there is also a fun part in which he tells his son that not only will his face not freeze if the wind changes, but in fact some people (Carrey) make living out of making funny faces! Jim Carrey was outrageously funny in the role of Fletcher Reede; An overworked lawyer who tells one lie after another and on his son Max's 5th birthday, he wishes his dad can go through one day without telling a lie.I thought Jim Carrey was perfect in the role as he does his usual zany acts as he tries to tell a lie, but can only tell the truth. In addition, the things he will do to himself in the bathroom scene in the courthouse as I found out no sound effects were used in that scene where he's actually slamming his head and body into walls, the radiator heater as ell as the toilet seat.If there are any drawbacks, Jim Carrey tends to overact a bit, but he's someone who can do it and get away with it.Jennifer TIlly's character, Samantha Cole, Fletcher's client was good, but this was different to me as she plays an evil person who wants to take her ex-husband to "the cleaners" in the divorce. The story gets a beautiful turn when Max on his 5th birthday makes a wish that his daddy would'nt lie for one whole day and as expected this wish comes true and thus Jim Carrey gets an opportunity to show his acting skills and yet again he gives a flawless performance as a comic actor. This is yet another visual treat for the countless Jim Carrey fans who have enjoyed him in films like ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE, DUMB AND DUMBER, THE MASK ...No amount of praise is sufficient to acknowledge his comic skills. ...and just watch the middle part of the film, the part where Jim Carrey's character (Fletcher Reede) can't lie. Jim Carrey is just brilliant, absolutely hilarious but also handles the more emotional scenes in the film very well.Jim plays Fletcher Reede, a dedicated lawyer, so dedicated he has very little time to see his son, Max (Justin Cooper). With Fletcher not being able to lie his day goes from bad to worse with some hilarious Memorable moments.Once again Jim Carrey has delivered another fine comedy with plenty of laugh out loud moments, everyone else in the film are also very good. The wish comes true, and Jim Carrey delivers a career-topping performance as a scheming lawyer who craves the chance to lie but just can't get the words out of his mouth. At his fifth birthday party Max (Justin Cooper) makes a wish that for just one day his inattentive father Fletcher (Jim Carrey) will be unable to tell a lie. Miraculously the wish comes true which causes countless problems for Fletcher whose job as a lawyer may be in jeopardy unless he is able to lie.Director Tom Shadyac teams up with Jim Carrey for the first time since the hilarious ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective' (1994) and while one may expect more of the same, ‘Liar Liar' benefits somewhat from having a tighter and heart-warming story rather than just the usual Carrey hijinks. The best Jim Carrey movie of all-time. This was definitely the best Jim Carrey movie of all-time. Another one of Jim Carrey's more recent works, LIAR LIAR wasn't as popular as some of his other early films, but this is a lot better than some of those.He keeps his trademark comic voice-variations, and juvenile crude humor which makes most parents not want their little kids to see it. I love this movie, it's not Jim's funnies(That would be Dumb and Dumber) or his best performance (either in Batman Forever or The Truman Show) the bathroom scene makes it for me. I loved this movie, I thought the story was very good and it show's off Carrey's comedic timing and ability. Then Max Fletcher's son makes a birthday wish that for just one day he couldn't tell a lie. The gags that delivered the best laughs were Jim Carrey's voices and funny faces. If you are not really a Jim Carrey fan (like me) give this one a try: it might work for you too.I have never heard my 6 year old daughter laugh so hard as I she did during "Liar Liar". anyway!) His son makes a birthday wish that for twenty four hours, his dad doesn't lie, and boy, for that twenty four hours, Fletcher Reid (Jim Carrey) is miserable. Jim Carrey plays almost a straight role as a lawyer who can not tell a lie for 24 hrs. So Jim Carrey tells everyone what he really thinks, and that makes many funny moments.

tt0053994

Kidnapped

The central character and narrator is 17-year-old David Balfour. (Balfour is Stevenson's mother's maiden name.) His parents have recently died, and he is out to make his way in the world. He is given a letter by the minister of Essendean, Mr. Campbell, to be delivered to the House of Shaws in Cramond, where David's uncle, Ebenezer Balfour, lives. On his journey, David asks many people where the House of Shaws is, and all of them speak of it darkly as a place of fear and evil. David arrives at the ominous House of Shaws and is confronted by his paranoid Uncle Ebenezer, who is armed with a blunderbuss. His uncle is also miserly, living on "parritch" and small ale, and the House of Shaws itself is partially unfinished and somewhat ruinous. David is allowed to stay and soon discovers evidence that his father may have been older than his uncle, thus making David the rightful heir to the estate. Ebenezer asks David to get a chest from the top of a tower in the house but refuses to provide a lamp or candle. David is forced to scale the stairs in the dark and realises that not only is the tower unfinished in some places, but the steps simply end abruptly and fall into an abyss. David concludes that his uncle intended for him to have an "accident" so as not to have to give over his nephew's inheritance. David confronts his uncle, who promises to tell David the whole story of his father the next morning. A ship's cabin boy, Ransome, arrives the next day and tells Ebenezer that Captain Hoseason of the brig Covenant needs to meet him to discuss business. Ebenezer takes David to a pier on the Firth of Forth, where Hoseason awaits, and David makes the mistake of leaving his uncle alone with the captain while he visits the shore with Ransome. Hoseason later offers to take them on board the brig briefly, and David complies, only to see his uncle returning to shore alone in a skiff. David is then immediately struck senseless. David awakens, bound hand and foot, in the hold of the ship. He becomes weak and sick, and one of the Covenant's officers, Mr. Riach, convinces Hoseason to move David up to the forecastle. Mr. Shuan, a mate on the ship, finally takes his routine abuse of Ransome too far and murders the unfortunate youth. David is repulsed at the crew's behaviour and learns that the captain plans to sell him into slavery in the Carolinas. David becomes the slain cabin boy's replacement, and the ship encounters contrary winds which drive her back toward Scotland. Fog-bound near the Hebrides, they strike a small boat. All of the small boat's crew are killed except one man, Alan Breck Stewart, who is brought on board and offers Hoseason a large sum of money to drop him off on the mainland. David later overhears the crew plotting to kill Alan and take all his money. David and Alan barricade themselves in the round house, where Alan kills the murderous Shuan, and David wounds Hoseason. Five of the crew members are killed outright, and the rest refuse to continue fighting. Alan is a Jacobite who supports the claim of the House of Stuart to the throne of Scotland. He is initially suspicious of the pro-Whig David, who is also loyal to King George II. Still, the young man has given a good account of himself in the fighting and impresses the veteran soldier. Hoseason has no choice but to give Alan and David passage back to the mainland. David tells his tale to Alan, who in turn states that his birthplace, Appin, is under the tyrannical administration of Colin Roy of Glenure, the King's factor and a Campbell. Alan vows that should he find the "Red Fox" he will kill him. The Covenant tries to negotiate a difficult channel without a proper chart or pilot, and is soon driven aground on the notorious Torran Rocks. David and Alan are separated in the confusion, with David being washed ashore on the isle of Erraid, near Mull, while Alan and the surviving crew row to safety on that same island. David spends a few days alone in the wild before getting his bearings. David learns that his new friend has survived, and David has two encounters with beggarly guides: one who attempts to stab him with a knife, and another who is blind but an excellent shot with a pistol. David soon reaches Torosay, where he is ferried across the river, receives further instructions from Alan's friend Neil Roy McRob, and later meets a catechist who takes the lad to the mainland. As he continues his journey, David encounters none other than the Red Fox (Colin Roy) himself, who is accompanied by a lawyer, a servant, and a sheriff's officer. When David stops the Campbell man to ask him for directions, a hidden sniper kills the King's hated agent. David is denounced as a conspirator and flees for his life, but by chance reunites with Alan. The youth believes Alan is the assassin, but Alan denies responsibility. The pair flee from redcoat search parties until they reach James (Stewart) of the Glens, whose family has heard of the murder, is burying their hidden store of weapons, and is burning papers that could incriminate them. James tells the travellers he will have no choice but to "paper" them (distribute printed descriptions of the two with a reward listed), but provides them with weapons and food for their journey south, and David with a change of clothes (which the printed description will not match). Alan and David then begin their flight through the heather, hiding from government soldiers by day. As the trek drains David's strength, his health rapidly deteriorates; by the time they are set upon by wild Highlanders who are sentries for Cluny Macpherson, an outlawed chief in hiding, the lad is barely conscious. Alan convinces Cluny to give them shelter. The Highland chieftain is offended when David covenantly refuses to play cards but defers to the respected Alan's opinion of the lad. David is tended by a Highland doctor and soon recovers, though in the meantime Alan loses all of their money at cards with Cluny, only for Cluny to give it back when David practically begs for it. When David and Alan resume their flight in cold and rainy weather, David becomes ill again and nurses a childish anger against Alan over the affront of having to beg for their money. Alan patiently tries to help the sulking David for several days, but he finally gives in to his own pride and begins taunting him. David forces a showdown with swords by insulting Alan's courage and loyalty, but Alan cannot bring himself to fight him. David, now sick in the extreme, at last feels contrition and realizes a plea for help can do what an apology will not: mend the rift between them. Alan carries David on his back down the burn to reach the nearest house, fortuitously that of a Maclaren, Duncan Dhu, who is both an ally of the Stewarts and a skilled piper. David is bedridden and given a doctor's care, while Alan hides nearby, visiting after dark. During David's nearly month-long recuperation, he is visited by many curious but loyal neighbours in the region and by a foe of Alan's, Robin Oig, the son of Rob Roy MacGregor and a wanted outlaw. Alan and Robin nearly fight a duel, but Duncan persuades them to leave the contest to bagpipes. Both play brilliantly, but Alan admits Robin is the better piper, so the quarrel is resolved. Alan and David prepare to leave the Highlands and return to David's country. In one of the most humorous passages in the book, Alan convinces an innkeeper's daughter from Limekilns (unnamed in Kidnapped but called "Alison Hastie" in its sequel) that David is a dying young Jacobite nobleman, despite David's objections, and she ferries them across the Firth of Forth. There, they meet a lawyer of David's uncle's, Mr. Rankeillor, who agrees to help David receive his inheritance. Rankeillor explains that David's father and uncle had once quarrelled over a woman, David's mother, and the older Balfour had married her, informally giving the estate to his brother while living as an impoverished schoolteacher with his wife. This agreement had lapsed with his death. David and the lawyer hide in bushes outside Ebenezer's house while Alan speaks to him, claiming to be a man who found David nearly dead after the wreck of the Covenant and says he is representing folk holding him captive in the Hebrides. He asks David's uncle whether Alan should kill David or keep him. The uncle flatly denies Alan's statement that David had been kidnapped but eventually admits that he paid Hoseason "twenty pound" to take David to "Caroliny". David and Rankeillor then emerge from their hiding places, and speak with Ebenezer in the kitchen, eventually agreeing that David will be provided two-thirds of the estate's income for as long as his uncle lives. The novel ends with David and Alan's parting ways; Alan returns to France, and David goes to a bank to settle his money.

cult, action, murder

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tt0373926

The Interpreter

Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) is an interpreter working at the United Nations in New York City. She was raised in the Republic of Matobo, a fictional African country, but has dual citizenship. The U.N. is considering indicting Edmond Zuwanie (Earl Cameron), Matobo's president, to stand trial in the International Criminal Court. Initially a liberator, over the past 20 years he has become as corrupt and tyrannical as the government he overthrew, and is now responsible for ethnic cleansing and other atrocities within Matobo. Zuwanie is soon to visit the U.N. and put forward his own case to the General Assembly, in an attempt to avoid the indictment. A security scare forces the evacuation of the U.N. building, and, as Silvia returns at night to reclaim some personal belongings, she overhears two men discussing an assassination plot in Ku (an East-Africa dialect she understands). Silvia runs from the building when those discussing the plot become aware of her presence. The next day, Silvia recognizes words in a meeting, where she is interpreting, from phrases she overheard the night before, and reports the incident to U.N. security; the plot's target appears to be Zuwanie himself. They, in turn, call in the U.S. Secret Service, who assign Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) and Dot Woods (Catherine Keener) to investigate, as well as protect Zuwanie when he arrives. Keller, whose estranged wife was accidentally killed just days earlier, learns that Silvia has, in the past, been involved in a Matoban guerrilla group, that her parents and sister were killed by land mines laid by Zuwanie's men, and that she has dated one of Zuwanie's political opponents. Although Keller is suspicious of Silvia's story, the two grow close, in part because of their shared grief, and Keller ends up protecting her from attacks on her person. Silvia later finds that her brother Simon and her lover Xola were killed (as shown in the opening scene). The purported assassin is discovered (and shot to death) while Zuwanie is in the middle of his address to the General Assembly, and security personnel rush Zuwanie to a safe room for his protection. Silvia, anticipating this, has been hiding in the safe room, and confronts Zuwanie and intends to kill him herself. Keller determines that the assassination plot is a false flag operation created by Zuwanie to gain credibility that his rivals are terrorists and to deter potential supporters of his removal. Keller rushes to the safe room and arrives just in time to prevent Silvia from murdering Zuwanie. Zuwanie is indicted, and Silvia is expelled from the U.S., returning home to Matobo soon afterwards.

suspenseful, mystery, murder, violence, intrigue, flashback, action, revenge, storytelling

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Speaking of characters, I love the understated performances in this film by Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman. I love also the moments in this film, such as when Penn's character in a country-western bar unplugs the jukebox to stop the noise of some country-pop crap then restarts it in order to play Lyle Lovett's wonderful "If I Had a Boat" then goes to a pay phone and calls his own house just to hear his wife's voice on the answering machine.Also, while I have nothing against fast, action-adventure-cartoon-type violence when it's done just right. Sean Penn is also a good actor, and both do a great job in the movie.Unfortunately the good acting can't overcome the weak script. I had the chance to see this film yesterday at its world opening in Athens,Greece."The interpreter" is a political thriller directed by one of the most suitable filmmakers for this,Sydney Pollack. Nicole Kidman plays the role of a South African-born UN translator who overhears an assassination threat against the dictator of an African country.Sean Penn plays the role of a Secret Service agent,assigned to investigate the case.Soon we find out that the interpreter's past could explain her possible involvement in the conspiracy.So-maybe-not everything is exactly as it seems to be. Entry to the United Nations headquarters in New York (and being directed by Sydney Pollack) was enough to make Nicole Kidman sign up for this enjoyable, if not a little formulaic, political thriller. Having seen "Mystic River" recently, I was awaiting Sean Penn's next movie with great anticipation as he is one brilliant actor, and when I heard Nicole Kidman was to be his co-star, this was well worth waiting for, and both of them are superb in a very well-constructed movie, with great location shooting in New York. First of all, it would seem impossible to go wrong with this: you have Sydney Pollack at the helm, the blessings from the United Nations to actually shoot INSIDE the UN building itself (with several key scenes taking place in the general assembly room), all shot on location in the Big Apple, and to top it all off you have the best actress and actor of their generation in the lead! Just like he did with other thrillers like the masterful "Three Days of the Condor" and the entertaining "The Firm." I'm not saying "The Interpreter" is on level with those two, but it *is* an entertaining and thrilling two hours (especially a scene involving a bus is quite tense).In the end I was really left with just one quibble: as things developed the ending really came as no big surprise. Still, that said: it's a political thriller directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. The acting talent, clever though predictable plot, superior production and cinematography, and fearlessly quirky script are what makes this film work, despite a few rather absurd plot points.Kidman unsurprisingly, dominates the screen with a powerful portrayal of a young South African translator for the UN, who overhears a plot to assassinate the genocidal president of her home country, Motambo. Being from Africa, I found it highly annoying that they decided to use a fake country name (which of course not a lot of people would know!).The general idea was great and I love NIcole Kidman, and I was really looking forward to watch this movie. I must I say I really like movies like this and I was furthermore enthusiastic that Nicole Kidman was starring in that film along with Sean Penn! There are many things that are just not well thought out here, and the whole suffers as a result.Penn is great as always, Kidman does a lot with her character, but often they're wandering through the scenes in a story that doesn't seem to know where to go next. At times, you think the movie is going to take an interesting turn, but all that happens is that more unnecessary characters and events are introduced in a lame attempt to confuse the audience and make them forget that they've just wasted nearly two hours of their lives. Directed by Sydney Pollack and having Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn and Catherine Keener in the cast, I thought that it would certainly be a great political thriller. The story kicks off as United Nations African interpreter Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman) was gathering personal apparatuses when she overhears a plot to have her country's president assassinated in which involves a visit from an African dignitary. With the assistance of a wonderful script by Martin Stellman and Brian Ward, Penn and Kidman could still turn an average film into something provocative and through the direction of Pollack, this mediocre thriller has enough spark to keep the thriller aficionado enlightened but never insulted.With the remarkable cinematography under Darius Khondji, "The Interpreter" is pure eye candy along with all the other parts of the anatomy that will have you tingling with excitement. The complexity and the chaos unfolds as the plot gains momentum and, as a result, you have a pretty neat political thriller that gives the audience a somewhat inside look at the United Nations, the power it possesses and the potential abuse of power it could unleash.Overall, it's not a bad movie. Sylvia Broom (Nicole Kidman) an interpreter at the UN overhears someone giving a threat for the assassination to an African dictator .Her only problem is the person who i trying to protect her, Tobin Kellar (Sean Penn) believes that she made the whole story up and that she was trying to get attention.This Drama,Action and thriller is different to many other of Nicole's precious movies but will be remembered for ever. When watching a Pollack film, the only thing that infects us is a nagging sense of a story getting bogged down in straight back-and-forth staging of dialogue, dry exposition and general listlessness.The Interpreter could use an injection of energy not to mention a more convincing plot. The story details what happens when U.N. interpreter Nicole Kidman (looking jaundiced) claims to have overheard a foreign dignitary being threatened, and Secret Service agent Sean Penn (his head resembling a giant red cabbage) is brought in to determine the veracity of her story. And if you're looking for a little spark from the dialogue you can forget it - it's mostly flat exposition, nothing that would goose the scenes with bits of innuendo or humor.The movie is straight to the point of stodginess with one exception - the out-and-out bizarre performance of Nicole Kidman as the ex-militant who has come to believe in the apparatus of diplomacy. Pollack tries to drag his movie up out of suspense-film irrelevance by showing how much his characters care about humanity, but instead of raising the stakes on the story, this approach only further unbalances what is already a top-heavy endeavor. I respect Pollack, I really admire Sean Penn's work and Nicole Kidman is always adequate at the least, but what with all that high class names involved you would think the final result just had to be better than this..well... Good acting all around but the movie did not allow me to care about the two main characters played by Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. The movie starts out adequately, setting the background of human rights abuses in the African state and the work of the translator in the UN HQ in New York - supposedly a haven of rational debate, but potentially a place of danger for Kidman's character Sylvia Broome when she hears something she shouldn't have. "The interpreter" is no masterpiece, but this plot involving the Secret Service of the USA, the UN, and some African war lords is quite entertaining and it's been filmed such elegantly.I wonder if it wouldn't have been much better to choose another actress to play the ex-guerrilla character. This movie has so many flaws I don't even know where to begin.First of all, let's talk about the chemistry between Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman. I've seen Richard Simmons infomercials that would look like Hitchcock compared to this movie.I'm guessing that the United Nations regrets allowing Pollack and company to film in their building. I had the opportunity to watch the movie here in Greece, where for some reason,it came out in the theaters two weeks before it does in USA.In general"The Interpreter" was an interesting movie, as one would expect given the undisputed talent of the cast(Kidman,Penn) and the experience of the director(Pollack).I particularly enjoyed the scenes that were shot inside the UN building and really added an new element to the story.Furthermore,the music of the film composed by James Newton-Howard is superb.Nevertheless,the movie lacks that "something" that would make it a great political thriller like "The Manchurian Candidate". The story is interesting,the performances by Kidman and Penn noticeable but the movie leaves you feeling that something is missing...In any case,you will spend a couple of hours pleasantly and also get a little bit of insight about the role of the UN.. Realizing the danger she may be in, she tries to go to the embassy to protect her, but only federal agent Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) is convinced by her story to protect her and help her solve the mystery behind the death threats.For the most part, The Interpreter is a harmless thriller with some solid acting and nice twists. Nicole Kidman just can't act, her African accent is appalling and while I'm sure she has die hard fans who love her for things 'other' than her acting, in this film she looks unconvincing and only adds the the movies overall monotony; bless her though – off screen, she does seem like an honestly "nice" and down to earth kind of girl.This film has been done so many times before, there's no twists, no turns, no surprises. But these are so masterfully woven into the film as mere backdrop to the real story here: the humanity and interaction, and just maybe the eventual redemption, of the two lead characters, played by Penn and Kidman.Much has been made of the use of the actual UN for the UN scenes. I've seen this movie and, as i'd expected, it turned out to be one of those movies that you will always remember for the rest of your life, because it has Nicole Kidman, a brilliant actress with a role that doesn't look easy, because of the accent and the difficulty of becoming the UN Interpreter, and Sean Penn, who plays the fantastic role of a Security agent that tries to save the life of Silvia Broome and President Zuwanie at the same time. In Sydney Pollack's The Interpreter, Nicole Kidman as a UN translator specializing in a minor African language unfortunately overhears some bad guys plotting in that tongue to assassinate a deserving African dictator. But they are better." Pollack wants his screenplay to have equal time with his visual and to discuss the tension between verbal and gun diplomacy.Sean Penn is the Secret Service agent assigned to figure out if Kidman is telling the truth, to stop the plot, and to protect her. Even if you don't like slick, formulaic thrillers, you might see The Interpreter because it is the first feature allowed to film inside the real UN or because Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman do the getting-to-know-you routine with an effective minimalism foreign to today's show-all romances. This emotional, action packed Hollywood blockbuster explodes into cinemas across the United Kingdom this weekend with overwhelming support from movie fans.From the critically acclaimed director, Sydney Pollack, has created a controversial and deeply moving film about the politics of the international community.As the world embraces it self with the war on terror, this new film rises up against the critics and tells a brave story about an attractive UN interpreter, Silvia Broome (Kidman) overhearing an assassination plot against the dictatorial ruler of the fictional African state of Matobo.Silvia eventually tells the security forces of her plight and demands extra security as she fears she was seen and wonders whether her African background could make her a target. Both actors won Oscars at this year's academy awards and should be noticed for their breathtaking performances as their talent overshadowed the complex script.However I was a little disappointed by the dramatic ending, there were too many comparisons with Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; this may have been America's attempt at telling the world the dangers of dictatorial rule, a stern lesson from the world's most powerful country.So, this is a high budget movie about the complexities of international politics combined with the seedy, underworld of the secret service attempting to protect a pretty blonde determined to punish her parent's killer.This is a movie not for the restless or energetic as patience and intelligence is needed to understand the gripping plot.. I had the chance to see this movie because I work with translation and subtitles in Sweden and I would like say something about it.Nicole Kidman stars as African-born U.N. interpreter Silvia Broome, who by mistake overhears a death threat against an African head of state scheduled to address the United Nation's General Assembly. Not exactly stellar stuff.This film's awfully enticing premise: Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman), a U.N. interpreter, overhears a plot to assassinate a brutal African leader who just happens to lead Silvia's native country and someone she once admired. The InterpreterThe United Nations is very much at the forefront as this movie is released, with a potential major overhaul on the agenda, so what could be a standard (if very well made) thriller has an extra edge, due in no small part to the excellent acting talents of the wonderful Nicole Kidman and (to an only slightly lesser extent) Sean Penn.The film opens in a fictitious African country - one of those with an African-sounding name where the ruler is enlisting the help of children to tote weapons and massacre people while covering up the ethnic cleansing by calling it a response to terrorists.Back in the United Nations, the once-beneficent, now-murderous leader and his forsaken country are being hotly debated, but the news comes that he plans to come to the UN and exercise a right to address them. Nicole Kidman is a UN interpreter who overhears what she says is a plot to assassinate him when he does - she's also spotted when she overhears and so becomes a target.The following action keeps the suspense going for well over two hours, with Kidman in a love-hate relationship with Secret Service agent Sean Penn. It is a pity to see Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman fighting with bad script and actually not knowing what to do with their characters. Moreover Sean Penn's character is so typical of these sort of Hollywood movies - a cop with a family/wife problem, you just cannot miss what is to come between he and Nicole Kidman. Nicole Kidman- while looking the best she has in a long time- put on a shocking performance with one of the worst accents I have ever heard her do.The script writing was a shocker, with Sean Penn delivering some of the corniest lines I have heard since I watched 'Disturbing Behaviour' some years ago. It's nothing new and the story/script is a little weak, but the acting is incredibly strong and the film itself is very engaging and interesting to say the least.Sydney Pollack's film is about a U.N interpreter from Africa, Silvia who overhears a plot to assassinate the president of Matobo. This was a very intriguing movie, the dialogue between Silvia (Nicole Kidman) and Tobin (Sean Penn) was brilliant throughout. has everything going for it, great cast, interesting storyline, decent script, location, location, location but I don't understand one major flaw - the editing of Nicole Kidman and her hairdo, or lack of, it didn't make any sense, her hair flopped in her eyes, cut to Sean Penn, back to Nicole, hair off her forehead - this may seem a minor detail but Sydney Pollack usually watches for these little discrepancies.Overall it's an interesting film and well done, good political thriller, but it lacks a certain courage to make it a really GREAT film. 30 years after the thriller masterpiece "The three days of the Condor", Pollack tells a story about a UN interpreter (Nicole Kidman) who intercepts a secret conversation about a future killing -apparently there's a plan to kill the president of the African state she's citizen of. Policemen and secret agents look for potential assassins inside and outside the UN headquarter in New York, while Kidman is in a room of the same building alone with her prisoner...!I also think that the personal drama of Sean Penn's character has no connection with the story. Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn....U would think, if nothing else this movie should be a ringer for the 2 good actors.But, it wasn't.The story line plot old and haggard.Political thriller? So after the first hour of the movie I kept asking myself why Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn are in this suspenseful, detective, who done it. She is a great actress and wonderfully beautiful, but some other actress should have been cast, not Kidman.I thought Sean Penn did a good job, but I couldn't figure out why he was in this movie after the first hour. ***** The Interpreter (2005) Sydney Pollack ~ Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener. Just seeing the inside of the U.N. Building for the first time since I moved from NYC would have made the film worth the price of admission for me, so I was pleasantly surprised when this story of a South African interpreter (Nicole Kidman) embroiled in an assassination plot when she overhears the wrong thing at the wrong time turned out to be a suspenseful, thought-provoking, character driven thriller that builds up a nice head of paranoia. This film is filled with Oscar winners, from the Director Sydney Pollack, to the two main leads in Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn.

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Beasts of the Southern Wild

In a forgotten yet defiant bayou community called the Bathtub, cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, six-year-old Hushpuppy(Quvenzhané Wallis) exists on the brink of orphan-hood. Her mother is long gone, and her beloved father Wink(Dwight Henry) is a wildman on a perpetual spree. When Wink is home, he lives under a different roof: Wink in a rusted-out shack, and Hushpuppy in a trailer propped on two oil drums. More often than not, Hushpuppy is left to her own devices on their isolated compound filled with feral wildlife, where she perceives the natural world to be a fragile web of living, breathing, squirting things, wherein the entire universe depends on everything fitting together just right.While life in the Bathtub is defined by both resilience and celebration, at the local elementary school(boat), Hushpuppy's no-nonsense teacher, Miss Bathsheba(Gina Montana), educates her ragtag students about natural selection, global warming, and the huge ecological shifts that have pitted the Bathtub on the front line for extinction. "Learn to live with one another, and adapt!" she instructs. "Y'all better learn how to survive, now..."Reality crashes down on Hushpuppy's world when Wink comes down with a mysterious illness, and nature begins to spiral out of control. A massive storm brews, the ice caps melt, and Wink shakes on the ground at her feet after a mere punch. Hushpuppy becomes convinced that the science attacking her environment and her father's insides are inextricably linked.Half a world away, in an unforeseen result of these sudden global shifts, fierce prehistoric beasts thaw out of the ice, righting themselves on firm ground after centuries immobile.As the waters rise around the bayou shrimping town, while all the practical people run for higher ground, Wink and his brigade of drunken sweethearts insist on staying put. He and Hushpuppy are forced to hole up together in Wink's rickety shack and ride out the hurricane, Wink firing a shotgun into the sky, defying the forces of nature. When morning breaks, the two find the Bathtub destroyed, empty, and almost totally submerged.Wink and Hushpuppy collect the other holdouts, and as is custom, greet their situation with celebration instead of remorse: They throw a party with all the remaining shrimp, crab, and beer. Miss Bathsheba kills the mood by reminding Wink that the excess of salt water in the Bathtub has likely killed all the flora and fauna that had provided their sustenance; they could be consuming the last the bayou has to offer. Wink takes a swig of beer and shrugs her off: "I got it under control". But his attempts to teach Hushpuppy to survive on her own in this altered environment fall short; a lesson on how to fish with bare hands leaves her in pain.The next morning, Hushpuppy is awoken by Wink and company sneaking out with a giant garfish filled with explosives, the crackpot plan being to blow up the levee keeping all the water in, and drain out their homeland. Miss Bathsheba, the only one who understands the science of why this is a very bad idea, stops Wink, but not Hushpuppy, from executing the kamikaze scheme. The results are disastrous: The drained Bathtub, now resembling, a mushy, scorched-earth land formerly bursting with plants and animals, is now dead. Though Wink refuses to accept it, Hushpuppy can tell that the fabric of nature has unraveled around her, and that the "unending" bounty of the bayou is over.The fearsome beasts now cut looming shadows against the horizon and charge their way across continents, snarling, growling, knife-sharp horns glimmering as they head south...Soon afterwards, suddenly reminded of their existence, the government subjects the Bathtub to a mandatory evacuation, and men with bullhorns and strange accents whisk away Hushpuppy, Wink, and the other residents. They are taken to a sterile, gloomy refugee camp hospital, where everyone looks as bleak as "fish in a fish tank without water", according to Hushpuppy. In the care of the state, she is immediately dressed in unnatural-feeling "acceptable" clothing with the other unruly Bathtub kids. Confronted with his diagnosis from the doctors, Wink tries to give Hushpuppy away. Furious, Hushpuppy refuses, and Wink must finally tell her the truth: He's dying.At last, it hits Hushpuppy that her father isn't the maniacal superman she believed him to be. Out of his natural environment, he begins coughing up blood, and asks his friends to take him to the only place he knows as home. Unable to watch Wink on his deathbed, Hushpuppy flees across the water toward a light in the distance she believes to be her mother. A mysterious boatman plucks her out of the sea and takes her to his favorite nightclub, the Elysian Fields Floating Catfish Shack: "GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS". As Hushpuppy wanders this ethereal paradise, out of the kitchen steps a woman who stares at her with eyes like hers. "Let me show you a magic trick", she tells the awed Hushpuppy. Whipping up some killer grits n' gator and dishing out no-nonsense advice, she gives Hushpuppy a moment of love she's been looking for her whole life. But as they dance together, Hushpuppy realizes she has a duty to return to her father and The Bathtub before it's too late for both of them.The creatures suddenly appear on the parched crest before the dried-up bayou, a tiny girl in their crosshairs. They charge up behind her, when suddenly she swirls around to face them with eyes as fearless as theirs. They share a moment of primal understanding, and the beasts kneel before her. She goes on her way...Back in the Bathtub, Hushpuppy shares a last supper of fried gator with Wink in his broken shack. Having reconciled with her father and accepted nature's chosen path, she returns to her friends and family, a hardened warrior, and they parade into the Southern Wild as water laps at their feet.("Long Synopsis" from the Festival de Cannes press kit for Beasts of the Southern Wild).

psychedelic, magical realism, storytelling, sentimental

train

imdb

Containing outstanding performances, great cinematography, and a fantastic score, the film is just so engrossing.Hushpuppy feels her connection not only to nature and animals, but also to the prehistoric era, represented throughout the film by her interest in cave drawings and—more fancifully—prehistoric beasts called aurochs that have been released from the ice caps and make their way toward the Bathtub…at least in Hushpuppy's mind. The difference between what's real and what lives in the imagination of our six-year-old heroine is not always clear, but it's all delivered with a beautifully assured sense of wonder.Beasts of the Southern Wild unfolds through Hushpuppy's eyes, and it's a sight to behold: sometimes wondrous, often disordered and dysfunctional. Yet the hardscrabble people of Bathtub still find a way to channel their joy, even though they've been forgotten.It's all the more impressive that such a confident and resourceful film comes from a first-timer; writer-director Benh Zeitlin previously impressed Sundance audiences with the Hurricane Katrina inspired short "Glory at Sea." He collaborated on the screenplay for "Beasts" with Lucy Alibar and worked with a cast and crew of mostly non-professionals (both Wallis and Henry make genuinely astonishing screen debuts). To Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis), the islands of southern Louisiana are a magical place filled with lucky people who do not have to live like cowards behind the levees and only get one holiday a year. Magical realism is far more acceptable and preferable to an audience than what could arguably be termed child cruelty.Hushpuppy and her father, Wink (Dwight Henry), live in an area called 'The Bathtub'. There are echoes of ourselves in all these people in their craziness or compassion, or their uneducated wisdom (or lack of wisdom which then depends on luck and instinct).In short it's quite a ride, and the leading character is a little girl who now is up for an Academy Award nomination for best actress, with the only question about that being the weirdly simple and true question--how much is she acting, how much is she just being herself with amazing transparency on the camera? Well, the same could be said of lots of adult actors who are really just themselves over and over, and so you really can watch "Beasts" for the stellar and heartwarming effort by Quvenzhané Wallis.There are other performances startling for their gritty (or downright filthy) realism, including the girl's father. The film was shot on an actual island like this, though it given a fictional name (nicknamed the Bathtub by the characters).You can also love this movie for its metaphors. She has her own wisdom and is, like all children, taking things quite literally.At first the hand-held camera-work and insufficient light-fill to illuminate the deep shades gave me the impression that this was a documentary style movie, a story reporting the lives of a group of people living off the grid in some southern state of the United States. But when I understood that the "Beasts" of the title was not a judgment of the movie's humans and their poverty, their ignorance, their unsophistication- but only an alternate noun for "animals" which the protagonists calls both her pets and humans alike, I started seeing the movie for what it really is: A dream, a fantasy, an imaginary story that merged with the contemporary awareness of global warming, and so a low tech sci-fi prediction of how the world may soon become.With that key I read most character's actions: the father figure who needs to train his child to survive, inciting her "to show her guns" and be self assured; the woman who teaches children the use of herbs to cure, the meaning of magic and mythology; the tolerance of the other adults for what, in a parallel reality, would definitively been child abuse. All this is righteously done to prepare the children to survive in a world that was(is?) going from merely hard to impossible.Wink's seemingly unsentimental and insensitive behavior towards the little wee child makes then perfect sense and thus his letting go when she can keep at bay, the Aurochs (a metaphor for her still childlike imagination) and her ability to step out of that world and into that of an adult ("I've got to take care of mine now") is the proof that she had grown up enough to survive on her own.Looking back to it, this movie is a miracle as improbable as that of La Vita é Bella, where Benigni infused humor in a story about the Holocaust without becoming offensive or demeaning. Beasts of a Southern Wild is able to merge a child's world with that of an adult; to make us see how the effects of global warming will challenge the lives of many; it is a comment and a reminder of Katrina, its victims and consequences; finally it is a poetic way of describing the world and its inhabitants, escaping the ugliness and despair of certain realities by converting it into hope, survival and beauty.. I do not find ignorance, squalor and stupidity to be noble.This movie was incoherent and jerky, had no clear plot line, glorified degraded living and had no redeeming value.IMDb insists that I write 10 lines of commentary about it, but I accurately summarized it in my first line.I suggest that unless you want to watch people living in filth and ignorance, stay away from this film.I realize that the title was meant to be a play on wildlife documentaries, but it seems to me that it is more accurate perhaps than it intended to be. We focus on a precocious six year old named Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis), who lives a cold, broken life in the Bathtub with her physically and mentally abusive father Wink (Dwight Henry) and her frequently absent mother.We learn because of melting ice caps, the Bathtub is approaching certain unavoidable doom and will soon be consumed by rising sea levels and the only ones who will survive after the event will be the strongest. While this morose future is pending, we primarily focus on the overwhelming between Hushpuppy and Wink, as Wink's father-figure ways are poor and unnerving and how he isn't completely sure how do deal with her daughter's curiosity, intrepid personality.To begin with, while I can not say I enjoyed Beasts of the Southern Wild as much as some others who have gone on to speak very highly of the picture, I can say that this is one of the most auspicious and ambitious directorial debuts in quite sometime. The photography here is absolutely marvelous, and we get a sense that this film is not about narrative consistency or specific plot points, but more about evoking the imagination of the director and the writer.What this sets up are numerous metaphors that sometimes feel like an abrupt change in direction, mainly because we see that some things should be taken from the perspective as fueling the narrative, while others should be taken at an allegorical level. In one scene of strength and power is Wink giving her confidence and motivation by asking her, "who's the man?" with her energetically replying, "I'm the man!" The scene could've corny, but it is buoyed by the two talented leads and the fierce writing of Alibar and Zeitlin.More and more lately am I seeing films with a child-star left to carry the weight of an entire picture, and if they do a modest job, I feel sort of upset that I must criticize their work (a good example would be the capable Thomas Horn in the incapable Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close). Dwight Henry's role is too a difficult one to pull off, yet he handles the almost bipolar nature of the father character effectively and seriously.Beasts of the Southern Wild works on many levels, but the biggest level it succeeds on is how it shows a society of poor, underprivileged characters who are not willing to change not because of stubborn behavior but because of immense dedication to their world. This film tells the story of a girl whose life is turned upside down by a flood in her village."Beasts of the Southern Wild" looks like a fairytale or fantasy adventure from the poster, but in fact the film cannot be further from it. Well that is basically "Beasts of the Southern Wild," except the characters are not blindfolded, it lasts an interminable 95 minutes, and there are some laughably bad fantastical elements thrown into the mix.If only the character Hushpuppy lived in this meta-spiritual world the film might have worked. An undeniably lyrical and poetic work from Benh Zeitlin, written with Lucy Alibar and based on her stage play, 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' has many passages of joyous originality, and the film ably captures the child's perspective in Hush Puppy's mostly intelligible narration, but remains stuck there for the duration. It is a story of a father and his precocious daughter caught in a tough life in Louisiana's poverty-stricken bayou area called "The Bathtub." When a big storm (Hurricane Katrina?) devastates their community, their already upside-down life goes into a further tumble.The lead actors here are not really professional actors. There are plenty of films that capture this despair effectively and with great sympathy.However, "Southern Wilds" is little more than a musical montage of child abuse, neglect, cruelty to animals, and an utter disdain for any sense of meaning outside of this twisted culture of madness.Consider that there is not a book, a newspaper or a magazine in any scene. Watching this, like Slumdog Millionaire and Precious, I was glad to see handsome actors and beautiful actresses of different hues, sizes, and environments represented on film, but saddened to see that it is still necessary to be raped(Precious), wallow through Port-o-Let feces (Slumdog), or dance and smile at filth (Beasts of the Southern Wild) to be seen. "Beasts of the Southern Wild" is a very pretty film to look at, but kind of a hard fantasy to believe.It starts out strong, but ends up more than a little limp. Unfortunately, it keeps getting harder and harder to suspend disbelief.A good part of the movie is voice-over by the "Hushpuppy" character, and I'm kind of sad to say I can't believe Quvenzhané Wallis actually SPOKE that role. If the role had been played by a young girl who failed to encapsulate the character and couldn't achieve the emotional intensity Wallis did, then we may never even have heard of Beasts of the Southern Wild.It's not so much that Beasts is a bad film, it just sacrifices a lot in it's effort to be original. Faced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) must learn the ways of courage and love.I am so glad that Quvenzhané Wallis has been nominated for best actress. It didn't help my opinion of the movie much that I thought the acting of 9-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis didn't strike me as any better than "decent" for a girl of her age, despite all of the rave reviews I had heard to the contrary.Why you should see it:While I don't anticipate any one of you being able to empathize all that strongly with the living squalor in which the protagonist of this film finds herself, I do imagine some of you can relate to her loss of a parent. Beasts of the Southern Wild features some spectacular acting from 6-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis and 50-year-old Dwight Henry (which is amazing considering neither one had acted before), but the movie tries to be too deep at times and it loses its raw, realistic power. It is well written and directed and, for a cast of relatively unknowns, the acting is excellent with young actress Quvenzhane Wallis shining as lead character Hushpuppy.It seems just by scrolling through the reviews that this is a love it/hate it film, with just as many negative reviews as positive ones. It is interspersed with save- the-environment messages, incoherent dialogue between characters, and apparent glorification of some of the darker things in life (e.g. death).Centered around a girl (Hushpuppy) and her relationship with her dad, this is a story of how one father trains his daughter to be strong and unfazed by whatever comes her way.This film attempts to make up for its lack of a plot by casting talented child actor Quvenzhané Wallis as Hushpuppy. She delivers an impeccable performance that tugs on my heartstrings even as the movie simultaneously dulled my mind.There were a few positives to take from this film: (1) Brilliant father-child acting, (2) Good cinematography (although some would argue that the shaky-camera technique was nauseating), (3) Good & realistic settingUnfortunately, they weren't enough to paper over its failings: (1) Weak/non-existent plot, (2) Incoherent dialogue, (3) When the dialogue was coherent, parts of it didn't make sense. Oh what a breath of fresh air when on his first try, an unknown director produces something as superb as "Beasts of the Southern Wild." Benh Zeitlin in his first feature film, which he co-wrote with Lucy Alibar, remarkably creates a stunning, and imaginative world for viewers where characters must learn survival and courage through isolation from the world. It revolves around a six-year-old named Hushpuppy (Wallis) who lost her mother at a very young age and lives with her father Wink (Henry). The film focuses on Hushpuppy growing up at the tender age of six as prehistoric creatures known as aurochs are also let loose, by the drastic temperature change, and make their way to the 'Bathtub'.It is unclear when the movie takes place and if the 'beasts of the southern wild' (the aurochs) are real or figments of Hushpuppy's imagination. Dwight Henry as her unsympathetic father also creates a fully realized character and their volatile relationship enhances an otherwise extremely grim and despairing film.Beasts of the Southern Wild may not totally succeed in its goals, but the film boasts solid filmmaking and its raw intensity with its serious subject matter make it a noble effort worth seeing, especially for the talents of Zeitlin and Little Miss Wallis, who will undoubtedly have a bright future ahead of them. Played by Quvenzhané Wallis ( Hushpuppy ) and Dwight Henry ( Wink), Benh Zeitlin's masterpiece is telling us the story of the life we could have had.Beasts Of The Southern Wild, left the audience speechless. Quvenzhané Wallis done a really good job (most of the time), and i guess that if one does deserved the academy award for best leading role, i would be between her and Emmanuelle Riva.The problem with this movie, for me, is that it is always on the edge between creating a dreamlike atmosphere of anguish and despair mixed with childish fantasies and a gritty, realistic depiction of the lives of the people of the bathtub - to the point where sometimes i've found myself lost in what's the real message that's going on most of the scenes. A little gem of a film, it boasts superior performances by an amateur cast.In the Bayou country (and narrated from her point of view), a rebellious, young girl named Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis), has a very personalized vision of life in her world where there is a natural order of humans and wild, prehistoric beasts who rule the land. Set in a Louisiana Bayou community known as the 'Bathtub', a little girl named Hushpuppy and her father live their days surrounded by animals and braving out fierce storms. Hushpuppy's vivid imagination is set on fire as the personal troubles of her father and the community collide into a realistic adventure.Zeitlin's film not only produces an analytical account of living in the modern world but also brings out a star turning performance by Quvenzhane Wallis, who has just become the youngest Oscar nominee in the history of the awards. I was naturally curious to see how a nine-year-old could have landed an Oscar nomination as Best Leading Actress, and clearly director Benh Zeitlin found a gifted child in Quvenzhané Wallis, who was actually only five during filming. Intense, Inspiring, Beautiful, Bold and Amazingly Acted as well as Directed and Presented, Beasts of the Southern Wild is an inspiringly emotional movie which really shows the meaning of surviving without sadness and is as good as it is because of the amazing acting from Quvenzhane Wallis and Dwight Henry and the immense work made by Director Benh Zeitlin to make such an inspiring and unique movie.The Story which is based on a stage play ''Juicy And Delicious'' by Lucy Alibar is about a Six Year Old Poverty-struck Child named Hushpuppy(Wallis) and her arrogent and hot-tempered father Wink(Henry) and their lives in a remote, poor area, and although they are'nt rich, they still have fun with what they have. I watched this Film as soon as i saw Wallis's nomination in the Oscar for Best Female Actress and after seeing this performance by a 9 year- old girl, i think she totally deserved the nod. Watching or rather experiencing BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD is 'like looking in on another universe through a keyhole.' The film is visual poetry, illuminating a unique corner of the world and making it a mystical magic message. Alibar and director Benh Zeitlin adapted the play to a screenplay, carrying through the same themes of loss and strength, all set in a mythical world that's as brutal as it is beautiful: it is now related through the eyes of a small girl in Bathtub, Louisiana and is about people having the courage to love and defend the people and place they call home.Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis), an undauntable six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink (Dwight Henry), in the Bathtub, a southern Delta community at the edge of the world.

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The Jerk

Navin R. Johnson, a homeless man, directly addresses the camera and tells his story. He is the adopted white son of African American sharecroppers, who grows to adulthood naïvely unaware of his obvious adoption. He stands out in his family not just because of his skin color but because of his utter lack of rhythm when his adopted family plays spirited blues music. One night, he hears the staid Roger Wolfe Kahn Orchestra song called "Crazy Rhythm" on the radio and his feet spontaneously begin to move with the urge to dance; he sees this as a calling and decides to hitchhike to St. Louis, from where the song was broadcast. On the way, he stops at a motel, where a dog wakes him up by barking at his door. Navin thinks the dog is trying to warn of a fire. He wakes up the other hotel guests to rescue them, but everyone realizes it was a false alarm. Navin gets a job (and a place to sleep) at a gas station owned by Mr. Harry Hartounian. He is thrilled to find that he is listed in the local phone book, as his name is "in print" for the first time. Not long after, a gun-wielding lunatic randomly flips through the phone book and picks "Johnson, Navin R." as his next victim. As the madman watches through his rifle scope, waiting for a clear shot, Navin fixes the slippery glasses of a customer, Stan Fox, by adding a handle and a nose brake. Fox offers to split the profits 50/50 with Navin if he can market the invention, then departs. Seizing his chance, the crazed sniper shoots but misses. The lunatic chases Navin to a traveling carnival, where Navin hides out, eventually getting a job with SJM Fiesta Shows as a weight guesser. While employed there, Navin meets an intimidating daredevil biker named Patty Bernstein and has a sexual relationship with her, finally realizing what his "special purpose" (his mother's euphemism for his penis) is for. He then meets a woman named Marie and arranges a date with her. Patty confronts them, but Marie knocks her out. While courting, Navin and Marie walk along the beach and sing "Tonight You Belong to Me"; Navin plays the ukulele and Marie the cornet. Navin and Marie fall in love, but Marie reluctantly leaves him because of his lack of financial security. She writes a note and slips out while Navin is in the bath. At an emotional and financial low, Navin is soon contacted by Stan Fox with exciting news: his glasses invention, now called the Opti-Grab, is selling big and he is entitled to half of the profits. Now extremely rich, he finds and marries Marie, and they buy an extravagant mansion. Their life becomes one of splendor and non-stop partying. However, a motion-picture director (Carl Reiner, playing himself) files a class action lawsuit against Navin. Reiner claims that the Opti-Grab caused his eyes to be crossed and his resulting poor vision caused the death of a stunt driver in the film he was directing. Nearly ten million other people have the same vision complaint (including the judge and jury foreman), and are awarded $10 million in damages. Bankrupt, depressed, and now homeless, he is abandoned by Marie and is soon living on the streets. His story now told, he resigns himself to a life of misery and memories of Marie, but to his amazed joy, she suddenly appears, along with Navin's family, and some more good news: having carefully invested the small sums of money he sent home throughout the film, they have become wealthy themselves. They pick him up off the street, and he and Marie move back home into the Johnsons' new house — a much larger but identical version of their old, small shack. The story ends as the entire family dances on the porch and sings "Pick a Bale of Cotton"; Navin dances along, now having gained perfect rhythm.

absurd, cult, entertaining

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Johnson, the white son of a black family, Steve Martin leaves home to find "his special purpose." By the end of the movie, we all know what that was...to entertain his fans the way he has! The naive, ambitious Navin Johnson is the role that Steve Martin was born to play. The Jerk - 4.5/5 Country: US Language: English Year: 1979 Rating: R Director: Carl Reiner Starring: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Mable King, M. Emmet WalshREVIEW BY JOHN ULMERSteve Martin had basically gained a burst of fame before starring in Carl Reiner's wacky comedy "The Jerk." Martin was fresh off hosting "Saturday Night Live" a few times, and had made a few albums and stand-up gigs. Unlike comedies like "Blast From the Past" where the main character is treated bad and doesn't realize it because he/she is innocent and has no idea what to expect from life, Martin gets treated bad and doesn't realize it because he is stupid, not only because he is innocent.The Jerk starts out working at a gas station. It was a fine comedy, but not great at all.Steve Martin brings his character to life. That's why I can usually expect solid laughs from a Martin vehicle.Director Carl Reiner does a few out-of-place cuts in "The Jerk," just like he did in "The Man with Two Brains," but I think that it worked overall. But like I said, that is what makes it so original and stupid.The film loses some steam halfway through, and the jokes sometimes fall flat, but overall the comedy is one of the best of its genre. Steve Martin plays a simple-minded man who strikes it rich and then falls back to the low-class way. The jerk is his only movie that feels like Steve martin stand up. I saw "The Jerk" several times on the screen when it first released and then I have watched it either as a video or on TV (the butchered version, where the dog "Shithead" gets changed to "Stupid", etc.). And after the movie was over, it occurred to me that, if my grandson liked this story-of-a-loser's-life-as-told-by-the-loser, he would at least enjoy "The Jerk", which uses a similar plot device. (By the way, even a classic comedy such as "Blazing Saddles" has become dated due to its lame ending.)And I noticed that some reviewers actually find "The Jerk" to be a racist movie. It's not about the big laughs, but the little things that make "The Jerk" special.Steve Martin stars as Navin Johnson, a man who grew up thinking he was black and eventually sets out to find his greater purpose. It's all very original and will definitely appeal more to people who appreciate what makes each joke funny.So the writing, which is mostly Martin and the acting, which is mostly Martin, are the aspects of the film most worthy of praise. The purpose of a comedy movie (apart from making money!) is to make people laugh. It was sheer dumb luck that while reading Steve Martin's autobiography earlier this year I saw his film The Jerk was being shown on TV. With a penchant for Twinkies and Tab cola, something was amiss and only when he heard a strange new song on the radio, one his white body could dance to, does he realize he needed to see the world and show it his "special purpose".I really think I wouldn't have enjoyed my time with this character if I hadn't read Martin's book first. The Jerk marks his first major film role, the lead part in his own movie, something that shows how powerful he was based on record sales alone and no real reputation for acting on screen. The Jerk (1979) stars Steve Martin as Navin R Johnson, the adopted son ofblack sharecroppers...problem is, he has no idea he's adopted! Some reallyfunny scenes, especially with Jackie Mason, M Emmit Walsh, and the girl at the circus...Bernadette Peters looks GREAT btw...Its a shame Steve Martin is "Mr. Serious" now, would love him to make a screwball comedy again...mindless fun, with some very funny lines "You should not call that dog lifesaver, you should call him sh*thead!" worth checking out... I honestly cannot decide which Steve Martin film is my favourite between The Jerk, Man with Two Brains and Planes, Trains and Automobiles, because I love all three and he is wonderful in all three. Still, this one is funny and Martin was on a roll then as he had a couple of other good movies during this time too in "The Lonely Guy", "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", and "The Man With Two Brains". Seriously the movie's title is kind of funny as the guy is not really much of a jerk as he is just a simple guy trying to find a job and help out his family. The movie is at its best as he plods from one job to another, it gets a bit weaker near the end as he gets a lot of money, though it is still funny there too especially when he writes one letter telling his family about all the stuff he wanted and now has. One of Martin's best movies...if you liked him as Ruprecht the Monkey Boy, you'll love him as Navin Johnson. Complete with cameo appearances by 3 Reiners, this Reiner-directed classic is the basis of many modern comedies (though most fail to live up to what this movie did 23 years ago).My ex-girlfriend's roommate stole the VHS from me (what a JERK!), but my friend got me the DVD for Christmas, so I'm ok now.See it...and then see a doctor and get rid of it...oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, the movie has more one-liners than all Arnold movies combined ;-)A great one: "I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and upon the slitted sheet I sit.". The Jerk(1979) showcases the "wild and crazy guy" period of Steve Martin's career. I love comedies and watch a lot of movies, but this one was pretty bad. I've never failed to laugh at Steve Martin before, (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels was soooo funny) but this film is dire! Steve Martin plays Navin Andrews, a man who was raised by a black family in Missouri. He then proceeds to tell us of his life and the story goes from there, taking off into all sorts of weird and wacky places with strange characters and events, where hilarity always ensues.Steve Martin is what makes this movie without a doubt. But Navin delivers all the laughs as Steve Martin bumbles around as one of the most entertaining characters I've ever seen in one of these screwball comedies. The Jerk is funny from start to finish and definitely never tries to take itself seriously, but it is really a film you have to put yourself in a much lighter and less intellectual state of mind to watch and enjoy. Along the way,he finds love in an equally dull but extremely cute beautician(Bernadette Peters).MArtin's full-on commitment to character and Carl Reiner's cooperative direction make this film a delightfully odd and fitfully funny. The only reason this film was rated R at the time were a couple of scenes that were pretty wild back then, but tame now.The tongue-in-cheek humor makes this move a classic. Carl Reiner shines as director and Steve Martin & Bernadette Peters shine as Navin Johnson and his future bride. The film has similar events(you can't help but laugh) at Steve Martin's style and skill at being comedic in whatever he does. The Jerk was the first movie Steve Martin was ever in. Steve Martin makes a movie funny. This movie had many, many memorable lines, like the one above, and the scene where the crazy guy is shooting at him nd Navin thinks he's shooting the cans. The Jerk is a comedic classic that shows that comedy film makers these days have absolutely no talent and have to use toilet humor to pull a chuckle out of its audience. God bless the Aspen Film Society.Thanks to Steve Martin and the aforementioned society, they have given the movie-going public more honest-to-goodness laughs than any other film society known to man."The Jerk", Martin's first starring role, shows him at the peak of his form, as a "poor black child" who goes out into the world to make a better life for himself, finding along the way mad gunmen, punks who drive off with churches tied on their bumpers, circus work, dogs that aren't as smart as he'd like to think and true love in the form of Bernadette Peters (that's the form I'd look for it in, too.).There are too many laughs to count and they all work, thanks to Martin's earnest delivery and Reiner's good director's eye for comedy. The one-liners are hysterical, the sight gags are great and it even has a story line!Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters singing a love song while he plays the banjo...cute moment. This film is classic Steve Martin, putting his whole schtick right out on the line for all to see. Make no mistake, this movie is completely absurd.That's probably why it's so funny.A cult classic among my friends, "The Jerk" tracks the life of Navin R. Johnson from "poor black child" to wealthy businessman to a homeless guy who owns a chair, a paddleball game, and little else.Steve Martin excels both in physical comedy and snappy one-liners, and just when you think you've seen it all, this movie manages to get even sillier.An excellent supporting cast, and a wild story manage to keep this as much of an entertaining film as it was back in the '70's. The Jerk has been praised as not only one of Steve Martin's best comedic efforts, but also one of the funniest of all motion pictures.For me that is really hard to believe. This is the best Steve Martin movie ever!. This is the best Steve Martin movie ever!. This is the best Steve Martin movie ever!. It is only this way because this film is vintage Steve Martin.. 'The Jerk' is one of Steve Martin's first major feature films and today it shows the starting point of his fantastic movie career. Even the cameo by Jackie Mason is hilarious.The script is a bit familiar but the dialogue and slap-stick routines and scenes are brilliantly choreographed by the director, writers and actors alike.Overall, this is a classic comedy film with some great laughs and can be enjoyed by all.. As many films as Steve Martin has done,it is this one,his first feature film,that most people remember because this is Steve in his prime and at his wildest and funniest.It contains one of the greatest mixtures of physical and verbal humor that I personally have ever seen.Martin's chemistry with Bernadette Peters is nothing short of great.It is,ironically,a smart comedy about someone who is not so smart.In fact,he is a total imbecile who stumbles onto the big time only to trip and fall on his rear back into the small time.One of the funniest moments is the brief appearance of the film's director,Carl Reiner,playing himself as a victim of Navin Johnson's defective invention.I think the key to a good comedy is giving the viewer a mixture of things we have never seen before that are fresh and new,and adding that to the old stuff that we have seen before and putting your own unique twist to them.The Jerk does this with flying colors.. Johnson is an unbelievably stupid man.He is an adopted son of a black family and he doesn't get he is adopted.Then at his 18th birthday he realizes he wants to see the world.So he leaves Missisippi behind and heads to St.Louis.Soon he has all he's ever dreamed of, including the girl.In this case that girl is Marie Kimble.Carl Reiner is the director of The Jerk (1979).Mr.Reiner also has a funny cameo there.Steve Martin had a huge success with this comedy, which he was also writing.Bernadette Peters plays the woman opposite him.They make a fantastic couple.Other talents seen in this movie are Jackie Mason (Harry Hartounian), M.Emmet Walsh (Madman) etc.There are many funny gags in this movie.I can see a little of Jerry Lewis in Steve Martin's comedy especially in this movie.There is that same physicality there.This movie was made for Mr.Martin.He raises it from mediocrity.. Sometimes, a delightful and droll Ealing comedy is nice, other times a classic Hollywood film like BRINGING UP BABY does the trick, and sometimes I really just enjoy a good stupid laugh. Plus, like all great comedies, it does well with repeated viewings (I've seen this film four times). A glasses invention then turns things around and makes him filthy rich, but then things reverse.Everything about this movie is hilarious, especially with Steve Martin and his performance. The Jerk hearkens back to his days as "Wild & Crazy" Steve and remains laugh-out loud funny.I sometimes wonder what kind of personality Navin Johnson has. In today's movies with one-dimensional characters, Navin Johnson's personality is rich with development.The film, about Navin's crazy experiences with independence, finding love and making a fortune is a laugh riot from start to finish. It still has that vibrancy like it did in 1979.If you long to see the Steve Martin of old, his sparkling debut as a leading man is the film to see. "I was born a poor black child." "All I need is this lamp." You've probably heard them, too, but if -- like me -- you've put off watching this movie because you were afraid it would be stupid, well, you're right. There is a lot of love in this movie, and most of the comedy is refreshingly original and genuinely funny. The Jerk played by Steve Martin goes from being a nobody to a successful businessman and again to being a bum . Second best Steve Martin movie. Just finished watching this second best Steve Martin movie after the evergreen "planes, trains and Automobiles". Steve Martin plays the role of a dumb man who is brought up by a black family. In his first starring role in a feature film, Steve Martin proves how Good he's been ever-since he appeared on the Silver-Screen. " I was born a poor black child."Every male from that era would agree that this was and still is one of the best comedies ever written which boosted Steve Martin's career into a whole new era.The one lesson I will always take from this movie is the difference between "Shit and Shinola".. Watching Steve Martin in The Jerk, I cannot help but be amazed. a comedy with parts far greater than the whole, a near impeccable Steve Martin movie. While the Jerk isn't one of my all-time favorite comedies, and I have seen it only a few times over the years, each time the scenes I laughed at before are still funny, if not funnier, and other bits come out as well. I read that Martin and Peters were dating at the time of the movie, and I think watching that scene -- it's obvious the two cared deeply about each other. "The Jerk" marked Steve Martin's breakthrough as a comedy actor in the U.S. Watching it now, it's not hard to see why. This movie is about a Navin Johnson (Steve Martin) who was raised and adopted in a poor,black Mississippi farm. He later finds success as he leaves the family and when he invents a special type of glasses.The thing that holds this movie together is Steve Martin's stupidity in the movie. This film is a decent Steve Martin comedy.7/10. One of Steve Martins favorite jokes in the movie, as Navin hitches his first ride.. Steve Martin carries the whole movie by himself (Except for M. Only see this movie if you are drunk, high, or a Steve Martin fan.. Steve Martin's first feature film is apparently 'The Jerk', and thankfully I grew up on most of his other comedies, so I'm still a fan of him. This is not a good Steve Martin movie, and I found it very irritating rather than funny. His character barely served a purpose, and Jackie Mason added nothing to the movie, whereas Peters only added a little more.The humor is slightly dated in 'The Jerk' and it's just not very funny at all. Reiner's choice of shots and his direction is not very good, and his later films with Steve Martin are much better. Even though the humour is dated, I think 'The Jerk' still lacked the visual gags, witty banter, and humorous unexpected situations that made other comedies of that time so successful in my eyes, and I don't know whether its because of Martin's character himself or the direction of the movie that made it weak. Not a classic, not vintage or an excellent Steve Martin comedy. Not even a good Steve Martin comedy. The Jerk is a fantastic movie with a very well written storyline and a brilliant comedic cast.This movie is the beginning of Steve Martins career,it was his first big comedy film,and despite the several great projects he has done since then,this is still his finest role,his character is extremely stupid yet lovable and this journey we go on with him is ridiculous in a very good way.The film is consistently funny from start to finish,there honestly isn't one scene where I didn't laugh at least twice and every time I watch this the same jokes get me every time as well as parts that I couldn't remember.Hilarious and very clever,I would definitely recommend the Jerk to anyone looking for a good comedy. This isn't just some comedy which you summarise as "funny", it is more than that it's a "good" film.I've never been much of a Steve Martin fan, but he sure nailed it here. The only reason I rarely watch comedies, is because I like more serious films, and this one is both, so you can imagine how much I loved this one. I love Steve Martin as the Jerk.